Han Chen reached the peak of the mountain with steady breath, the final step sending a ripple through the air around him. In a dizzying blink, the fiery volcanic terrain gave way, replaced by the gentle sway of grass and the myriad colors of countless blooming flowers beneath a sun hanging motionless in the sky.
Han Chen sat silently on the grass, fatigue ebbing from his limbs as a familiar voice echoed. "Before Deity Transformation realm," the voice began, "the body of a cultivator remains mortal in essence. Only spiritual energy serves to fortify the body. Should this spiritual energy be sealed away, even a cultivator who has reached Deity Formation reverts back to mortality. For this reason, cultivators seek many ranks of Gu—ranging from rank one to rank six—to strengthen their mortal shells."
The voice continued patiently, "Among the thirty-eight thousand seven hundred and sixteen challengers, only two thousand remain. All are refining these Gu from the restriction mountain. But worry not. This land is my blessed domain. If I desire, you can refine even rank six Gu as a mere mortal, not to mention rank five or below."
A surge of spiritual wind swept through the grasslands, ruffling Han Chen's long hair like a living current."What abundant spiritual energy," Han Chen murmured, marveling at the power wrapped around him.
From his Sea of Consciousness, Yue Ruo's voice rose softly with concern: "Master, do not refine these Gu worms! No matter what, I am eighty percent certain that 'Wang Zhen' is not dead. He aims to breakthrough the Deity Transformation and requires body cultivator essence—refined through these Gu—to forge a Celestial Body."
She paused, her tone lowering, laced with warning."The first trial strengthened your soul. The second trial stabilized it through alchemy. The last, restriction mountain, sharpened your soul's essence further. Those who pass have the greatest chance to become body cultivators. But if you refine these Gu now, your body will begin to transform into a caterpillar. Wang Zhen will consume this to help refine his Celestial Body."
Han Chen paused, dumbfounded by the revelation. "How did you know of this? Why did you not warn me before?" he asked quietly.
Yue Ruo's voice was tinged with regret. "I suspected, but I did not think. This is the homeplanet of the Venerable Heaven-Desecrating Devil Immortal, and where this cultivation technique was developed. I was naïve to believe it would be simple."
Han Chen's mind raced as he processed the dire news."What now? Do I refine?" he asked, steadying his voice.
Yue Ruo's response was slow and weighted. "Do you know how I escaped the battlefield when the Heaven-Desecrating Devil Immortal fell? I was bound to the library and his remnant will. Lost, I wandered countless billions of years through space. I discovered the Heavenly Eye, which can tear portals between worlds. Fleeing those who hunted me, I escaped through this very portal. For millions of years after, I sought a successor to the Devil Immortal's will."
The words hung heavy."I found you," she whispered. "You resemble him too much—your ruthlessness, your nature, even your face. I chose you as successor. The Heavenly Eye followed me here."
A flicker of hope stirred in Han Chen's chest.
He closed his eyes, skin on his forehead splitting vertically once more, revealing the black sclera and violet pupil of the Heavenly Eye.
"Portal… open!" he commanded with conviction.
For a moment, nothing happened. The winds died and the flowers held their breath. Silence enveloped the vast grasslands.
...
Han Chen's frown deepened as the moments stretched by—nothing stirred, no portal opened."Why did nothing happen?" he muttered, the frustration coating his voice.
Yue Ruo's tone was steady but carried a weight of hard truths. "The Heavenly Eye's energy reserves are at rock bottom, and your cultivation isn't high enough to open portals between worlds."She paused, then added, "If you wish to open a portal relying on your cultivation alone, you'd have to reach Ascendent."
Han Chen's composure cracked; his brow knitted tightly as he bluntly said, "What did you say? Ascendent?!"
He paced briefly, voice rising, "If that's the case, why didn't any of you tell me before? I wouldn't have come to this world."His tone faltered with disbelief: "I can't believe I used a world portal to escape some peak Qi Condensation cultivators, only to land in the lair of a Deity Formation…"
Yue Ruo, her voice softer now, offered a glimmer of alternative hope. "There's another option. You can let the Heavenly Eye absorb one of the seven types of Qi: Wood, Earth, Metal, Fire, Water, Life, or Death Qi—charge it to 100%. For example, if it holds 100% Death Qi, you can use that to tear a portal regardless of your cultivation level."
She sighed, "But, once you return to your world, the Heavenly Eye's Death Qi will drop to zero again. Previously, when you arrived here, you depleted the Heavenly Eye's Wood Qi from 100% to nothing."
Han Chen's irritation flared. "This unreliable spirit—why didn't you tell me this before? Damn it." He massaged his brow, frustration heavy in his bones. "So how the hell do I get out?"
Yue Ruo appeared beside him, suddenly close, wrapping her arms lightly around him as she floated."Don't refine the Gu. Don't discard them either. Just do nothing while you are here," she instructed quietly.
"I believe when the time is right, he will teleport you out—and all two thousand remaining challengers will stand before him."
"After all, this is his blessed land. You cannot force actions here. You must wait for the moment the path opens." Han Chen exhaled sharply, conflicted yet strangely calmed by her presence.
He sat down amidst the grass, the still sun above, and closed his eyes, ready to endure the waiting game imposed by fate itself.
...
Han Chen sat with a sour mood settling deep like a weight pressing on his chest. The sensation was unmistakable—like being on a chopping board, fate held precariously in the hands of others. Each moment felt like a gamble with life and death balanced on a whim far beyond his control.
His greatest trump card, the Heavenly Eye, now seemed nothing more than a useless bead. Its power drained, its promise unfulfilled.
He sighed and leaned back, eyes narrowing as fragments of ancient memories flickered through his mind. "What is the most practical way to get out of here?" he questioned silently.
Slowly, his thoughts returned to the Legends of Yuan Zu—the primordial ancestor and the foundation of cosmic order. Yuan Zu's story had carried themes of sacrifice, transformation, and transcendence that echoed faintly in his current predicament.
In silence, Han Chen began to mull over every lesson and insight that the legend had whispered to him, hoping to find a path where none seemed visible.
<
One era passed—a span so immense that no chronicle could hold its measure—and from the depths of the cosmos, the fourth generation of Laws began to emerge, each born one by one.
The River of Time was no more, its unending current broken and scattered.
And the Laws of Infinite Energy and Infinite Mass born by the destruction of river of time, surged uncontrolled, pouring boundless power and matter into the fabric of existence.
To balance the chaos left by law of death and reincarnation's passing—rose the Law of Final Death. It decreed a stark truth: every being had but one life, and upon death, there was no rebirth, no afterlife—only absolute annihilation. This harsh decree was meant to protect the cosmos from catastrophic imbalance.
For if a powerful soul could die and be reborn, carrying memories and prowess into its next life, it risked accumulating all the cosmos' energy, becoming a tyrant capable of dominating all creation. Such a dictator would rend the already fragile universe asunder.
With the collapse of reincarnation and the disappearance of the Dao of Time, the Dao of Space seized supremacy. The Law of Space grew unchallenged, its domain extending as boundless as its wielder—Yuan Zu's eldest son, the Boundless Great Space.
He and his descendants rose to become the cosmos' mightiest race, rulers of space and masters over the infinite realms stretching beyond stars and voids. Their power shaped the fate of galaxies and the future of existence itself.
Called-Great Space Clan.
.
In the ever-expanding cosmos, lineage and legacy shaped the stars themselves.
The third son of Yuan Zu, the Primordial Yang Star, and his descendants rose to become the second mightiest race to traverse the cosmos! Their clan—known as the Origin Flame Clan—burned with fierce spirit and untamed power, a blazing force of creation and destruction.
Following closely were the Void Dragons, descendants of Yuan Zu's fifth daughter, the Great Verdant Dragon. Ancient and mysterious, they ruled the shadows and (!) 'realms between worlds', their scales shimmering with the essence of void and verdant life—the third mightiest race among the cosmos.
Beyond these, the Law of Final Death took Yuan Zu's blood essence once more and forged eight new lifeforms. These new creations joined the ranks of his children, enlarging the pantheon to eighteen great races—each a pillar of cosmic order, each bearing the mark of the Primordial Ancestor.
Together, the eighteen stood as the foundations of existence, their destinies intertwined, their fates written in the stars that Yuan Zu once guided.
...
After millennia adrift in the endless void, Boundless Great Space wandered into a realm unknown—a place reeking of the Laws of Mutation and Evolution. There, emerging from the dark, was a monstrous beast unlike any he had ever known.
The creature's form was hauntingly primal: it had two heads—one resembling a wolf, yet not a wolf, its visage twisted beyond recognition; the other like a bear, but not truly one, fierce and incomprehensible. Its forelegs bore four long claws textured like the eldest son's own body, the midnight dust of a starry night sky. Powerful muscles rippled across its hind legs, which ended not in claws but in hooves like those of a celestial steed, grounding it with unshakable strength. Its tail writhed, alive with the ethereal texture of a Void Dragon, its head darting and observing. The beast's body emitted a soft, moonlit glow mingled with a strange, alluring fragrance of mystery, while its eyes—greenish-yellow and cold—burned with the fierce light as of the third son, Primordial Yang Star.
When it growled, the void trembled. A thunderous sound rolled outward as an army of smaller, mutated beasts emerged behind it—clawing, snarling, countless in number. The central beast was as vast as a planet, alone yet commanding.
Boundless Great Space furrowed his brow. How had this strange race evolved so far, hidden from all eyes? Was it the chaos of the cosmos, now that even the Laws of Evolution and Mutation had perished? Since the fall of Yuan Zu, no Laws had ever appeared in mortal or immortal plane—only the Law of Final Death, when it came to deliver Yuan Zu's seven children condensed from his essence, after claiming one of the eight as the successor to his Law.
Before he could ponder further, the beasts lunged—a roaring maelstrom unleashed to test the very limits of the void.
...
The news spread like wildfire throughout the cosmos—Boundless Great Space, undefeated and unchallenged, was beaten back. The mutated beasts that emerged from the chaotic void had overwhelmed him, forcing a desperate retreat by tearing through the fabric of space itself.
In just three million years, these relentless creatures multiplied beyond imagination. Their ravages swept through the territories of nine of Yuan Zu's eighteen children. Battles raged fierce, and all suffered crushing defeats and devastating losses.
Among them, the fourth son, Wisdom, known more for strategy than strength, fell. Weakened by the brutal frontlines, he died with a prophecy on his lips—a dire warning. He foresaw the fall of territories, a loss so great it would consume 96% of all lands held by Yuan Zu's children. No force could halt the ceaseless advance of the mutated horde.
But Wisdom's final words held a flicker of hope.
He spoke of a time when the Yang would surge—combined with heavenly calamity and a strange mutated serpent bathed in the light of the void, would forge the legendary God Slaying Bracelet. This artifact would turn the tide, driving the beasts back, forcing them to retreat to the outer cosmos.
Until then, darkness reigned. And the cosmos trembled at the coming storm.
—--
-----TO BE CONTINUED-----