Chapter6 – Rebirth in the Cave
After what felt like an eternity, Wei Shiyan's eyes slowly fluttered open. For a long moment, he lay motionless, dazed and silent, as though unsure if he had truly returned to the world of the living. Sensation trickled back into his body—warmth in his fingertips, breath filling his lungs, the faint pulse of vitality surging through his veins. He sat up abruptly, his head swaying slightly as if waking from the deepest nightmare.
The cave around him was quiet, dimly lit by the faint gleam of ordinary minerals embedded in the stone walls. He looked around in confusion, his expression like that of a lost child. Only after a long breath escaped him did he finally whisper hoarsely,
"That… that was truly what hell feels like."
He shivered, not from cold but from the memory of torment he could barely put into words.
Then instinctively, he looked down at his hands—and froze.
His hands were no longer frail, pale, and sickly as they had once been. Instead, they were smooth, creamy-white, flawless in form, with the faint luster of jade. They looked as though they belonged to an immortal sculpture rather than a mortal man.
Heart pounding, he scrambled to his feet and glanced about until his eyes caught his reflection in a flat, shiny stone in the corner of the cave. His breath caught in his throat.
The face staring back at him was not the one he remembered. It was… perfection. So flawless that even the greatest scholar's words would fall short of describing it.
Sharp lines ran from his nose to his jaw, as if carved by divine blades. Sword-like brows framed his crystal-blue eyes, their depths like endless oceans glimmering with mystery. His hair, now a silver-white waterfall, cascaded down his back until it nearly reached his waist, shimmering faintly like molten moonlight. His body was lean yet powerful, a balance between elegance and strength. Every fiber of his flesh seemed sculpted to perfection, refined down to the very cells. It gave him the faint illusion that even the sharpest divine weapon might fail to leave a mark upon his skin.
Everything about him radiated strength, elegance, and destiny. He was no longer the frail youth who had once struggled to breathe—he was reborn.
Wei Shiyan took in his new form silently, his emotions a storm within. "Perfection," he whispered to himself. "But this… this is only the beginning."
Deep inside, he could feel it—the hunger, the craving for improvement. His second soul stirred within him, resonating like a beast eager to devour the heavens themselves. It was as though another being lived alongside him, one born for nothing less than absolute supremacy.
He clenched his fists. I can even split another soul if I wished. No pain, only slight fatigue. But what use is splitting souls without treasures, without supreme materials of other Heavenly Paths?
His gaze sharpened. The path ahead was clear. He would not waste this opportunity.
Crossing his legs, he sank into meditation. His breathing slowed, his mind drifting inward as he entered the boundless space of his consciousness. All around was endless darkness, silent and vast. And there, suspended like a star in the void, hovered his second soul.
It was a black orb, yet streaks of silver and deep-blue light occasionally flashed across its surface, giving it an otherworldly beauty. He stared at it, feeling an intimacy deeper than words.
"Why does it look like this?" he murmured. "A black orb… yet wrapped in silver and blue brilliance?"
The moment his spiritual consciousness touched it, a tidal wave of information surged into him. His eyes snapped open as a phrase imprinted itself into his mind:
Comprehension flooded him. Any resource imbued with the essence of Law, no matter how small, could be devoured by this Soul Ring. In turn, he would gain complete mastery over the Laws consumed. Already, he understood that the Laws of Ice and Water were his to command, as effortlessly as moving his own hand.
But that was only the surface.
Normally, cultivators were bound to a single Heavenly Path. Even if one split their soul, the Dao would not allow deviation. But here, he stood as an anomaly that defied the heavens themselves—one who could walk not just one, but two Paths.
No—Wei Shiyan's lips curved into a faint, almost mad smile. Two Paths would not be enough. He would walk all Nine Heavenly Paths.
Such a thing was unheard of. Impossible. Even the oldest undying gods would call it a dream. But for him, impossibility was nothing more than a challenge to be broken.
The Law Path alone was terrifying. To comprehend and master even a single Law required centuries, even millennia. Cultivators devoted to the Law Path often spent their entire lives struggling to master just one or two Laws. To touch upon three was already a miracle.
Yet Wei Shiyan could devour and assimilate Laws directly, bypassing the long, torturous process of comprehension.
In his mind, countless stages of progression unfolded before him: all from early, middle to peak stage respectively.
• Novice Stage
• Nursing Stage
• Germinating Stage
• Sprouting Stage
• Integration Stage
• Mastery Stage
• Grandmaster Stage
• Perfection Stage
• Legendary Stage
• And beyond…
Each stage split further into nine sub-levels. On the vast continent, Grandmasters of Law were rare treasures. Above that? Almost unheard of.
The sheer weight of this truth made his chest burn with exhilaration.
Then another wave of memories crashed into him. He clutched his head, his eyes widening as power surged uncontrollably through his veins. His voice echoed madly in the cave, shaking the very stone walls.
"Powerful… powerful… POWERFUL! Hahahahahaha! POWERFUL!"
The sound rumbled like thunder, and the air quivered with raw force spilling uncontrollably from his body.
But he barely noticed. His mind was consumed by the revelation—the inheritance of an ancient physique.
The Supreme Deep Ice Water Physique.
It was a body unmatched in resilience and strength, capable of amplifying Laws of Ice and Water to their pinnacle. Already, his body felt unshakable, his very blood brimming with freezing divinity.
A realization struck him with terrifying clarity: every time his Law Soul devoured further resources, he would not only gain mastery of new Laws, but also awaken new physiques. Each physique would stack upon the last, layer after layer of supreme might.
If he gained countless physiques in a single Path, he could merge them, refine them, and remold them into something that surpassed even perfection. And if this miracle extended to all Nine Heavenly Paths…
His breath grew heavy. His heart thundered. The thought alone made him tremble—not from fear, but from anticipation.
If one Path grants me limitless physiques… what then, when I merge the physiques of all Nine Paths? What monster, what god, will I become?
The cave fell silent again. But within that silence burned a will strong enough to shake the heavens. Wei Shiyan sat cross-legged, his silver hair glimmering in the dim light, his eyes alight with madness and determination.
The world had no idea.
A monster had been born.
And he would not stop until all of creation trembled beneath his perfection.