For a normal human being living in modern society, the stories of heroes and their thrilling journeys filled with tribulations were something only possible in novels and storybooks.
It was just a piece of someone's imagination, a fantasy world that everyone wanted to indulge themselves in to take refuge from their hectic and boring lives.
It provided that unimaginable thrill and an exciting adventure, which were normally impossible to feel in their everyday lives.
Amazing power-ups, thrilling challenges, solid bonds, and a journey full of ups and downs.
Everyone craved to experience such a journey.
"But at the end, this is all just a fantasy, nothing like the reality we live in."
Reality was cruel. Time waits for none, and fortune and luck are but momentary wonders, not reliable at all. You can't expect things to go your way just because you want it to. Everything could go down the drain at any second.
...Such were the thoughts of Rihan after he found himself in the world of cultivation.
To many, this was a land full of opportunities where they could live out their fancy dreams. But alas, Rihan found firsthand what a shitty world he was transported to was.
Acquire unimaginable power? Sure, if you have talent.
Beat villains? As if nobody was a weakling here. Even the Villager A was as strong as a body builder.
Preach your peace-loving hypocrisy? Hah! What a waste. This world was full of barbarians with nothing but maliciousness filled in their every fiber of being.
In his opinion, this world was a pigpen of madness and chaos where it wouldn't be uncommon if you were to die just because you were at the wrong place at the wrong time. It would go bang suddenly and not a single intact piece of you would remain.
Such was the World of Saha—the World of Cultivation.
As a normal human being with no cheat power, he lived in this world with gritted teeth and a hidden fury and frustration. He bid his time and began his cultivation journey with only one goal in mind—to return to his peaceful home, light years away from this literal hell of a place.
He cultivated alone and bitterly, fought hard while suppressing his fear, bled enough blood to overflow a river, and killed so much in his desperation that his fortune and destiny itself twisted and turned bleak numerous times.
But in the end, he always came out as the winner and even excavated his Hidden Talents in the form of an Evolving Physique which he himself named the 'Myriad Assimilation Physique' and a rare affinity with the Space Element.
When he found that he had affinity with Space, his wavering spirit at that time found a new hope and a whole new resolve. Moreover, with his soon Awakened Space Senses, he got aware that time flowed extremely fast in this world compared to Earth.
So, even when he thought he would never get to see his mother again, he became so overjoyed that time that he unconsciously attained a Joyful Serene State of Mind, and temporarily achieved the Sixth Inner World State of 'Heavenly Being', and break free from his shackling worry and sufferings.
At that opportune time, his mortal mind escaped his physical confinements, achieving enlightenment through resonating with the Worldly Laws for a very short amount of time.
A path then lit up in front of him, showing his destination to achieve his goal.
Divine Ascension.
To break free from the World's Will and its restrictions, he first had to achieve Divinity.
But it was not simple—no, it was almost impossible, as he also gleamed some information after reading the Flow of Karma of this world.
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But at least he was not 'Lost' anymore and had found a 'Way', making his Spirit blazing even more than ever before. Even if the task seemed impossible, he was hell bent on defeating any resistance he encountered on his path. From that moment onward, he began his journey on the Dao of Perseverance and the Dao of Unshakable Spirit.
After that, he diligently devoted his life to cultivation. He fought even harder and wracked his brains to find a way to achieve Divinity in any way possible.
Just like that, two hundred years passed; in that time, he became famous as the 'Unpredictable Sword Asura' with his masterful control over swords and space incooperated into a very tricky and deceiving sword style, which he developed on his own. He named that Sword Style: Monk Slayer.
Of course, this name openly mocked the entire cultivation world, but he didn't care since his hatred for them only increased as time passed. Though the cultivators considered themselves to be the most sacred existence who pursued the path to eternal truth and existence, they were just hypocrites who only thought everyone but themselves to be lower than trash.
This itself reflected in their cultivation methods, which only stole from the universe to gain power.
His search for Divinity also showed some progress. Not only did he learn what obstructed the attainment of Divinity, he also came to know some weaknesses about the Innate Gods—the perpetrators behind this.
Though omnipotent in their own world, where they were born from the world's essence and laws between its conception and transformation to a Living World, they couldn't meddle too much in the world's affairs. The reason was shocking enough: Karma and Fortune.
They were intrinsically bound to this world's karma and fortune, thereby gaining unimaginable powers, but in return they couldn't interfere much in this world since their every action, however small, could affect the world's Destiny negatively and, in return, them. Of course, if something drastic happens, which could affect the Karma and Fortune of the world as a whole, which could lead to a bleak Destiny, they could act.
And the pursuit of Divinity, the act of snatching absolute power from the Heavens was one such matter. Unlike Innate God's, which drew and shared their power from the world itself, a Cultivated God attained Divinity by snatching the good Karma and Fortune of the world, lighting up his Destiny to break free from his Mortal Shell, and achieving his Destined Potential as a God.
Naturally, they had no restrictions placed on them, and unlike Innate Gods, which share their Destiny with the World, the Cultivated Gods directly harmed the world to achieve their power.
In that case, the Innate God's could interfere just before someone could gain Divinity by shattering their Spirit, which acts as the guide and stores endless potential within itself.
Although the Innate Gods did protect the world from harm, they were also infinitely arrogant and apathetic beings.
He was not swayed by this information, though. This world had only taken from him and nothing else, so even if his actions endangered it, he did not particularly care. But there was still some humanity left in him, which was the reason he did not go insane. So, he decided he would just maybe give a hand if the destruction spreads too far.
And the solution and key to his all problems surprisingly lay within himself—his Physique and Dao.
Initially, his Physique was of the lowest quality—Hwang Low Rank, of the four: Hwang, Xuang, Di, and Tian. They were also divided into sub-levels of: low, mid, high, and peak.
But his Myriad Assimilation Physique had one quality that made it very unique. It could absorb any kind of energy, refine it into its purest form, which could then be used to empower anything.
At first, its use was very limited, only useful to restore his stamina and qi more efficiently and quickly. But after he realized it's true worth, he started to pour all the pure energy into his physique, making it evolve numerous times.
It's versatility increases with every upgrade. Cultivation progress, spirit growth, qi reserves, stamina, comprehension depths, talents, racial characteristics—every aspect of his could then be enhanced and could even acquire special qualities.
What he strove to acquire were three things. A deeper comprehension of the Space Dao than anyone else was the first thing. The second was to add the regeneration characteristic to his Spirit, so that it could be restored even if it was to be destroyed by the Innate Gods. Though adding a characteristic to something needed it to have something related to the said characteristic, which could then be enhanced and upgraded into something desirable. After all, the pure energy he got through his physique did not have any quality to it; it just took the most desirable form of energy he needed.
Fortunately, his two Daos—the Dao of Perseverance and the Dao of Unshakable Spirit—could be used as the base. The Dao of Unshakable Spirit could bestow the characteristic of Indestructible, and the Dao of Stubborn Perseverance the characteristic of Overcoming.
These two could then overcome the fragility of the Spirit, making it evolve into something like the Regenerating Spirit or Cloning Spirit.
But, when he actually tried out the method, the result was even out of his wildest imagination. His Spirit evolved into the Spirit of Endlessness. What he overcome wasn't his Spirit's weakness, but it's finiteness—it's own self.
What is it meant to have an Endless Spirit? Spirit was the focus of cultivation. It contained one's will, their whole potential, and the thing that symbolizes the word Divine.
Either you can put your faith, your Spirit in believing another God, thereby giving the said God the power of your Divine Potential. Or, you can believe in yourself and convert that Divine Potential into a Divine Seed.
Now, imagine that Endless Potential becoming a Divine Seed? Theoretically, one could rule the whole universe with such a power.
Though, as always, there were limitations: your Body and Soul. Body is the vessel that holds your Soul, and the medium through which your Spirit exhibits it's effect on the world. On the other hand, Soul could be described as the storage room where all of a being's karma, fortune, destiny, comprehension, identity, ego, achievements, and power reside.
There was an old saying in the Saha World.
'A Soul is like a blank canvas; body is the frame the canvas is attached to, and Spirit the brush and ink that fills the canvas with any strokes a being wants to.'
There is a limit to how many strokes of the brush one canvas could take, and there was also a limit to how big a canvas could fit into a frame.
But nevertheless, it was a good thing because since his Spirit now embodies Endlessness, it couldn't be destroyed by mere words of Innate Gods.
And the third and final thing he needed was a place where he could achieve Divinity without alerting the Innate Gods. It was quite simple, though.
Regarding his Spirit, he could easily fool them since once their Intent or Will descend to shatter his Spirit, he could just let it destroy a part of his Spirit, which would later recover on its own. Innate Gods would never know about his schemes; since they may be omniscient on the Saha World, he technically did not belong to this World, and hence his Karma and Destiny were not excessively bound to this place, which could reveal his information to them.
And the place he chose was the Death Valley. It was a place filled with Death qi so potent that it looked as if Death itself blessed this place. Even observing it through one's Spiritual Senses could grant a weaker being absolute death—the annihilation of soul.
In his opinion, this place did not even come from this world. So, it was the best place for him to hide from prying eyes. Although it was a dangerous place, he could build immunity for death through his physique anyway.
After sorting through and foolproofing his plan numerous times, a long period of time passed away.
Exactly two thousand years after his transportation, he was now at the climax of his plan.