The Truth of Power, the End of the Stairway

"How many steps do you think there are from human to god?"

Knight Sister did not directly answer Bai Cangshu’s question. Instead, she asked him this.

Thanks to the Limit Break Spiral, Bai Cangshu’s ability to absorb and apply information already surpassed that of ordinary people.

Naturally, he understood what Knight Sister meant.

"You mean the so-called stairway is the process of going from human to god?"

He further inferred that the gods she spoke of definitely did not mean the gods found in most world settings.

After all, among the various derivative worlds faced by the Infinite Dimensional Space, so-called gods were hardly anything rare.

Gods were ultimately just special races with somewhat greater lifespans and power than humans. In other words, they were actually closer in concept to aliens.

It was only because mortals were weak that they added so much mystique and worship to these beings.

In certain specific world settings, gods were not necessarily all that powerful either.

Take Bai Cangshu’s current combat strength. If he returned to the Demon Slayer Spinoff World and called himself a god, who could refute him?

He could not be killed, could not be defeated, and the force unleashed by a flick of his finger was enough to blast nearly every enemy to death.

If he descended upon the world, he could end disasters that had lasted for centuries or millennia. Naturally, people would worship him as a god.

The god Knight Sister spoke of was perhaps closer to the gods within the Space Power System.

Based on Bai Cangshu’s current understanding;

Paper corresponded to the physical strength of most ordinary humans. Aside from the rare freaks blessed with extraordinary talent, nearly all reincarnators from the real world began at this level.

They possessed almost no supernatural power and relied entirely on weapons and techniques in battle. Only after obtaining modern weapons did they have the strength to fight most enemies.

Just as the name implied, they were as frail as a "blank sheet of paper."

Combined-tier reincarnators had already surpassed the limits of ordinary people. In a world of normal humans, they would be absolute anomalies. Those super-heavyweight boxing champions, elite soldiers proficient in assassination, and members of those supposedly existing hidden ancient martial arts families probably belonged to this level.

They could easily kill ordinary people in an instant, yet they still could not ignore the gap created by modern firearms. They were reincarnators transitioning from ordinary lifeforms into Supernatural Beings.

Strong-tier reincarnators had completely broken through the First Tier, transcending the shackles of the flesh. They had become extraordinary, their bodies truly beginning to surpass ordinary humans, making them entirely different beings from normal humanity.

They began to wield energy, release it, and use all manner of terrifying abilities. Reincarnators at this stage gradually began to escape the restrictions imposed by modern firearms in the real world.

One person was an army. In a small country like Myanmar, they could begin to run rampant without equal. In terms of individual strength, they could finally be called "strong."

Fierce-tier represented a sudden leap in power among reincarnators, and the number of reincarnators who reached this level dropped off like a cliff.

Those able to enter this level were still extremely rare in the Infinite Dimensional Space at its current stage. In most derivative worlds, they possessed the strength to become a major power in their own right.

One person could destroy a city, one strike could shatter a mountain, and they could completely ignore the threat of modern firearms. They were nearly impossible to restrain. Strong-tier reincarnators had almost no ability to resist Fierce-tier ones. Unless they had exceptionally favorable compatibility or possessed extremely high-level abilities and items, there was no possibility of killing one through numbers.

After Bai Cangshu activated Four Times Kaio-ken, he could enter this level of destructive power. He felt that in that state, with sheer strength and speed alone, he could easily kill the vast majority of Strong-tier reincarnators.

Even reincarnators at the upper-middle end of the Strong tier, such as Moon Demon and Flame Demon when he had first met them, could be easily defeated.

Of course, Bai Cangshu believed that he was stronger than ordinary reincarnators and Plot Characters who had just entered the Fierce tier. His high-level abilities and power systems were exceptionally abundant.

As for the Mad tier, an image appeared in Bai Cangshu’s mind: Tatsumaki the Terror and Spirit World Evil Lord Shigeo Kageyama battling fiercely in B711 World.

With a wave of their hands, they could tear an entire city apart. When they fought at full strength, the boundary between the world and the Spirit World would be broken.

Shifting tectonic plates and destroying nations were merely among the consequences of their clash.

They could not be measured by "reason," nor could they be predicted by common sense. They were "madness" beyond rationality.

That was probably the Mad tier. Eternal Destiny, who could escape alive from Tatsumaki in that state and fight her, likely belonged to this tier as well.

As for gods, all Bai Cangshu could think of now was Saitama, who overwhelmingly surpassed everyone else.

Bai Cangshu looked at his raised right hand. The first ring forged from purple traits on his arm was exceptionally clear, but the second ring was not yet complete.

"I remember you saying that this was God’s Staircase…"

Knight Sister nodded. In an incredibly short period, the reincarnator before her had already crossed stages that most reincarnators would never experience in their entire lives.

He had great potential! She did not mind explaining a little more.

Knight Sister raised her right hand as well. The silver gauntlet dissolved into specks of light piece by piece, revealing her smooth arm.

On that arm, Bai Cangshu saw rings upon rings, arranged in neat order.

Several red points of light dotted the purple rings. Most dazzling of all was the golden point of light on the incomplete fourth ring, shining brilliantly.

Knight Sister clenched her right hand, and all kinds of auras of power emerged. Bai Cangshu saw flying dragons rise, heard flood dragons hiss, and saw an undead knight wielding a frost Claymore raise its blade high as sinister magic froze everything.

The various auras and illusions finally collapsed back into Knight Sister’s body. At that moment, an oppressive force so terrifying it was almost unbearable appeared.

Mad!

Bai Cangshu’s muscles twitched almost instinctively, but in the next instant, intense magic power and Battle Aura nearly froze the entire End Management Office.

Even Bai Cangshu’s breathing stalled for an instant.

The next moment, everything returned to normal. Knight Sister lowered her right hand, and the gauntlet reassembled itself piece by piece around her arm.

"That is the stairway."

Bai Cangshu realized that the name of this stairway was remarkably fitting.

As the saying went, beneath every successful general lay ten thousand dead bones. Within the Infinite Dimensional Space, every powerhouse who reached the summit had been forged from the corpses of even more brilliant powerhouses from different worlds and eras.

After every person with rare talent fell in defeat, they became a step for reincarnators to climb toward a higher stage.

The light in Bai Cangshu’s eyes gradually receded. He seemed regretful, almost sighing, wishing he could immediately reach Knight Sister’s realm.

"Then what is the difference between God’s Staircase and the Stairway of Spirit and Flesh?"

Knight Sister had already walked up to Bai Cangshu. She was petite and had to tilt her head up, yet her bearing made it seem as though she were looking him straight in the eye.

"Because no one knows what lies at the end of power, and no one knows whether power even has an end."

"So all of us are actually chasing an illusory limit of godhood."

"Without purpose, without knowing whether we are right or wrong, without ever growing tired."

Knight Sister looked at Bai Cangshu. A trace of confusion seemed to flash through her eyes, and Bai Cangshu became completely certain that the NPCs in the Space’s various institutions truly existed.

Or rather, if NPCs could be like this—having their own pursuits, personalities, and emotions—then there was no difference between them and humans.

"God’s Staircase is the endless upward stairway of every aimless seeker. We continuously use corpse after corpse as bricks, allowing us to climb forever upward, higher and higher!"

"Until… we become bricks for the next seeker."

"And along this process, on rare—extremely rare—occasions, someone finds a definite endpoint."

"Though they may stand at different heights, those endpoints all correspond to the ultimate limit of a certain path."

Bai Cangshu lowered his head and looked at the illusory vein on his hand, faintly embedded in his body.

The Stairway of Spirit and Flesh… the endpoints of the soul and body?!