While everyone was stumbling in their respective heavenly regions, someone else was having a completely different journey.
Heavenly Plane, an indescribable, unfathomable place. In this plane, laws operate differently from material plane. This plane only had three vast regions and infinite smaller ones.
Until this day, a new vast region opened up, unseen by most. Only the topmost figures of the world witnessed this sight.
Three titanic spheres of radiance: Crimson, Azure, Gold! Each of them seemed impossibly far apart. Countless tiny speck like spheres were spread in between them. The scene was both breathtaking and grand. Anyone seeing the whole sight for the first time will be awed by the majesty of the three Titanic spheres.
But today, a new Obsidian sphere was beginning to grow. It grew.....and grew.....and continued growing until the sphere was much bigger than all surrounding speck like spheres. It was still nowhere as big as the three Titanic spheres. But one can only imagine, it would not take an eternity to grow to a Titanic sphere on its own.
Insisde that Obsidian sphere...
A semi transparent figure floated on Void. The figure wore a cloak as dark as the night. From different angles, the cloak appeared different. Under that loose cloak was a tight fitting armour, seemingly made of onyx materials. The figure had chains dangling from it's wrist, extending to unknown distance. There was a ferocious tiger head ornament on it's chest and a mask covered it's mouth. Only two pupil-less eyes were visible.
This was none other than Chained Warden of Ghastly Genesis!
At this moment though, Chained Warden was looking at itself. His thoughts nearly materialising,
"Indeed, juat as I had speculated. A completely different Plane. Now it all makes sense. Heavenly Tomes are miraculous indeed, holding so many secrets!"
At this moment, if the figures peering from an unfathomable distance away were to hear what he just said, there will be a huge uproar! No one would have ever imagined that a junior could fathom the idea of a new plane just from the Heavenly Tomes visible to everyone. This is no ordinary speculation. For it demanded their world view to shatter first.
Just that in itself was a huge blockage stopping anyone from approaching this truth early on. But it seems that Chained Warden...no, Neo wasn't done.
Neo looked around at the void, seemingly containing Nothing. But his words revealed the truth behind the Void & Nothingness,
"Quite a fascinating plane, harbouring regions that operate on different sets of laws. Martial Sky is full of Energy & Chaos, Mystic Sky is full of Order and Mysteries, Mega Sky is full of Dream & Ambition."
Speaking up to here, Neo stopped for a moment as if contemplating a serious issue. His head bowed a little when a thought seems to have occured to him and he snapped his head back. The pupil-less eyes radiating an eerie white light.
"Nether sky.....this sky is full of....what? Hmm? It seems I have to explore that."
Right then, in the Void where there seemed No life could exist, Neo saw something. If it was his physical body, he might have blinked at the incredulity of the situation in front of him.
A translucent, wispy figure was perpetually shifting as if caught in an unseen current. It's form was indistinct, a mere suggestion of a person, yet the hollow depths of eyes were undeniably present, glowing with a faint, mournful light that spoke of sheer despair.
One hand outstretched, a silent, yearning gesture for something forever beyond grasp, or clutched to chest, an invisible wound aching in a heart that had long since ceased to beat.
The presence brought with it a profound chill, a tangible drop in temperature that sent shivers down the spine, and a pervasive sense of sadness that clung to the very fabric of the surroundings. Every whisper of the wind seemed to carry unending despair, a silent, lingering testament to a spirit trapped in an eternal state of longing.
What the....hell is that...thing?
Even in his madness, Neo has never ever seen, heard or known anything like the entity floating a distance away from him. It looked like a despairing man....no, a despairing ghost. No man would ever have body structure quite like that. The ghostly body floating some distance away suddenly stopped and stared fixedly at him.
Neo: (• •)???
What are you staring at me for? Huh? Is there something on my face?
But then, something even more bewildering happened. A chain shot out from his hand and entangled the wailing ghost. Then, under his astonished gaze, the ghost was tied and dragged before him.
HUH???
It didn't take Neo long to figure out that this was the doing of the Chained Warden. The true reason Neo wasn't stumbling around like others is that he never tried to actively control his Heavenly Spirit. He treated it part of himself, a twisted- maniac part.
So he gave up control and opted for spectating instead. Indeed after a while the Chained Warden moved like normal and even followed his desire, not instructions.
Still he had to figure out Chained Wardens actions himself. The chains tied to his hands were more like weapons mrant to tie down Ghosts.
Yes, Neo had internally decided to call the hazy, semi transparent beings "Ghost". They looked too similar to the description of Ghosts he had read in horror stories.
Hmm, it seems that I can't command the Ghost. Do I have to subjugate it first? How?
Thinking for a while without finding anything noteworthy, Neo gave up thinking decisively and opted to take action against the Ghost.
The wispy figure turned sharply at Neo the moment he approached and it open mouth stretched wider. It screamed and a peculiar soundwave emitted from it, dazing Neo temporarily. Along with the dizziness came a profound bone chilling coldness.
Memories burst out from the depth of his mind. Dark, despairing memories full of grief. The time when he tried his utmost, worked hard day & night only to fail. These moments were so.....
.... nostalgic, ahh! I miss those moments when my original self crumbled down momentarily. That small gap allowed me to emerge and corrupt... ahem....guide him towards the True way. Right. I was guiding him.
And then, Neo turned his gaze towards the despairing ghost host. Its Piercing wail and chilling howll had no effect on Neo. Or rather, it had but was useless either way since this Neo was practically a mad version of himself.
Then, Neo saw the wailing ghost getting constricted by the chains until it dissolved into a tatto on the chain and a deluge of information flooded his mind.