The man released his divine sense, spreading it through every inch of his body and soul, and what he discovered nearly took his breath away.
Not only had he been granted life once more, but his entire being had transformed into something greater.
His meridians coursed with unimaginable vitality, his dantian was like a blazing sun, and even his bones pulsed faintly with divine resonance.
Power radiated from him in waves, as though he had been reforged by the cosmos itself.
"Strange…" he muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
Closing his eyes, he sank deep into his consciousness, probing for the source of this impossible miracle.
His awareness traveled through the layers of his soul, each one brighter and firmer than before, until at last he found it—the truth that had eluded him for countless ages.
A low chuckle escaped his lips, rich with both relief and bitter irony.
"So… it was you all along. I see now. I am enlightened."
For the first time in eternity, the greatest puzzle of his life unraveled before him.
Since childhood, he had felt it—that shadow, that whisper, that sense that something vast and incomprehensible lingered beyond his reach.
Born a prodigy, he had conquered every bottleneck, shattered every realm, and ascended with terrifying speed.
Where others toiled for centuries, he advanced in decades.
Yet with every breakthrough, instead of joy, he only felt the weight of impending catastrophe pressing heavier upon his heart.
It was this sense of doom that drove him into madness.
While other cultivators sought wives, families, legacies, and fleeting pleasures, he forsook them all.
He never tasted the warmth of romantic companionship, never allowed himself to be distracted by mortal ties.
His life was a straight, merciless path, paved only with cultivation, forged through solitude and sacrifice.
The heavens became his only rival, and the dao itself his only lover.
The multiverse watched as he rose. At first, they called him genius.
Then, monster.
Finally, when he alone pierced the final veil and ascended to the realm of True Immortal—the only one across endless eons—they called him a god.
His name reverberated through every starry sky, worshiped and feared alike.
And yet, standing at the very peak of creation, the pressure in his chest only grew worse.
It was suffocating, unyielding, as though some unseen predator was merely waiting for him to ripen before striking.
That predator came.
A being, alien and unfathomable, descended upon his immortal realm.
Their battle shook the multiverse to its foundation—planets crumbled, galaxies shattered, the void itself screamed.
He unleashed everything: divine arts, forbidden techniques, his very essence.
At the end, he emerged victorious, the intruder slain, but his victory came at a cruel cost.
His body was torn asunder, his soul splintered, and his consciousness dissolved into the endless dark.
He remembered that darkness well—the silence, the void, the weightless drift through nothing.
He had expected it to be his final end, the price of standing alone at the peak.
But now, against all logic, he lived again. And more than that—he was stronger.
His eyes opened, bright as suns, a faint smile curving his lips.
For the first time, he understood the truth: the presence that had haunted him since birth, the doom that had loomed over every achievement, was not a curse.
It was a seed, planted within him from the very beginning, waiting for the right moment to awaken. It had been his executioner and savior both, orchestrating his death so that he might be reborn.
Clarity swept through him like a tide.
It appeared that the one who had been guiding him with subtle hints across the immeasurable span of his life was none other than the very core of the multiverse itself.
"So… what am I to do now?" His words echoed into the void, carrying a soft, almost weary tone.
For the first time in all of existence, his voice did not tremble with urgency, ambition, or the drive to surpass his limits.
It was simply the voice of a man who no longer knew his place.
All his life—no, all his countless lives—had been spent cultivating.
To vanquish the enemy in the dark.
But now… it was gone.
The shadow that once consumed him had dissolved with his resurrection.
His heart was finally quiet.
At first, the silence felt unbearable.
The absence of doom left behind a vast emptiness, as if his entire being was hollowed out.
He drew a long breath, sat cross-legged in the endless void, and closed his eyes.
Time lost meaning.
Stars were born and died around him, universes stirred in the distance, and he did not move.
Untold years passed like a sigh.
Within his stillness, he wandered through memory—his childhood laughter, the faces of friends long buried in the dust of time, the heat of battles that shook the heavens, the coldness of solitude that followed every victory.
He saw his triumphs, his arrogance, his loneliness.
He saw himself not as a legend but as a man who had given up everything for one path, a path that had finally reached its end.
When he opened his eyes again, there was no more confusion within them.
Instead, they shone with something far rarer than power—clarity.
A gentle smile curved his lips, not of mockery or dominance, but of quiet hope.
"I see it now," he whispered to himself.
"For trillions of years, I lived only to cultivate. I abandoned love, cast aside joy, buried my humanity… all for the pursuit of strength. But strength was never the destination—it was only a cage."
He looked out into the infinite void, where galaxies swirled like lanterns in the dark.
His heart, once weighed down by destiny, felt light.
"It's time," he said, his voice resolute. "Time to live—not as the True Immortal, not as a god, not as a legend, but simply as me. To wander, to laugh, to love, to savor the little things I once ignored. To taste wine, to see new worlds, to hold someone's hand without fear of losing them."
His figure shimmered with light, not the oppressive aura of an immortal but a warm, living radiance.
Slowly, he rose to his feet.
For the first time, he had no grand plan, no cultivation goal, no enemy to destroy.
And it was liberating.
"Then let my second life begin."
With those words, his body dissolved into a streak of light.
The void was left empty once more.