The void screamed. It wasn't a sound, but a tearing, a cosmic rending as I fell. What was once the pinnacle of existence, draped in pure white, a golden halo a faint luminescence behind my head, was now a tattered shadow. My essence, once the very Origin, leaked like sand through an hourglass, each escaping particle a groan of the universe. The battle… its ferocity still burned in the phantom limbs of my being. The poison, a thousand suns of agony, consumed me from within.
My vast power, too immense for the lesser realities I plummeted through, became my undoing. Each beat of my fading heart, each spasm of my dissolving form, sent ripples of catastrophic energy outwards. My very blood, the ichor of creation, burst into glittering motes. Some solidified into nascent stars, others tore dimensions asunder, or birthed impossible lifeforms. I was a comet of creation and destruction, my body disintegrating with every desperate evasion, every futile attempt to shake off the nameless horrors that pursued me. They were relentless, a relentless hunger at my heels, but with a final, desperate surge, I twisted, severing the last threads that bound me to them, dissolving into the cosmic dust.
My descent ended not in a crash, but a whisper, as the last remnants of my being settled into a universe. It was a barren expanse, cold and silent. Yet, with my arrival, it shuddered. My scattered golden blood, each drop a universe unto itself, began to pulse, awakening a desolate world. It was a world that had once been barren, lifeless, now infused with the raw essence of creation. Dragons roared into existence from my dispersed cells. Demons, once mere shadows, gained terrifying forms. And other countless races, from the mightiest giants to the smallest sprites, rapidly evolved, forever changed by the new, potent energies now coursing through their realms. Mountains, once inert, began to breathe Qi. My very death, or rather, my dispersion, fueled its birth. An infinite golden age began, born from my sacrificed divinity.
Parts of my divine robes, shredded and scattered, coalesced into spiritual worlds, unknown relics, or sacred sites across countless galaxies. They became places of worship, their inhabitants unknowingly revering the fragments of a god who had forgotten himself. This universe, once nothing, blossomed into an unimaginable realm, where the Dao became infinitely more potent, its energies so dense they hummed with constant evolution. What I knew as the "Mahayana stage" was a mere children's game here. This world, this cosmos, thrived because of me, even as I was erased from its conscious memory.
I chose this world. As my true form evaporated into pure energy, I made the decision, a final act of will before oblivion claimed me. This burgeoning cultivation world, filled with the raw potential my suffering had gifted it, would be my anchor. My consciousness, frayed and dimming, sought a connection.
A sudden, jarring lurch. Darkness. Then, an awakening that was both familiar and utterly foreign. The weight of a physical form, small and weak. A boy's body. Ren. My soul, once a boundless ocean, felt constricted, sealed tight, but my knowledge, an endless library of cosmic secrets, remained. Yet, I couldn't access it, couldn't control it. I was me, yet I was also this boy, his memories, his limitations. Qi training level 5. A gasp of realization, a wave of disorientation, then a small, warm presence beside me.
"Brother Ren, you're awake!"
A soft, childish embrace. My little sister. Her small arms wrapped around me, her genuine warmth a strange, new sensation. A wave of unfamiliar emotion washed over me—familial love. It was… comforting. This world, vibrant and alive thanks to my unconscious sacrifice, was not the desolate realm I had fallen into, nor the decaying cultivation world I remembered from ancient times. It was different. Advanced. Humming with possibilities. A new life. A new beginning. And this time, I wasn't alone.