Learning Without Time
Consciousness was the only thing that remained of him.
In the Empty Nirvana, there were no footsteps, no directions, no sky nor ground. Yet strangely, he did not feel lost. On the contrary—for the first time since his existence had been formed, he felt complete.
The powerful being who had acknowledged himself as his "adoptive father" did not introduce a name.
He had no need for one.
Names were concepts belonging to worlds that required distinction.
Here, existence did not require identity.
"Sit," the being said.
The word sit held no literal meaning, yet he obeyed. His consciousness calmed itself, merging with the surrounding space. The fluctuations of the Empty Nirvana stabilized.
"In this place," the being continued, "you possess no body, no energy, no soul as you did in the mortal world. What you possess is understanding."
He understood.
From the moment he had been 'killed' by an ancient creature in the Empty Nirvana, he had already realized a fundamental truth:
all power here was born from understanding existence itself.
"However, your understanding is still crude," the being said calmly. "You can perceive patterns, but you do not yet comprehend their origin."
"What must I understand?" he asked.
Silence enveloped them.
Then suddenly—the entire Empty Nirvana trembled.
Not from pressure.
Not from an attack.
The tremor felt like the first breath of a universe.
"Existence," the being said.
"Not presence… but the reason why presence can exist at all."
He fell silent.
The concept was too vast. Even for him, who had already shed his mortal body, those words felt unbearably heavy.
"In your first world," the being continued, "you learned knowledge through memorization. Here, memorization is meaningless."
"Here, you become understanding itself."
The being extended his intent.
In the next instant, he experienced something he had never felt before—a state where he was no longer an observer, but part of the structure of the Empty Nirvana itself.
He saw.
Not with eyes.
He experienced.
He felt how space was born from nothingness. How concepts such as 'beginning' and 'end' were mere illusions to an existence unbound by time. How destruction was not the opposite of creation, but another phase within a far greater cycle.
His consciousness trembled violently.
Too fast.
He was expelled.
His awareness stabilized again, yet it felt fractured.
"You are rushing," the being said calmly. "Understanding is not something that can be swallowed all at once."
He accepted the failure.
If failure in his first life meant pain and regret, then here, failure meant… confusion.
But he did not give up.
He began from the basics.
He observed the ancient creatures of the Empty Nirvana—not with the intent to fight, but with the intent to understand.
Each creature possessed a different mode of existence.
Some existed as steadily as mountains, barely changing over what might have equaled millions of years.
Some were wild, constantly shifting, rotating, colliding with others.
Others were nearly imperceptible—yet once touched, they could shatter an unwary consciousness.
He learned from all of them.
And he died countless times.
Yet every time his consciousness was destroyed, it reformed again.
Not as punishment.
But as a learning process.
"Why do I always fail to withstand the second attack?" he asked one day.
"Because you are still separating yourself from the attack," the being replied. "You attempt to resist existence with existence."
"Then what should I do?"
"The attack is part of the Empty Nirvana. You are also part of it. Why would you resist yourself?"
He froze.
That realization struck harder than any attack ever could.
From that moment onward, his method of learning changed.
He no longer resisted.
He synchronized.
When an existence attacked him, he neither rejected nor evaded it. He allowed himself to become part of the collision—flowing, unraveling, and then reassembling.
He still died.
But now, his destruction took longer to occur.
And one day—he endured two attacks.
That day, the Empty Nirvana trembled.
Ancient creatures that had never paid attention to him before began to notice him.
"Good," the being said. "You have crossed the threshold."
"What threshold?" he asked.
"The threshold between observer and participant."
From then on, the being began teaching him more deeply.
Not techniques.
Not martial arts.
But the foundation of understanding.
He learned about:
The structure of existence
Layers of being
The meaning of emptiness
The difference between 'existing' and 'being acknowledged'
He learned that true power did not come from accumulation, but from clarity.
He also learned a bitter truth.
"This place," the being said one day, "is a perfect prison."
He was startled.
"A prison?"
"Yes. The Empty Nirvana is a place for existences that have transcended worlds, yet have not found a way out."
"Then… has no one ever escaped?"
"Not yet."
Silence descended between them.
"However," the being continued, "that does not mean it is impossible."
From that moment, a single desire was born within his consciousness.
Not domination.
Not revenge.
But the desire to explore.
He wanted to see other worlds.
He wanted to understand existence beyond the Empty Nirvana.
And to do that—he had to become strong enough not to be erased.
His training grew harsher.
He began challenging stronger ancient creatures.
He began compressing his existence.
He began forming a 'core of understanding' within his consciousness.
Time passed—or perhaps it did not.
He did not know whether he had remained in the Empty Nirvana for hundreds of years, millions of years, or far longer.
But one day, the being called out to him.
"It is time for you to have a name," the being said.
A name.
Something insignificant… yet also profoundly important.
"A name is an anchor," the being continued. "It will hold your existence together so it does not disperse when you take the next step."
He nodded.
"From this day onward," the being declared,
"you shall be known as Xuan Shen."
The name resonated throughout the Empty Nirvana.
In an instant, his existence became more stable. More defined.
He was no longer merely a formless consciousness.
He was Xuan Shen.
And his true journey… had only just begun.