A young man, with dual-colored hair, white and black, sit inside a formation, brimming with great power. He closed his eyes, yet the power he exude is beyond what could be done by normal mortal.
For he is not a normal mortal, but a cultivator, one who ascended to the highest realm in the world, the World Source Realm.
Above him, a miniature world appeared, yet it cannot be underestimated, as the power it release could destroy mountains and tore through the heavens. Such is the might of a World Source expert.
Yet, he is not happy, a grim expression on his face, even though he reached such an impressive height at such a young age of eighteen.
He looked at the two figures besides him, who share his grim expression, "Are the ritual ready, Father, Mother?" he asked.
The two looked at one another and sigh, "Yes, but are you sure you wanted to do this," the male figure, who is not only large but exude great power, asked the young male.
The young man nodded, "Yes, I knew the risk, but will keep on choosing this path, if it means I can protect them against future threats,"
"Bu-" "You may not say it Mother, but I knew there are more danger in the world than I could ever knew, but as long as I am strong enough, I can always protect them," he cut of Mother, which is rude but he needed to show the two his conviction in this path.
The two shared a pained look before sighing. "Very well," Father exclaimed. "We will began the ritual. You should now what you need to do, Ryker,"
"Yes, Father," Ryker answered, as he took out his Soul Avatar. Once someone reach the peak of Soul Cultivation, or cultivate a powerful Soul Art, they could manifest their Soul Avatar, which he can do thanks to his superior cultivation.
Yet, what he was about to do, will not be done by any sane cultivators. He tear apart his soul into half before throwing one half into the formation.
"Argh!!!" he let out a guttural scream, the pain of tearing one soul could not be describe by words. The closest way to tell other people how he felt is like he was being flayed by a crooked knife that was heated in a lava beforehand, and it did not came close to the pain he felt.
"Endure Ryker! This is one of the hardest part! Only you can do it!" Father encouraged Ryker, who nodded even as tears streamed from his eyes, the pain too much even for him.
"I. Will. Remain. Strong!" he said, using his qi, the power only cultivators could access, and tear through the split soul, turning them into 42 identical pieces of soul fragment. He then threw the soul fragments to the different pool of blood, his blood, one he prepared a year ago, just for this moment.
As the soul fragments entered the pools, the pools began to boil, bubbles popping out of the pools with no sign of stopping, yet none of the three paid any heed for the pools, as Ryker about to do another, even more dangerous action.
"Rargh!" he roared as he proceed to destroy his Inner World, essentially crippling him, yet it need to be done. As he destroyed the world inside of him, the fragments began to scatter, thrown away except the formation prevented it, ensuring it will remain inside of him.
"Now! Do it now!" even with the pain he was feeling from crippling himself, Ryker could still his father calls. The younger man obeyed, using the fragments of his Inner World and using it to reform a new Inner Realm, one that is greater and stronger than before.
Normally, a regular mortal, like Ryker at the moment, could not even mobilize qi, not to mention energy of the world. Yet, with the aid of the formation, he was able to do it, strengthening his foundation at the cost of his previous cultivation.
A hefty price very few would pay, as it would mean they have to start from the very beginning, again. What World Source experts who did not live for millennia. Doing as what Ryker did would just be suicidal for them.
However, considering Ryker's young age, it did not effect him, allowing him to take this path. Yet, even he start to regret it with the amount of pain he was feeling. But he keep on going, for the sake of his family. For the sake of his younger siblings. For the sake of his parents.
Even as he wanted to lie down and give up, he won't. After all, while his cultivation he been smooth sailing, who knew what will happen in the future, when he walked to path of cultivation without supports from anyone, except for himself. And moral supports from his younger siblings.
However, he knew it is a trial he must take, or he will never could hope to achieve the height of cultivation. Even his parents told him that they face great hardship, while they possess great abilities, they always challenge powerful beings that sometime stronger than them, but they remain at the top.
He will follow their paths, even if he had to walk through the deepest part of hell, and the highest part of heaven.
As he keep on pushing himself, he could feel his body getting more and more tired, but he knew he could not hope to give up, else all the sacrifice he did, will be for nothing.
At the final phase, he could feel something stopping him, preventing him from perfecting the foundation of his Inner Realm. He knew what it is, as a shadow version of himself appear.
"Why must we do this? We could hope to achieve greatness before, but why must we choose such a thorny path," the shadow asked.
"Are you a version of myself, or are you my heart demon? If you are my heart demon, then begone. But if you are my doubts and second thoughts, you should knew why we do this,"
An image of 13 smaller figures appeared, all of them calling out to him "Big Brother!" with a happy tone. The shadow smile as he looked at him.
"Then make sure to succeed, myself," was the last thing he said before disappearing.
He nodded where the shadow was and continue, before with one final thought, he finished using the last fragments, turning them into a mighty foundation for himself.
After he was finished, he could feel, even as his cultivation is no more, his strength is greater than a mortal. He might even able to fight the weakest cultivator at his current strength.
As he was in deep thought, a hand grasping his arm woke him up. "Ryker, you need to go, now," he nodded as he ran towards the other formation, a teleportation one this time.
"Remember, this teleportation formation will send you to a continent in the Western Region of the Human Realm. Remember all the advise we gave you before, what ever happen, the most important thing is to make sure you and your younger siblings will come out alive," Mother told him before giving him one last hug.
As he was about to enter the teleportation formation, he looked at them and called out, "Mother, Father, come on," to his shock, the two shake their heads.
"We can't. We are arrows at the end of our flights. We can no longer remain in this world," as Father said it, he and Mother turned more illusory, to the shock of their son.
"We once could never take a material form, but out friends gave their life to allow us to gain such form. With their gifts, we can have all fourteen of you," Father said with tears falling from his eyes.
"Do you know some of our greatest regrets?" Mother asked, before continuing, "To not be able to watch you anymore, and that we could not introduce you to our friends. They will make great uncles and aunts," she sobbed.
"Father, Mother," he hated how his voices quiver but he could not help himself. "What am I going to tell the others?" he asked.
"Tell, them, we are gone. That we are finally with the rest of our friends. Please, take care of them, Ryker," the eldest son nodded, even as his heart broke as his parents turned into motes of lights, the teleportation formation finally active.
At the same time, similar to formation appeared on the pools of blood, sending them to who knows where. As for Ryker, he was sent to where his siblings at, Father and Mother sending them before the ritual started.
But before he was teleported, he heard one final message, one that felt like an arrow piercing his heart.
"We love all of you,"
-x-
He appeared inside another teleportation formation. His first sister, the second child of Father and Mother entered the room where the formation was located when she heard the telltale sign of the teleportation formation activating.
She greeted him with a happy smile, but it froze when she saw her eldest brother alone, while having tears coming out, the first he had ever seen from her calm and confident older brother.
He looked at him and said with a quaking voice,
"Father, and Mother, they are gone,"