Prologue [4] - Loneliness and Awakening

[3.315 words]

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On a deep blue space horizon, bright and multicolored light could be seen flickering everywhere; massive asteroids drifted all around the region with no indications of movement, as if they were kept in place. Stars could be spotted in any direction if one looked carefully enough.

These stars were not your typical luminous bodies seen on a clear night, but genuine planet-sized stars.

(A/N: To keep things simple, consider stars to be planets because they are fundamentally the same thing in cultivation novels.)

Some were smaller with little to nothing visible, giving the impression that they were completely dead, while others were large enough to give the impression that they were alive and filled with life energy and flora.

A dazzling blue light shone a long way away from the agglomeration and multiplicity of planets, stars, galaxies, and enormous rocks. Sometimes it was brighter than ever, and then it would suddenly dim.

If you looked closely, you'd realize that the blue light had a shape, a humanoid shape. Liang Long meditated while activating his secret art while sitting cross-legged in nothing but space.

He was no longer just a simple light bulb, but a hazy illusory bright blue humanoid soul. This is the outcome of his constant soul tempering through the use of his soul-cultivating secret technique.

All living beings have a divine soul; it's simply that in his former world, there was no way to comprehend the secrets of the soul.

Whenever he used his one and only soul cultivation method, he was transferred to a completely distinct location. And what he saw significantly altered his worldview, for there was nothing but limitless darkness, capable of devouring the very fibers of time and space, reducing everything to nothing, as if time had gone back to where everything began before creation.

The only tint of light seen was a dazzling yet faded golden glow resembling that of a sunset. Dark clouds surrounded both the sky and what appeared to be a wide ground covered in an unusual dark liquid that resembled water, with a deep gaping abyss in its center that, if viewed properly, could not be determined to have a bottom.

Looking above, there was nothing but a single spiral shadow, yet if seen from above, it was evident that it wasn't a shadow. It was, in reality, a ginormous pitch-black grindstone that was gradually revolving.

The enormous thing had little fissures on its surface, as if it were an ancient artifact that had existed for centuries. It had an upper and bottom layer, with two thin lines of golden particles connecting them. A massive swirl of clouds was entering the grindstone from its core, as if it was attempting to pierce it. Complicated runes characters were flying around, giving it a majestic look from afar.

*Fwoooosh*

The stones on the ground were slowly raising up and being forced into the grindstone top, and when they touched it, nothing but dust would emerge from the sides. Each rotation completes a round, and nine rounds complete a cycle.

His master explained the Great Ancestral Grindstone Visualization Technique to him. To summarize, the grindstone would take Liang Long's divine soul and then obliterate it with its sheer crushing force multiple times. The cycle will finish after nine rounds, and his soul will get stronger.

Since it was remodeled for Zhou Yuan and his wife's necessities, naturally there are extra benefits.

The more you use it, the better you're at comprehending the power of the soul, so basically, it will enhance your talent for soul cultivating while performing the ritual of destruction and reconstruction.

The soul is a delicate existence, even the smallest pressure can damage it, and this secret technique stimulates that very same area. The better you are at resisting the pain, the more resistant your soul will become in front of soul-related attacks.

For last but not least, it grants you complete security in your mindscape since the ancient grindstone's connection to one's soul is always there, present.

(A/N: You can associate the mindscape as a very low version of a knowledge sea.)

Thus, the grindstone will actively protect those who are connected to it.

Liang Long knew that his master's strength is no joke. Therefore, there might be only a few people who are truly capable of even matching him, and even fewer who have the ability to kill him.

So he has a complete assurance that his mind cannot be invaded by those who are weaker or do not have a similar strength to Zhou Yuan, who has, with the help of his wife, Yaoyao, improved this technique.

However, there is always an issue with extremely overpowered and heaven-defying methods.

There is nothing free in this world, as everything has a price to be paid.

By cultivating in this manner, he would be able to destroy and rebuild his soul indefinitely, making it stronger than before. In sum, it is an exceedingly painful method of soul tempering that demands a strong psychological mindset. If not, any other individual adopting this approach would be unable to bear the excruciating torture of having their souls crushed and would undoubtedly become an idiot.

Liang Long has been roaming the Primordial Chaos Origin Star Sea for quite some time. Experiencing violent space storms that may take his life in the blink of an eye. In addition to visiting several stars everywhere over the region he was in before traveling, some more steady than others and a few more chaotic than the majority of them.

Those he naturally didn't even dare to go near for now.

Liang Long was able to obtain a time tracker by adjusting his soul power and digesting the knowledge his master, Zhou Yuan, passed down to him, having the idea and comprehending how to use the age of the smaller stars around him, which appeared to be newly formed ones, while exploring the vast space.

He planted a kind of brand in the particular little star using his own soul power in order to track its life span, thus he now knows how much time he has spent on this area so far.

His master's knowledge contained various valuable information about what he might accomplish with his soul strength, and the ones Liang Long was most interested in were the runes and imprints of Zhou Yuan's world.

To do so, he would need to use an item to store his soul power and infuse it yet again with his own soul power in order to activate its respective powers. But even after investigating the various stars surrounding him, he couldn't discover any jade slips, which were the most generally utilized by cultivators to contain these means of utility like communication and records of varying aspects.

Liang Long first believed that traveling around the Primordial Chaos Origin Star Sea would be simpler. However, he had forgotten how great the distance between stars is, so on his first attempt, he had to halt halfway simply to refill his depleted soul strength.

Not to mention that his control over the consumption was quite low when he initially cultivated, so he was consuming far too much energy to move, which meant he had to sit stationary for over two months meditating.

Liang Long knew at that point that he needed to conserve energy and utilize it consistently in order to reach new locations, or else he would have to stop and recover. The incident taught him to be more patient with himself and not to hurry things.

As he became more conscious of his own power and the stability of his soul, he was able to move at a quicker rate whenever he reached a new level of soul strength.

Liang Long had been cultivating nonstop ever since he parted ways with his master and had made tremendous progress. He was able to swiftly extend and broaden his own grasp of the nature of things since he was in an ancient place packed with many principles and rules that order them.

Liang Long believed he was already converting into a gigachad in terms of his soul becoming more powerful, allowing him to comprehend some of the laws governing the stars he had seen.

But his cockiness didn't last for long, as he started to realize how deep in the ice he was.

Normally, soul cultivation is the most difficult aspect of any living creature's growth. It would need a lot of talent, not to mention a large amount of information, aptitude, mental competence, and two of the most vital attributes, persistence and time.

Since Liang Long had endured a good deal of pressure from literally the very beginning of this new (deep suffering) life of his, experiencing the damaging nature of this place's laws, witnessing two higher beings fight a life and death battle, awakening an adaptability trait, having a top-tier soul cultivation art, and receiving the knowledge of the soul from a being that he couldn't even begin to imagine reaching the level of his strength, gave him everything it was necessary to pursue this path.

Although his life span increased with each new breakthrough with his soul, he didn't want to stay in this Star Sea forever.

Even if there was life, it was the same sort of life he'd seen in every place he'd been thus far: flora and low-life forms like bugs, insects, and strange and deadly creatures. He was extremely lonely; there was no one with whom he could share his ideas or chat.

He was only a human.

If there was nothing else to do, it didn't matter if he could become stronger. Living just for the purpose of individual strength is much too monotonous to be considered actually living your life.

Liang Long had the desire to become powerful, but he still lacked many things that make a human being whole.

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Days flew by in the blink of an eye, months flowed like a river stream, and years passed in the simple waiting game.

Liang Long was so obsessed with his cultivation development that he completely lost track of time.

His soul was already totally corporeal at this moment, displaying its intricacies with a vivid resolution and roaming throughout the infinite universe with a blank look on his face.

As the years passed, he began to have internal conflicts.

The level of loneliness he was experiencing was comparable to being deprived of life's basics. Liang Long could be considered to be in a deep depressive state, but it didn't end there.

He was suffering from emotional deviation.

His emotions were gradually dying down, allowing him to focus more on his regular activities of nurturing, developing, and strengthening his soul. Emotions are what enable humans able to decide on what action they should take, they allow us to think carefully of our own thoughts, describe our personality, and grant us motivation, and sympathy. But also give us the ability to have feelings, which is a very significant trait.

It is rather natural that cultivators are ruthless against each other. After all, one is required to kill in order to retain one's life or when faced with life and death threats.

If you let your guard down, make mistakes that will lead to a bad end, or are too full of yourself, disaster will inevitably strike you in some manner. Because of this, a cultivator's pathway to the top is covered with thorns.

Being too weak? Death. Not having the mentality to endure the hardships? Death. Unable to overcome the impending dangers? Death.

There are cases where life just feels too unfair and that God is basically making you suffer for free without paying you any interest. But that is not the truth. No, it is far from it.

Life sometimes presents us with both good and poor choices. Several people choose not to make one, but that is not an option on its own. There will be nothing except regrets if you stop pushing forward.

Giving up is way too simple and can be done in a snap of fingers, and those who choose to live will never have it easy. But will certainly be compensated for their efforts.

There will be a moment where life will literally push and force you to make a decision, and at that moment, it doesn't matter what you do, you will go down that path, one way or another.

Every action has a reaction, and everything happens for a reason. Nothing will happen until something causes it.

That is the life of a cultivator.

With each great opportunity comes great danger. If you seek power, you will have to pay the appropriate price for it.

And Liang Long promised himself that he would create his own path, live his new life to the fullest, and would not be tied by anything, no matter what.

And Liang Long is paying one of the ultimate prices.

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Each time he progresses, his emotions are drained and lessened to the point he can't even realize when he's feeling good or bad, energized or tired.

The higher the will, the bigger the consequence, as the proverb goes. Liang Long's greatest desire is to leave this place, but he has no idea how.

As a result, the only way to find out is by advancing as quickly as he can. And, with nothing to stop him and nothing else to think about, Liang Long is resolved to accomplish everything he can.

He had awakened, breaking the shackles of his former self, still unaware of the changes in himself.

He is letting go of his past and embracing his new self.

His old life became nothing but dust while time flows on infinitely, and everything had happened for one simple reason.

Yes, it was everything...

For the sake of his freedom.

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Arriving at star after star, comprehending an uncountable amount of understanding of the different natures there are in this world. For him, it was extremely easy to do so, as in his previous life, most of the studies one obtains from their scholarship are theoretical.

Aside from being an inspired doctor, Liang Long was not unfamiliar with other subjects, as there are many intriguing topics, and reading about them is usually calming because of how entertaining it is.

Thus, as the soul is one of the best stimulates that there is regarding sensitiveness, Liang Long actually began to comprehend many aspects of the universe's diversity.

The formation of matter, its properties, interactions, and other multitudes of factors. Thus, having some advanced knowledge of physics and other subjects aided him considerably in grasping the inherent rules of the Primordial Chaos Origin Star Sea.

Liang Long had nothing else to do but cultivate and enhance his soul, so he used his master's deep knowledge to delve into the secrets of how these natural forces functioned. Naturally, he didn't comprehend anything at first; it seemed like he was attempting to lift a stone with a leaf, taking the backdoor with no idea what lied ahead of him.

When he achieved his first significant breakthrough a few years earlier, fresh information that had been trapped inside his mindscape suddenly poured into him, and it was nothing but Zhou Yuan's insight into many aspects of the heavenly way and cultivation.

Apparently, his master not only gave him the means to cultivate his soul, but also practically every bit of knowledge about the heavenly way and the realms of his world. But he noted that this new knowledge was simply about his present strength, not about a realm above him or anything else.

It all made sense. Liang Long was essentially his sole pupil, the only heir of Zhou Yuan. So he'd definitely want to make his disciple's journey a little easier, especially since he's locked inside the Primordial Chaos Origin Star Sea.

He then began looking into something he had no idea was accessible to him, and that was...

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Kinetic abilities.

Spiritual power originates from the mind, which must be empowered by the spirit in order to get stronger. When Liang Long recognized this, together with his fundamental understanding of natural laws and supernatural forces, he began to understand what kinetic abilities meant.

Kinesis, also known as kinetics, is the manipulation of anything and everything using the power of the mind, in order to harness and execute the power inside oneself.

When you hear the logical explanation, it sounds simple, but it is far more difficult than just producing a fireball out of nowhere with qi and blasting it out, and far from as simple as bitch slapping young masters on the face.

It requires a thorough comprehension of the element or material you're attempting to influence, including its constitution, composition, physicochemical qualities, interaction with oneself, identifying one's own energy, incorporating it into kinetic ability, and many other factors.

Visualization proved to be the most effective method for Liang Long in mastering his kinetic powers.

To simply put, the more you practice it, strengthening and expanding your own brain processes to completely adapt to it, the more likely you are to master the power you want.

After all, it is impossible to produce something out of thin air without a suitable medium or catalyst. Everything begins with an intention or purpose, and you must be able to envision and see it before it can become a reality. Otherwise, there would be many inquiries.

What does the element look like when you alter it? How does it feel? What impact may such an ability have on the environment? What are the implications and causes? What are the benefits and drawbacks?

And every single one of these questions leads to one word: comprehension.

Liang Long is looking for solutions to his own questions in order to completely comprehend the mysteries of kinetic abilities. However, how can something as sophisticated as manipulating supernatural powers be so simple to learn?

He took far too long. And, with his attention focused solely on finding a way out of the Primordial Chaos Origin Star Sea, he entirely lost track of time.

Liang Long stopped placing brands on every new star when he moved locations. As a result, he had no idea how much time had gone since then. But he didn't seem to mind. All that matters is leaving this place, and what better way to leave than not by exploring?

So he went on traveling for longer and longer.

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Years had passed, and the lone figure of Liang Long could be seen going ahead through what appeared to be boundless space. His face was expressionless; it was just blank.

As though his main goal in life is to keep traveling and discovering the secrets and mysteries of this old and barren land to further power up his comprehension of kinesis.

For Liang Long to completely get a hold of every single detail of a specific law, he needed to condense and concentrate his soul power into a tiny fragment of a compressed portion of his mind, forming a sort of needle, over which he had total control.

That was employed to disrupt the natural law that encircled the place he was in. And since his mindscape and probing power are way too ineffective, he had to come up with a solution.

This process takes too much time, even more than Liang Long expected, and requires far too much patience, since he is effectively disassembling the law piece by piece in order to comprehend it.

Only God knows how long it took him. Even if he knew the answer, he wouldn't care.

And thus Liang Long's lonely journey continued, his soul becoming stronger than ever, his comprehension of natural laws solidifying at a rapid rate into an intrinsic and tight layer of many separate parts of archives, ready to be integrated into a single piece of work.

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Assisting and guiding Liang Long in his efforts to improve, learn, and grow. Giving him comprehensive knowledge and understanding of everything on this plane.

Breaking the limiter that someone or something had placed on him.

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(A/N: Prologue ends in the next chapter!

I have put a hint of what mc's power will be, this is exactly why I am creating such described and explanatory texts, so as to not call it bs later lol.

But who said I am done? Cool things await him)