2 Chapter 1: Descent Of "Death"
Ulquiorra looked at Orihime as his being faded away. 'Till the end, the 4th Espada still couldn't grasp what a heart is nor what it entailed. The best he could understand was that a heart could be something that was "held" in the palm. It was what was in reach of oneself.
Still, it could mean more than that.Was it the unwavering determination to save someone even if it meant death? Was it the concern given by someone to another who turned demonic? Was it the sympathy in the eyes of one looking at their former captor as they faded away into nothingness. In any case, his time has come, and the answers to his questions would remain to be unanswered. Ulquiorra's consciousness waned into the darkness.
In the void, a winged figure was drifting with their eyes closed. Ulquiorra slowly opened his eyes only to see darkness. He was puzzled.
"Where am I?" Ulquiorra muttered.
He could feel that his soul body has returned to its prime state, and yet, he didn't seem to have the ability to move much less open an garganta. He was seemingly floating. He felt things to be unusual. Assuming that he did die, the most obvious outcome would be the souls within him to be either sent to hell or the cycle of reincarnation, and yet, his current situation seemed to be neither. What could be happening?
Ulquiorra could not do anything, and had no choice but to wait. Time passed, and weeks went by then months to years to decades to centuries and so on. After what seemed to be an eternity, Ulquiorra's waning consciousness was jolted awake.
"Hm?" Ulquiorra suddenly felt a strong pull on his body, and the next thing he knew was he saw a bright light.
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In the Immortal Realm, a beautiful silver haired woman was standing in front a giant mirror situated inside a crystal castle. She was muttering words with closed eyes as if she was praying, and then suddenly she snapped her eyes open as she looked at the giant mirror with an incredulous expression.
The giant mirror cracked from the top to the bottom. The woman stumbled backward, and fell down to the floor. She showed an extremely horrified expression.
"What is happening? What sort of evil has been born?? I MUST MAKE HASTE!." The woman stood up, and suddenly disappeared from where she was instantly.
A lot of similar cases happened in other major powers within the Immortal Realm despite some differences in how they reacted and how they figured it out. Some reacted with fear, some with disbelief, and some reacted with anticipation. In any case, a lot of them realized that a major change will come to the Immortal Realm. As for where it would come from, they have no clue.
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In the mortal world, a bloodied scene could be found in a nameless forest. Two people could be seen viewing the scene. One was a blue robed middle aged man with long white hair. He had gentle features which attributed to his very calming demeanor. The other person was a boy aged around 10. He had a bun and a blue outfit. He had face that would grow into a dashing man in the future.
"What a pity. It seems like the bandits have ran off quite awhile ago. Trying to chase them would be naught." The middle aged man named Zhao Feng said as he inspected the scene.
The boy beside him looked at the scene sadly. There were people both young and old laying on the ground. The bandits spared nobody
"Why would they do such a thing, Master?" The boy name Zhao Bo said sadly.
"That is because they wanted to. This is the reality of the world, Zhao Bo. Sometimes, people with power would oppress people below them for their own selfish desires. This is the reason why one needs to cultivate well in order protect themselves." Zhao Feng said as he sighed.
Suddenly a thin beam of light came down from the skies amidst the surprised faces of the two people. The light touched a dead boy's body nearby. Before the two people could react, the light turned dark with a green outline.
Zhao Feng felt his skin crawl and hair stand up. He didn't know what was happening, but it froze him in place. Zhao Feng felt horrified. He was an elder in one of the most prestigious sects in the northern region which was the Gilded Dragon sect.
He was a bonafide early stage Sea Tranformation cultivator. Even among elders, he was strong as some of the elders were still at Peak Golden Core stage, and yet he couldn't even move to bring his disciple away from what was coming. He felt helpless. Zhao Bo was even worse. He was sweating profusely, and it seems that he had even soiled his pants.
An evil and malicious aura came from the light . The aura scared all the animals away within several kilometers. The two people saw the light surrounding a dead boy's body and being absorbed. Slowly, the initially bloodied body recovered its wounds. The slashes on its back and front, which were exposed due to the torn shirt, recovered fast enough to be seen by the naked eye. That wasn't all.
The two also saw how a hole just below the collarbone appeared, and yet no blood oozed out of it. They also heard cracking and popping sounds as it seemed as if the boy's body was being destroyed and reconstructed at a rapid pace. The face of the boy suddenly gained dark green tear marks going down both his eyes.
The curly hair of the boy turned shaggy. The body of the boy floated slightly above the ground as this happened. Slowly, the light faded, and the two watched as the boy landed on the ground on his feet. The two people present looked nervously at the boy. Zhao Feng was trying his best to stop the shaking of his hands and feet while Zhao Bo just tried his best not to faint out of fear. They both felt from the very depths of their souls that what they're in front of is something extremely dangerous.
The boy slowly opened his eyes revealing a pair of green slitted eyes that seemed to stare through one's soul. The master-discple gulped as they watched the boy look around, and then inspected his hands curiously. The two heard the boy speak.
"Would this be considered rebirth?" The boy said in a cold and emotionless voice.
The boy turned his attention towards the two people in his view. Zhao Feng and Zhao Bo tensed up. They thought that this might be their last day being alive. The boy spoke once more.
"Tell me. Where am I?"
