Rowan stepped out of the swirling vortex and back into the Marvel world. The familiar quiet of his private training chamber greeted him. He reached out and tapped against the smooth vibranium wall. At once, a hidden compartment slid open.

A golden gem floated forward, shining faintly in the dim light the Mind Stone.

Rowan had kept the other Infinity Stones carefully hidden here as well. The Tesseract and the Reality Stone rested in separate compartments within the wall, each sealed away under multiple layers of protection.

He sat cross-legged on the polished floor, letting his breathing settle. The Mind Stone floated upward, guided by his telekinetic control, until it hovered directly before his brow. At the same time, he drew out the strange treasure he had received the white lotus that radiated a fragrance so pure it seemed to cleanse the soul.

He placed it in his mouth. Unlike the fiery medicinal herbs he had consumed before, the lotus dissolved instantly, transforming into a cool, flowing current. That gentle stream rose into his head, circling his mind in waves of refreshing clarity.

Rowan's senses sharpened. The world around him became impossibly clear, his thoughts quicker, sharper, alive with a brilliance that had not been there moments before.

And deep within, his sea of consciousness began to change.

The cool energy from the lotus merged with his mental power. What had once been a vast, misty ocean of liquid spiritual force began to swirl, pulled into a great vortex. The currents spun faster and faster, like a galactic whirlpool devouring all the haze of untamed thought.

Within minutes, every last wisp of mist had been consumed. Only a massive vortex remained, rotating endlessly. Then even that collapsed, shrinking under the pressure of its own force.

Compression. Shock. Compression again.

The whirlpool condensed to its absolute limit, until at last it shattered with a deafening inner roar, like the birth of a new cosmos.

When Rowan's awareness steadied, he found his inner world changed beyond recognition. The sea of consciousness was empty, save for a single luminous sphere at its core.

It shone like a star, wrapped in a delicate halo of light. Beneath the glow, its structure was crystalline countless translucent pyramids fused together into the shape of a perfect planet.

A pulse of invisible force radiated outward.

With every slow rotation of that mental planet, a strange magnetic field extended through Rowan's body, filling his limbs, then spilling into the world beyond.

He recognized it instantly. This was the gravitational field unique to planetary-class warriors and mentalists. His dantian already housed a fiery red planet that generated the same field for his physical power. Now his mental strength had reached the same stage.

"It worked," Rowan whispered, delight flooding his chest. "From this moment on, my psychic power has broken through to the planetary rank."

With a thought, he released streams of energy from the light sphere. They poured through his body, igniting transformation.

Bone marrow thickened, tendons and muscles toughened, even the skin grew resilient. Though not as drastic as when a martial artist advanced to the planetary level, the metamorphosis was still profound.

He smiled faintly. "This feels good."

When the strengthening ended, Rowan clenched his fists and felt the surge of raw strength coursing within. His body had reached at least the level of planetary rank two.

On Earth, there were fifty-two members of the global council, most of whom were still stuck at planetary rank one. With a single breakthrough, Rowan had already surpassed nearly all of them.

To test his power, he struck the vibranium wall.

A loud crash shook the chamber, followed by glowing numbers appearing across the impact point.

3,801,030 kilograms.

"Over three thousand eight hundred tons," Rowan murmured, lips curling into a grin. "That's planetary rank two strength already."

And more was possible.

Rowan's gaze fell on the Mind Stone still floating before him. A flash of inspiration lit his eyes.

He remembered the Stone could enhance his mental power. In the past, bottlenecks had slowed his progress, but now he had crossed into the planetary realm. The barrier was gone. In theory, he could climb all the way to planetary rank nine without pause.

"Let's try it."

Sitting straight once more, he linked his spirit to the Stone. A bridge of golden light stretched between his forehead and the gem.

This time, power poured into him without resistance. It was pure, condensed thought made manifest, more refined than anything he could draw from the universe itself.

The luminous sphere in his mind swelled, glowing brighter until it could hold no more. Then, beside it, a second sphere condensed into being.

Small at first, it orbited the larger one like a planet around a star. Rowan watched, awestruck, as it grew under the ceaseless flow of golden light.

Soon it rivaled its predecessor in size. Then a third was born.

Rowan let out a stunned laugh. He had already reached planetary rank three. Yet the Stone did not stop.

One by one, new spheres ignited within his consciousness, each orbiting in a grand cosmic dance.

He finally understood. The leap from rank one to rank nine was not a matter of breaking barriers but of accumulation. With the Mind Stone feeding him power, there was no limit until he reached the edge of planetary mastery itself.

His heart raced at the thought. If the Stone could carry him to planetary rank nine, what about beyond? What if, one day, after he stepped into the stellar realm, he could use it to surge all the way to stellar rank nine in one sweep?

His mind flashed to the golden-horned beast an apex predator even in its infancy. The mere thought of it had once filled him with caution. But if he could fight as a stellar rank nine psychic with the aid of his treasures, perhaps even that monster would fall before him.

A smile curved his lips.

Time slipped by as the golden radiance continued to flow.

When dawn's first light spilled into the chamber, Rowan's eyes snapped open. The glow of the Mind Stone dimmed to its usual brilliance, as if it had given nothing away at all.

But inside him, his consciousness roared like an ocean of endless energy.

"Planetary rank nine," Rowan whispered, voice trembling with exhilaration. "The peak."

The light in his eyes was so sharp, it seemed almost tangible.

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