"It seems I have missed a few years?" inquired Silver, fully clothed, scrunching his eyebrows in deep thought.

"Yes, I thought your void body would finish its transformation in less than a month's time, so I travelled to see how you would fair in a new world, wanting to see you grow. Somehow, a change occurred when you obtained the Three-eyed Crow’s mark. In reality, instead of a month from what I estimated, it took over three years for your transformation," replied Blacky, stroking his chin, pondering over the past.

“The flow of time in the universes is quite complex… even for me. From what I estimated, it had been three million years in the Ethereal Expanse, whereas, it had been 3 years here in this world.

“What of the ...war? How is the Floating Cloud Sect? Old Yam and Jing Shi?”

“They’re no longer in this world, but I was able to save Jing Shi, Jing Yam, Jing Xue, Starfinder and Mochi’s soul already. They should be beginning the cycle of reincarnation by now. However, it will depend on fate for you to meet them again. Even I do not know where they’ll be reincarnated in this vast universe.”

“Jing Xue?”

“Mother of Jing Shi and wife of Jing Yam, Jing Xue. She played a huge part by weakening the reign of the being who rules the Desolate Tundra, Arctic Emperor. Sadly, I didn’t expect Jing Shi to willingly give up her life to ensure to injure the eight vehement beings. She would of been a respectable cultivator within time, alas, it is a shame she will have to start all over. I already ensure those three will be a family in the next life, but for Mochi and Starfinder, I am unsure where they will end up.”

"I see..."

Silver stood quietly, digesting the information Blacky relayed. His heart ached tremendously at the thought of them dying as he leisurely lived in Ethereal Expanse. However, that is life in the cultivation world. If you weren’t strong enough, you can only watch those beside fall one after another.

Silver thought he could change his fate, ensuring those close to him wouldn’t die but he felt genuinely powerless. He could only avenge the Jing’s and the others who had fought during the war. The cycle of reincarnation was mysterious, he could not tamper with fate as well as Blacky could.

He had to become stronger.

“Is there anything else I should know?”

"Yes, seeing that crow.. Xyen again, my memories had unsealed. I sealed my memories about them due to a small scuffle eons ago, but now I can only remember it all over again," sighed Blacky, discourage from his past memories.

Silver thought deeply, pondering why Blacky would seal his memories over a scuffle. Although, he was curious it was best not to poke into his business. He was strong, but he knew he couldn’t take on Blacky at his current cultivation level.

"Xyen is the first Primordial Soul void-being, rarely appearing and very mysterious. You remind me of him, since Xyen enjoys causing small mischief… at a universal scale. Nothing else is known about him but only the second knows. The second void being is Moon Frost, the first Vehement Soul void-being. She was born a few million years later after Xyen and knows more about that crow than I would. From what I can gather, they've met each other in many worlds, rebirth after rebirth. She has spoken to me once about the crow, an extremely long and tortuous tirade . . . so Xyen is a forbidden topic when we’re speaking to her."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Silver furrowed his eyebrows, remembering the rant Moon Frost gave him. He truly sympathized with Blacky. So many scenes reappeared in his mind as Blacky, frowning with a miserable expression, stayed quiet in attempt to reorganize his thoughts after brushing upon Moon Frost's tirade.

If Blacky knew how long Silver had to deal with Moon Frost, he’d be willing to trade spots instantaneously. Back then, Moon Frost forcibly trapped Blacky a few billions of years when he reached over a few hundred thousands of years of age. The old hag would never stop speaking, venting her pent up frustration over every single thing between her and Xyen. This allowed Blacky to realize why the others avoided her.

It wasn’t because she was powerful and amazing, it was 100000% because she torture them with her words alone. If words could kill, she could kill all of them over and over and over again.

"Next is Mapo, another Primordial Soul, but try not to talk to her too much. You'll understand when you meet her someday. She has trillions of avatars all around our universes, one in each world that has formed life, but they all seem to be of the same color and/or pattern. There's a high chance you may of met her avatar which roams around the Desolate Tundra. Actually, I've spoken to her many times before since she visits this Isle and boast about all the individuals she frustrated. Most of them always end up being powerful or died a terrible death. She's basically one of those fortuitous or ominous encounters. There's quite a few legends about her within this world," continued Blacky, finally over his small slump, breaking the gloomy silence.

"The fourth is a pure hearted, somewhat idiotic muscle head. He goes by Amro the Monk, the second strongest in terms of body, between us four originals. All Amro does is wander around the universes that we oversee, teaching those he deems worthy of learning his many body cultivation arts. Basically, he's an external training fanatic. His appearance is always the same, 2.8 Meters tall, bald-headed with a fu manchu. Amro wears these ugly green monk-like clothing. His body is quite proportionately muscular with 9 dots on his forehead or what we call a jieba. The best way to know it's truly him is his giant obsidian prayer bead necklace.

Only us void-beings can see the stars within, any other will just see a plain giant obsidian prayer bead necklace. His disciples wear a simpler version of it after they've completed his training, but they all have his apprentice mark within. Last but not least, the youngest of all the original five, me. I am one of trillions of avatars in the universes that I oversee, keeping order in check. There's a few times, out of boredom or some form of admiration, I can alter a group of people's fate but only thrice every few hundred thousand years. I was rather surprised Moon Frost helped you. She's known to be exceptionally shrewd with these type of things too."

“How did she help me? She only gave me two choices and allowed me inherit Xyan’s inheritance.”

“Moon Frost altered the Jing’s fate, allowing them to live together in the next cycle. She also added a bit of her power when Jing Shi released her powers to boost the damage the eight vehement beings received.”

Silver stood there nodding, keeping the new information on the four original and powerful beings into his heart. He even felt grateful towards Moon Frost for allowing the Jing’s to live as a family.

However, everything he knew felt like a mere piece of a page in a book, written with profound words, taking time to comprehend that one page. Silver knew he lived his whole life like a frog in the well, but with many fortuitous encounters, he was finally able to jump out of the well.

Thus, allowing him to find out there's something beyond the view of that very well he was trapped in.

'I truly did not expect to be fortunate when I reincarnated, it seems drastic measure has to be taken now,' thought Silver, audibly sighing and shaking his head with slight worries.

"Blacky, I need to train and understand my new strength," Silver glumly said.

“It would be disastrous if I have no control of my own strength.”

"Yes, that is a major concern but it’s only a small matter," chuckled Blacky, organizing a training regime in his head.

"Alright, but before that, I'll have to send some information to the patriarch."

Not long after, Silver flicked out a teardrop-shaped green jade that flew out to a certain direction.

"Since that's done, let's begin."

. . .

Deep within an ancient pagoda, sat a young man wearing a long black robe, gold cloud tinged with red on the cuffs, black pants with two red stripes on both sides of the legs and black shoes with a gold cloud outline on the outside of the heels, eyes closed with a teardrop shaped green jade held close to his forehead.

Smiling warmly, opening his eyes, he stood up in a relaxed manner. His ruby-red irises expressed a shock veneration. When he looked at the jade again, his seemed to soften, as if this jade was his precious child that needed protection. The information within the jade was an invaluable treasure that could bring out a new and more powerful era.

He had to protect it with his very life. Carefully, he put away the jade in a special storage ring and brought out his medallion. Inserting a steady and small stream Qi into the medallion, the transparent white with a cloud that was imbedded gave a subtle glow.

Throughout the entire Floating Cloud Sect, the 4 faction leaders stood up flabbergasted by the information they received. All 4 faction leaders exited their abode, gripping their faintly glowing medallion, preparing for the upcoming changes within the Floating Cloud Sect.

Just as Starfinder predicted in the past, a new era was about to emerge.