Ye Tian drifted alone, his eyes closed, letting the vast silence pull him deep into a memory he had long hidden away.
The endless darkness around him was quiet, yet his mind was anything but.
He was in the void he had created, and yet, in this quiet emptiness, memories of a distant past began to surface... a life on Earth, a world that had once felt so ordinary.
"Earth…" he murmured to himself, as if the word itself held a fragile, precious power.
It had been a place so different from the cosmos he now ruled... a world where the people worshiped science and knew nothing of qi or spiritual cultivation.
In his mind's eye, he saw it again, the crowded cities, the quiet forests, the endless rows of buildings that blocked out the sky.
On Earth, demons were nothing more than myths, the talk of stories and movies.
Powers like his, realms like these, had been only a dream. He let the memories settle around him, as vivid as the day he had left.
And he remembered the date.
"I remember it well… January 13, 2024. My sixteenth birthday."
The memory was bright, sharp as glass.
He could see himself, just a boy walking the streets after school, his backpack slung over one shoulder, walking beside his one and only friend.
She had been the only person who'd understood him in those days, the only one he had ever truly felt comfortable with. Li Na.
He could still picture her... soft brown hair that framed her face, a quiet but kind smile that always seemed to put him at ease.
They had been friends since childhood, both of them shy and reserved, both content to keep to themselves.
Li Na had been the only person he could talk to, the one who shared his silence, the one who could fill it with just a simple smile.
"Li Na," he whispered, the name lingering on his tongue like a ghost, a memory so faint he was afraid to let it go.
She had been his one companion, his one true friend.
He could still see her looking at him with a small smile, her eyes soft, her voice gentle.
She had been the only person who'd made him feel like he belonged somewhere.
They had been walking home from school that day, the cold winter air crisp against their cheeks, talking about little things, nothing that seemed to matter.
He couldn't remember the words they had exchanged, but he remembered her laugh... a light, soft sound that had always managed to break through the quiet, making him feel, for a moment, that the world wasn't so overwhelming.
For a long time, Earth had been all he knew. A place with no grand destinies, no gods or demons, only the everyday struggles of life.
And Li Na had been his anchor, his one source of light in a world that often felt so loud and confusing.
Then, he remembered how it had all changed in an instant.
The tremors had come suddenly, an earthquake that shook the ground, sending shockwaves through the streets.
He had looked around in shock, his feet frozen in place as the world began to crack and tremble.
People were running, shouting, the ground splitting open beneath their feet.
And there he was, standing under a towering building that swayed like a leaf, its frame buckling as pieces of concrete and glass shattered around them.
For a moment, he had been paralyzed, too stunned to move, too shocked to understand what was happening.
But when he looked beside him, he saw Li Na... her eyes wide with fear, her hand reaching out to him. Her voice, soft but urgent, calling his name.
"Ye Tian… come on, we have to get out of here!"
Her voice broke through his panic, and he remembered the desperate look in her eyes.
In that split second, he felt a surge of strength he hadn't known he possessed.
Ignoring his own fear, he turned to her, his hands reaching out, and with all the force he could muster, he pushed her away, shoving her just beyond the building's collapsing shadow.
She stumbled, falling out of harm's way, her face filled with shock and confusion as she looked back at him.
But for him, there was no escape.
He could still remember the sound, the deafening roar as the building came crashing down, the crushing weight bearing down on him.
And then… there was only darkness.
"That's all I remember..." he said quietly, his voice little more than a whisper.
"After that… I felt like I was floating, drifting through an endless void. And then… I opened my eyes, and I was someone else."
It had been a moment that changed everything.
He had awakened in a different world, a strange place where power ruled, where gods and demons clashed, where he had been reborn in a body that looked just like his own.
The same face, the same voice, the same name… but the world was unlike anything he had ever seen.
At first, he had thought it was a dream, a strange illusion.
But as time passed, he had accepted the reality of his new life, burying his past, becoming something far greater than he could have imagined.
And now, here he was, alone in a void of his own making, with only memories to keep him company.
"It's been so many years..." he murmured, his voice carrying a faint hint of sorrow.
"I don't even know if Earth still exists. I spent years searching… looking through realms, through dimensions, trying to find it. But it was as if it had disappeared, as if it was nothing more than a memory."
He had searched tirelessly, hoping for even the faintest trace of his old world.
But in all the realms he had traversed, in all the heavens and hells he had conquered, he had found nothing.
And so, he had finally given up, accepting that Earth was lost to him.
But here, in the quiet, in the emptiness, he couldn't shake the longing that lingered, faint but unyielding.
"My one wish that remains..." he said softly...
"is to see Earth again. To go back, just once."
The memory of Li Na's face came to him again, her soft smile, her laughter.
He could almost hear her voice now, clear and gentle, calling his name.
It was as if she were right beside him, her presence as vivid as the day he had left her behind.
"Ye Tian…"
The sound of her voice echoed in his mind, delicate and sweet, as if reaching out to him from across the void.
He closed his eyes, letting the memory wash over him, clinging to the warmth of her presence.
For a moment, it felt as though he were back there, standing by her side, hearing her call his name, seeing her smile.
"Ye Tian…"
The voice lingered, wrapping around him like a comforting embrace. And then, like a breath on the wind, it faded away, leaving him once more in silence.
For a brief moment, he allowed himself to believe it had been real, that she had somehow reached him across time and space.