Countless galaxies drifted silently through the void, their light bending and warping as if space itself were wounded.
At the centre of this chaotic expanse stood a colossal sphere, surrounded by a translucent, digital-like barrier. Inside it, endless images flickered. Worlds rising. Worlds collapsing. Time flowing forward, backward, and sideways all at once.
This place was neither past nor future.
It was a channel of space and time.
Before the sphere stood alone figure.
He was a young boy, his appearance ethereal, his body wrapped in faint streams of cosmic energy that did not belong to his original world. His name was Ye Xiu.
"I need to go back…" he whispered, his clenched fists trembling. "Back to my time. Back to my world."
Three million years ago, he had been nothing more than an ordinary student.
His parents had died in an accident. His twelve-year-old sister had fallen into a deep coma, her life hanging by a fragile thread.
Everything should have remained ordinary.
Until the day a terrifying existence descended before him.
Without warning. Without explanation.
That being had called him a cosmic variable.
Then, with a single thought, Ye Xiu was torn away from his world and thrown into this nightmare of war and destruction.
Time was chaotic here.
The entire space was filled with violent cosmic energy, twisted and restless, as if reality itself had been scarred by endless conflict. This was a cosmic war zone — a superior form of space forged from the remnants of countless wars and battles.
Cosmic energy was so dense that it shaped space itself.
Ye Xiu did not belong here.
As someone from a lower dimension, he was naturally unable to survive in such an environment. The pressure was suffocating. Violent cosmic currents tore at his body, damaging him with every passing second.
His vision blurred.
Just as he was about to be completely destroyed, a kind cosmic soldier noticed him.
His name was Zhu Guang.
Without hesitation, Zhu Guang carried Ye Xiu back to his base within the war zone. Although Ye Xiu was saved, his condition was terrible. His body was on the verge of collapse, and even breathing felt like a struggle.
When all hope seemed lost, a very old commander arrived.
Using a mysterious creature known as a Cosmic Spirit, the commander stabilized Ye Xiu's condition and pulled him back from the brink of death. After a long investigation, Ye Xiu was permitted to remain among them.
During that time, Ye Xiu gradually befriended Zhu Guang, the one who had saved his life.
But his heart was never at peace.
He wanted to go home.
He began asking others about his original world, searching for any clue that could lead him back. One day, a cosmic guard approached him and said that the old commander who had saved his life might know the answer he was seeking.
Following the guard's directions, Ye Xiu arrived at a place surrounded by countless stars and galaxies. At the centre of it all stood a majestic palace formed entirely from pure cosmic energy.
He stepped inside.
The palace was filled with cosmic soldiers. As Ye Xiu moved deeper, he encountered a strange creature. Startled at first, he soon learned that this being was the caretaker of the palace.
"Wait here," the caretaker said. "The commander will arrive shortly."
Ye Xiu waited.
After some time, an old man with white hair slowly appeared, his body surrounded by shimmering energy. The moment the old man approached, Ye Xiu felt a terrifying pressure descend upon him — a pressure strong enough to tear him apart.
His legs trembled.
Yet he stood his ground.
Seeing this, the old man chuckled. The pressure vanished instantly.
"Tell me, "The old man said calmly. "What do you wish to know? I like courageous young men like you."
Ye Xiu immediately asked about his home.
The commander listened quietly before replying, "If you wish to return to your world — which likely exists in a different time and space — you must either gain the power to control space and time, or find an existence capable of sending you back to a lower dimension."
Ye Xiu asked the commander to send him back directly.
The old man shook his head. He was not powerful enough to do so.
To return home and protect himself from the terrifying cosmic entity that had abducted him, Ye Xiu needed to become stronger.
Determined, he asked the old man to take him as a disciple.
At first, the commander refused.
But after Ye Xiu's persistent insistence, he finally spoke. "If you can survive the Nirvana Trial, I will take you as my disciple."
The Nirvana Trial was a test in which beings of the cosmos competed to become cosmic soldiers and fight within the war zone.
During the trial, participants were required to remain around the Nirvana Lake, a body of liquid formed from highly concentrated cosmic and origin energy. The closer one stayed to the lake — and the longer one endured — the greater the reinforcement to the body.
This process prepared their bodies to absorb cosmic energy in the future.
Every base within the cosmos possessed a Nirvana Lake, as it was one of the most effective ways to awaken potential.
On the day of trial many participants came to participate, all the participants transferred into the place where Nirvana Lake through the warp gate. The moment Ye Xiu passed through the warp gate, his breath caught.
A vast lake stretched before him, its surface shimmering like liquid jade. Tiny particles of radiant cosmic energy rose from the water, drifting into the air like fireflies. Towering mountains surrounded the lake, their peaks hidden within glowing mist.
It was breathtaking.
And terrifying.
One by one, the participants took their positions.
The stronger ones moved closer to the lake, stopping at fifty meters… thirty meters… even ten meters away. Their bodies radiated confidence and power.
Ye Xiu stood silently at the outer edge.
One hundred meters.
He was the weakest here.
Ignoring the mocking glances around him, Ye Xiu sat down and followed the cultivation manual distributed by the army. The moment he began meditating, searing pain erupted throughout his body, as if molten metal had been poured into his veins.
His teeth clenched.
He endured.
Half a day passed.
The pain slowly subsided.
I can move closer, he thought.
Gritting his teeth, Ye Xiu advanced to ninety meters.
The agony returned instantly, at least ten times stronger than before. His vision blurred, sweat soaking his clothes, but he endured it for an entire hour.
Then—
Space cracked.
A sharp tearing sound echoed behind him.
Murmurs of fear rippled through the crowd. Ye Xiu opened his eyes and saw faces drained of colour, all staring past him.
His heart sank.
Slowly, he turned.
From the cracking void emerged a massive wyvern-like beast, its body shrouded in darkness. Above it stood a shadowy figure, its arms shaped like blades.
"Pathetic," the figure sneered. "Weak."
A Shadow Killer.
Panic erupted.
Participants fled toward the portal in desperation. "His knees buckled. His lungs refused to draw breath."
Ye Xiu forced his trembling legs to move, running with everything he had.
He was almost there.
Then a colossal tail swept through the air.
The world spun.
Ye Xiu was flung backward, his body smashing into the lake.
The instant his skin touched the surface, unbearable pain crushed him from every direction. Cracks spread across his body like shattered glass.
Memories flooded his mind.
His parents.
His sister.
I'm sorry… he thought. I couldn't protect anyone…
His vision darkened.
As consciousness faded, he saw the pendant on his chest begin to glow.
Then—
Everything dissolved into light.