A black ocean with no source and no ending remained still in the midst of endless darkness. Hovering above the vast water body were eleven moons made from stardust. They shone in different shades of color: white, green, blue, purple, yellow, orange, red, black, gray, silver, and gold.
The ocean itself was divided into three segments. On one segment, infinite purple energy swirled and dominated. Another segment was filled with white orbs resembling duplicates of the white moon.
And in the far sight of the ocean, where the last segment lay, figures of different shapes and sizes stood still, shrouded in darkness. Their eyes were the only visible part of their bodies, staring at the ocean with hollow white gazes.
At the center of this bizarre landscape, a young man lay on the black ocean. He neither sank nor floated. He had long black hair that spread across the waters and was shrouded in a dark cloak made of mist.
Rain slowly opened his eyes, groaning. Strangely, he did not feel aches or pain in his body. Instead, he felt as if his soul was blazing, but in a soothing way.
When he fully regained his eyesight, the first thing he saw was the eleven moons orbiting above him in the darkness. With a grunted effort, he slowly stood up, left in awe of where he was.
"What? Is this hell? No, no... it looks too calm for hell. Heaven? No, it's too dark. So where the hell did I land after dying? Technically, I only lost consciousness."
He muttered softly under his breath, gazing at the three segments, then back at the moons. It was all confusing.
Unable to think straight, his mind was forced to retrace his steps, but that was a wrong idea, as it only reminded him of his parents' brutal death.
The images of the one-eyed Yaoguai killing his father played in his head repeatedly, sending stings to his chest. He wanted to cry, but strangely he could not. Not because he disliked his father or anything, but because it felt like it had something to do with where he was currently.
His mom's death was still not confirmed by him, so for the first time he silently prayed for her survival.
"Rest in perfect peace, dad."
After praying and deciding against walking around the mysterious landscape, a voice echoed from the darkness, and its words formed in ethereal gold light on a golden interface.
[Mortal! Welcome to the Martial Soul of the First Rebel!]
"Huh?"
[At the end, destruction was nearly inevitable, but the First Rebel was as relentless as ever. Placing their trust in their loyal beast, the Violet Dragon, they gave it their powers and divinity. The beast traveled through time for millennia, battling the strong and weak. Worn out and dying after its heinously long journey, it stopped in the farthest future and manifested itself atop chaos. Its master's legacy shall go to the one with potential, so it fought again until it found the right person in the midst of chaos. It gladly died and blessed this person with its master's legacy...]
[Mortal! You've earned the First Rebel's Legacy!]
[You've successfully awakened!]
"Awa... what now?!"
[Host Identity: Rain]
[Cultivation Path: The Rebel's Way (Dual-Path Locked)]
[Current Soul: Martial]
[Current Realm: Mortal]
[Current Rank: Rank 0]
"Did I just awaken as a Cultivator?"
Rain's heart skipped countless beats. But this was strange. To awaken, one usually visited officials in charge after reaching the age of sixteen to eighteen, where they conducted the awakening process.
Although the process was still vague to him, he knew it was not through this method. Then again, he could not ignore the fact that all of this was real.
The eleven moons above him represented the cultivation factor he knew, which was the ranking and progression method.
It ranged from white to gold rank, but what he did not understand was why he had all eleven ranks like moons orbiting above him.
Remembering the voice's message, his mind went back to the dragon that had manifested above the estate.
"The... the dragon was the beast of someone named the First Rebel? Who is the First Rebel?"
Not wanting to think about such complicated issues, he shook his head. He had truly awakened, and with a Martial Soul at that, which meant he would not be able to enter the Tower of Aperture.
He would clear his doubts after he left this place somehow and go to the officials for a standard awakening procedure.
He stared at the interface and frowned.
"Since when did Cultivators have glowing prompts in front of them? Argh, everything is just confusing."
The interface ignored his discontent and faded as a new message appeared.
[You've earned three major skills!]
[Infinite Give And Take]: "Where others must learn to control and refine their Qi, yours is infinite and can be shared through five ways. You gain a temporary skill related to the Cultivator you share it with."
[Martial Peak]: "You can gain martial skills after completing quests, training, and achieving specific feats."
[First Rebel's Domain]: "The First Rebel was the first human to build a domain with countless divine mortals, weapons, and beasts. That domain now belongs to you."
"Holy shit!"
Rain was in disbelief. The first skill was the most essential, since he now had what other awakened lacked, endless Qi. He could also share it with others using five different methods and thus earn a relative skill from their ability.
"I wonder what the methods are."
The second one was interesting too, since it would make him on par with Jiangs, even though the first one had already placed him above most Cultivators in the hierarchy.
"Dual path, huh?"
The third one cleared his confusion about where he was. He was in the domain of the First Rebel, which was now somewhere within his Martial Soul.
Rain looked up at the eleventh moon, the gold one. It felt a lifetime away.
"Five methods of sharing," he whispered, looking at his hands. They were pale, translucent almost, with violet veins pulsing rhythmically. "I need to find my mom. If I have infinite Qi... if I can give... maybe I can bring her back."
The golden interface flickered one last time before the black ocean began to dissolve into white light.
[Initialization Complete.]
[Returning Host to Reality.]
"Wait! I don't even know how to use—"
The darkness snapped.