Zhou Fan could not resist as he shot back, piercing through stars, galaxies, planets, and countless other space things. He only stopped after an unknown time. He did not die. He still had his cultivation, but he did not have any Qi.
Wait!
Zhou Fan's eyes lit up.
Suddenly, the Cosmic Dao appeared. It had truly taken the form that Zhou Fan had imagined it in, though it was now smaller, about the size of Zhou Fan.
"You should have died with dignity. Upon breaking through, you could have been peacefully absorbed, but now you must die like this. So pitiful. Let me ask, what is it like to lose everything you have ever worked for?" The Cosmic Dao asked.
"For someone who just gained intelligence, you sure are annoying as hell." Zhou Fan said as he stood up despite his body being covered in blood.
The Cosmic Dao was about to speak, but Zhou Fan spoke first.
"You are misunderstanding something. I have not lost what I have worked for."
The Cosmic Dao Laughed. "Then go ahead. Do something, anything."
Zhou Fan shook his head. "I'm afraid it doesn't work like that. You see, I was also mistaken, let me enlighten you."
"I never worked for Chaos Qi, I merely comprehended it. It was simply a talent. Given by chance. What I worked for was cultivation, and no, it is not the same."
The Cosmic Dao stayed silent.
"I created cultivation, I did not explore it. It was not there before me, I understand it now. Meridians were an organ from the beginning, I simply chose to use it as a vessel for cultivating. It could have also been the liver, or even the kidney. I can't say how I did it, but I created cultivation as I moved along. It did not exist before me. It can not exist after me. Chaos Qi was the electricity, but Cultivation is the machine."
Zhou Fan paused. The Cosmic Dao opened its "mouth" to speak, but just before it spoke, Zhou Fan opened his mouth. The Cosmic Dao stopped what it was about to say, but words never left Zhou Fan's mouth as it closed again.
The Cosmic Dao waited for a moment, before opening its "mouth" once again, but the same thing repeated.
After the fifth time, the Cosmic Dao exploded. "Are you trying to play some sort of game!? Either speak or die!"
Zhou Fan made a "wait" motion with his hand. "Finally, I grasped your weakness, or rather, perhaps you did."
The Cosmic Dao stopped and looked at Zhou Fan.
"You gained intelligence, and intelligent beings aren't in a rush to kill someone that they deem unable to resist. You've given me time. Thanks." Before the Cosmic Dao could react, Zhou Fan smiled and power burst out of him.
To its great astonishment, the Cosmic Dao was pushed back far away.
"Impossible! I took away your Qi." It shouted as it looked in Zhou Fan's direction.
Zhou Fan walked forward, revealing himself.
Rotating around him was a river. It seemed endless, but in Zhou Fan's hands, perhaps it had an end.
"Without Chaos Qi, my cultivation is an empty shell, but what if I used cultivation to power my cultivation?" Zhou Fan said.
"That makes no sense!" The Cosmic Dao shouted as it attacked with countless gray threads. These threads were made from Chaos Qi and far more powerful than before.
"It's paradoxical, but it works! I got the inspiration from you!" Zhou Fan shouted as he pointed out with a finger.
"Cultivation finger!" He shouted.
The river of cultivation surged around him as a giant finger appeared and moved forward.
It had no color, but was not clear.
The threads were instantly dispersed, but the finger continued forward.
"THIS IS MY POWER! THE POWER OF THE ORIGIN GOD, THE POWER OF ZHOU FAN, THE POWER OF CULTIVATION!" He shouted as the finger continued forward.
The ball that was the Cosmic Dao was hit, and it fell back. Now, there was a visible crack in it.
Zhou Fan stepped forward.
"I am no longer reliant on Chaos Qi, or anything from anyone else. This power is mine alone. A power that started with me and shall end with me. This is the power of cultivation."
Another finger shot out and, without being able to put up resistance, the Cosmic Dao was pushed back again and cracked.
Although the finger seemed simple, each one was the most powerful attack that Zhou Fan could muster up. The river of cultivation seemed to be growing smaller after each attack, but it seemed as if it would outlast the Cosmic Dao.
The Cosmic Dao screamed and resisted, but Zhou Fan was now above even it. Nothing could match him. Eventually, it turned to reasoning.
"You don't understand. I am everything. If I am gone, the nothingness outside will devour everything. We are the only two things. Everything and Nothing. You can't resist the power of nothing." It shouted.
"We'll see. You should have stayed without intelligence. You talk too much."
As Zhou Fan pressed on and attacked with one finger at a time. His body began cracking. He was severely injured beyond understanding.
He was also not recovering, but fighting with everything he had. Every second that passed, his injuries were growing.
Still he knew that he could not simply leave the Cosmic Dao. It needed to end. There was no alternative.
At this point, nearly a fourth of the universe had been destroyed. Zhou Fan's strength was incredible, and although the Cosmic Dao was being suppressed, it was still nearly of equal power.
There was no more suspense or surprise. As Zhou Fan pressed on, the Cosmic Dao slowly shattered. As the ball finally cracked and turned to dust, Zhou Fan waved his hand and it disappeared from the world.
He stood silently for a moment as injuries plagued him. His entire body was cracked like a shattered mirror, but he had never felt more peaceful.
Suddenly, the walls of the universe seemed to begin breaking, slowly moving inward.
Zhou Fan sighed. "I really can't catch a break to heal. I have to deal with this now. At this point, it will be a miracle if I survive."
Zhou Fan moved the river of cultivation, now much smaller, and siphoned off a bit of it. He turned it into the various Qi's and spread it throughout the universe.
"Since the Cosmic Dao isn't here, Qi won't be automatically recycled."
Under Zhou Fan's control, the Qi that he had spread would cycle with life and death, but eventually, the amount of the Qi would decline. There would likely be a very small amount of high realm cultivators who could exist at one time.
Zhou Fan was preparing to go into deep seclusion to heal. Without him or the Cosmic Dao active, this needed to be done.
Zhou Fan siphoned off some cultivation from the river of cultivation again, this time turning it into Chaos Qi. He felt as if the river of cultivation, now a part of his power, had endless possibilities.
The Chaos Qi went to the wall of the universe and reinforced it. It was shabby work, but Zhou Fan was so injured he was about to die. Luckily, it would likely hold on for a while. Hopefully, he would recover.
Suddenly, his mind went blank and he began to fall. His injuries had become too much.