But I ignored everything and focused on my breath. Soon, my fire grew stronger with a rush of energy. I managed to balance my inhale and exhale. Not wanting to miss this chance, I used all my power to pause at that moment, stopping at the intersection of inhale and exhale; I halted right in between, at that point between life and death. My gut feeling reached its peak, and then something indescribable happened.
"HOST STOP IMMEDIATELY"
"DING HOST IS TRYING TO BREAK TABOOS OF MULTIVERSE."
"DING HOST HAS BEEN TARGETED BY HEAVENLY DAO; HOST MAY FACE HEAVENLY LIGHTNING SOON."
"DING HOST HAS BEEN TARGETED BY GREAT DAO; HOST MAY FACE GREAT DAO TRIBULATION SOON."
"DING HOST HAS BEEN TARGETED BY GODS; HOST MAY FACE WRATH OF GODS SOON."
"DING HOST HAS BEEN TARGETED BY IMMORTALS; HOST MAY FACE IMMORTALS SOON."
"DING HOST HAS BEEN TARGETED BY PRIMORDIALS,..."
"DING HOST HAS BEEN TARGETED BY CELESTIALS,..."
"DING HOST HAS BEEN TARGETED BY EL@#@#$%,..."
"DING HOST HAS BEEN TARGETED BY $#^%%^**,…..."
"DING HOST HAS FORCEFULLY AWAKENED KU#$%#*&* ENERGY; HOST HAS PROVOKED THIS ENERGY."
I heard many system announcements, but I could not read or hear them clearly. I knew something had gone wrong. I struggled to describe my feelings; they were beyond words, but I felt as if I had done something that shouldn't have happened. Everything felt unreal to me. My progress to the next realm stopped. I don't know why, but even the excess energy that had been raging like a wild bull fell silent as if it had never existed.
Considering this, I slowly opened my eyes. As my surroundings came into focus, I felt as if there were no secrets hidden from my sight. More surprising was that the entire world before me felt like it was frozen in time.
Looking up at the sky, I saw countless flashes of lightning and dark clouds stretching across the heavens. This wasn't the end; I noticed other phenomena such as space cracks, fire pillars, golden spears, bone swords, giant palms, and tentacles. I couldn't count them all, and it felt as if everything in existence wanted me dead.
I sensed that if I tried to get closer to these attacks or phenomena, I would die. But something felt different about myself. I felt as if I could make these attacks disappear with a single thought. In fact, I felt like I could erase the source of these attacks with just one thought. Realizing this, I turned my gaze to my disciples. Lu Xiaoran and Roman had just finished their morning routine and were now practicing silently.
Seeing them, I perceived more than ever before. I could even glimpse into their fate, understanding their past, present, and future, and I realized I could alter their fates with just a thought. I clearly saw that their destinies were tied to an outside force, like a dying star slowly dimming. Feeling this new power, I couldn't define it. I tried to ask the system for clarification, but no response came despite calling out multiple times.
Right now, I was in a unique state where the world, as far as my thoughts reached, felt paused in time. This feeling was strong. I didn't sense myself as some kind of supreme being. I felt complete, truly complete. At that moment, I had no desire to gain anything, nor did I fear anything; I was just whole.
While I was in this state of thought, something happened—something indescribable. I felt as if my mind expanded. My consciousness became so strong that I felt every being in this world and countless other worlds. I felt like I was the entire universe.
Then I suddenly felt as if I had been hit by a truck; my consciousness felt struck by a giant hammer. From having the power to sense and control everything, I now felt like a patient lying helplessly in a hospital bed, waiting for my death.
A scene unfolded before me. I saw a void, similar to the great void I encountered when I met the system after my death. However, I sensed that this void was far greater than the one I had seen before. Soon, a light appeared, and with it came a massive explosion. This explosion transformed into a pillar of fire, or a pillar of light I can't quite describe, so I'll call it a pillar of fire.
This pillar of fire expanded, and with it, creation began. As the pillar of fire crossed the void, matter started to appear. This process lasted a very long time, so long that I couldn't begin to count. After a while, the pillar disappeared, leaving behind creation, which you could call a universe. This place transformed from a void into a vibrant universe filled with celestial bodies like vast nebulae, giant stars, and enormous planets, alongside some forms that I cannot describe.
This place was like a prototype of a proper universe. It contained everything that could evolve into a full universe given enough time. But then an anomaly occurred. Some matter gained sentience. This marked the first appearance of life, slowly taking shape in many forms and properties. Eventually, it took on the shape of a human, a human sitting in a lotus position.
I couldn't grasp what I was witnessing or why I was seeing this event. Yet, I felt that this human, who had no facial expression or body but was instead a shadow, was all-powerful—more than an immortal, more like a god. He was everything. Then his form changed, and what shocked me was that the human shadow, once vague, now appeared as myself, as my previous life's body.
My reflection opened its eyes, and with that, I gained information and clarity about everything, including myself. I realized that I was not alone; every life born in this world is immortal. You could call it god in the truest sense. But then a question arose: if life itself is immortal and every being that is part of life is also immortal, then why are we so weak? Why do beings need to harness the laws of this world to accomplish their tasks? Why must we cultivate, and why do we die?
As if answering my question, the human shadow turned toward creation, and from it, a giant snake appeared. This snake had no physical form, but I could still tell it was a snake. It dashed toward the human shadow and coiled around it, restricting all the powers of the shadow, or in this case, my powers. The snake dove into the human body, coiling around seven points from the lower abdomen to the brain, making each living being mortal.