I interpreted, "You people are beings who are unbounded. You are origin entities. There is no need for you beings to falter over anything. So, why would you choose to retire in the first place?!"

Dark reigner responded, "Can you guess what my age is ever since I gained consciousness?!"

I attempted, "Maybe a hundred or two hundred million years?!!!"

He corrected me, "One hundred trillion years... I am nearly that many years old!"

My hunch was an 'over-underestimation'. One hundred trillion years way too greater than one hundred million years. Its two constants above. My mouth was stuck open in excessive shock. It felt like being struck by lightning.

He continued, "Now, tell me... After living for that many years, do you think we won't have a change of heart?!"

I agreed, "Yes, I understand. But, what is the true reason for the rise of such thoughts? There must have been a reason for your decision about descending from your thrones taking into account that you are origin entities!!"

He began to elaborate, "We origin entities played a huge role in maintaining the power balance, and we also played a huge part in game of the fake gods. But, as the entirety of existence continued to expand, our authorities also expanded. It pushed us past our body limits. Nothing in the entirety of existence is infinite. It's just that, it can not be counted. We continued to become more superior but our bodies were beginning to show some side effects. We realised that we can not extend our limits forever. So, the only way to continue the power balance and the flow of existence was to descend from our thrones and entrust our authorities and sovereignties to whom we can see fit!"

I interrupted, "Wait, if those grand laws were your future successors, then how did I get involved when I am not even one of those three?"

He mentioned, "Once again, we left the task of finding successors to Kriassilis. He came up with a project, a new game namely 'The Unbounded'!"

[Damn it... He is ignoring me.]

"The name indicated that beings who would succeed in reaching the end of this game will have the chance to become the apex entities and get authority over lesser beings. In the first test, the players were sent from lower sub-realms to medium sub-realms to survive for a year. We chose worlds that were filled with evil entities. Many cultivators failed the first test due to their body limitations. The disadvantage of cultivation is that it has certain limitations!"

[True, I read the same thing in many wuxia novels.]

"One cannot surpass his or her own limits if he or she does not have the insight to overcome the wall that is blocking the breakthrough. That was the first time every cultivator realised that it is impossible to grow their power past the limits of an individual's knowledge. Only thirty percent of the players cleared the first test. Each player who cleared the first test was rewarded with limit-extending capsules that would push a cultivator's body past its limits!"

[That must have given hope for the cultivators to reach new heights.]

"... Yes, the players in the game were so hyped up for the second test after receiving such rewards. This time, we announced the rewards for the second test via the system!"

[Why would you announce everything before the main quest?]

"While many cultivators were jumping in happiness for reaching new heights, there were also some whose bodies didn't make many changes. They weren't strong enough even after absorbing the limit-extending capsules. Such cultivators need something to keep them from dropping out of the quest. So, we announced the reward for the second test. We declared through the system that players who ace the second test would receive the authority to convert all kinds of energies into their internal energy!"

[If That's the case, then even I would get pumped up if I am my demon-god self. Oops... What am I talking about? Even when I was a Demon god, my power source was mana and not internal energy. And I was a tyrant in that higher sub-realm.]

"But still, we counted up to ten thousand cultivators who quit in the middle and there were still six hundred thousand cultivators who decided to move forward in the second quest. The quest for the second test was to reign supreme over the mid-level sub-realms and ascend to the higher sub-realms. Players were given the chance to quit whenever they want. We can not let those poor dwellers die just because we want some talented souls for our succession!"

[Yeah, that makes sense.]

"The players' count began to decrease as the second test became harder and harder. Players were forcefully sent back to their respective worlds in the lower sub-realms when they were inches away from death. Only ten thousand and seventy-nine cultivators did ace the second test!"

[The test sure was hard, huh?]

"Still, people who barely managed to pass the second test were advised to quit the quest since the minimum requirement for entering the third and final test was to attain tons of internal energy greater than the power of a god in the mid-level sub-realms. Totally, seven thousand one hundred nine cultivators moved to the third test in 'The Unbounded'. Other cultivators left the game after receiving their rewards!"

[If my guess is correct, then the third test's objective must have been to survive in the higher sub-realms.]

"You are totally wrong. The task to complete the third test was not to survive but to get acknowledgement from top entities of the higher sub-realms like gods and become one of them.

[There were two tasks in the third test?]

"Yes, that was the main reason that we warned all the cultivators before the test... As the test progressed further, cultivators began to quit the game. They realised that might is not the only principle that would make a person get acknowledged or become a god. At last, only five people remained!"

[Three of them must have been the grand law trio, huh?]

"Well, you are not wrong but the other two were no joke either. We took all five of them to the neutral dimension and told them the true reason for this game. They became spellbound and one of the five gave up his opportunity to inherit sovereignty, but instead of inheritance, he asked for authority to rule over wicked gods!"

[Wicked gods?]

"Just because a person is called a god doesn't mean he would always be good and generous. Some gods are greedy, selfish, stubborn, ruthless and persistent!"

[That's a well-defined point.]

"Since he passed the third test, we had no choice but to reward him. He already proved himself as a god in the higher sub-realms. The remaining four cultivators stood silent!"

[Then what about the other person who didn't belong to the grand law trio?]

"Out of the grand law trio, the fourth cultivator was a male goblin who was born with the ability to convert mana into internal energy. He was more than a hundred years old and his body had already reached the ceiling of his limits!"

[Was he from the realm of the living?]

"Yes..., trying to inherit our sovereignty will only result in instant death when there is no remaining potential. So, we told him everything and he agreed without any objection. His main objective was to prove the worth of his race. So, we blessed him to remain a god in all three realms for ten million years!"

[Three realms in the sense, the absolute abyss, the realm of the living and the afterlife?]

"Yes!"

[Then, that's when you people took in each member of the grand laws trio as your disciples?]

"Yes. It took ten million years for them to manifest our powers to their potential. And the fourth cultivator who was a goblin and became a god during 'The Unbounded' already resigned from his authority!"

[... That long?]

"Right after they mastered our powers and authorities, we descended from our thrones and entrusted our roles to them. Everything went on smoothly!"

I interacted with him in between the revelation in my mind. But the last part sounded a bit off. I asked him directly, "Wait, I am starting to feel doubtful again. If you had already descended from the throne and entrusted everything to your successor, then why call yourself an origin entity even now?!"

...

Dark reigner gave a slight pause and said, "That's when everything turned upside down!"

I became puzzled, "What do you mean by saying everything turned upside down? I am sorry, but I am unable to follow you. So, can you please elaborate on the sentence you spoke just now?!"

...

Once again, dark reigner gave a pause. But, it was a huge pause. I attempted, "Umm... Mr Madrona?"

"The origin entities who were our successors killed each other...!", he said.

"!!!!", I shook at his response.

[What the hell is he saying? The origin entities killed each other? No, I must have heard it wrong.]

Dark reigner responded all of a sudden while I was in mixed thoughts, "No, you heard that right!"

He said it again in the same way, "The origin entities who were our successors killed each other...!"

…