Ye Zai stood at the edge of the mountains, looking out across the vast expanse of the continent. The soft winds brushed against his face, whispering secrets of the world he had long ago ceased to be a part of. Five years ago, he was nothing more than a man, bound by the same limitations that kept everyone else in check. He had known power once, but it was fleeting—a transient thing, like sand slipping through his fingers. And then came the moment of change, the moment that began his true ascent.
In the early days, when his cultivation had barely touched the surface of what was possible, Ye Zai had been a mere speck in a world filled with giants. He'd been continent-level—strong enough to split mountains, shatter oceans, and reshape the land beneath his feet, but that was nothing compared to what lay beyond. The realm of gods, the realm of true power, was far beyond him, and he had been blind to it.
But his vision had changed after meeting the old sage on the edge of the Eastern Peaks. The sage had seen in Ye Zai something no one else had—a potential that lay dormant, untouched, waiting to explode.
"You're not meant for this world, boy," the sage had said in a voice that was both ancient and timeless. "You are a fragment of something much greater, something outside the bounds of these mortal realms. But to awaken that power, you must first tear down the walls that bind you to this pitiful existence."
At first, Ye Zai hadn't understood. The sage's words had been cryptic, but he had felt an undeniable pull—a deep-seated truth in the old man's words. The first step on the path to power had been simple: break the shackles of his own limitations. The process had taken five years, years of rigorous cultivation, countless trials, and hardships that stripped him to his very core. With every trial, Ye Zai's strength had grown, but so had his understanding of the world. He had learned to see beyond what was visible, to sense the flow of existence, to tap into the currents of time and space that had once seemed so distant.
But still, even after five years, Ye Zai wasn't where he needed to be. He had merely touched the surface of the infinite sea of power that lay before him. Universal-level strength was just the beginning, yet it was enough to change the course of his fate.
One night, as Ye Zai meditated beneath the full moon, his body began to tremble with the sensation of something beyond him stirring. His cultivation had reached a critical point, and he felt it—the boundary of the universal realm calling to him. The air around him rippled as though reality itself were warping, and for the first time, he could sense the faint echoes of the gods. They were out there, somewhere—beings whose power resonated with the very fabric of existence. But they were not beyond him. Not yet.
He stood, his eyes burning with newfound clarity. Ye Zai had long ago abandoned the notion of merely becoming strong for the sake of strength. Power was a means to an end, a way to reach beyond what the world allowed him to be. But now, that journey was no longer a mere quest for strength—it was a war against the very nature of reality itself. His cultivation had crossed the threshold of mortal comprehension, but it wasn't enough.
"I must ascend further," Ye Zai muttered to himself, the words feeling foreign on his tongue. It was time to confront those who stood above, those who reigned over the heavens and earth. His journey, which had begun with such small, insignificant steps, was about to lead him into the heart of the universe itself.
The first battle came swiftly. A creature, cloaked in shimmering void energy, appeared before Ye Zai one fateful day. It was a god of the old pantheon, a being of infinite might who had long since transcended the limits of mortality. It stood in front of Ye Zai, radiating power that threatened to overwhelm his senses.
"You dare challenge me, mortal?" the god boomed, its voice shaking the very ground beneath their feet. "You are but a speck, unworthy of standing against me. Surrender now, and your life will be spared."
Ye Zai's gaze was calm, unwavering. "I am not here to challenge you. I am here to reshape reality. And you are in my way."
The air shifted as his words hung in the atmosphere, his very being a disruption to the space around him. With a single motion, Ye Zai drew on the universal energies he had cultivated, his body glowing with an ethereal radiance. The god sneered, raising a hand to strike down the insignificant mortal who dared defy its will.
But Ye Zai had already transcended that level. As the god's strike descended, Ye Zai reached out with a motion so subtle it could have been mistaken for a whisper. Reality bent around his fingertips, folding like paper under pressure. Time, space, and even the concept of distance ceased to matter. The god's attack was swallowed by the void, unable to touch him.
With a mere thought, Ye Zai manipulated the very fabric of the god's existence. The creature's energy began to unravel, the concept of its being starting to dissolve. In an instant, the god's form shattered into a million pieces, each fragment lost to the depths of the universe, never to return.
Ye Zai stood amidst the silence, his expression unchanged. The world seemed to pause, as if waiting for him to move again. He took a slow breath, his mind already focused on the next challenge. This god was nothing more than a stepping stone, a test of the strength he had earned in the five years of unyielding cultivation. The true trials, the true gods, were yet to come.
In that moment, Ye Zai understood. His power was no longer measured by the limitations of this world. He had ascended, his being now stretching across the boundaries of the universal realm. But even this power was nothing compared to what he was truly capable of. He was but a spark, and the universe was his fuel.
The war against the gods had only just begun.