[A tear in space suddenly appeared in the sky above the Solstice Family stronghold, and from it emerged an enormous black tentacle, writhing with dark energy as it shot down toward you and Evangeline.]
[Without hesitation, you raised your hand and activated your Divine Domain: Invisible Field. Opening your palm and aiming it at the massive black tentacle, you unleashed a wave of invisible force.]
[The force, infused with your existence erasure ability, surged from your palm, colliding with the Outer God's tentacle.]
[As the two forces made contact, the invisible force began to erode the tentacle, slowly erasing it from existence.]
[Although you couldn't fully erase the Outer God itself—as you quickly realized he was two stages stronger than you, at the Median True God Peak Stage while you were only at the Median True God Intermediate Stage—your attack was still powerful enough to completely erase the invading tentacle.]
[The sky crackled with tension as the remnants of the tentacle disintegrated into nothingness, leaving you and Evangeline momentarily safe from the immediate threat.]
[Evangeline's expression was filled with anger as she gritted her teeth, "Kania... That bastard has truly betrayed humanity. To think he would defect to the Outer God's side like this... I had my suspicions, but now it's confirmed."]
[You nodded, your face grim. "Yeah, it looks like it. And that tentacle attack from the Outer God? That was probably just a warning. A 'hey, stop peeping at me and my new bro Kania having fun' message."]
[Your voice dripped with sarcasm as you said the last part.]
[Evangeline clenched her fists. "How could Kania stoop so low? A god who once stood as a protector of the world now allies himself with the very thing that seeks to destroy it... It's disgusting."]
["It is," you agreed. "But right now, the last thing we need is to piss off the Outer God any more than we already have. That attack was just a small taste of his power. If we provoke him further, it'll be a full-scale battle, and I'm not ready for that yet." You let out a sigh, the weight of the situation pressing down on you.]
[Evangeline frowned, concern in her eyes. "So what do we do? We can't just sit here and wait for them to finish their... 'fun'."]
[However, during that year, something unexpected happened.]
[An old monk, whose avatar was a golden buddha, managed to reach Zenith without using any avatar crystals at all. He did it solely by cultivating his mind and soul through intense meditation.]
[This revelation changed everything, and you and Evangeline immediately sought out the old monk to consult him about his methods.]
[After consulting the monk and traveling across the Avatar World to study different methods, you and Evangeline discovered two ways to improve the power of an avatar without relying on avatar or celestial crystals.]
[The first method was to cultivate the mind and soul through deep meditation, achieving a state of peace and inner clarity. Through this path, the mind and soul could be refined, allowing an avatar to grow in strength.]
[The downside to this method was the sheer amount of time it took. The old monk had spent decades in meditation, and only when he reached eighty-three years of age did he finally attain Zenith.]
[In the previous timeline, Evangeline had killed the monk when he was eighty-two, long before he reached that level, so she never considered him a threat.]
[The second method was more brutal—forcing the avatar master to endure extreme hardships and near-death experiences.]
[This method stimulated the avatar's potential by pushing the mind and soul to their limits, forcing growth through suffering. Torture, for instance, could be used to unlock this potential, provided the avatar master survived and overcame the ordeal.]
[Despite the effectiveness of these two methods, neither was perfect.]
[The first was too slow, and the second too dangerous. But both offered a way forward, especially given the major issue that you and Evangeline faced.]
[That issue was the transfer of your godhead to Evangeline.]