New York.
Manhattan.
The first snow of 2016 had quietly fallen last night, dressing the entire New York City in a thick white coat.
And in the backyard of Palm Street No. 521A, there was a yeti sitting cross-legged under a tree.
From a distance, the yeti's outline was distinct.
Look closer—
Hawk closed his eyes slightly, sitting cross-legged under the tree, allowing himself to be transformed into a yeti by the snowfall from the entire night.
In the Phoenix Cosmos.
Above the Time Galaxy.
At this moment, Hawk, who had already stepped into the forbidden realm of the Eighth Sense of Life, watched the seemingly close yet distant gate of the Eighth Sense with flickering eyes.
The next second.
Hawk once again stepped forward with his right foot toward the portal symbolizing the Eighth Sense of Life.
But!
Just as he stepped forward with his right foot, the originally silent and empty surroundings began to howl with a fierce wind, followed by the appearance of seemingly endless spirits, ignoring his defenses, materializing in front of him, behind him, and beneath him, then instantly wrapping around him, attempting to prevent his advance.
More spirits shrieked and merged, coiling around his right foot, firmly trapping it, preventing him from moving it forward.
"Hehehe!"
"You must not!"
"Hawk Phoenix, you are a butcher!"
"A murderer."
"You have no right to tread here."
"Return the lives of tens of thousands to Wakanda!"
"Return the lives of tens of thousands to Talokan!"
"Return my Heaven Dimension..."
"Return my..."
"Boom!"
Sitting under the tree, Hawk, who was trying to follow in the footsteps of Buddha by seeking sudden enlightenment beneath the tree, suddenly opened his eyes amidst the countless resentful and venomous wailing of spirits.
The aura of the Phoenix erupted from Hawk's body, sweeping outward in a circular wave.
The next moment.
The snow in the backyard instantly melted, and the ground instantly lost any trace of dampness.
At this moment, Hawk was like a god, like a demon.
Sitting under the tree, Hawk bent his right knee, pressing it firmly against the ground, while his left leg naturally dangled to the side, and the Phoenix flames nearly engulfed him entirely.
Under the fiercely burning Phoenix flames, wails and screams continuously emerged from the black smoke evaporating from the flames.
The Phoenix Fire is the Fire of Life, and also the Fire of Karma.
By the time the Phoenix flames dissipated, the countless spirits that had followed Hawk from the front of the Eighth Sense portal to this universe had all been incinerated.
Hawk was expressionless, staring straight ahead.
In that moment of burning an entire galaxy, he met his wife Gwen in the 828 Cosmos, and after returning to Earth, he went nowhere.
Upon his return, Hawk stayed at home, ignoring the world outside his window, focusing solely on comprehending the essence of the Eighth Sense of Life.
He had cleverly used the 'Phoenix Undying, only Nirvana' trait to traverse the brink of Death for the Sixth Sense.
For the Seventh Sense, he also cleverly used the 'Mind Gemstone, Infinite Mind' characteristic to successfully enter the Seventh Sense Golden Cosmos.
But...
When it came to the Eighth Sense, because its essence is life,
Thus!
There is no shortcut to the Eighth Sense.
Because everyone's understanding of life is different.
If we were to analogize the Eighth Sense into something from the Marvel Cosmos, it would be the Divine Fire.
And the realization of the Eighth Sense of Life is akin to how you ignite your own Divine Fire.
Only by igniting the Divine Fire can your life essence truly be called divine.
For the Celestial God Ego, his definition of life was infection.
He attempted to treat his bloodline as a virus, to erode and occupy the entire cosmos.
Then there was Odin...
Odin's definition of his life was conquest.
Conquering the Nine Realms, conquering the cosmos.
Unfortunately, both of them were entrepreneurs who failed to see their vision through.
But whether it was Ego or Odin, their definitions of life were theirs, not Hawk's.
Hawk could draw inspiration from them, but he could not replicate them.
Replication would lead to death.
Thus, during the days after his return, Hawk stayed indoors, learning from the insights of Odin and Ego into life, to find his own sense of life.
And Hawk found it.
Uniqueness!
This is Hawk's definition of his own life.
He is unique.
Because he is a traverser, a soul that is unique, even if there are versions of him in the Multiverse, those 'Hawks' are fundamentally different from this 'Hawk.'
Furthermore, all his great powers are inherent to himself.
He is the Phoenix, and also the Wutong World Tree, and moreover, the Phoenix Cosmos.
So—
Uniqueness is Hawk's definition of his Eighth Sense of Life, and as soon as Hawk made 'uniqueness' as the definition of his life, the portal to the Eighth Sense appeared from the void with a rumble.
As long as he can push open the portal of the Eighth Sense, he can truly unite with the origin of the Phoenix Cosmos, completing a transformation of his life essence from 'man' to 'god.'
The moment he breaks open the portal of the Eighth Sense, he will no longer be Hawk Phoenix, but the Main God Phoenix.
The true Main God.
Unfortunately.
He still cannot reach the portal of the Eighth Sense.
There are two reasons.
The first one is the cosmos itself.
This cosmos doesn't allow the emergence of another being completely transcendent of its time.
No matter if it's the cosmos instinctively in charge, or if it's Griss.
In one sentence.
This cosmos no longer permits the existence of someone as extraordinary as Zeus.
Therefore, even though Hawk has clearly seen the portal to the Eighth Sense, every time he tries to step through, known and unknown enemies on his timeline swarm to pull him back, making it difficult for him to step forward towards the portal of the Eighth Sense.
Of course.
Besides the malice of the cosmos itself, there are also reasons within himself.
But!
"Damn Zeus!"
"What exactly did you do when you transcended."
In the spirit of releasing frustration rather than self-reprimand, Hawk couldn't help but complain, wishing he could go to Zeus's court, grab Zeus by the collar, and angrily berate him for what he did when he transcended.
Because theoretically speaking, the cosmos should be delighted about his transcendence, not as malicious as it is now.
To put it plainly.
The cosmos is full of aversion and malice towards him, but unfortunately, the cosmos cannot drive him away.
And now that Hawk is about to transcend, he can leave this cosmos. From this perspective, while the cosmos shouldn't be celebrating wildly, it should at least be pleased.
But the result?
Every time he tries to approach the portal of the Eighth Sense, the pressure the cosmos inherently has on him becomes infinitely large, giving him an instinct that not even total destruction would allow him to transcend.
This makes no sense.
Unless...
Thanos lied, and Griss really hasn't left, still hiding in this cosmos.
But that's impossible.
A few days ago, after discovering this issue, he went to Titan, officially to pay respects for Thanos's seventh day funeral, but actually, he conducted a thorough examination of Thanos's corpse.
The one obstructing him is not Griss, it's the cosmos itself.
So Hawk now only has one guess that his predecessor, Zeus, must have done something to anger the Main Multiverse.
"Hiss!"
"Could this guy have swallowed his cosmos upon transcending?"
As Hawk's thoughts revolved, he thought of a possibility.
At first glance, this possibility seems absurd.
But upon closer inspection, it seems like the only possibility; otherwise, there's no way to explain why the cosmos is so full of aversion towards him, yet when he tries to transcend, it wants to keep him here at all costs.
Hawk's face darkened instantly.
"To successfully comprehend the Eighth Sense, one must leave this cosmos."
"But to leave this cosmos, one must awaken the Eighth Sense."
"Hiss!"
"Caught in a loop."
"Shit!"
"Uh..."
Just as Wanda pushed open the glass door to the living room, she saw Hawk sitting under the tree, seemingly muttering a curse. She frowned slightly: "Excuse me?"
Hawk looked at Wanda, his gaze gradually focusing, snapping back to reality, and got up from under the tree.
"Sorry, I wasn't talking about you. Why are you here today?"
"Jean wants you to build a snowman with her."
Wanda spoke truthfully.
Next moment.
Five-year-old Jean peeked out from behind Wanda, smiling brightly as she dashed towards Hawk: "Daddy, build a snowman with me."
Hawk caught his daughter Jean as she dashed towards him.
"Alright, we'll..."
"No."
Wanda, maintaining a stern expression, looked at her daughter Jean who was clinging to Hawk's neck: "You haven't had breakfast, eat first before going."
Daughter Jean looked up at Hawk: "But I'm not hungry, Daddy."
Facing his daughter Jean's gaze, Hawk then looked at the serious-faced Wanda and said to his daughter Jean: "Listen to Mom, have breakfast first."
Daughter Jean blinked.
"Alright."
"Let's go."
Hawk smiled, holding his daughter Jean as they returned inside from the backyard.
Meanwhile, Wanda naturally walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and took out the ingredients.
Hawk and daughter Jean sat on the high stools by the island, bonding as they awaited Wanda's serving like two hungry birds, both young and mature.
Half an hour later.
Breakfast was served.
The classic old trio, a portion for both Hawk and Gwen.
After Wanda took off her apron and tidied up the kitchen briefly, she sat opposite them, urging daughter Jean to eat well.
Hawk also nibbled on the sandwich in his hand, his thoughts gradually drifting.
"Your mental state is quite off."
"Hmm?"
Hawk snapped back to reality, looked at Wanda, then shook his head with a smile: "It's nothing."
It's just a bit of mental exhaustion.
Nothing serious.
Wanda said nothing but extended her hands, then paused as she thought of something, looking at Hawk.
Seeing this, Hawk understood and bent slightly.
Wanda smiled, reached out with slender fingers entwined with chaos magic energy, and gently pressed against Hawk's temples.
The next second!
...