Once Leon had accepted the mysterious elf woman as his master, his life became much better.
The elf woman, who introduced herself only as his 'Master', explained that there were two paths to power. She had once been a promising mage herself, a prodigy among the elves. But she was betrayed by a jealous rival, who used a forbidden curse to shatter her mana pathways, permanently severing her connection to the world's magic.
Cast out and powerless, she refused to fade into obscurity. Her desperation led her to ancient, forgotten texts, where she discovered the Divine Titan Body Sutra—a path to power that relied not on external energy, but on the universe contained within one's own flesh and blood.
"Your body," the master said, her eyes gleaming, "has no channels for mana. It's a sealed fortress. But that same fortress is the most fertile ground I have ever seen for cultivating the Titan's strength. Your aptitude isn't zero, boy. For this path, it is infinite."
And so, Leon's training began.
While his master had taken three centuries to master the first level of the Sutra, Leon did it in ten years. He shattered boulders with a punch, ran faster than the wind, and his skin became tougher than steel. The name "Ironfinger" was born when he casually flicked an incoming tsunami and sent it flying the opposite way.
He even grew very close to his master, but never dared to take the final step to ask her. His heart had completely shut down after receiving the news of Vanessa's marriage years ago.
In a thousand years, he had surpassed his master in every way. He had reached the ninth level of the Sutra, while his master was still stuck on the sixth. One day, seeing the immense power he now wielded, his master spoke more of the betrayal that had defined her life. With Leon by her side, she felt confident enough to seek closure. They left their seclusion and journeyed to the elven capital, seeking the woman who had cursed her.
Their quest, however, ended not with a bang but a whimper. They found the rival's name in the city's archives, listed in the registry of the dead. She had died of old age more than two centuries prior, a quiet end for a life of jealousy. Staring at the faded ink, Leon's master let out a long, slow breath, a thousand years of bitterness seeming to evaporate with it. There was no revenge to be had, no justice to be served. Time had already claimed its due. They returned to their mountain, the last of his master's worldly attachments finally severed.
With the willingness to seek revenge gone, the elf woman finally started showing signs of aging. She was a being of immense wisdom and power, but she was limited by her own vessel. Her body, naturally attuned to mana, could never fully embrace the principles of the Titan. On her deathbed, her body failing, she held Leon's hand.
"Master, do not worry. You will be better soon. We will cultivate again tomorrow. I will let you punch me as hard as you can, and I will stumble back as well. So please..."
"My stupid Ironfinger, still saying such things." She said with a giggle on her face, which was slightly wrinkled but still extremely beautiful.
"Master...." Leon tears threatened to spill out anytime.
"Listen to me, my dream is now yours," she whispered, a sad smile on her face. "You have the talent I never did. Don't let my regrets become yours. Reach the final level. Show the heavens... show them what a true body cultivator can do."
"And remember, I will always be proud of you. Go on now, the world is still yours for the taking."
With that, grasping Leon's hands as tightly as she could, she finally passed away.
That day was the second day Leon had cried. Tears streamed uncontrollably down his face as he lost the only one he could call his own in the world.
After burying his master, Leon felt a profound emptiness. His home planet held nothing for him but painful memories. His power was already threatening to burst out at any moment, and it was becoming more and more dangerous to keep on practicing. With a heavy heart, he left with a locket containing his master's picture, traveling through the void to search for a place where he could train without restraint.
He found it in this desolate, nameless world. A planet of rock and silence, a perfect crucible for his final transformation. For nine thousand years, he sat, he trained, he bled, and he pushed his body past every conceivable limit, all in a very controlled fashion so as not to destroy the place.
All of this culminated on this very day, when the final shackle broke, and the world saw the Divine Titan for the first time.
End of flashback
-------------------
As Leon kept reminiscing about his past, the silence of the mountaintop was broken by a soft, chiming sound that seemed to emanate from the fabric of space itself. Leon didn't even open his eyes. The memory of his master's passing had left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he was in no mood for visitors.
He had absolutely no interest in knowing what it had come here for.
"Leave," he said, his voice low and cold.
"That's a rather rude way to greet a visitor, don't you think?" a voice replied. It was smooth, ancient, and carried an undercurrent of amusement.
Leon opened his eyes. Before him stood a being woven from starlight and nebulae, its form vaguely humanoid but its face a shifting kaleidoscope of galaxies. It wore a simple white robe that rippled as if touched by a solar wind.
The being's cosmic face settled into an expression of pure astonishment. "Incredible... truly incredible. A mortal, a human, has reached the precipice of Origin. Your strength... it rivals the most powerful beings on this universe."
"How did you accomplish this?"