The figure laughed at Lou Ben who was looking down gritting his teeth: "You are given the chance to show me that your words in the after life can be seen as true."
"So tell me, after you have taken up this challenge, what is your answer?"
Lou Ben swallowed his saliva, he knew that the figure in front of him is beyond this world of power, after all, it knew about his reincarnation, and resembled the sun like spirit that he saw when he was put into this world.
"An answer to what?" Lou Ben yelled.
The sun spirit laughed at Lou Ben: "To what you learned after watching your life back for many epochs."
Lou Ben gasped: "It was truly many years you tortured me!"
The sun spirit nodded: "You think there are not countless other spirits awaiting rebirth?"
"Your determination in watching your life back again and again made me smile. I wanted to see if your determination to live a better life was true."
"You yelled as much as your puny spirit could handle and challenged my authority."
"Did you think you were alone that whole time?"
"I was watching you this entire time waiting for a meager ounce of determination to come from you."
The sun spirit growled in a deep and loud voice: "So tell me, what is your answer?"
Lou Ben couldn't muster any courage in the face of some supreme power: "I don't know yet!"
He yelled with all his might, from the bottom of his heart, he had no idea what to do with this life he was given.
Originally he thought that being given this chance he would be able to live the life he wanted and find true happiness, but after being at the hands of the truly powerful, he knew he was only wishing and gambling with the little strength he had attained.
Now that he was shown how truly small he was and saw that even if he was given strength to reign supreme in this world, what did it matter?
It was only this world.
There was power beyond his own cognition, take for instance this spirit that allowed him to rebirth.
Even if he had the power to challenge this sun spirit, what was it for?
Even if he could rebirth countless times or control the lives of mortals the way he was treated, so what?
Power was only a vehicle towards a true goal, but at this time the sun spirit came and was forcing him to find his goal, even though he had only taken his first steps down this path.
"Rebirth…Spirit…Power…Vehicle…" These words echoed in the mind of Lou Ben.
He mustered the courage to face the sun spirit: "I want eternal life! I want power to control the universe! I don't care if I can't attain it. Power is only the vehicle, but I want to make it mine! If I die in the pursuit to become a spirit stronger than yourself then my meager life turns into nothing but a failed challenge."
"Is that not any different?"
"No! This time I will challenge you and the heavens. I will make you rebirth countless times and be jailed for epochs of time until you realize you rivaled the spirit of man!"
"I am only human now, but eventually I will overcome this shell and control the lives of countless living beings."
"I am tired of being at the mercy of the strong, I am indignant at being nothing but an ant compared to powerful beings such as yourself!"
Lou Ben caught his breath and calmed his mind: "Sun spirit, you have caused me to take this step, you won't take my life now, you are too bored of this world to watch something such as my challenge towards you fail so soon!"
"So what, I want your life and your position as an almighty being. To you, who has already attained their position and maintained it for so long, there is nothing else for you to gamble your future with!"
The sun spirit kept silent: "…"
Lou Ben swallowed his saliva: "…"
The sun spirit laughed: "Good! Come take my life! Challenge the heavens, grab power and eternal life!"
"Let me tell you, this collapsing world has one such power for you, whether you can find it and take hold of it is up to you!"
Lou Ben glared daggers at the sun spirit: "…"
The sun spirit waved its hand and collapsed the space around them.
"I won't let you off without so much without some help, let me give you the power to make those words something more than spit in my eyes."
The sun spirit pointed its finger towards Lou Ben and a bright stream of pure gold shot into his body.
The space turned to nothing and faded away.
Lou Ben was left unconscious drooling, laid against the sharp trunks of the rock forest.
The cabin disappeared and left to sign that it was there in the first place.
This was Lou Ben's first encounter with what he called the sun spirit.
When Lou Ben woke up he looked around to find that the cabin was gone.
He looked inside his body to look for the energy that the sun spirit gave him.
He searched and found nothing, he sat down crossed-legged to delve deeper into his body, he looked and looked but after so much effort he was not able to find anything.
If he hadn't felt as if his life was being threatened then we would have thought this entire experience was only inside his mind.
Lou Ben stood up and looked around: "The forest and these knight dao masters are still here…"
He understood that this dungeon was meant for him, otherwise why would the sun spirit anatgonize him so much?
Was Lou Ben such an important character for something as powerful as the sun spirit to notice?
What about his answer to the challenge?
Did he truly mean what he said?
What about aiming for something as eternal life and supreme strength?
Was there even a path like this for him to walk down?
What was the first step in this?
Lou Ben was full of countless questions, countless words that didn't make sense, when he realized that the sun spirit gave him not only some mysterious power but also a hint!
There was something inside this world that could give me power! Lou Ben found a direction and thankfully it was placed somewhere in this world.
Yes, Lou Ben thought it might be a trap, but then Lou Ben thought of the sun spirit and how bored the life of such a supreme being must be that it made sense for him to give something so meager to Lou Ben.
There should be other reasons why the sun spirit would focus on Lou Ben, but how would he even be able to understand something at the pinnacle of power, not only in this world but also in the entire universe?
This made him think about the universe and space specifically, and think inwardly that even his techniques are connected to space…
He thought that it was no longer a coincidence. He was placed inside the Xiao clan because of Master Xiao Weizhe and his powers in space that were unique to his family tree.
As he collected his thoughts and questioned his reality he realized that the sun spirit was able to understand the circumstances of this world and had the ability to create a life like Lou Ben and his challenge.
Yes, it made him feel incredibly small as if he was comparing a single ant to the size of the cosmos, but this sense of helplessness gave him hope.
He realized this is what he wanted in life!
He wanted to challenge the heavens!
Power, dominance, wealth, and life, he wanted it all so he could fight and not only rival heaven but also reign as the true supreme!
He felt his hopelessness and gathered courage.
This is what his original challenge was, he watched his life play back countless times, when he yelled with his dying spirit, he challenged the heavens to seek a life of true ambition!
Power and Eternal Life!
Lou Ben smiled: "I found my path."
"Not to be at the palm of others but instead to be the palm that all these living beings played their insignificant life on!"
He was no longer indignant but steadfast, yes he didn't have the character to reach that height yet, but right now he had the courage to understand that there was a large wall he had to climb!
Lou Ben looked past the forest, looked past the dao knights, past the lake, and saw the tower in the horizon.
Lou Ben yelled inward: "That is the first step, and everything else is simply in the way!"
What he didn't take into account was that this was the design of the sun spirit, and the sun spirit might not be the only powerful being in this universe.
But, Lou Ben was just an ant, how can he think of such things?