Within the Sovereign Tree, the Karma Sovereign looked down.
With a glance, a gray eye appeared, radiating Karma.
The resistance was suppressed completely. The giant roared as it punched out, but a single Karma Spiral wrapped around it, pinning it to the ground.
The Karma Sovereign grabbed out, and the prisoner disappeared.
"Do I need to take further action?"
"No, father." The daughter of the Karma Sovereign.
The Karma Sovereign turned his head and looked into the distance. "Don't let this nonsense happen again until notified. We are busy."
In the distance, the old man that had taught the first monster and the first beast nodded and bowed.
The Sovereign did not stay long, leaving just moments later.
The old man straightened his back. "Good luck, young ones. May you know true freedom."
He sat down, the figure made of bones eternally silent.
Outside of the Sovereign Tree, the first monster soared through the stars. He had not left his Universe before, and had been instantly taken to the Sovereign Tree after being captured. This was his first time seeing another Universe. And with his power, he was able to exit even the Universe and enter the Multiverse.
He was a Domain Immortal after all. Few could stand on the same level as him.
He soon moved through the wall of the Universe and entered the wider Multiverse.
He had once thought that this freedom would fill him with joy, but now, he was completely empty. He was a monster, after all.
His only desire now was to grow, to devour.
After gathering information from multiple Universes, he found a target. The Main Universe.
High above it all, Zhou Fan still cultivated.
Talents were born everyday. Some came, some went.
Some matured, some died. Few could enter his vision. But even the first monster was just another being on the level of Ye Li and the Grand Empyrean.
It was nearly impossible for a being truly on his level to be born. Lord Lu was the closest in history, but even he couldn't truly compare.
He was nearly on that level.
Millions of Sage Years passed. The first monster entered the upper echelon of the Multiverse's power.
Zhou Fan simply continued to cultivate. There was nothing else he could really do.
Tens of millions of Sage Years passed. A hundred millions Sage Years passed. He didn't feel too much progress on his path past the High Immortal realm.
Even more time passed. Finally, Zhou Fan felt something unimaginable being born. No, two things. Twins.
In a distant Universe, within a powerful Empire, a pair of twins were born. They were total opposites. One was born with gray hair. The other's hair was clear, fading in and out of existence.
As they grew, the oldest, the one with gray hair and gray eyes, displayed unimaginable talent in every facet of cultivation.
Yet the other seemed to have no talent at all. He could not even manipulate Qi in the slightest. No technique or path worked for him. His father and mother tried, inviting various Immortals to help, yet none could do a thing.
However, as time passed, their worst fear never passed. The boy did not age past 13. In fact, the boy had developed his own system of doing things, completely different from anything they had ever seen.
He bleeped in and out of space, using no Qi at all.
Fire seemed to bend to his will, not because of manipulation, but as if out of fear he would so much as touch it.
He was an odd young boy for sure. He was silent, he seemed empty.
His older brother was the opposite. He was free and magnanimous. He could do anything and everything he wanted to. No technique was out of his grasp.
He was the second coming of Zhou Fan. His affinity was Chaos Qi, and he possessed the Chaos Divine Physique.
His brother was the opposite. The opposite of Chaos Qi, the opposite of everything, was nothing.
His brother's affinity was, somehow, nothingness. This was just as shocking as his brother's talent.
The older brother quickly became a rising star of the Universe. The younger brother was never mentioned, entirely forgotten among those who took interest in the older brother. After all, he was just a slightly unique being that couldn't cultivate.
Nobody paid much attention to him.
Zhou Fan watched both of them closely. The older one was perfectly fit to become his disciple, while the younger one was so unique that perhaps only Zhou Fan could possibly help him grow.
But Zhou Fan had long become old enough to choose different paths. The older brother one day fell asleep.
In his dreams, he saw a vision. A monster made of countless eyes devouring the Universe. It was a blob of countless suffering souls. Everything was destroyed. The Multiverse was devoured, and all things were gone, leaving only the blob of eyes.
He was startled awake by the vision. But in front of him was an ethereal old man. He was see-through, a slight blue hue.
This was naturally Zhou Fan in disguise.
"Who are you?" The boy asked.
By now, he was a Sage. It wasn't much in his Universe, but he was completely unparalleled within his age group.
But he could not sense the slightest trace of power within the being in front of him.
"You have seen the vision." The old man said.
The boy nodded.
"I have seen it as well. My job is to guide you and your brother to stop it."
"My brother?" The boy asked.
"Yes. He is a part of the key. But you are the only one who can help him grow stronger. However, to do that, you must first reach the Immortal Lord realm at minimum."
"The Immortal Lord realm?" The boy had never heard of it.
"Yes. Are you prepared to help save the Multiverse?"
"I am." The boy said.
"Good. Then grow stronger. When you need help, I will appear."