"Now, let's enter the Void God Realm and see if I can transform my Heavenly Passages into the Spirit Transformation Realm."
The thought sparked action.
Shi Yi was not one to procrastinate, dawdling like some fool who postpones tomorrow after tomorrow. He closed his eyes, his mind reaching out with spiritual energy to connect with the elusive Void God Realm that existed in the intangible beyond.
His spiritual essence wandered through the void, a form of astral projection.
It didn't take long before Shi Yi sensed a virtual gateway—a misty, indistinct portal shrouded in haze. He approached the blurred threshold, his form composed entirely of spiritual energy, and gently pushed it open. As always, there was no time to react; he was instantly pulled into another world.
This was the Void God Realm.
A virtual world woven purely from spiritual energy.
A realm with near-perfect fidelity to reality.
But something was wrong.
The Void God Realm Shi Yi entered felt off.
When he was five or six, curiosity had driven him to explore this realm a few times. Back then, he found its inhabitants obsessed with fighting and killing, which bored him. He hadn't returned since. Now, five years later, stepping back into the Void God Realm, he realized he hadn't arrived at the familiar Initial Grounds. Instead, he stood in a mysterious, unknown place—one he had never heard of or visited before.
"Where is this?" Shi Yi muttered, his voice tinged with unease.
His eyes scanned the surroundings.
Desolation stretched before him, a lifeless expanse of silence. Ruins littered the ground—shattered stones and crumbled walls. The earth was buried under heaps of debris, vast swathes of wreckage marking the landscape. Collapsed palaces and grand halls, once magnificent, lay in ruin, destroyed by some terrifying force.
Yet, even in this devastation, Shi Yi could sense an ancient, weathered aura permeating the desolation.
He wandered alone through the barren ruins, unsure how long he walked. The further he went, the more disoriented he became. Why did I come to the Void God Realm? The reason slipped from his grasp, as if his purpose was dissolving into the air.
At that moment—
Crack! A sharp, forceful snap.
A vibrant green willow branch, pulsing with life, emerged from the void and struck Shi Yi's backside with a fierce whip.
Simultaneously, a faint sigh echoed in the ether, carrying a trace of disappointment, as if scolding someone for failing to meet expectations.
"Ow!"
The sharp pain jolted Shi Yi back to clarity. He realized he had been wandering these desolate ruins for far too long—long enough to lose track of time itself.
"What is this place?" he demanded.
He tried to leave, but found he couldn't. His consciousness felt severed from his physical body, unable to withdraw from the Void God Realm.
"What is this place?"
Shi Yi's eyes flickered, and his Heavy Pupils emerged, glowing with power.
In an instant, the ten Heavenly Passages behind him blazed like ten radiant suns, illuminating the desolate ruins with blinding light. Above, countless Heavy Pupils materialized in the sky, their gaze piercing the essence of this shattered land.
The ten Heavenly Passages, now brilliant suns, lit up the barren earth. The myriad Heavy Pupils in the sky scrutinized the ruins, seeking their true nature.
"What is this place?"
This was Shi Yi's third demand, his voice steady despite expecting no answer. But the next moment, a chill ran down his spine, his body breaking into a cold sweat.
"Here is—" A crisp voice.
"Here is—" An aged voice.
"Here is—" A booming voice.
One after another, countless voices rang out. Figures, beastly shadows, and indescribable phantoms materialized around Shi Yi, as if trying to answer his question.
But they couldn't articulate it. The more they tried, the more frantic they became, repeating "Here is" without ever reaching the crucial word. It was as if an unseen force prevented them from revealing the truth, binding their words to those three syllables.
"Can't you speak clearly? If you can't, stop babbling in my ears!" Shi Yi snapped.
He possessed a rare gift: the greater his fear, the calmer he became. Terror didn't unravel him; it sharpened his mind, guiding him into a state of near-transcendent clarity.
Faced with the swarm of figures, beasts, and nameless shadows, his initial panic subsided. Cold reason took over.
As his calm settled, Shi Yi noticed something. These figures, shadows, and phantoms lacked intelligence. Their wisdom and memories seemed eroded, as if something had stripped them away.
"Here is—" The crisp voice.
"Here is—" The aged voice.
"Here is—" The booming voice.
"If you can't explain, get out of my way," Shi Yi said, his brow furrowing.
"Here is—" The crisp voice.
"Here is—" The aged voice.
"Here is—" The booming voice.
The figures, beasts, and shadows surrounding him continued their chant, their vacant eyes fixed on him. What little self-awareness remained in their gazes was fading, their fragmented memories slipping away.
As they repeated the phrase, their inability to say more frustrated them. Their urgency grew, but the words faltered. Eventually, even the three syllables began to blur, as if they, too, were forgetting why they were here, what they meant to tell Shi Yi.
It was clear now.
They were forgetting—forgetting themselves, forgetting Shi Yi, just as he had begun to forget before the willow branch struck him. They, too, were losing their purpose and origin.
"Here is—" The crisp voice.
"Here is—" The aged voice.
"Here is—" The booming voice.
The figures, beasts, and shadows no longer crowded him. They began to disperse.
"Here…" The crisp voice.
"Here…" The aged voice.
"Here…" The booming voice.
They forgot a word, unable to recall how to say it.
"This…" The crisp voice.
"This…" The aged voice.
"This…" The booming voice.
Forgetting two words, they grew increasingly lost.
Finally, they forgot everything—where they came from, where they were going. The figures, beasts, and shadows vanished, as if they had never existed, leaving no trace behind.
But their disappearance didn't ease Shi Yi's tension. Instead, his vigilance surged. He was beginning to understand the danger of this place.
Oblivion.
This was a place that erased everything—memory, purpose, existence. He had to escape, and quickly, or his consciousness might be trapped here forever.
Wait…
Where is this place?
Why did I come here?
Questions flooded Shi Yi's mind. He felt his memories slipping, as if he were on the verge of forgetting something critical. I can't forget this. I mustn't.
"Damn it!"
His mind was a chaotic haze, his consciousness blurring.
Just as the vibrant green willow branch prepared to whip him again from the void—
Shi Yi bit down hard on his finger. Blood welled, trickling down his wrist, the sharp pain piercing through the fog.
Ten fingers, linked to the heart.
The agony snapped his consciousness into focus for a fleeting moment. In that instant, Shi Yi recalled everything he had forgotten.
Without hesitation, he shattered the barrier between the Heavenly Passage Realm and the Spirit Transformation Realm, channeling the power within his Heavenly Passages.
It must be said—the Void God Realm's replication of the physical body was near flawless. The spiritual body formed here was indistinguishable from his real one, and even the attributes of his Heavenly Passages were almost identical.
Almost.
Not entirely.
The Void God Realm couldn't fully replicate Shi Yi's ten Heavenly Passages. They held a deeper essence, one that surpassed the realm's own existence.
In the next moment—
Earth, water, fire, and wind surged. Shi Yi erupted where he stood.
_
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