For several seconds, she remained still in silence.
The Ancient One's face showed no expression, yet it was clear she was analyzing everything Aran had said.. Weighing cause and effect, danger and restraint, truth and omission. The world continued to move around them: footsteps passing by, distant traffic, the hiss of a nearby food cart.
Finally, she looked at him.
"In that case…" she said softly, "…I will leave it to you."
No warning. No further questions.
She raised her hand, and a golden ring of light formed beside the bench, space folding inward with a muted hum. The portal opened just wide enough for her to step through.
Before leaving, she paused for half a heartbeat, then went on without another word.
The portal closed with a quiet snap.
The surrounding sounds rushed back in all at once, the laughter, engines, music, the ordinary chaos of the city reclaiming the space she had momentarily silenced.
Aran exhaled slowly.
"…Good," he muttered.
He leaned back against the bench, eyes drifting toward the sky once more, the sun already sinking toward the horizon.
This reminded him, one of his early adventures.
Years after the betrayal, long after he severed ties with everything he once called home. Aran was already far from his original region. The skies of that foreign land were pale and thin, the spiritual currents unfamiliar but calm. He stood motionless atop a simple flying artifact, suspended high above the clouds, sensing the distortion ahead.
A realm was about to open.
He descended quietly and blended among the gathered cultivators without drawing attention. There was no need to conceal himself excessively; none of them were worth the effort. After observing for some time, he confirmed what he had suspected.
The truly powerful had not arrived.
The strongest presence among them reached the Void Realm—an elder from a nearby sect, revered by the others like a lofty peak. But Aran can take care of this guy, at this time, his cultivation was at Mid-stage of Void Realm.
As fragments of information circulated, the truth of the realm slowly became clear. This secret realm was the remnant of a fallen Integration Realm cultivator, someone who had perished nearly a thousand years ago.
The inheritance itself was incompatible with him. The Dao left behind followed a rigid integration of external laws, a path that demanded long-term synchronization with principles he had long abandoned. Accepting it would mean reshaping his foundation, weakening his flexibility.
It was a dead end.
What interested him was something else.
Artifacts refined by an Integration Realm cultivator were different. They were not bound to Dao alignment. They were tools forged through time, will, and repeated refinement objects that could be used, traded, or repurposed and that was enough.
Days has passed. The realm had not yet opened.
According to estimates, it would take another week.
Formations were erected around the distortion point, there were patrols placed by nearby sects , and the Void Realm elder used his presence, suppressing the loose cultivators
On the fifth day, he left.
His aura folded inward, his existence thinning until it barely registered.
This was the specialty of the Void Realm.
Space was no longer a boundary, but a medium.
Even before reaching the Void Realm, Aran had learned a technique that allowed him to tear space directly, it was crude at first, dangerous, but effective. Now, at the mid-stage of Void Realm, it was effortless.
Secret realms relied on spatial isolation.
He ignored it.
With a controlled tear, Aran forced his way inside.
No alarms were triggered nor a backlash followed but he did not wish to linger.
Some secret realms possessed defensive consciousness or delayed reactions. Staying longer than necessary was foolish.
He bypassed the inheritance hall entirely.
Instead, he moved through secondary chambers—resource vaults, auxiliary spaces meant to support the inheritor. These areas were rarely prioritized by defensive formations.
Within minutes, everything of value was gone.
Different ores, ancient herbs, and pills
Then finally, the artifact it was glowing and it definitely has power inside of it
It was unassuming.
Near Integration Realm, but not fully stepped into it. Its purpose was simple, stabilizing spatial manipulation, reducing strain when tearing or folding space. For someone walking the Void path, it was ideal.
Besides the artifact, there was a storage ring, the contents were of course other important stuff and lastly its inheritance.
Aran took everything and left.
Space closed behind him as if nothing had happened.
A week later, the realm officially opened.
Cultivators flooded inside, led by the Void Realm elder.
What they found was emptiness.
The inheritance remained, untouched yet meaningless. Everything else had been stripped clean, no signs of forced entry.
Anger followed.
Accusations. Investigations. The Void Realm elder searched personally and found nothing.
Because there was nothing to find.
By then, Aran was already far away, he was calculating profit, deciding which items to sell and which to keep.
Back to the present
A month has passed since the Ancient One visited him
Aran sat on a weathered wooden bench outside a small-town grocery store, holding a glass bottle of Mexican Coke. He looked at the bottle in his hand and pondered.
"It seems.. coke has different taste in some places.." he then took a sip, on the corner of his eyes he sees bunch of kids trying to repair their friend's bicycle. This also reminds him in his past.. before arriving at Tianmen, he once tried to ride a bicycle but.. he fell before he stabilized, it wasn't his to begin with so after some retries, he never touched a bicycle since then.
A nearby TV through the store window was blaring a news report about the cleanup of the debris from Stark's "Clean Slate" protocol. The news anchor was debating the "psychological toll" on the billionaire.
"I wonder if he still remembers me, after all he did see me during the battle of new york.. but I guess not" Aran really admire Stark, especially his suits, most impressive one was probably his Nano suit when Thanos attacked. Just then
"You look like you're thinking hard on something, son," an old man sitting at the other end of the bench said, tipping his cowboy hat. With Aran's sense, he detect a hidden gun in the old man.. well this is definitely Texas.
Aran just smiles "Indeed, things are going chaotic, with them worrying as if the sky has fallen" he tilted his bottle towards the TV.
"Heh, After New York? Folks think the sky is always falling now," the old man replied. "You a tourist?"
"Something like that" Aran nodded, "I heard Texas has alot of nice places and alot of big open roads"
"That we do, just watch out for the heat. It'll bake the sense right out of ya."
Aran chuckled, this heat is nothing compared to Tianmen, and especially to Aran who has been tempered by Extreme Heat. "I'll manage"
As the sun began to dip, turning the Texas horizon into a sea of fire and gold, Aran walked over to his car—a deep midnight-blue 1969 Chevy Nova. He chose this car mainly because this is the first thing he saw in the dealership, although flying through the sky is overall nice, driving a car is still a must. As expected the dealership is always trying to make you spend more but as a former scamme—trader in Tianmen, this was just child's play. The man in charge was smiling so hard but then it was too late, Aran only paid 9 thousand dollars, and every paperwork has been signed he could only regret.
A few weeks has passed, Aran has already visited most of texas and now the lush greens and humid air of the east were gone, replaced by the rugged, red-tinted majesty of the Southwest. He was currently cutting through New Mexico, the car's engine purring with a mechanical contentment that is soothing.
As he crossed into Arizona, the scenery shifted into the surreal beauty of the Painted Desert. The layers of rock were striped with lavender, gold, and vermillion.
He pulled the Chevy over to the side of the dusty highway and stepped out. The air here was thin and dry, carrying the scent of sagebrush and ancient stone. Aran leaned against the warm metal of his car, took a deep breath of the Arizona air, and watched the first stars blink into existence over the red rocks.
(I already made 2 chapters before this however, I scrapped both of them as I didn't like the direction it was heading, even now I still struggle on the future of this fanfiction and I've been busy.. university, touching grass and breathing fine air. Every now and then I get reminded that I still have this, dont worry i will try so bare with me for this 1 chapter, but anyways maybe for now I will focus on MC exploring america and also bits of his pasts. Well merry Christmas to all hope yall having a great time)