Deep beneath the earth, where sunlight could never reach, lay a vast hollow space drowned in darkness. The air was thick — heavy with the metallic scent of blood. Amid the gloom, a faint glow flickered weakly — it came from the trembling hands of a young man, barely twenty. His body was drenched in blood, yet his eyes still carried the faint glint of life.
It was Meng Meng.
He had been inside the cave for what felt like an eternity, though he could not tell how much time had passed. Judging by his exhaustion and the dimming light of his qi flame, he guessed it had already been a full day since he entered.
His breathing was ragged. Blood flowed endlessly from the wounds on his body. He clenched his fist, murmuring,
"It's been a day… and still, there's no end. If I keep walking like this… I'll die before I even run out of breath."
Spreading his divine sense through his body, his heart sank — all the stars within his Soul Orb had shattered. He was now something between a mortal and a cultivator. Even an ordinary farmer could kill him in his current state.
Yet, despite the despair, his body still held faint traces of qi — the only reason he hadn't perished already.
He steadied his breath and continued walking. Every step felt heavier than the last, as though death itself trailed quietly behind him. But Meng Meng's eyes burned with defiance.
"Even if the heavens want me dead… I will resist!"
His unyielding will shone amidst the darkness.
Suddenly — from the deepest part of the cave — a chilling presence awakened. The air froze. The ground trembled.
A roar unlike anything mortal shook the entire mountain, and cracks split the walls of the cavern.
Meng Meng's blood turned cold. His instincts screamed — run!
Even his unstable Soul Orb shuddered, trembling on the brink of collapse. The last time he'd felt such terror was before Teng Xuwan — but this… was even worse.
He turned back, gathering every last wisp of qi into his legs, preparing to flee. Sweat dripped from his chin — his face deathly pale.
Then, a voice came. Deep, commanding, and ancient —
"Stop."
Just one word, but it carried a terrifying pressure, traces of Nirvana Energy — power that only beings at the Nirvana Realm could comprehend.
Meng Meng's heart pounded. Fear surged within him. He didn't want to face another death crisis — not again. But his nature was not one that bowed.
"I, Meng Meng, dare to defy the heavens themselves! What is this mere voice compared to the might of heaven?!"
Desperate to survive, Meng Meng made a cruel choice.
He bit his tongue and roared —
"Soul… Collapse!"
Half of his Soul Orb shattered instantly. Agonizing pain tore through him, but a surge of raw qi exploded outward. For a fleeting moment, he regained the strength of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Gathering all his qi into his legs, he ran with every ounce of his will.
But fate was cruel.
Just when he thought he'd escaped, the same voice boomed once more —
"Stop!"
A suffocating dread crushed him. The remnant of his half-destroyed Soul Orb began to crumble again, pushed to the verge of collapse.
"Even if I am to die, I won't die crawling!"
In defiance, Meng Meng destroyed the rest of his Soul Orb. Blood gushed from every pore, his robes shredded, and his body weakened to the limit — yet he still stood.
As his consciousness began to fade, a familiar voice echoed within his sea of consciousness.
"Excellent."
It was Teng Xuwan's soul remnant.
Inside Meng Meng's sea of consciousness, Teng Xuwan's fading spirit floated before him, gazing upon the cracked and collapsing fragments of Meng Meng's Soul Orb.
A faint smile appeared on his ghostly face.
"A will strong enough to resist even the heavens… you are the perfect vessel for my inheritance."
Deep within Meng Meng's soul, a single droplet of glowing crimson blood emerged — Nirvana Blood, the condensed essence of Teng Xuwan himself. The blood sank into Meng Meng's soul, fusing with it. Slowly, the shattered fragments of his Soul Orb began to mend. Cracks closed, his spiritual veins steadied — this was the miraculous effect of Nirvana Blood.
Teng Xuwan's remnant soul faded, leaving behind a jade infused with a recording — a voice sealed within for Meng Meng to hear one day. Before disappearing completely, he looked once more at Meng Meng's dim soul and whispered,
"May your defiance shake the heavens."
The last glimmer of Teng Xuwan vanished into light.
Within Meng Meng's sea of consciousness, his Soul Orb reformed — not complete, but whole enough to contain his will.
Outside, in the real world, the air trembled. A pillar of light burst from his body, carrying a trace of Nirvana Aura. In that instant, the mysterious voice that pursued him stopped — shocked.
"Nirvana…?"