Lex closed his eyes and extended his consciousness outward. It first swept across the Origin Ocean, feeling the ebb and flow of its energy.
Then it stretched to one million light-years, then to trillions and quintillions of light-years, until distance became meaningless. The vastness of the universe felt like no more than a small weight on his shoulders.
Three seconds. That was all it took for his consciousness to envelop the entire universe. But, despite its reach, the universe was still expanding, constantly birthing new, untouched boundaries beyond his perception.
His goal was not to stop at mere boundaries. Without hesitation, he pushed beyond the edge of the universe, breaking through the barrier between creation and boundless chaos. One second later, his consciousness escaped into the Voidsea, into the unknown.
As soon as his consciousness left his body, he found himself in an endless expanse of gray darkness.
At first, it seemed like an empty void, but upon closer inspection, he realized the gray was made up of countless chaotic energy particles swirling in unpredictable patterns.
Their numbers seemed infinite, stretching endlessly in every direction. As far as his consciousness could perceive, there was nothing but darkness and grayness.
Fortunately, it was not silent; the chaotic energy storms created a cacophony. In this infinite, dark place, the sound could make one feel alive, but it could drive those with weak resolve to madness.
As soon as his consciousness touched the swirling gray energy, it reacted violently, surging toward him like a wild force trying to consume him.
Yet, he remained utterly unaffected. It wasn't because he was strong, but because his consciousness was unique, unlike anyone else's. It possessed the unique trait of the universe, which enabled it to easily repel chaotic energy.
No matter how intensely the chaotic energy tried to overwhelm him, it couldn't penetrate his resolve.
He looked down and saw that his body—the universe—was an enormous oval-shaped construct resembling an egg. Its surface rippled like a wormhole, shifting with strange colors and patterns.
A massive barrier surrounded it, shielding it from the endless assault of chaotic energy.
The chaotic energy crashed relentlessly against the barrier, but it held firm. After repeated strikes on the same spot, occasionally a small amount of energy would break through. However, before it could settle in, it was instantly expelled.
Lex watched in awe. Seeing this process firsthand was both fascinating and humbling.
After watching the fascinating sight for a while, Lex remembered his true purpose: to use his stealth technique.
Without hesitation, he materialized a temporary body, something more refined than a mere clone, to carry out the process.
The moment the temporary body formed, intricate runes and incomprehensible patterns emerged from its hands, expanding into vast golden runes and Dao patterns that pulsed with cryptic energy.
The temporary body sent them toward the universe's barrier with a single wave.
The runes etched onto the surface then flickered brightly before gradually dimming until they vanished entirely.
Then, something incredible happened. The universe itself began to fade, seamlessly blending into the grayness and darkness of the Voidsea. Still standing outside, Lex shifted his perspective to gauge the success of his technique.
But, when he attempted to perceive the universe, all he saw was the churning chaotic energy and the swirling storms of the Voidsea.
His body had completely disappeared.
"If Xeri or her subordinates were to come here now, they'd see nothing but just endless grayness and darkness," Lex mused as he let out a satisfied breath. "At least this will buy me enough time to grow stronger."
He knew he couldn't hide forever. But then again, he had no intention of hiding forever.
He returned his consciousness to his body and, without hesitation, said, "Luna, can you conjure the cosmic portal? I want to experiment with it."
She immediately complied.
The fabric of space tore open above the Origin Ocean, revealing a spatial tear. From this tear, the tip of an ancient, large brown door adorned with intricate Dao runes appeared.
"It's incredible that you can tear open space at the Origin Ocean," Lex praised Luna for her remarkable ability.
"Thanks for the praise, Master," replied Luna, who was controlling the emergence of the cosmic door.
The fact that she could override the laws at the Origin Ocean, where laws are at their peak strength, speaks volumes about the sheer power of her innate ability.
If she could manipulate reality in such a fortified space, then influencing the laws of other universes—especially the weaker, smaller ones—would be effortless.
Lex had already set his sights on these smaller universes, intending to use them as the first sacrificial lambs on his grand path toward eternity.
With her abilities, those universes wouldn't stand a chance. Their laws would crumble before her will, paving the way for Lex's ascension.
After a while, the door fully emerged and hovered above the origin ocean. The laws of the universe clashed with the laws emanating from the cosmic door, but Lex easily quelled the conflict between them.
"The laws of the cosmic door are truly overwhelming." he thought; if this had taken place in another part of the universe, the cosmic door might have erased the existing laws, leaving that region lawless, and Lex might not have sensed it in time to intervene, which further demonstrates the power of the cosmic door.
He gestured at the cosmic door, his brow furrowing. "Luna, is it already connected to another universe?" it would be bad if it automatically connected to another universe.
Luna shook her head, her expression serious. "Not yet. Connecting to another universe isn't something I can do casually. At my current level, it would drain half my energy if I connected, and I'd need a while to recover."
She paused, lost in thought. "I would also need half of what's left just to close the door. On top of that, if we're not careful, the universe's will might detect us. To counter that, I would have to combine the cosmic door's abilities with Nihility's Embrace to keep us hidden, which would require even more energy."
Lex raised an eyebrow, his gaze steady. "I told you before, don't worry about the energy. The real concern now is whether we would end up in a universe connected to powerful organizations from the Voidsea."
Luna gave him a knowing look. "Ah, that's not a problem, Master," she said with a small smile. "There are countless universes in the Voidsea, indeed, but the chance of stumbling into one with ties to the Voidsea is practically nonexistent."
Lex squinted, his confusion still evident. "But when I looked out, there was nothing. There are no universes nearby. If there are so many, wouldn't it make sense for me to at least have one or two neighbors?"
Luna sighed a flicker of amusement in her eyes. "It's not ideal for universes to be clustered too closely together master," she explained, her voice taking on a more serious tone.
"When they're close, they sometimes… crash into each other. And most of the time, the result is a cosmic disaster—either both universes get destroyed, or if they're lucky, they merge into one, sometimes advancing in tier, but most of the time they downgrade."
She shrugged. "It's chaos."
Lex nodded, starting to understand. Luna continued, her expression darkening a bit. "And when universes are packed together, it's like ringing the dinner bell for chaotic creatures. Who would ignore a banquet of easy snacks?"
Lex's lips curved into a wry smile. "Right. I guess that's one way to look at it."
•••••
Lex carefully extracted a drop of origin energy from the Origin Ocean, suspending it before him as he began crafting minuscule insects—so small they were no larger than atoms.
Luna observed curiously. "Master, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Lex smiled faintly. "Ah, this? I'm creating something I call 'spy insects' to gather intelligence."
Luna frowned slightly. "Wouldn't it be more effective to use the Primordials or Ascendants for that?"
Shaking his head, Lex replied, "No. The Primordials carry traces of my origin law, making them easily detectable by the Universal Will and so do others. No one understands the Universal Will better than I do." He paused, watching as the insects took shape.
"Besides, these aren't just ordinary spies. If my plan works, they'll serve a much greater purpose."
His focus returned to the mosquito-like insects. There were billions of them above his palm, and all of them were queens.
He injected Dao energy into their bodies, but the energy downgraded significantly within them due to the design he had implemented.
One by one, the insects began to die, unable to withstand the overwhelming potency of the high-quality energy coursing through their fragile forms.
"Something is still missing in them," he brooded, watching as the last insects perished.
"Perhaps it's the potency of the energy and the vessel carrying it," he mused. Determined, he began creating more insects, experimenting repeatedly.
After three hundred failures, he finally identified the crux of the problem. He gathered the bodies of the dead insects, then merged them, and a unique insect emerged from the amalgamation.
This new creature was intelligent, its eyes scanning its surroundings with awareness. But shortly, its body convulsed and exploded, then coalesced to form an egg.
Lex observed the small egg closely, analyzing its basic essence.
"So, it's the genes," he realized. The genetic makeup of this new insect was vastly different from its predecessors.
This egg held the potential to become a Dao initiate, its upper limit far surpassing even that of the primordials.
Moreover, it possessed the trait of evolution, meaning there was a chance it could ascend to the Dao master realm although the chances are nearly zero.
Satisfied with his breakthrough, Lex stood before the cosmic door, ready to conquer his first universe.