MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin
Chapter 178 CH 172: WHAT IS NEEDED FOR THE NEXT LEVEL

Looking at his stats, Adam couldn't help but feel slightly misty-eyed. From the measly rank of F, he had climbed all the way up to this point in a matter of a few weeks.

In a way, everything went by so fast that he was not able to tell if it was real or not. He had only awakened on the 1st of November. All in all, in the real world, barely a month had gone past since his awakening. But for him, it felt like an eternity had passed at that time.

3 weeks, to be precise. In three weeks he changed so much, died over and over again, went through an entire life of his own, lived through the adventure of the Buddha, faced a Demon Prince from hell, killed hundreds of people, and did so much more.

He discovered that he wasn't just a normal human but the son of the second man to have ever existed in this world. His biological mother was the heiress of some super hidden Japanese noble clan and his adopted mom was some kind of badass berserker warrior who once stood at the top of the food chain.

Moving to the bed, Adam lay down and quietly looked at the ceiling above his head.

It hadn't been easy for him. There were many moments when he contemplated giving up altogether. But he could not, would not give up on this life that he earned through his suffering. He knew very well that even if he played the ostrich and buried his head in the ground, the problems he was facing wouldn't magically vanish into thin air. So, it was time for him to tackle them one at a time.

[Congratulations. You are finally near the door.]

Adam sighed and grinned, "Thanks."

If he was free to do as he wished, he would simply sleep all night or go celebrate to his heart's content. But that was an ideal future that had no chance of transpiring in this life.

"How do I go from here?"

[This will be complicated. Once you reach the A+ rank your soul, mind, and Prana will have reached the theoretical limit of a mortal. Making your vessel completely full. This is where a great many stop their journey. You could say it's equal to the limit of the mortal body at D+ for humans.]

"But… What if I buy more skills."

[Nothing much will change, in fact. Buying skills will increase the width of your abilities but it will not increase the upper limit of your powers. Of course, with enough skills, you may be able to fight far above your rank but that is not something that you should aim for.]

"Heh, like in Xianxia?"

[...]

"You really cannot take a joke, huh."

[I can do anything. Your jokes are not registered as funny in my understanding, however.]

"Damn. This was a good burn."

Adam laughed lightly but soon got into serious mode, "I suppose you don't advise doing this?"

[Indeed. Fighting above your rank is certainly useful and something you will need to be able to do. But the more you strain your vessel the higher the chance of you failing at the most important moment of your life, the moment that will define your entrance to a higher level of existence. What you need to do is to open either the Earth Star Chakra or the Soul Star Chakra. You can also call it the Gate of Truth.]

"So, that's what Medusa meant back then, huh?"

[Who are you? This is the most important question for a mortal seeking the road to eternity. It's through an innate understanding of who you are that you can open yourself to a higher level and surpass the limit of your mortal existence and transcend into the realm of Eternals. Another way of doing so is artificially breaking the limit by using external help.]

Adam thought mused in his mind before speaking, "Divine weapon?"

[Divine weapon, bloodline, or even a contract with a Celestial being. The difference between those who truly opened the gate and those who need help to reach that level need not be stated, I suppose…]

"I guess this is where enlightenment comes into the equation."

[Indeed. I may repeat myself, but had you followed Buddha, you would have skipped all of the steps and would have transcended into a Celestial being already. But it's still commendable that you were able to reach the Awakening stage in such a short time. You only need one more step and reach the Revelation.] [1]

The seven stages of enlightenment were: Common Sense → Awakening → Revelation → The Great Work → Illumination. Transfiguration → Cosmic Consciousness.

When living through the life of Buddha, Adam vaguely remembered going through all the steps up to the Cosmic Consciousness part and basically assimilated himself with the Celestial entity called Buddha. He had instinctively rejected this and even now, he did not regret this decision of his.

[Either way, going through a Revelation and truly understanding who you are will make you cross the Gate of Truth and open the Chakra.]

"Can I pay it with Karma?"

[Without even talking about the exorbitant price you are certainly unable to pay, doing so would be no different from using an external means. Truth be told, this will not affect your growth. But you will always be weaker than those at the same level. Of course, the choice between the two will only matter if you amass enough Karma.]

Adam nodded and turned around. It seemed like even as a Pay to Win, there were some events he could not pass through with the money, or rather, he simply wasn't rich enough. He was nothing more but a pitiful dolphin in a sea filled with whales and even leviathans.

'The grind life never ends, it seems.'

He wasn't even allowed to be happy for long about finally climbing a mountain as he was now told that there were innumerable more mountains to climb.

But Adam did not complain about any of that.

A man should stick to the choice he has made and fight the obstacles on his way in order to reach the destination he wishes to reach.

In order to live happily, he needed the strength to defend this happiness and make sure that even when his identity was finally revealed, no one would dare to think of attacking him or treating him like prey.

His expression became cold as he made up his mind once again.

"Hey, Genesis. You once said if I instilled fear in many people I would receive even more Karma, right?"

[Indeed.]

Adam sighed and put on the pair of glasses he received from Nikola. Scrolling up, he could see the information on all the different gang members that would be present at the scene.

The target had a very large mansion on the outskirts of the city, there would be few to no potential witnesses.

His eyes shone lightly as he made his final decision.

He wouldn't just kill them… Since he had decided to go all out, he would make sure to become their worst nightmares before ending their lives.

Only then would he be able to squeeze them of their full worth.

[1]: You can reread CH 38: BODHI (2)

(AN: Haha I hope you will like the incoming arc. I wanna show how scary Adam can be with his current arsenal.)