Under the vast starry sky, a lone figure in a purple robe wandered. With each step the purple-robed man took, the galaxy beneath his feet inverted, and the starry sky behind him flipped like pages of a book. Time and space had long lost all meaning to him. He walked upon them, dominated them, and embodied them.
The man was tall and imposing, appearing around thirty years old. His face was handsome and resolute, as if carved by knives and axes. Most captivating were his eyes—lightning was born and extinguished within them, entire worlds reflected inside, and the creation and destruction of all things unfolded in an instant.
He walked unhurriedly through bustling seas of stars, desolate voids, the countless worlds he had conquered with his own hands, and every obstacle that had once troubled him.
Finally, he stopped.
Ahead, there were no longer any stars or meteors. Even the light emitted by stars over billions of years seemed swallowed by some invisible force. Only pure, complete darkness remained, along with a silence so profound that even the laws of nature refused to linger.
This was the edge of the universe.
Chen Yi stood there. His purple robe fluttered lightly in a wind that did not exist. He gazed across the desolate, bone-chilling void and let out a quiet sigh.
He had read about the boundary of the universe in ancient texts, but those were mere speculation. No god had ever truly reached it. Now that he stood here himself, he realized how empty those descriptions had been.
"The edge of the universe… is far more desolate than I imagined."
Yet the answer he sought was not here.
At least, he could not find it on his own.
Ten thousand years had passed since he broke through the final barrier and achieved an unprecedented feat in this universe.
He had walked too easy a path. Since awakening his Thunder God bloodline, he had encountered almost no true obstacles.
With each awakening of his bloodline power, his domain rose from God King to Supreme God King, then beyond God King into the realm of True Immortal. For thousands of years, he became the sole existence in this universe.
He fed on spacetime storms; chaotic primordial energy had no effect on him. Under his protection, the divine realm expanded like never before, and the gods worshipped him as the supreme ruler.
Yet he grew increasingly lost.
The higher he climbed, the more an indescribable emptiness assaulted him, as if something urged him to leave.
That calling did not come from afar but echoed deep within his blood. It was gentle yet persistent, seemingly distant yet crystal clear.
It was as if a seed had been planted the moment he reincarnated, waiting for this day.
Thus, he followed the call, left the divine realm, traveled through thousands of years and countless stars, and arrived here—the edge of the universe, the end of laws, the quietest fissure between the annihilation and birth of all things.
Suddenly, Chen Yi gathered his thoughts and looked up at the invisible cosmic barrier.
The next moment, a dazzling golden light slowly shone in from beyond the barrier.
The golden light was soft yet blinding, gentle yet containing immeasurable supreme power. It appeared before the cosmic barrier and quietly stopped in front of Chen Yi, as if passing through thin mist.
The golden light slowly spread, transforming into an Eight Trigrams diagram filled with endless mystery.
The eight basic principles—Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, Dui—generated infinitely within, each trigram seemingly connected to the primordial order at the beginning of the universe.
At the center of the Eight Trigrams diagram, a figure gradually took shape.
He stood within the golden light. His towering form seemed endless, yet harmoniously blended with heaven and earth.
He had large eyes, a prominent nose, a forehead like the sun, and a chin like a pearl. His face combined dignity and compassion, as if he had existed since ancient times or suddenly emerged from nothingness.
The moment he appeared, the desolate frontier of the universe seemed to gain a center, order, and life.
At the same time, the blood vessels in Chen Yi's body vibrated violently.
This was an unprecedented change in the tens of thousands of years since he became a god. The bloodline he considered his foundation now instinctively bowed to this figure.
The Eight Trigrams diagram was his greatest trump card, his strategy to suppress all things, but compared to the one before him, his own was merely a child's imitation.
In this moment, he finally saw the source of his bloodline, the origin of the Eight Trigrams, and the root of all power.
"You seem very confused."
A soft, laughing voice like a casual greeting from an elder next door rang clearly through the silence at the edge of the universe.
The man looked at Chen Yi. His eyes seemed to contain the birth and death of the universe, the formation, existence, decline, and nothingness of all worlds, yet they were as clear and tranquil as an ancient well untouched by dust.
He resembled the primordial spirit of creation, yet also an ordinary old man. He was a supreme being, yet someone Chen Yi had never met, as if reuniting after a long separation.
Chen Yi took a deep breath, stepped forward a few paces, and bowed deeply with respect.
Then he straightened his back, looked at this ancestor who had descended from the heavens, and poured out all the doubts he had accumulated for over ten thousand years.
"This junior embarked on a journey into this universe, relying on the bloodline passed down through generations, climbing step by step to the peak and achieving an unprecedented status and great feat.
"But I still don't understand. Why did I come here? Why does my bloodline exist? Is this peaceful life spanning tens of thousands of years a blessing from heaven, or a script already written?"
Chen Yi continued while quietly gazing at the source before him. "Ten thousand years ago, I first felt the call. A thousand years ago, I left the divine realm, traveled the sea of stars, and explored the void. All of it was to seek answers."
The man listened silently. When Chen Yi finished, he smiled faintly. His figure flickered, passed through the cosmic barrier that Chen Yi still could not understand, and stepped into this desolate void.
He walked up to Chen Yi, casually waved his hand, and a stone table and benches with natural texture and perfect harmony suddenly appeared in the chaotic void.
"Sit."
Chen Yi sat as instructed, took the teapot the man offered, and naturally poured tea into two bowls. The aroma was rich and refreshing, unlike anything he had tasted in the divine realm.
The man picked up a teacup, took a sip, and slowly began to speak.
"When the world was in turmoil, I lived in the Fire Cloud Cave with a few old friends. Time had long lost meaning to us."
His tone was gentle, like telling an old story. "In our spare time, we checked on the children of the past, present, and future. Occasionally, we looked at novel things in the future."
A faint smile appeared on his lips. "Hmm, rich imagination—that seems to be the meaning."
Chen Yi listened quietly.
"Among these books, some contain stories that greatly interest us."
The man set down his teacup and gazed into the distance. "There are undesirable endings. If we can speculate on different endings, that might not be bad either."
Chen Yi frowned. "With your extraordinary power, foreseeing the past, present, and future should take only a thought. Do you still need to rely on others' imagination?"
The man smiled.
"Of course." He placed the teacup down. "Since you were born in that era, you should know that not every inference succeeds.
"If their reasoning is correct, how much better would their plan be than mine? Their meticulous strategies and clever calculations are more than ten times mine. Even the Eastern Demon Emperor, with such power, sank into the ruins of return and never came back."
Chen Yi fell silent for a while after hearing this.
"Let's get back to the main topic." The man's tone became gentle again. "To explore various possibilities, we evolve diverse universes based on these interesting ideas. Reality and illusion are interdependent; truth is found within falsehood. When evolution reaches its limit, it becomes reality.
"It so happens that the ancestral land is entering an era of depleted spiritual energy. Spiritual power is scarce and cultivation difficult. Yet many promising talents still slumber among them." He looked at Chen Yi, his gaze carrying the gentle warmth of an elder.
"If your seedlings wither from old age, we will send them into evolving worlds, let them carve new paths, and fight for your future."
Chen Yi's heart jumped. His grip on the cup tightened.
"But you don't need to worry too much." The man smiled faintly, as if seeing through his thoughts. "After that universe evolves, it will become reality, and the humans within it will naturally inherit our human destiny.
"The joys and sorrows you experience, every step of your growth—they are never in vain."
So that was it.
The doubts that had haunted Chen Yi for tens of thousands of years finally found answers in this moment.
He did not ask whether there were other fortunate people besides himself who suffered such a fate, nor what the unsatisfactory ending meant. None of that mattered anymore.
What mattered was that he now stood in this land, the source of his bloodline, facing the emperor who had reigned in myths for thousands of years, and heard the truth of his origin with his own ears.
He was not rootless duckweed, nor carelessly discarded.
His time travel was a meticulously planned yet benevolent bet on the future. Everything he loved, fought for, and protected was real and tangible.
At the same time, he felt deep reverence for the power of the ancestor before him.
One thought turned illusion into reality; another turned reality into something else. This was a level beyond his own domain's comprehension—the supreme divine power that easily manipulated natural laws and completely blurred the boundary between illusion and reality.
This was the true terror of the Human Emperor.
"No need to be surprised." The man, seemingly always able to see through his thoughts, said gently, "If one day you break out of this universe and all karma returns to you, you will understand that such methods are commonplace for Great Soul Immortals."
Great Soul.
A bitter smile appeared on Chen Yi's lips.
For many years, his cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds. He was confident he was no weakling among True Immortals. Yet he knew he was an Immortal, but never a Great Soul Immortal.
Not even a Golden Immortal was within reach; it was a distant dream.
He had relied on his bloodline power for a smooth journey, but that same bloodline both led him to success and bound him.
The man looked at him with the gentle eyes of an elder.
"Do not belittle yourself," he said softly. "Reaching this realm at your age is truly remarkable, even if it is thanks to your bloodline."
He paused, quietly observing Chen Yi. "But that is all."
Chen Yi suddenly raised his head, his eyes shining with intense light.
"Ancestor! How can I advance further?"
He had never known the pain of cultivation stagnation before, but in recent years he had begun to feel the constraints his bloodline imposed.
The man shook his head.
"There are countless paths to enlightenment, and each path to Great Soul is different. Those who reach Great Soul are all blessed by fate and opportunity." He said calmly, "You have only inherited the bloodline, yet you wish to directly follow those who experienced countless hardships and saw through their essence. Difficult. Difficult. Difficult."
The three "difficult" words struck Chen Yi's heart like three ringing bells. They were not insults, but statements of fact.
Chen Yi was not discouraged. He stood up and bowed solemnly once more.
"Please teach me, Ancestor."
The man gazed at him for a long time, then sighed softly.
He reached out and gently helped Chen Yi up.
"Through countless reincarnations, an enlightened heart reveals itself."
His voice was low, as if piercing through the walls of spacetime and reaching the depths of Chen Yi's soul.
"This universe has an excellent foundation and tremendous fortune. However, using it to reach the status of Great Soul is extremely difficult."
He stared into Chen Yi's eyes and calmly stated his method.
"Only through countless reincarnations, countless hardships, countless choices, and countless confrontations with oneself is it possible.
"Do you agree?"
Chen Yi's eyes wavered slightly. Reincarnating through thousands of eras meant letting go of everything he currently possessed. His supreme status, tens of thousands of years of cultivation, bonds with family and friends, the countless worlds he had conquered… everything had to start over from the beginning.
"This disciple is willing."
The man looked at him. Relief shone in his eyes, along with a trace of melancholy. He had seen too many who walked this path—those who lost their way, those who submitted, and those who completely forgot who they were in the endless cycle of reincarnation.
"Go," the man said quietly. "How can you know your future without experiencing all of it?"
He casually pointed, and golden light flashed on the stone table. A bag of millet suddenly appeared from nowhere. The bag was made of ordinary material with simple, ancient patterns.
The bag was loosely tied. Inside were plump, golden millet grains, each emitting a calming, gentle fragrance.
"This was grown by Mountain God himself," he said quietly. "Take it back and let your relatives and friends taste it."
He paused, then smiled gently. "Consider it a gift from your ancestor."
Chen Yi took the cloth bag with trembling hands. It felt heavy and warm, carrying an inexhaustible breath of life. It was as if he held an inheritance and blessing passed down for thousands of years.
This gift was far too generous.
Chen Yi took a deep breath, turned around, and bowed once more. His voice was slightly choked.
"Thank you, Ancestor."
"Go." The man's figure was already fading, as if dissolving into the endless golden light.
Chen Yi slowly stood up. He gazed at the ancestor who had descended from the heavens and was about to disappear, stored the stone table and benches in his sleeve, and hid the millet bag close to his body.
He bowed deeply one last time, turned on his heel, and walked back the way he had come.
The golden light slowly faded behind him. The illusion of the Eight Trigrams gradually disappeared, and the desolate void at the edge of the universe was once again enveloped in silence.
The purple-robed figure walked away step by step. With each step, the starry sky shattered, yet each step seemed to lead toward an even deeper unknown world.
When they were born into this world, they were lost, but they left with unshakeable resolve.
The desolate darkness at the edge of the universe remained unchanged, but Chen Yi knew he had found his home and the path he should take.
…