Primals were members of the Sages races, and were, in fact, number 2 on the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum. Despite not being number 1, there existed no race in the universe who could deny their awesome power.

In fact, the only reason the Primals hadn't just outright tried to conquer the entire universe on their own was because they were masters of the Primary realm - at least, as far as most others were concerned. That, combined with the fact that the Primary realm was larger than all other realms in the universe combined - Major and minor ones - meant that the Primals really had no need of more land or resources.

Of course, all this was merely the general understanding maintained by the general populace of the universe, including most Dao Lords. That did not mean this was the truth. Only the Primals themselves, as well as a few other, ancient races, knew the finer details of their lives.

The simple matter of fact was that the Primary realm was the most dangerous realm in the universe simply because it contained powers and mysteries so immense that not even Dao Lords dared act willy-nilly there. After all, even Dao Lords themselves were still beholden to the universe at large, and could not ignore it.

It was for that reason, and a few more, that there was an entire team of Primals stationed at the Ruins of Ascension, monitoring any and all changes that took place there. Naturally, one of their duties, then, was to monitor the changes in the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum.

Changes in the rankings on the Spectrum were far from rare. Considering the list reflected the general power maintained by an entire race, it was quite natural for various races to go up or down on the list, especially in the lower rankings.

For their own convenience, the Primals had divided the list into three main tiers, with various subtiers. Predictably, the three main tiers were the Dao tier, Immortal tier, and Mortal tier.

Changes within the Dao tier were exceptionally rare, for they required the birth or death of a Dao Lord! Either of those were very, very rare. There were only two subtiers within the Dao tier, categorizing races as having one Dao Lord, or multiple.

The Immortal tier, predictably, had three subtiers, being Celestial, Heaven, and Earth. Each race was then placed in those subtiers based on how many Immortals they had of the relevant subtier. Changes in this tier were far more common, happening on a nearly daily basis.

The Human race, for example, was in the Celestial subtier, with less than 50,000 Celestial Immortals across their entire race. Generally, the Human race as a whole, had been on a downward trend. But even if they only moved down one spot every 10,000 years, considering the billions of races in this tier of the list, changes to the actual Spectrum happened daily.

The Mortal tier, unexpectedly, only had two tiers: Nascent tier, and those below. It was too tedious to try and further subcategorize it, because changes took place in the Mortal tier every microsecond.

The Primals responsible for recording the changes in the Immortal tier did not seem too surprised by the rise of Humans by a single spot. It more or less meant that the humans had gained another Celestial Immortal, or that one of the Celestial Immortals had grown stronger.

They simply noted down the change, and moved on to the rest of the list. Humans, as a whole, had long lost the privilege of attracting any attention to their growth or decline.

For example, even Heart Demons, a race that was firmly under the control of Devils, was ranked higher than humans on the list. If the Humans weren't a part of the Humanoid Alliance, owing to their shared origins with some more dignified races, such as the Celestials or Oolin, would long have dropped even from the Immortal tier.

A single rise in ranking meant nothing.

"I've written down the change," answered one of the Primals. "Their new rank is Subtier Celestial, position AGF99909B..."

The Primal paused, because before he even finished reporting the change, the Humans moved up one more rank, changing the last few digits in their ranking from 9B to 9A.

"Up two ranks in a matter of seconds. That's not bad at all..."

This time, many Primals turned to look at the Human race. In a matter of seconds, they had gone up three ranks. Such a change... was noteworthy.

"I'm initiating a pause on recording the new Human ranking for now," said the Primal who had been recording it down. "It will enter a period of observation before being recorded."

The other Primals returned to their duty. A noteworthy change was just that... noteworthy. It was not something extraordinary or even necessarily special. All it took was some extra attention from a single Dao Lord to bring about such a change for races in the Immortal tier.

*****

Crystal realm, Site of Lex's tribulation

The land all around Lex looked like it was torn between destruction and rebirth. The exact crater around Lex had been dug so deep that it had tapped into the underground channels of lava, causing a massive eruption from

underneath.

From above, devastating lightning rained, and from below the molten lifeblood of the continent erupted. In the middle was Lex, his eyes filled with red veins as he exerted himself to his utmost.

Yet, despite the raging of so many powers, the lands all around the craters had turned into a beautiful garden. Immortal treasures began to bloom. Trees were born and grew to great heights in the matter of minutes. Springs of the purest waters flowed across the lands.

That was because, inadvertently, this area had become the most fertile, energy dense area in all of the Crystal realm. Nourished by the corpses of countless Kraven, purified by realm tribulation lightning, activated by the underground currents of spiritual energy, and revitalized from sheer vitality that radiated from Lex's body, the place had become a paradise.

The laws of the realm itself began to mold themselves around this place, marking it as one of the most historically important places in the existence of

the realm.

Amidst this cycle of destruction and rebirth, Lex grabbed Naraka and looked up

at the clouds once more, ignoring that one streak of sunlight shining down on him. It was his ninth and final lightning bolt. He had failed to even touch the tridents so far - at least if one didn't count the part where the trident crashed into him. This was his final chance. He would succeed.