Death, it was something everyone would get to experience one day. However, in the world of cultivation—a realm of raw power and pure fantasy—death was not always an end. Sometimes, it was the glorious beginning of all things great.
Floating in the silent, starless skies of a dead world—a barren sphere of cracked stone and frozen dust, forgotten in the fringes of the Venia Galaxy—a humanoid figure made up of pure white flames hovered motionless.
Ash's second Nirvana had begun.
The flames were not ordinary fire.
They burned without heat, white as the first light of creation, wrapping his dissolving form in a cocoon of rebirth. This time, it was stronger—deeper—than the first. The essence of the Phoenix Progenitor, tapped into his Primavus evolution aspect and the Unnamed Essence's touch, surged through him like a cosmic tide.
His body reformed from the flames—taller now, reaching six foot six, frame sculpted to impossible perfection.
Skin lightened to a flawless alabaster glow, as if carved from moonlit marble.
White hair lengthened, flowing like liquid starlight, edged with faint golden flames that danced without burning. His wings—once pure black with rose-pink veins—now bore subtle phoenix feathers along the edges, iridescent and shifting between white fire and rose-gold.
Eyes opened slowly—blood-drop crimson giving way to dual hues: one void-black blood drop ringed in white flame, the other snow-white ringed in pink fire.
Beauty so ridiculous it bordered on whatever surpassed divine—ethereal, dangerous, the kind that made hearts stop and galaxies pause.
Hidden in the void nearby, cloaked by layers of phoenix flame concealment, Aurelia and her two elder guards watched in stunned amazement.
Aurelia's mismatched eyes—one void-black, one snow-white—widened, golden hair whipping in excitement she couldn't contain.
"That power… it's Mother's. Exactly Mother's," she whispered, voice trembling with eager delight.
The elders beside her—ancient phoenixes with scarred lava skin—nodded gravely, flames dimming in reverence.
"It's unmistakable," one elder murmured. "The Progenitor's Nirvana flame. In a non-phoenix. Impossible… yet true."
Aurelia's mischievous grin spread wide.
"I have to meet him. Now."
The flames around Ash extinguished with a final, silent burst of white light.
Rebirth complete.
He hovered, taller, lighter-skinned, phoenix features subtle but undeniable—beauty that defied reason.
Aurelia appeared before him in a flare of multicolored flames—six foot seven inches, golden hair cascading like a comet's tail, wings of sapphire and emerald unfurling, mischievous smile bright as a newborn star.
Ash's expression remained dark—rage still simmering from Raven's death, the Nocturne betrayal.
Aurelia tilted her head, playful as ever.
"Oh, come on," she said, voice light and teasing, flames curling playfully around her fingers as she hovered closer. "Is that little Eternal Clan really making you that mad?"
Ash's dual-hued eyes met hers, cold fire burning.
He wasn't in the mood.
Not even close.
[Tsk, Master, stop acting as if the world is ending.] Elysia grumbled in his mind, irritation clear despite her usual composure.
Although she was a Nexus—nothing more than energy—she had been made with emotions, will, and everything else. And it wasn't easy for her to formulate a plan that consisted of her master dying, even for a moment.
Even still…
[This isn't your first death, nor your second! By now in this world, Master, you should know weakness is a sin. You must have the power to control the entire board… to see the entire board.]
She continued, voice steadying.
[If you were strong enough, do you think a situation like that would've unfolded?]
As Ash and Elysia talked, not even seconds passed in the outside world—it all happened so quickly it was as if it didn't happen at all.
'Nexus… what are you getting at? I already know this… the best I can do at the moment is handle things one step at a time,' he replied internally.
'Yes, I need power… but I need a million other things too. If I were to cultivate to the peak, who knows how many eras would pass?'
[You're not wrong, Master… But isn't that why you created me?]
She paused, then continued.
[We're not chasing conventional power anymore, Master. When are you going to realize it? I was made from your very will… your deepest desires. We are not chasing the peak of power—we are chasing power itself.
You are not defined by the rules of this reality, Master. You are fatel—]
Reality warped.
Everything froze—time, space, the void itself halting as if the universe held its breath.
When Ash's vision cleared, he found himself back in a familiar place.
The ending of the First Cosmic Cycle—from the memories he'd experienced during his SSS-rank evolution.
The void stretched endless, broken worlds drifting like shattered glass, the remnants of a dying cosmos.
He looked around—and spotted his past self.
The human-looking Ash, with grey hair, standing amid the ruins, gaze ancient and weary.
"Tsk, you brought me back again?" Ash asked in mild irritation, arms crossed. "I thought it was not until the Void Emperor rank?"
The other Ash turned, surprise flashing across his face. "The hell?" he asked, genuine shock in his voice.
"Kid… what the hell are you doing here?"
He appeared in front of Ash in a blink, staring deep into his eyes.
To Ash, it seemed like simple staring—but no. The Second Ash was watching every moment of Ash's life since they last parted—flashes of battles, evolutions, the Nexus creation, Primordia forging, the companions, the clans, Raven's death.
Ash frowned, stepping back. "How the hell am I supposed to know?"
The Second Ash's surprise deepened, then turned to a slow, appreciative grin.
"You… an inner universe? A Nexus from Unnamed Essence? Progenitor at fifty-seven? Kid, you're moving faster than I ever anticipated.... Even after calculating your uniqueness."
He laughed—snarky, blunt, familiar.
Ash arched a brow. "Flattery? From myself? Weird."
Second Ash smirked. "Not flattery, just fact. You're breaking away earlier than I expected—Void Emperor was my guess… that's even a stage before we'd normally start drifting from normality. But that Nexus… it really sped everything up…"
He gestured, and the void shifted—memories unfolding.
"You know we're not ordinary. The rules around us aren't here to confine or contain us like they do others—they're clay, ready to be molded by our will."
The vision continued where Ash's old memories ended.
He had thought the First Ash died with the cycle's end.
He was wrong.
The void cracked open.
A colossal eye appeared—pure, immense, the Eye of First Dawn.
It gazed upon the ruins—and reality reshaped.
No ranks, no Laws—just pure power in the previous cycle.
The Eye rewove existence—stars igniting differently, worlds forming from will alone, possibilities branching into new cycles.
Second Ash narrated, voice low.
"This was the last time our original self appeared. After that came endless incarnations—us—pursuing a goal we had set but could no longer fully remember.
The Second Cycle gave birth to the Cultivation Verse as you know it. Progenitors emerged from ****—making you special and right on track."
"Born from what?" Ash asked, brow furrowing.
Second Ash tsked. "Another restriction."
He smirked.
"Anyway—that Nexus? It's the best thing you've ever created. The Essence even predates Origin… right up there with ****. Chase your deepest desire, kid. The closer you get to the Original Goal, the more of yourself you'll uncover."
The vision warped—reality unfreezing.
-----
Elysia's voice continued seamlessly.
[—fateless, without destiny. Master… what we chase is omnipotence.]
Ash listened closely, nodding as his eyes seemed to age centuries in a single heartbeat—something Aurelia caught, her mischievous gaze widening.
With the fresh memories settling in, Elysia took another careful look at his very being.
[….Truly incomprehensible,] she muttered.
Ash thought one thing before returning to his usual self.
'Omnipotence, huh?'
A smile crept onto his face—slow, sharp, dangerous.
'My bloody princess… you won't have to wait too long.'
He turned to Aurelia, smirk returning.
"Let me guess… Aurelia, right?"