At this moment, as he fell apart and scattered to the winds, Liang Chen felt freer than ever before. He couldn't sense the presence of lightning, nor could he sense the water, the void, the flow of time. No, right now it was just him and the wind, free and unrestrained, omnipresent. He brushed against every strand of grass, touched every rock, tossed and turned alongside every wave that may rise.

He was gentle and soft, his passing didn't even disturb the insects resting amidst the trees or grass. But at the same time he was violent and cruel, buildings fell, oceans were tossed into a frenzy, people suffocated when he neglected them and exploded when he blessed them. He had already stretched beyond the area where he originally cultivated, he moved with the wind and spread throughout the lands around him.

Across plains, through cities, above oceans, not a single place was free of his touch, his gaze. Not even the people were safe, their insides and outsides laid bare to him as he encompassed the land. After all, what was the wind? Wind, wind was nothing more than the movement of the air. To be the wind was to be air, and to be air was to be everywhere.

In truth, Liang Chen understood his current situation. He was vanishing. Little by little, he was dissipating into the wind, becoming just another part of it. He was not an Elemental, he lacked the appropriate core to maintain his form and ego while still tying him to the wind.

His vision, if he could even call it that right now as he observed everything touched by air, focused on the place where he was supposed to cultivate. A black dome now covered the area, smoke-like tongues occasionally stretching out from it before dissipating again. Yumao's Nether God's Grasp, his innate domain. This was probably the only thing that maintained this sliver of Liang Chen's consciousness, were it not for it then he would probably have fully faded the second he melted.

Yumao and the others were gathered inside the domain, gathered around the now empty spot where Liang Chen had previously sat. Yumao's scales were flaring, almost pulsating like veins as he pulled out every drop of energy he had. Sheng Lian and Shen Fei were also paling rapidly so he was probably draining part of their energy as well to increase the strength of the domain. He wanted to buy as much time as he could, even if it was just a second. Would it be enough for Liang Chen to figure something out, for them to figure something out? Neither of them knew, none of them did.

But the wind was watching them. It was helpless, unable to do anything since the consciousness residing in it was fading. But it was watching. Their efforts, their desperation, their hopes, it saw them all. But the one who could answer them was not within the wind, so all it could do was watch.

--

He melted. Like ice that encountered fire, he melted. There was no wind, no lightning, no time, no void, there was only water. The water that ran across the land in streams, the water that separated countries in oceans, the water that hammered the land as it fell from the sky. He saw it all, he was it all, a tiny spark of life in a seemingly endless ocean.

He was free, of that he was sure. He could go wherever he wanted, nothing could stop water if it wanted to get somewhere. The smallest crack was an open door to him, and if there was no door then he could just make one. It wouldn't happen in a day, but week after week, month after month, year after year, as long as he kept moving across the same spot then a door would be made.

Nothing could stop him, so he was free. But at the same time, he was a captive. Where did water flow? In streams, in rivers, in lakes, in oceans. When it fell from the sky it would either join one of these bodies or just sink into the land and vanish. So he was free to go wherever he wanted, but he was trapped in the bodies he inhabited. He could not move on his own, if he wanted to leave his lake then he would need help from outside forces, without them he would stagnate and rot.

But when water first got to move, it was both voracious and gentle. A soft stream running around your legs as you played with your son, a soothing coldness that gave you reprieve from the scorching summer heat. A merciless wave rising up from the ocean to wreak devastation and havoc, a whirlpool that drew in and crushed all. That was water, that was Liang Chen.

But water did not only exist in the stream or the river, it also existed within living beings. Mixed into their blood, mixed into their organs and skin, even the bones contained a bit of water. And that water, Liang Chen was that water. The way they moved, the way their blood flowed, the subtle differences in heat brought about by changes in emotions. He saw them all, he was them all.

And right now, the gaze of the water, his gaze, was focused on the water that was gathered around his previous cultivation spot. The moisture in the air, the puddles on the ground, the beings gathered there, he saw the world from them all. A dark dome surrounded the area, Yumao desperately pouring out energy to sustain it.

Liang Chen could feel it, he was evaporating. The water inside Yumao and Sheng Lian, it was evaporating little by little. Was it due to their strong emotions or the immense expenditure of energy? He couldn't tell, all he could tell was that he was fading little by little. They were hoping, praying, desperately reaching for a strand of hope.

But he wasn't that hope, he wasn't the answer to their prayers. He was just a spark of life in a suffocating ocean, infinitely weak and helpless. So he could only watch and wait for the one that would answer their prayers.

--

He roared as he rose. He broke the sound barrier as he ascended into the skies, into the dark clouds scattered across the land. The wind was all around him, the water grew thick and heavy in the clouds. But none of it had any ties with him, none of it belonged to him. He was lightning, pure and simple.

And right now, he felt free, untethered. The wind wasn't tied to him, the water wasn't part of him, time and void didn't exist to him. He was lightning, solitary and proud. The clouds housed him, but they were not his home. If he wanted to strike the earth then he would tear through everything to reach it, that was the freedom of lightning, the pride of the tool that once dispensed heaven's justice.

A flash that struck a tree gave primitive tribes fire to cook their food, to warm their houses and to repel predators. A flash that struck water unlocked the building blocks of primitive lifeforms. A flash that struck a building melted its supporting beams and made it collapse on its inhabitants. A flash that struck a man scorched his brain, cooked his flesh, overloaded his muscles.

But he wasn't limited to these flashes, to these clouds that crackled with hundreds more of him. He was everywhere. Imperceptible signals running through the atmosphere, minuscule signals flashing through the nerves of living beings. He saw them all, because he was them all. When a man wanted to walk, he called upon Liang Chen. When the clouds wanted to wreak havoc on the land beneath them, they called upon Liang Chen. He was everywhere, in everyone. He obeyed no one but helped everyone. That was Liang Chen, that was lightning, or perhaps more accurately, electricity.

And right now, the gaze of the lightning, was focused on the inhabitants of the dark dome that covered his previous cultivation grounds. Shen Fei's and Li Zhao Xu's internal signals were mostly fine, they showed signs of stress with how fast they moved but it wasn't anything terrible. But Yumao and Sheng Lian were on the verge of a panic attack, the signals in their bodies were running so rampant that it was a miracle that their muscles weren't spasming out. Contrasting signals were sent out and crossed each other multiple times every second, their brains were practically flooded with them as they desperately sought a solution.

But the lightning was not that solution, nor did it house the solution. It was free, but it was also helpless. So it could only watch their prayers, their desperation, and wait for the ones that would answer them.

--

Time. Time was everywhere. It flowed everywhere, in everyone, around everyone. There was no place where time didn't exist, only places where time had temporarily halted. Sooner or later, all things would be embraced by time again, all would return to that endless stream that ran towards the future.

And right now, Liang Chen was that stream, that ever-flowing river that none could ever escape. Here, there was no water, no wind, no lightning, no void. All that existed here was the past, the present, and the future. It wasn't the way he would have wanted to, but this marked the first time Liang Chen ever got in contact with the river of time, the true flow of it. And what he saw was beyond his wildest imagination.

Looking at the past was simple, all he had to do was go back along the river, tracing it as if he was running his hand through a stream. Looking at the present was equally simple, he just had to look down and he would see it. It was all around him, moving forward one second at a time, existing one second at a time, replaced one second at a time.

But the future? The future was painful to look at. Every possible outcome from every possible choice branched off into a different stream. For each second that passed, several million streams were born. And from each of those streams, countless millions were born, possible timelines, possible futures. One for when Liang Chen stepped to the right, one for when he stepped to the left, one for when he stopped walking, one for when he was hit by a meteorite that fell from the sky, one for when the earth cracked beneath him.

Some of the branching streams were thicker than others, they were the futures most likely to happen based on the future and the past. But not even they were guaranteed to happen, something Liang Chen saw when the river skipped past one of the larger branches and settled on a small stream, expanding it to become the new main river. He traced back to that diverging point and saw the source, a child that was celebrating what looked like their sixth birthday.

The child looked thin and haggard, his bright blue hair had fallen out in tufts so that only small blotches remained. But he looked happy, radiant even. His parents were also full of smiles, they were beaming with such joy that Liang Chen could feel it from within the river. Something about this birthday had made the river of time move away from one of the more likely futures, but Liang Chen had no idea what.

Liang Chen, the river of time, pulled its gaze back from the celebration, turning towards the past. He traced the river, traced himself, and moved back. The battle against Li Zhao Xu, his meeting with Tian Shen, his arrival in this land, his arrival in this universe, he moved further and further back, tracing himself and his past as he sought his target.

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Did it take years, minutes, seconds? He couldn't tell, all he could tell was that he reached the target he sought. A familiar city was reflected in the river of time, a family of three sharing a meal as they chatted. Smooth black hair and deep green eyes, a child that had yet to be tainted by wrath, a child that had yet to be touched by time.

Reversing the flow of time so much that he could reach this location again was nigh impossible, Liang Chen didn't even think it would be possible if he reached the apex of power. But right now he was time, and time was him, so would it possibly be possible right now?

He sank into the river, delved into that reflected image. It felt like he was splitting off a part of himself, he remained as the river, but a bit of him sank into it all the same as it joined that reflection. The boy untouched by time and the man who had become time overlapped, the bonds that tied them together connecting them as they become one.

He felt sick as he sat there, the taste in his mouth was oh-so-familiar, but it mixed with the flurry of memories the future brought with it so he couldn't enjoy it. He did his best to hold down his vomit as he weathered the sensation, calmly waiting for the time it would pass. He had to wait for a bit, but in the end, it passed, just like all things did.

He looked at the two people sitting in front of him, his throat clogging as his chest felt like it was hit by a hammer. How many times had he dreamed of them? How many times had he cried for them? He had accepted the loss, accepted that they were gone and he would never be with them again. But now that he sat there, now that he possibly had the chance to change things, how could he not at least give it a try?

It took a while, but he managed to convince them to flee. They slipped out of the city in the cover of night, before the accusations of treason were raised against them. This time, the heads that rolled on the scaffolding weren't theirs. The child that cried wasn't him. This time, he had managed to save them.

But it was all futile.

A bandit attack as they slept. A wild Demonic beast as they moved through the forest. An attack by a member of an enemy clan. An errant bolt of lightning. A collapsing mountain. An earthquake that kicked up a tsunami. A meteorite crashing into them. No matter how many times he went back, no matter how many attempts he prevented, death always came for them.

He was never allowed to get far, the best he had managed after countless tries was to buy them a measly two days beyond their original death. And after that, he would always find his way back to that hidden realm, back to that hell, back to those people that brought light to his world.

The past was the past, alterations were only allowed within tiny margins. Those who died would die, only the circumstances of that death would change. You could do whatever you wanted to prevent it, death would come for them all the same. That was why the past was the past, because it had already happened, because it dictated the future.

So it was futile to go back, to wish for a change. All it brought was fresh despair, a hot knife to wounds that had already gone cold. The fates of Qing Feng and Qing Lan were set in stone the moment Liang Chen stepped towards the future, death was all that awaited them, death was all he could give them.

He traced the river of time back one last time, to that fateful day that they stood before the scaffolding. He sank into the river and connected to that boy again, that crying child showing the first blotches of wrath. He heard their last words again, words he had already memorized and repeated countless times. But this time he didn't let them go in silence, this time he wanted to at least give them something in return, even if it was accompanied by a tearful smile.

"Father, Mother, thank you. For taking me in, for raising me, for giving me a name. Thank you. Please, don't worry about me, it is just as you said, there will always be a bright dawn awaiting me. I wish you could see her, wish you could see our daughter. I know you don't understand, but please, at least understand this. I was happy with you, and I'll become happy again in the future thanks to the life you've given me."

Would the words follow them into the future even if they couldn't understand them? He didn't know. But he spoke them all the same, he wanted them to know, even if it was just in this one fleeting moment, that he would be happy, that he would be all right in the future.

The two didn't seem to understand what Liang Chen was saying, but really, how could they? Their child had just started speaking in a completely different tone, and about things they didn't understand nonetheless. But even so, they smiled brightly. He said he would be happy, he said that he would find a bright dawn. Were the words true, or just a lie to comfort them? It didn't matter. Their son had said them, so they would believe them.

Liang Chen disconnected himself from the young boy as the two smiled at him, returning to the river of time, returning to himself. He had lingered in the past for long enough, the future awaited him, belonged to him.

He returned to the part of the river that showed the present, focusing his gaze on the black blotch that floated in it. A dark domain was reflected in the present, covering the place where he had cultivated earlier. Yumao and the others were within the domain, draining themselves of power to sustain it. This domain was most likely the reason he could maintain his sense of self even though he was part of the river of time, it was doing its utmost to fuel his fragmented self with power.

He could feel Yumao's desperation, Sheng Lian's horror. Now, they were the child who was crying, the youth amidst the crowd that cursed the heavens. Back then, he raised his head to the sky and begged for justice, prayed for salvation. But there was no answer, the only thing he got was silence. But he would not allow their prayers to go unanswered, their desperation to be met with silence. There was only him here, only time. But it was precisely because of this that he was confident that part of his salvation would be found here.

--

The world was empty. There was no water, no wind, no lightning, not even time. No, this world was completely empty, a stretch of empty white land that continued on for as far as his senses could go. But as he looked closely at that white expanse, he could faintly see something beyond it. The lifeless land of the void stretched out beyond the whiteness, only a thin sheet separating the two.

"Oh? A new one's arrived, should I count it as quick or slow? Tell me, which Voidborn generation are you the Ruler of?"

An unfamiliar voice reached Liang Chen, echoing through the empty land. His head spun around and his eyes narrowed, his body tensing somewhat as he located the source of the voice. Figures had appeared behind him, 5 indistinct humanoid shapes that were almost as white as the land around him, only they had a tinge of grey to them.

"There's no need to be nervous, this is the place all the Rulers end up after we perish so it's only obvious that I'd be able to point it out. I'm Chen Daoge, I was the Ruler of the 6th generation of Voidborn."

The one who spoke up first addressed Liang Chen again to calm him, introducing himself. But his words didn't give Liang Chen much comfort. If it was as he said and all the Voidborn Rulers ended up here after they perished, did that mean that the four other figures were also past Rulers? But Liang Chen made sure to maintain his calm, this was not a situation where he could afford to panic.

"Oh? They all end up here? I'd have expected that the end result would be returning to the Void."

It was a bit ironic, the envoys of the Void couldn't return to the Void after they perished. But it also begged the question, was this their version of heaven or hell? Whatever the case was, he knew that he couldn't stay here for long, he had to return so that he could figure out how to fix this situation. He didn't know why he ended up here, without his lightning or other laws, but it clearly meant that something bad had happened to his body.

"That is the end result, it just isn't straight away. The Void... our home, it was birthed by Jieshu, it belonged to him. When our predecessors tore him apart they also tore apart the core of the Void, the source of all its energy. Without that core, the Void is forced to constantly recycle its energy to birth new Voidborn. That's where we come in. Once it needs more energy, it takes it from us. Sometimes it takes a small piece to birth normal Voidborn, sometimes it takes it all to birth a new Ruler."

The one who responded this time wasn't the one who introduced himself as Chen Daoge but one of the other four. They had probably been here for a while so they would have had plenty of time to figure out how things worked, it was only right that they explained it to the newcomer. But they also knew what it meant when they got a newcomer, another one of the figures letting loose a sigh.

"Since you're here I guess that means we're gonna lose another Ruler before long, I wonder which generation will be chosen this time."

The Void needed a Ruler to control it, it was they who were the closest to becoming a new core. The new one could be born quickly, or the Void could wait several thousands of years before it decided to birth it. But truthfully, it was almost all the same to these people, time had long since lost almost all meaning to them.

"...I hope this new one can fulfil our duty, the Void has been without a core for too long already. It's about time we're allowed to rest after our own end."

This time it was Chen Daoge that spoke up again, the feature-less figure seeming to turn its head, as if it was sweeping the empty landscape around them. They had done their best to perform their duty, it was only right that they got to rest after it was done. But this wasn't rest, it was just waiting for the Void to finally drain them of everything.

"It's almost funny, don't you think? We are born by the Void, the end, but we ourselves aren't allowed to reach our end."

The irony of the situation wasn't lost on the Rulers, one of them chuckling humorlessly as she spoke about it. The others simply shook their head at it, it had long since stopped being funny to them.

"Well, let's get you settled in, newcomer. It's been too long since we last got any news about how the Void is doing so let's have a nice long chat while we wait to see who gets recycled next."

Chen Daoge beckoned Liang Chen over, his words catching his interest. Liang Chen lowered his gaze again and peered through the white land, the seemingly infinite Void stretching out beneath and around him. He could see the Voidborn that lived there, he even saw what looked like a small city rising on the horizon. He could see all of this, so how could they say that they hadn't gotten any news about how the Void was doing?

"...Newcomer? Are you still in shock? Can't quite grasp it?"

Chen Daoge and the others seemed to misunderstand Liang Chen's silence. But from their perspective it was only logical, even they found it hard to believe that they could die, they were Voidborn Rulers after all! Liang Chen raised his head after a short moment, his gaze landing on the five figures.

"We...are different."

Yes, he understood that now. Part of the understanding came from the explanation they gave, but another part of the understanding came from within him. He could feel it. It was in the land around him, in the thin sheet that separated this place from the Void, it was even within the Void itself.

"You are Voidborn. The Void gathers energy and uses it to birth you, to create children that can carry out its duty. Or perhaps it's just lonely and wants company, I don't know."

He stretched out his hand as he spoke, grasping at the white expanse. It felt like a sheet of silk as he touched it, his fingers sinking into it. In the end, even the greatest of the Voidborn, the Rulers, were just Voidborn. They were born of the Void, for the Void. It was like a flame spitting out a spark and using it to start a new fire somewhere else. The new fire was born from the original flame, but it wasn't the flame.

"You..."

The five figures seemed like they were caught off-guard, not by Liang Chen's words but by his actions. What was he grasping? This was an empty space where they awaited their recycling, what could you possibly grasp here? Liang Chen didn't bother letting them finish their questions.

"But I am not born of the Void, I am not energy it has cobbled together to form a child."

No, Liang Chen had never been born of the void, he wasn't energy it had gathered to form a new child. He had taken it into himself, the Void and its energy, he had taken it all in and used it to form his body. His blood flowed with the Void, his heart thumped with it, his bones were formed by it.

He put some strength into his hand and drew it sideways, tearing apart the silken sheet that separated him from the Void. The white expanse tore like paper to reveal the grey and lifeless land, a surge of pure energy flooding in through the tear. And a slight sensation came along with that energy, a sensation from beyond the Void, a quiet prayer and silent desperation from where he previously cultivated.

"No, I am the Void."