An immortal descended from the sky. This world, which had once seemed so familiar to him, now reeked of blood.
He walked among the corpses, their wounds stretching across their entire bodies, inflicted by an incredible force that had split some in two. It was a strange scene, even for a sub-universe.
A groan echoed.
The immortal turned and flew, landing near the body. The man in his fifties was bathed in blood, his face contorted. He struggled to breathe.
"What happened here?" asked the immortal. He placed a pill in the man's mouth and made him swallow. Roaes felt his strength return, a strength he had never felt before. It filled, expanded, and nourished his body—far more than the energy or magic that had emerged with the apocalypse could.
"So, what happened?" the immortal inquired. The man beside him remained dazed, staring at the earth around him. The immortal waited, speaking to his essence, expecting the man to understand the meaning of his words. Waiting for a mortal seemed eternal when one was a powerful cultivator. He understood even more the lack of interest in sub-universes. A few seconds felt like years.
Roaes turned slowly towards him, tears in his eyes. "They killed everyone... everyone!"
"Who?"
"The people from the wasteland! They came and invaded! I..." he paused
"I want to live." His voice was weak, pitiful, still holding back tears. The life of a mortal.
"You are already living," the immortal said calmly as if he did not understand.
"I want more. To be like you. I will do anything you want."
The immortal looked stoically at him and felt his emotions shift. "Aside from your age... you were born in the wrong world. You are already corrupted, and no purification can undo it."
"Is it a crime to want to be more than dust? They are all dead! All!"
The immortal seemed about to say something, but he sighed and extended a hand. Roaes took it and followed the immortal. With a wave of his hand, white energy enveloped Roaes, and before he could say anything, the immortal had already flown, the burst of white energy propelling Roaes towards him into the skies.
They soared upwards, the world shrinking beneath them. Roaes saw his former home, his old world ravaged by killers from the wastelands, by that killer. He originated from the wasteland, too, apparently, but the king's memory loss had made him a noble's citizen. His wife, his servants, and children were all dead, even the noble.
They reached the clouds. The immortal did not stop. He accelerated, and the white energy formed armor around Roaes. Once in space, the immortal struck the void and opened a rift into which he entered.
A wall. Horrible pressure. Roaes gasped in pain, sweat bathing his body. The pain! God! The pain! He tried to hold on but was knocked unconscious. When he woke up, he was lying in a meadow, a pleasant breeze brushing against him. Above him was a massive red star, so large it seemed poised to fall onto the planet.
A feeling of rage grew within Roaes. Without even knowing it, he hated that star and wanted to stab it with a knife! He tried to control himself, but his hatred fueled more hatred and damaged his ability to think. As he turned his eyes, this anger gradually subsided.
"You must go through there," explained the immortal. "Whether you pass or not depends on your conviction and luck. However, even if you succeed, given your age, there's a good chance you'll die without achieving anything. If you want, I can take you directly back to your world."
He nodded. The immortal manipulated energy to write a formula that Roaes repeated. "I sacrifice to see the red star and request its blessing."
The red star enlarged, and the next moment, he found himself in an infinite white space—which seemed strangely familiar. He turned. White as far as the eye could see. Then, a headless teenager approached.
"An immortal showed me the way..." he explained. "He said you could help me."
"And what do you want?"
"To live."
"That's difficult," said the red star.
"Why?"
"Because you come from a sub-universe. This one is smaller than a grain of sand and contains even less energy compared to a tiny universe. You cannot transcend universes through normal means, and you have little to offer, not to mention you're tied to a special sub-universe."
"What's so special about it?"
"It's a world that I lease out for various uses, a copy of a world that once existed and transmits karma to its survivors. This means even a small part of you could have consequences."
Roaes opened his mouth with a glimmer in his eyes that faded as he closed it. If he bothered to speak to him, wasn't there a way? "Then what can I do?"
"Fortunately, a bit of a story has been added to your life. I can introduce you to a world of cultivation that is somewhat equivalent to yours but with real cultivation techniques and paths to transcend their universe. It's a precious opportunity. What do you have to offer me?"
"What do you want?"
"That's up to you to propose. Many people across the universe are in your situation right now. How much do you want a chance to live?"
"I will offer my freedom," he said.
The headless teenager swayed as if weighing the decision. Then he nodded. "Very well, since it comes from you, I can somewhat accept it. But this loss of freedom will become your essence. Whatever level you reach, you cannot escape it, and you will think of me as the most important thing, even beyond your life. Do you accept?"
Roaes thought of his weakness. Of the family he couldn't save. Of his lost memories. Of that killer! He nodded. "I accept."
Something happened in his abdomen. He felt like a movement in a second that traversed his entire body, reshaping it without changing a single cell. The hatred he felt towards the red star turned into admiration and devotion.
"Good luck," said Redstar casually. "I hope this investment pays off. By the way, feel free to indulge in demanding good treatment from your acquaintance since I won't be the one paying!"
The scene changed, and he regained consciousness beside the immortal.
"Judging by your expression, I assume you succeeded. Well... follow me."
He transported him in the same way, passing through the barriers of another sub-universe. This time, he felt no pain, but upon crossing the barrier, he fell directly from the sky, the immortal having disappeared.
"I can't follow you any further," said the immortal in his mind. "This sub-universe might not support it, as no being protects it. I've left you some dust of spiritual stones from my universe."
"What is your name?" Roaes asked, but no one answered.
He appeared in a forest with a flowing stream. As he descended from the sky, he landed on a cushion of air, gently levitating until he reached the ground. Animals scattered at the sight of him.
"You are lucky," the voice transmitted again. "In theory, you are billions of times stronger than the beginning of the red star. Even your sub-universe is stronger than an average universe of that time, but universes keep getting stronger and upgrading. Either you progress or regress and die. The red star doesn't care about you; you are just a possibility. If you manage to survive, create as much karma as possible."
Roaes seemed to understand. The dust of spiritual stones was for his benefit if he truly managed to rise.
The words of the immortal returned every few seconds like a programmed message—the frequency of a mortal was difficult to fully understand. "There is no longevity: once cultivated, your body regenerates, and old age is ancient history, but diseases are not, nor are the wars, very frequent. Resources, knowledge, everything is controlled by a handful of people who have lived centuries of conspiracies and have no regard for your life."
The surroundings were a forest, but in the air, he saw immortals flying towards him. They landed nearby, stress invading Roaes as they scrutinized him. One of them opened his mouth and spoke in an unknown dialect to Roaes.
At that moment, Roaes wished he had the goblin's ability to speak the essence of all things naturally.
The cultivator became angry and approached him abruptly. Roaes spoke in his language, causing the cultivator to frown. He scrutinized Roaes again and turned to his colleague before a fist crashed into Roaes's face.
Roaes raised his pickaxe and dug into the stone, sweat covering his face. He wiped his forehead in the infernal heat of the blackened mine surrounding him on all sides. The only light was a blue energy lamp. He had been here for two years already, and they had stolen his energy dust on the first day. But that certainly did not diminish the cultivator's karma towards him. He had been fucked over.
He inhaled and continued to mine tirelessly, using his rage. Rock fragments flew everywhere, scratching him. He winced but kept going. They didn't feed the lazy; they beat them with whips. His back scratched all over was a perfect example: he had learned their language well. So much so that they had even entrusted him with a technique—but pure energy was extremely weak deep in this cave.
According to this technique, the strength he had accumulated in his old world was only equivalent to the second level of the first grade. And he accumulated much faster in his old world.
'I've been a fucking idiot to give in to my impulses, ' he thought.
No matter how much he begged, he heard neither the red star nor the immortal.
He smashed a rock breathlessly.
Ding!
[You have obtained the title of junior miner: Mining speed +5%, Energy acquisition +1%]