Journey of True Cultivation-Chapter 91: Intervention of fate

An endless, vast white ocean stretched beyond all comprehension. It was so long and wide that no one could tell where it began or where it ended. Above this ocean, there was no sky, only a deep, devouring darkness that consumed all light and matter.

The white ocean moved in only one direction, forward. It flowed endlessly onward, never pausing, never looking back. And yet, despite its motion, the ocean was deathly silent. No wind blew. No birds cried. Not even the gentle lapping of waves could be heard. There was only silence.

A silence so absolute, it crushed the spirit. No life stirred here.

But if one looked closely, they would realize the ocean wasn't truly white. It only appeared so from afar.

In truth, the surface of the ocean was covered with countless white orbs, small, round, glowing spheres. It was these that gave the illusion of a white ocean. They shifted and flowed together, endlessly.

As time passed, many of the white orbs vanished, fading as if swallowed by time itself. But for every one that disappeared, a new orb took its place. And if one peered deeply into a single orb, they would see it shimmer with a faint spark of vitality, as if something within still held a trace of life.

This strange, silent world was overseen of an solitary figure.

A middle aged man.

He walked alone atop the ocean of white orbs, his gaze sweeping across their endless expanse. Sometimes he walked with the flow. Other times, he stood still. But whenever he stopped, the entire ocean halted with him, like it obeyed his every move, as though it were alive only through his will.

The man had long, gleaming blond hair, and his eyes were a calm, simple green. Yet these "simple" eyes held a hidden terror, if a mortal were to meet his gaze, they would perish instantly, without ever understanding why.

He wore a yellow robe that shimmered with power, its fabric woven in tones that alternated between deep golden and pale sunlight yellow. The robe, like its wearer, radiated something ancient and unknowable.

He suddenly stopped moving.

Something had caught his attention, something unexpected in this endless ocean of white orbs. He had seen countless of these orbs during his long stay in this strange realm. Yet, for the first time since an long time, what felt like an eternity, one of them showed something unexpecting.

This particular white orb, along with the endless others, halted its flow, as if awaiting the man's next step. But he did not move. His green eyes glowed faintly, and in an instant, he appeared before the peculiar orb that had managed to capture his interest.

"Interesting..." he murmured.

His voice was hoarse, dry, like the crackling of ancient parchment. It sounded as though he hadn't spoken in ages, perhaps since time began. Yet, despite its raspiness, his voice rang with a divine resonance. A melody that felt sacred, like it deserved to be worshipped.

Even the other orbs trembled faintly at the sound of a single word from his lips, wanting to worship this man.

Without hesitation, he extended his hand toward the orb and peered into it. As if opening a book, he began to read.

To him, it was a short tale, only a few epochs long. For someone like him, that span of time wasn't even enough for a restful nap. It was brief. Insignificant.

And yet... it was captivating.

He read the life of a mere demonic snake. A snake who walked the long road of Dao cultivation.

He saw the snake's first steps toward sentience... its struggle to adapt to the vast world... the pain of rejection... the hardship of survival. He watched as it grew in strength, its mind sharpening with every battle fought and scar earned.

He witnessed the snake ascend to the Spirituality Realm.

He saw betrayal, of friends, lovers, even revered masters. He watched as the snake schemed, trampling over countless sects and fellow cultivators alike. The number of lives lost in its rise was unimaginable.

He then saw the snake finally reach the Law Ascension Realm.

Then came the great ambition, scheming against the entire Chaos itself to seize the Heavenly Will. He saw it slay rival cultivators, each vying for the same divine prize. He watched the snake build an underground sect in secret, letting it grow silently for many billions of years.

He saw blood soaked progress. He saw the snake cut down monstrous beings of great power, beings who were masters of cultivation and then finally seized the Heavenly Will to ascend at last to the Dao Ascension Realm.

With that, the snake forged its own Divine Realm, using the once underground sect as the foundation for the Divine Realm. It accepted the essence of the Chaos and birthed life through its own Dao.

But none of this impressed the middle aged man.

Although this life might have seemed remarkable to many beings, perhaps even worthy of worship, to him, it was a common tale. A story no more unique than that of a beggar clawing his way through the mud of existence.

The only small detail that caught the middle aged man's short attention was that this little snake had nearly advanced to his realm, the one beyond the Dao Ascension Realm. But alas, the snake lacked the fate required. In the end, it had been imprisoned by someone the middle aged man personally knew, an old friend of his.

"Hehehe..." he chuckled softly, a spark of amusement lighting his ageless green eyes. He was genuinely pleased. "What a fine little treasure to cause harm to an old friend."

"Old friend... it's been a long time," he said, his voice both fond and mocking. "You went and buried this one deep in such a small, forgotten place... but it seems someone slipped through your fingers and made it all the way to the River of Time. How fortunate I am to be its guardian. If this had happened even a single era later, someone else would have been in my place and would not give it any attention."

The more he spoke, the wider his smile grew. And what a smile it was, so beautiful, so flawless, that any fairy maiden would have blushed to death just from witnessing it. Yet there was nothing romantic in his tone. Just quiet satisfaction.

Then, without another word, he turned his attention fully to the soul core and reached into the void.

From nothingness, he pulled out a small white jade bottle. It was simple, unadorned, elegantly plain, but appearances were deceiving. This was no ordinary item.

He toyed with it in his hand for a moment, as if weighing its purpose. Then he stopped and gently removed the seal.

The moment the jade bottle opened, the atmosphere changed.

The entire realm seemed to come alive. The dead stillness brightened; the colorless void flushed with faint hues, as if the world had drawn a new breath of life.

The man smiled faintly.

"With this drop of Chaos Essence, I can give that little snake a chance to slip from my old friend's grasp. Of course... escaping as a mere Dao Ascension cultivator? Impossible. Without reaching our realm, how could he ever break free?"

He let out a soft sigh.

"Still, let fate decide. This drop of Chaos Essence is all I will give. Whether he reaches our realm or dies trying... that is no longer up to me."

With that, he tilted the bottle.

A single drop of Chaos Essence fell.

The soul core of the little snake reacted immediately, vibrating with a strange, ancient resonance.

The man's smile faded slightly into solemnity, and without another word, he vanished, returning to the place from which he had come. He began to walk once more, alone across the endless white ocean of soul cores, as though nothing had ever happened.

The once still white ocean began to flow once more, as if nothing had happened. But at the moment the small white orb, the soul core of the little snake, reacted to the drop of Chaos Essence, something else stirred as well.

Within that same soul core, a second, smaller white core also began to resonate.

Days passed.

One month gave way to the next. A season came and went, then another. Half a year passed. A full year. A second. A third.

Time continued its march, decades flowed into centuries, and centuries into millennia.

And then, in the ninth millennium since the day the middle aged man had bestowed the Chaos Essence upon that little soul core...

It happened.

The smaller white soul core, once hidden deep within the snake's own soul, slowly separated and emerged.

It drifted forward, leaving behind the now fading, slowly withering soul core of the snake. Unlike the dying remnant it left behind, this smaller core pulsed with vibrant life. It radiated the energy of a newborn, not powerful, not vast, but pure and full of potential.

And in that very moment, somewhere in the Prison World of Thirteen Heavens and One Earth something stirred.

In the Earth Realm, beneath the Thirteen Heavens, there lay a small, unremarkable country. So insignificant that no sect paid it any real attention. It had no renowned cultivators, no famous lineages, and the spiritual essence there was so thin, most cultivators couldn't be bothered to breathe it.

Yet, in a quiet corner of that land, nestled in an unknown mortal village, stood a modest mortal house.

And within that home... the cries of a newborn child was could be heard.

END of Volume 1, Truth and False