Chapter 4: The Birth of Something New

There was no sky

No earth

No wind

No light

No darkness

There was simply nothing

Ao Kuiba’s consciousness floated within nothingness.

He could not feel his body.

He could not circulate Qi.

He could not sense anything.

Even his soul felt strangely distant.

For the first time in more than eight thousand years, Ao Kuiba found himself in a situation that he could not immediately understand.

He had died

That much was obvious.

The poison had destroyed his body. His cultivation had collapsed. He had torn open a forbidden spatial formation and dragged himself and his enemies into the unknown.

He should have been dead.

Yet his consciousness remained.

So this is death?

Ao Kuiba remained silent for several moments.

Then his golden eyes appeared within the darkness.

He looked around.

Nothing

His soul perception spread outward.

Nothing

He pushed it farther

Still nothing

Then his expression changed.

There was something else here.

Something that shouldn’t exist.

Ao Kuiba slowly turned his head.

A faint sphere of light floated several dozen meters away.

It wasn’t Qi

It wasn’t spiritual energy

It wasn’t a remnant soul belonging to a cultivator

Ao Kuiba narrowed his eyes.

"Interesting"

The sphere trembled

Then memories flooded toward him.

A city

Buildings taller than mountains

Machines moving without beasts pulling them

Lights brighter than spiritual lamps

Metal carriages racing across roads

A strange world where humans possessed no cultivation whatsoever

Ao Kuiba stared.

"What... Another wave of memories came.

A child

A classroom

Books

Mathematics

Science

Laboratories

Equations

Experiments

Then a young man

A brilliant scientist

A businessman

A researcher

A man surrounded by wealth and beautiful women

A man who had solved problems that humanity had struggled with for centuries

Ao Kuiba watched everything

He saw the energy crisis

Cancer

Disease

Climate research

Artificial organs

Neural regeneration

Technology

He saw a human civilization that had conquered much of its own world without possessing even a trace of Qi

For the first time since entering this darkness, Ao Kuiba’s expression showed genuine curiosity.

What kind of civilization is this?

Then he saw the man’s death

A penthouse

Three women

A balcony

A red laser dot

A bullet

Blood

The young man fell

And everything went black

Ao Kuiba stared at the strange soul.

"So you’re dead too"

The soul suddenly moved.

A consciousness emerged from it

Where am I

Ao Kuiba’s eyes narrowed

The voice wasn’t spoken aloud

It appeared directly within his consciousness

Who are you

Ao Kuiba answered calmly

"Ao Kuiba."

There was silence

Then the unfamiliar consciousness responded

That’s a strange name

Ao Kuiba raised an eyebrow

"And you?"

The answer came after a moment

Adam.

Ao Kuiba looked at him

"Adam."

The unfamiliar soul seemed to examine him

You really are a dragon

Ao Kuiba’s expression hardened

"You can see my memories?"

Apparently.

Adam paused

Then

You can see mine too, can’t you

Ao Kuiba didn’t deny it

"I can."

Adam was strangely calm about that.

Perhaps death had already broken enough rules that another one no longer mattered

Then you know I’m human

"Yes."

And you’re a cultivator

"Yes."

And your world has dragons

"Yes."

Adam was silent.

Then he laughed

"I think I died and somehow ended up inside a fantasy novel."

Ao Kuiba stared at him.

"Your imagination is strange."

You can cultivate, fly, destroy mountains and turn into a dragon. I’m pretty sure I’m allowed to be confused

For the first time in what felt like centuries, Ao Kuiba almost laughed. Almost.

Then the darkness trembled

Both souls looked toward the same direction

Something had changed

The space surrounding them began collapsing inward

Ao Kuiba immediately became alert

"What is happening?"

Adam didn’t answer

Neither did Ao Kuiba

They simply watched as countless strands of light appeared throughout the void

One strand connected to Ao Kuiba

Another connected to Adam

Then thousands more appeared

Memories

Experiences

Knowledge

Emotions

Everything they had ever experienced began moving toward the other

Ao Kuiba immediately understood

"Something is pulling our souls together"

Adam’s voice became serious

Can we stop it?

Ao Kuiba tried

His spiritual power surged

Nothing happened

He tried to move away

The distance between them remained exactly the same

Adam tried the same

Nothing

Ao Kuiba’s expression darkened

"I cannot stop it"

Neither can I

The distance between them began disappearing

Adam looked toward him

If this kills us again, I have to say, I’m really starting to dislike death

Ao Kuiba almost smiled

Then their souls touched

The universe went silent

---

Memories

Adam saw everything

He saw Ao Kuiba’s birth

The enormous dragon egg

The ancient Vermilion Grotto-Heaven

The first time Ao Kuiba opened his eyes

The first time he sensed Qi

The first time he cultivated

The first battle

The first person he killed

The first ancient ruin

The first treasure

The first time he understood a formation

The first time he realized that he was different

Then thousands of years began passing through Adam’s consciousness

Five hundred years

One thousand

Two thousand

Three thousand

Five thousand

Seven thousand

Eight thousand

Adam experienced an entire civilization

He experienced cultivation

He experienced the pain of breaking through

He experienced heavenly tribulations

He experienced the loneliness of standing above one’s peers

He experienced friendships

Rivalries

Betrayals

Battles

Loss

Victory

And finally...

He experienced the poison

The chase

His brothers

The formation

The spatial rift

Death

Adam’s consciousness trembled

You lived for thousands of years

Ao Kuiba didn’t answer

Because he was experiencing Adam’s life

He saw Earth

A helpless infant

A confused child

A brilliant boy

Books

Mathematics

Science

The first machine he built

The first experiment

The first discovery

The first billion

The first revolution in medicine

The first time governments came asking for his cooperation

The first time he realized humanity was nowhere near as advanced as it believed itself to be

He saw Adam’s arrogance

His loneliness

His indulgence

His relationships

His obsession with knowledge

And finally...

The bullet

Ao Kuiba experienced Adam’s death

For a brief moment, both souls understood each other completely

There was no longer anything hidden

No secrets

No misunderstandings

Nothing

And then something extraordinary happened

The memories stopped being separate

Ao Kuiba remembered Adam’s childhood as though he had lived it

Adam’s memories became his memories

Adam remembered Ao Kuiba’s first cultivation breakthrough as though he had experienced it himself

Ao Kuiba remembered Adam’s first scientific experiment as though he had performed it himself

The boundary between them disappeared

Not slowly

Not painfully

Completely

---

One

The two souls ceased to exist

And something else opened its eyes

There was no Adam

There was no separate Ao Kuiba

There was only one consciousness

It remembered Earth

It remembered the Vermilion Grotto-Heaven

It remembered science

It remembered cultivation

It remembered being human

It remembered being a dragon

It remembered dying twice

The new consciousness remained silent

Then it thought

I am...

The answer came naturally

Ao Kuiba.

Not because Adam had lost

Not because Ao Kuiba had conquered him

There was simply no longer a distinction between them

The name Ao Kuiba belonged to the body

It belonged to the life that had begun thousands of years ago

And that was the identity this new existence would carry into the world

Then pain returned

---

The Body

Ao Kuiba’s consciousness descended

His body was falling through an endless spatial passage

His bones were shattered

His meridians were broken

His cultivation was almost completely destroyed

The primordial poison still remained within him

But something had changed

His soul was no longer damaged

The merged soul descended into his body

And the moment it entered...

BOOM!

A terrifying wave of energy exploded through his body

The poison began burning

His blackened blood turned red

His shattered meridians slowly reconnected

Broken bones repaired themselves

His organs regenerated

The cracks in his foundation began closing

The soul that had once been on the verge of death became whole

Ao Kuiba’s body trembled violently

Then everything became still

For several breaths, there was only silence

Then...

THUMP

A heartbeat THUMP Another

Ao Kuiba’s fingers moved

His eyes opened

Golden dragon pupils stared into the darkness

He was alive

But something was wrong

Ao Kuiba immediately attempted to circulate his Qi

Nothing happened

He frowned

He tried again

Still nothing

His expression became serious

His spiritual sense spread through his body

The answer appeared immediately

His cultivation was gone

Not damaged

Not suppressed

Gone

His once magnificent cultivation foundation had collapsed completely

The Peak Immortal Emperor who had stood at the summit of the cultivation world now possessed the cultivation of...

Ao Kuiba’s expression twitched

"Foundation Establishment."

He stared at his hand

For eight thousand seven hundred years, he had climbed toward the heavens

Now he was standing at the very bottom again

But then another thought appeared

Not spoken

Not heard

Simply present

[Soul Integration Complete.]

Ao Kuiba froze

Another line appeared

[New existence successfully established.]

Then

[Supreme Yin-Yang System activated.]

Ao Kuiba’s golden eyes narrowed

For several seconds, he said nothing

He could feel something inside his soul

Something that hadn’t existed before

A strange connection

A system

He focused his consciousness

A translucent screen appeared before him

---

[SUPREME YIN-YANG SYSTEM]

Host: Ao Kuiba

Race: Imperial Dragon

Age: 8,700+ Years

Cultivation: Foundation Establishment

Soul: Perfectly Integrated

Bloodline: Imperial Dragon

Status: Stable

Functions:

Status

Cultivation

Mini World

Dual Cultivation

Evolution

Creation

---

Ao Kuiba stared at the interface

He wasn’t excited

He wasn’t frightened

He was studying it

His mind immediately began analyzing its structure

Then Adam’s memories surfaced naturally

Computers

Software

Interfaces

Programming

Systems

Ao Kuiba’s eyes narrowed

"Interesting"

He reached toward the screen

His finger passed through it

The interface responded

Ao Kuiba’s expression slowly changed

For the first time since his birth, he encountered something he couldn’t immediately classify

He opened Mini World

Space trembled

A tiny world appeared within his consciousness

It was barren

Vast

Silent

But unlike the outside world, time inside it moved differently

Ao Kuiba immediately understood its potential

A place to cultivate

A place to store treasures

A place to grow spiritual herbs

A place to raise beasts

A place to experiment

A place that could eventually become something far greater

Then he noticed something else

A locked function

[Primordial Origin Qi Generation: Locked.]

Required Materials: Unknown

Ao Kuiba’s eyes sharpened

Primordial Origin Qi

The purest Qi from the dawn of creation

Even with his eight thousand years of experience, he had never possessed anything like that

His interest immediately intensified

Then another function caught his attention

[Dual Cultivation.]

Ao Kuiba paused

Adam’s memories surfaced

A very different kind of knowledge followed

Ao Kuiba stared at the function for several seconds

Then he shook his head

"Later."

He closed the interface

His body continued falling through the spatial passage

He didn’t know where he was going

He didn’t know what awaited him

He didn’t know whether the Lower Realm was safe

But for the first time in thousands of years...

Ao Kuiba felt something he hadn’t felt in a very long time

Curiosity

His golden eyes looked toward the distant light appearing ahead

A world was waiting beyond it

Ao Kuiba slowly smiled

He had lost his cultivation

He had lost his empire

He had lost his position

He had lost everything

But he had gained something the old Ao Kuiba had never possessed

An entirely different perspective on existence

And somewhere inside that consciousness was the memory of a man who had once asked questions about the universe using science

Now those questions had been brought into a world where the universe itself could be cultivated

Ao Kuiba looked toward the approaching light

"Let’s see what this world has to offer"

The spatial passage suddenly exploded with light

And the newly born existence fell toward the Lower Realm