Lord of the Time: I Can Reincarnate Infinitely

"So, you plan to use us as sacrifices for some kind of advancement?" Caleb asked, his voice tinged with bitterness.

The king nodded, his expression unapologetic. "Yes, that's correct. The path to power often requires sacrifices, and you happen to be a crucial part of the plan. Your energy, combined with the others, will propel me to the next realm of power."

Caleb's mind raced with thoughts of resistance and escape, but the king seemed to anticipate them. The oppressive aura surrounding the king hinted at powers beyond Caleb's comprehension.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"You may think it's unfair, but in the grand scheme of things, individual lives are insignificant compared to the greater good of the kingdom," the king continued, almost as if he was trying to justify his actions.

Caleb glared at the king. "Greater good? Is that what you call it? Sacrificing lives for your own ambitions? You're no different from the monsters in the stories."

The king chuckled, seemingly amused by Caleb's defiance. "Call it what you will. The strong thrive, and the weak perish. It's the way of the world."

As the king spoke, Caleb's mind raced, searching for any glimmer of hope. The fate of becoming a sacrifice for someone else's power was a grim prospect, but he also knew that there was no way he would be able to escape.

"Is there no way out of this? No alternative? I mean, you know. I still want to live if there's a way," Caleb asked with a sigh. After all, there are just too many benefits waiting for him in this world.

The king's gaze hardened. "Once the gears of fate are set in motion, they cannot be easily reversed. You are but a pawn in this grand game, and your purpose is clear."

"You're really a power-hungry kind of person." Caleb's gaze narrowed, his mind grappling with the information the king had revealed earlier. "So, you've been hunting down people for a century, trying to force them to Tier 6 of the Shadow Path, and they all ended up dead?"

The king nodded, a hint of frustration crossing his features. "Yes, it's a delicate process. The side effects of the Shadow Path are too intense for most. Madness, physical deterioration, and death are common outcomes. Only those five," he gestured towards the silent, emaciated figures in the adjacent cells, "managed to endure and ascend."

Caleb couldn't help but feel a mixture of pity and horror for the prisoners. The idea of being trapped in a dungeon for a century, struggling with the effects of an unforgiving path, was chilling.

"Why me?" Caleb questioned his tone a blend of defiance and curiosity. "What makes you think I can withstand it when others couldn't?"

The king regarded Caleb with an assessing gaze. "You're different. I sensed something unique about your spirit when I first saw you. There's resilience, a strength that might just be the key to overcoming the side effects. I need someone who can endure, someone who won't crumble under the weight of the Shadow Path."

'Fuck! So he sensed my high spiritual attribute!?' Caleb's eyes narrowed skeptically. "And if I refuse? What if I don't want to be part of your twisted plan?"

The king sighed, almost disappointed. "Refusing is not an option. Your destiny is entwined with mine now. The Shadow Path demands its toll, and you may be the missing piece I've been searching for all these years. Embrace it, and you might find a power beyond your wildest imagination."

Caleb gritted his teeth, his frustration boiling over. "You're playing with people's lives like they're expendable pawns in your game. This isn't power; it's madness!"

The king's gaze remained steady, unyielding. "In the pursuit of greatness, sacrifices must be made. You can choose to resist, but it won't change your fate. The Shadow Path has a way of claiming those destined for it."

Just like that, the king didn't give him the chance for Caleb to talk anymore. He couldn't wait to achieve his next realm. His plans had been going on for hundreds, if not thousands, of years now. He had needed to pretend to be a prince just for his plans. Yet, he ascended as a king, but he didn't accomplish it due to the difficulty of nurturing a person to become Tier 6 Destiny of the Shadow Path.

It not only requires talent. But also enough willpower to endure the horrendous side effects. For hundreds of years, he had let scientists in the kingdom determine how to improve the success rate of becoming a Destiny.

Ultimately, it all led to one conclusion. Spiritual power or soul power. It's an innate quality present to every creature. It's already determined since birth and there's no way to change it. It's predetermined. It is also this 'Spiritual Power' that determines the comprehension, logic, memory, willpower, perception, etc... Of a person.

That's why there are some people who could train in martial arts techniques and study better than others. They are the so-called geniuses. But in the end, it turned out that what made them genius was mostly directly proportional to their 'Spiritual Power' that determines their future achievements in a given field. They had inherent advantages over those with lower spiritual attributes.

Creatures aren't born equal. There are some who were born with a higher spiritual or soul power than others. Due to this, he let the people under him study how to determine one's spiritual power, so he wouldn't have to blindly do trial and error and waste time observing if a person is talented or not.

They managed to develop a pupil technique for him so he would be able to determine the amount of a person's spiritual power.

In the long years that he was alive. He saw a lot of geniuses. Dragon among the carp. He also saw those bound to be mediocre in their life. In years, it proved that those with higher spiritual power could advance in any kind of field or aspect than those with lower than theirs.

Of course, there are also some instances that a person with lower spiritual power manages to surpass a person with higher spiritual power through sheer efforts and excellent character.