After Yang Xuan's soul left his body, he was transported to a void, where there were no stars, no light, no life, no earth, only silence.
In that empty place, he could feel his soul absorbing something, a substance so pure that it could be called holy. His quality of life, comprehension, and lifespan were slowly improving.
[Where am I? Wait! Why can't I speak or move?]
That's right, he couldn't speak or hear anything, though he could move; he didn't sense it.
He was lonely.
[Whatever, I am just going to sleep.]
10 years have passed.
After what felt like a lifetime, Yang Xuan opened his eyes, and he could feel the strength of his soul. He felt like a god, that he could do anything that he wished, but sadly, he could not do anything yet; even though he felt like a god, his strength was merely stronger than a mortal's.
[I guess I have to wait until I am strong enough to leave this place.]
[Back to sleep, sigh...]
He deeply sighed.
Time flies by, and 250 years later.
Yang Xuan finally gained the ability to fly. At first, he felt excited because he got a chance to leave this void.
But as he flew further and further, his burning will started to diminish. 100 years have passed since he started flying, because he had nothing better to do, but the void remained unchanged, not even a photon of light.
[Another round of sleeping, but this time I will sleep longer]
Determined, he closed his eyes and let himself go into the void.
This time 20,000 years have passed, and Yang Xuan discovered that he can speak, hear, and somehow even feel an area of around 9.000 square kilometers. But even with all of this power, it was not enough to leave.
1.2 million years have passed, and Yang Xuan was still sleeping when he suddenly began to feel that something was missing, something on a fundamental level, but he didn't know what. Still, he ignored it and went back to sleep. Because what else could he do? search on the internet?
Billions of years have passed, and he could feel that he was a step away from a breakthrough, and that once his strength rises again, he might be able to leave this void, but who knows when that might be.
[If only I could find a way to absorb this soul energy faster.]
Yang Xuan felt like going crazy, because for any human, this amount of time was unimaginable and terrifying.
After an unknown number of years, he had a feeling that something magisterial was about to happen. Suddenly, he sensed that the soul energy in an area of more than 100 billion light-years away, boundless energy started gathering in his soul, making every part of his being scream with an indescribable sensation.
Yang Xuan's senses started to expand, and he could now feel the entire realm and boundary between the void and another world.
"I CAN FINALLY LEAVE THIS DAMNED VOID! HAHAHAH!"
As his voice cracked with madness, it was echoing throughout the entire realm, and the space was trembling, almost shattering.
After 2 years, during which he was laughing madly, his excitement died down a bit. Yang Xuan teleported to the edge of the void, where a barrier stood, enclosing it as if protecting it. Without hesitation, he threw a single punch.
When that punch met the barrier, the reality started to groan, and the barrier began to bend like waves until cracks appeared and finally shattered. After that, Yang Xuan's power started dispersing because of the heavy karma of destroying the barrier, and his soul was sucked into a lower realm, stuffed into the dead body of a young man.
Upon opening his eyes, he looked around and found grass, trees, and all he had dreamed of throughout his time spent in the void.
"I, Yang Xuan, am back!"
And started laughing again.