Prologue

"Let me tell you a story," said a granny. Her eyes softened as she glanced at her bald grandson.

The latter jumped up on the bed and nodded eagerly, "Yay, granny! Storytime!"

"Little Ed, lie on the bed and close your eyes, okay?"

The little guy nodded as he followed her orders obediently. When he didn't hear anything, he opened one of his eyes and glanced at her face, "Granny, story."

The old woman chuckled as she rubbed the little guy's cheeks and said, "Once upon a time, there was a complete Absolute Being. The Absolute Being was the source of all power, and one day, he divided that absolute and supreme power into two parts, sending them each to create the Karmic and Celestial realms, respectively."

"Karmic realm? Celestial realm? What's that?"

"Have you seen a tree?"

The little guy tilted his head. He couldn't understand why a tree came in between the story. Still, he opened his mouth and answered, "Yes."

"The tree that gives us fruits to fill our stomachs and make us all happy is like the Celestial world. Everyone is happy and content there, without any dark emotions or war. It's a beautiful place filled with divine power and love. That's the Celestial world."

The little bald guy's eyes started glowing after hearing those words, "I want to go there with granny!"

"Sure," the old woman chuckled. "We'll go there someday."

"But Granny, what about the Karmic realm?"

"Have you ever seen the reflection of that tree?" The granny patted the young guy's shoulders and pointed her finger outside the window. There, the moon and many stars in the sky were shining brightly. A tree blossomed in the house's courtyard as a small pond filled with water beside the tree seemed calm as a sea.

The moonlight made it possible for them to see the reflection of the giant tree, "Look there, Ed. There's the reflection."

The little guy poked his head outside the window and gasped in surprise, "It's an upside-down tree!"

"That's right. Our world is also like that. It is called the karmic world for a reason. Without doing some karma, you can't achieve anything. It's a place opposite to the original Celestial realm."

"I don't want to live here."

"Baby, we will go there, to the Celestial realm. I promise."

"What about the story?!" The little guy was satisfied by the promise as he lay down on the bed again.

"So after the Absolute Being created the Celestial and karmic realms, he gave the two types of different power names: divine and dark cosmic energy. Guess where the empowered being of the complete divine cosmic energy lives?"

"In the Celestial world?"

"That's true," the old woman patted the little guy's head with affection in her eyes, "You're so smart."

If the little guy had a tail, he would have wagged it at the moment, being so happy about the praise.

The woman continued the story:

"He never comes down, only managing the Celestial world under the direct order of the Absolute Entity, but the empowered dark cosmic being, darkness himself, wasn't satisfied with his position. When a long time had passed since he was created in the karmic realm, he rebelled against the authority of the Absolute Being.

"It was said that the empowered divine energy, the King of Divinity, sent out his power to help the needy people climb into the Celestial world. Everyone was allowed but the empowered dark being. The King of Darkness was said to have rebelled because he wanted to use underhanded means to head there."

"I don't like him," the little bald guy crossed his arms.

"Of course, you don't. No one does," the old woman looked outside the window. "He triggered a war that went on for thousands of years between the King of Darkness and the bright entities, faithful to the King of Divinity. Several universes were destroyed, and the karmic realm became a mess. The Absolute Being stepped in as he handled everything, punishing the King of Darkness gravely."

"What's his name?"

"Who?"

"The King of Darkness."

The old woman thought for a while before shaking her head, "No one knows, but it's said that he was punished by stripping him of his status and abilities, sending him to the lowest depths of hell. He's still said to be suffering down there for eternity."

"That's a sad story, granny."

"Little guy, what did you want to hear?"

"You can't just send someone to hell for eternity," the little Ed pouted, "What if it was all a misunderstanding?"

"Then the poor guy must have suffered unjustly," the old woman patted the little bald guy's head, "Sleep. We're all safe for now. We'll have to go to your school tomorrow for the parent-teacher conference, right?"

Ed nodded and closed his eyes.