Primal Birth Celestial Ruins.
Amid the vast universe, rich in life and in every conceivable form, there was a region devoid of light, known in the four corners of the Celestial Body.
Nothing could withstand the Primal Birth Celestial Ruins for long—not even True Gods. Beyond light, energy and even the laws themselves were constantly consumed by Destruction. Unsurprisingly, no civilizations existed in that immense quadrant of the universe. Cultivators, mortals or immortals alike, from the youngest to the oldest, would avoid at all costs even getting close to the area commonly called the "Absolute End."
Yet today, on one of the frontiers of the Absolute End, seven entities stood facing the darkness ahead, their gazes deep, their breaths cautious, yet firm and resolute.
Among the seven—positioned at equal distances from each other—was a young man with golden hair, fair skin, and a calm expression. His eyes were closed, his body barely moving.
"Ready?" one of the seven entities asked, raising a hand while looking at the purple crystal floating above the boy dressed in black.
All the others made the same gesture as their leader, channeling their forces so that from the shifting darkness, glimmers of different colors arose from their bodies.
If the unconscious young man had been awake, he would have witnessed the most magnificent sight of his life: the appearance of seven divine trees, each with its own peculiar characteristics, colors, and shapes.
It might not seem like much, but in a universe where the foundation of immortal soul cultivation mirrors plant development, the image of a full, complete tree was the supreme symbol of power!
The seven unleashed their energies into the crystal above the boy, activating the device until a white beam of light shot toward the young man's forehead.
One of them spoke in a solemn tone, "From this day forward, you shall have no family. Your previous name will hold no value. Your life will have but one purpose: to serve and protect the Celestial Body!"
A feminine voice emerged from another position in the formation around the boy, "To the Primordial Void you will go. Your mission will be to bring chaos and destruction upon that universe. Prevent its dominant forces from escaping hell!"
"From now on, you are a destroyer—the ruin of the Primordial Void. As such, your family name shall be Lie, representing cosmic rupture and the shattering of realities. Your given name shall be Xu, ancestral ruin."
"Lie Xu, the Council of Seven blesses you with the Divine Jewel of the Absolute End."
"One day, you will remember your mission and your past life. Until then, you will be a devil. Master Destruction and return only when you have succeeded!"
After the last of the seven finished speaking, the jewel above the boy's body vanished, and the seven pushed the unconscious body toward the Primal Birth Celestial Ruins, into the infinite darkness.
The seven beings observed in silence for a long, hard-to-comprehend time, while their minds turned to the most important mission of their lives.
The last True Gods of the Celestial Body were slowly disappearing. The universe had never been so weak in millions of years of recorded history. To make matters worse, disturbing signs were emanating from the Primordial Void, and a prophecy of the end of the Celestial Body had befallen them 100,000 years ago.
Even though no one had ever managed to escape from the Primordial Void and reenter the Celestial Body through the Primal Birth Celestial Ruins, they could not help but pin all their hopes on their envoy to the darkness.
"Now there is no turning back. May Lie Xu bring chaos and destruction to the Primordial Void!"
"But if he fails, then it will be the end of the entire Celestial Body!"
…
Primordial Void.
Amid this largely dark universe—marked mostly by gray and destruction—there existed a rocky world, where dust covered more than 70% of its expanse, rendering vast regions nearly 100% uninhabitable, hostile to all forms of life, capable of devouring even spiritual energy, laws, and every kind of matter.
But not all was destruction.
In one corner of this rocky world lay a special area where the dust did not cover the sky, where, surprisingly, life existed.
At this moment, an old wooden cart, pulled by a thin, decidedly weak and aging horse, slowly made its way along a flat road.
An old man was at the front of the cart, controlling the reins of the animal, while a boy—no more than ten years old—sat beside him, watching with an indescribable gleam in his eyes.
"In the beginning, there was light. So said the Primal Creator in the Sacred Scriptures of the Celestial Body," a hoarse, aged voice spoke amid the creaking wood and an infinite noise coming from afar. "However, without balance, nothing endures. Without subterranean and atmospheric waters, there would never be rivers, lakes, or seas. And so, darkness prevailed.
"Because of life, death emerged. Because of creation, destruction arose.
"But the Primal Creator, in an act of mercy and benevolence, separated the two primordial essences, thus giving rise also to the Primordial Void. From that came balance—life and death, destruction and creation—divided in perfect harmony.
"Then life emerged. And from life sprang infinite things, culminating in the emergence of intelligence and spirituality. From that moment on, immortal cultivation arose, quickly capturing the attention of all beings—be they animal, plant, or even inanimate."
The evening breeze blew, swaying the hats of the two travelers beside each other. The old man continued to gaze at the horizon while the child looked at him with excitement. The brightness in his dark eyes almost drew a small smile from the aged soul beside him, moistening the dry eyelids of the man with short white hair.
Their only horse trotted steadily along the Royal Road, leaving behind the Stellar Fall Valley, with a nearly empty cart save for the unconscious body traveling with them.
The young boy with black hair and an eager countenance, fists clenched and breathing rapidly, spoke in a voice louder than usual: "Amazing! The Sacred Scriptures are so mysterious and interesting! I wonder what it would be like to live in the Celestial Body, Grandpa Lan. How delightful it must be to not worry about all that dust and destruction!"
The old man slowly closed his eyes, nodding gently to the boy. Yet he could not speak much more about the marvel behind the primordial origin.
"Sigh! How I wish I could answer you, Meng'er. The Sacred Scriptures… how valuable they are! How could an ordinary man like me ever know more than the basics? Having heard of the Primal Creator was more than most of my peers could ever dream of!"
"But, Grandpa, what do you believe? Does the Celestial Body truly exist?" the child asked, marveling at the possibilities of a green world, blue skies, and endless life forms. His dream was to live free of worry about the destruction—about the corrosive dust that covered more than 70% of his world.
Lan Renshu replied to Kong Meng's query, "In my heart, I believe so. And you should believe it too. Even if the Celestial Body is only a legend, striving to reach it can never be a loss. So live for your dream, Meng'er. Perhaps you will transcend our limits and reach infinity!"
The young boy buzzed with anticipation for the future. He couldn't help but gaze up at the cloudy, gray sky with a unique energy shining in his eyes—a quality found only in the naive and the very young.
The old man fell silent once again while his small companion pondered imaginative methods to reach a friendlier reality where he could live in peace. Meanwhile, the old man harbored no hope of his own; his life was nearing its end and all he had left was to witness the fruits of younger generations.
With a long sigh, Lan Renshu focused on the path ahead, spotting in the distance the beginning of the Brave Sword King Village—his destination.
Before they reached the village, the unconscious young man at the back of the cart began shifting from side to side, drawing the attention of the pair.
"Grandpa Lan, the strange man is waking up," the boy said, pointing behind him, where the young man, still unconscious, appeared to stir as if awakening.
The youth looked well-built and handsome—different from most people known to Kong Meng and Lan Renshu. He did not seem more than 16, nearly 1.9 meters tall and over 70 kilos. But despite his fair skin and the appearance of one who had never ventured from home, he was severely injured, bearing multiple signs of corruption by dust.
Naturally, both Kong Meng and Lan Renshu were troubled, uncertain whether the young man would survive the remainder of the journey.
In the Primordial Void, dust meant destruction. Just one gram of dust could injure an adult; a few grams could penetrate the skin, and several kilos of dust would be enough to shatter a body.
Looking back from his cart, old Lan Renshu could see cyclones of dust in the distance. Being caught in one would be enough to end even a high-ranking cultivator's life!
'This young man might survive! I thought rescuing him would be futile, yet who would have thought?!' The old man gestured, urging his horse to trot faster as they neared the Brave Sword King Village.
The young man with hair as golden as gold appeared to be suffering the worst of nightmares. His facial muscles were tense, the veins on his forehead and neck pulsing vigorously. His mouth was tightly shut—teeth pressed against each other so firmly that his jaw protruded. His eyes shifted behind his lids as spasms caused his whole body to tremble, rolling from side to side.
"Lie Xu…"
"Celestial Body…"
"Primordial Void…"
"Absolute End…"
"Mission…"
Unknown voices thundered in his mind as though struck by lightning.
Meanwhile, deep within his soul, a colored seed—seemingly frozen in time and space—shuddered, and then several cracks appeared around it. As if time had been accelerated, a bright sprout quickly emerged until white roots broke forth from the base of its structure.
The previously dark world in the depths of Lie Xu's soul burst into radiant light, countless stars appearing to transform it into a small universe. From that universe, a purple gem radiated, striking the small "budding organism" of that space.
At the same time, a seven-cornered purple mark formed on the boy's forehead, causing him to bring his hands to his face. A sensation of burning overwhelmed him, finally causing him to open his eyes as he lifted the upper part of his body.
"Hah… Hah…"
He gasped for air as his eyes widened, his mouth dry and open in desperate search of breath.
Lan Renshu stared in astonishment. 'Did he wake like this?' the old man wondered, never having seen anyone with such strength and resilience to injuries before.
Certainly, the numerous wounds covering the boy should have caused him immense pain!
Lan Renshu could still see traces of dust on him; therefore, the suffering this poor soul was enduring must feel as if acid were eating away at him!
Unfortunately, not just anyone could withstand the dust of the Primordial Void. Naturally, he and his small companion could only bring the young man they had found unconscious minutes earlier to the village.
"Young man… Try not to move too much. You are gravely injured, and any excessive movement might worsen your condition," Lan Renshu said urgently, his breathing quickening as his horse hastened. "Don't overthink it now. In the village, there are cultivators who will know how to help you!"
Lie Xu gazed at the old man driving the cart and also caught sight of the boy watching him with wide eyes and an agape mouth. Both were dressed in old, worn, and dirty clothes. Additionally, between him and them, various tools and stones were stacked in wooden crates.
Surveying the surroundings along the dirt road, Lie Xu noticed dust cyclones in the distance as well as a rocky plain with almost no plant life.
"Where am I?" he asked in a frightened tone, finding nothing familiar around him.
In truth, at that moment Lie Xu struggled to comprehend how he had come to be in his current situation, but nothing came to mind. Aside from the voices in his head, a strangely hostile will, his own name, and the language he had spoken, nothing else remained in his memory.
"Who are you? How did I end up here?" he asked, his gaze darting in every direction—genuinely causing worry for the two.
"Grandpa, I think he hit his head. It seems he doesn't recall what happened," the boy observed with certainty, though tinged with disappointment. Kong Meng wanted to ask how such a handsome young man could have ended up this badly injured—but now that curiosity seemed even more remote.
"Can't you remember anything?" the old man asked kindly.
"No," Lie Xu replied, feeling out of place, yet not even 10% as worried as the old man appeared to be.
"Do you at least remember your name?" Lan Renshu inquired, his worry for the boy deepening.
What had brought this young man to his present state in the Stellar Fall Valley? Was it merely the dust that had injured him so severely that all his clothes were stained with blood? Where was he from? Had enemies abandoned him in that place? Or worse yet—had he been betrayed?
Not knowing one's own history, especially for someone in his situation, would be a nightmare for anyone. What dangers might he face simply because he did not know what had happened or where he came from?
Lan Renshu was not a powerful cultivator and had merely listened to such stories his entire life. Yet he was aware of the intrigues and tragedies that befell those treading the immortal path.
"Lie Xu," the young man said as a terrible headache—worse than any of the injuries on his body—overwhelmed him. "That's all I know," he added with difficulty.
Kong Meng and Lan Renshu exchanged silent looks at the youth, wondering who would bestow such a negative name on a child.
For a moment, both felt a strange chill run down their spines, imagining the tragedies this young man had either already endured or was yet to experience.
"Poor soul," the old man murmured, then turned his attention back to the road ahead. "We will reach the Brave Sword King Village in five minutes. Try not to stress or despair. We'll do our best to help you recover from your injuries and lost memories. If you're lucky, a strong cultivator might look upon you favorably—so there is hope."
Instinctively, Lie Xu followed Lan Renshu's advice, feeling that there was nothing more for him to do at the moment.