The Great Cosmological Void was a dimensionless void of nothingness with no light, matter or energy. Observing it from an omnipresent perspective, it was akin to an infinite vacuum.
But on closer inspection, this infinite vacuum–the Great Cosmological Void–was not altogether composed of nothingness. There were numerous infinitesimal light spots irregularly scattered throughout it. These light spots were actually each universes, comprising the matrix playground of all reality– the infinite planes and realms housing sentient lifeforms.
No matter how powerful a cultivator was, they were nothing before the Great Cosmological Void. It was capable of eroding even the strongest Dao Fruit of the strongest Grand Primordium Immortal. The top powerhouses of the infinite universes had long speculated that only after one broke through to the legendary Tier-Zero Realm could one navigate through the void without any issues.
Right now, in the vast nothingness of the Great Cosmological Void, a ray of light abruptly appeared, radiating a peculiar aura that seemed illusionary yet real.
Like a comet, it streaked through at rapid speed towards a distant light zone.
The ray of light was infact a Dao Fruit, and its radiance waned visibly by the second as it travelled through the infinite vastness of the ever-eroding Great Cosmological Void. Fortunately, it was able to reach a 'light zone' right before its radiance was extinguished and instantly pierced through the sky membrane of the universe within it.
At this point, the Dao Fruit was the size of a small crystal as it entered the atmosphere of the sole planet in that universe, a gigantic behemoth body with five moons and three suns.
Boom!
Countless residents of the Eternal Purgatory World–mortals, demon beasts and divine practitioners alike–strained their heads upwards involuntarily to gaze at the descending flaming meteor that suddenly appeared in the sky. Simultaneously, the same thought appeared in their minds.
"Another heavenly anomaly!"
Even mortals with no cultivation base at all on the planet did not find the occurence strange. For as long as they could remember, 'meteor shower incidents' like this took place every couple of decades. Cultivators were better informed though and knew that the 'meteor showers' were actually powerful artifacts, sometimes corpses and even cultivation inheritance. Altogether, this was not surprising given the nature of the Eternal Purgatory World.
The planet was the sole one in its own universe which existed within an overlap node formed from the fusion of several destroyed universes. Thus, the Eternal Purgatory World was akin to a final destination warehouse of all kinds of materials from the destroyed universes which existed as illusionary planes adjacent to the planet itself.
Meteors bearing Godshards were easily distinguished by the crimson hue manifestation they possessed as they entered the planet's atmosphere, and it was generally known that they were fragmented remains of Dao Fruits belonging to divine gods of past. For this reason, of the five Godshards that had ever landed on the planet, only one had ever been directly assimilated by a divine practitioner, the rest simply hoarded for collection purposes or studied intricately to derive divine arts. Clearly, no one wished to suffer the fate of having their corporeal body seized and their souls replaced by the remnant will of the divine gods lurking within the Godshards.
******
In a small forest located on the outskirts of one of the thirteen vassal human territories of Lingzhou Prefecture.
Three middle-aged men and one teenager had varying expressions as they stared warily at each other. Judging from their gear and almost non-existent cultivation base, they were a team of mortal hunters on an hunting expedition, but the atmosphere between them at the moment was very tense and on the verge of a scuffle.
The reason was simple enough; only a couple of metres away from the group, there was a half-buried, transparent crystal flickering dimly amid the verdant greenery of the lush leaves littering the earth. It was the Godshard from the sky–it had actually ended up landing here less than a minute ago!
"Tell you what, brothers, how about we get rid of the brat first, then decide among ourselves who gets to take the treasure?" The older-looking member of the team suddenly suggested.
The brat he was referring to was none other than fifteen-year-old Fang Yu, the lanky teenager among them with strong features and an unusually mature disposition. Like his companions, he wore a robe made from animal hide and had a horn blade in his hand.
"Uncle Zhang, we're just staring at each other cautiously but you're suddenly bringing up the suggestion of murder. Clearly, you've made up your mind to claim this treasure for yourself and yourself only," Fang Yu replied with a smile that was not quite a smile. He intentionally emphasized his last sentence for the benefit of the other two in the group, aiming to sow discord and buy himself time.
Uncle Zhang, or Zhang Rouchen which was his full name, frowned coldly at his words and tightened his grip on the blade in his hand. Unlike Fang Yu's, it was forged from divine iron and not beast remains.
'He's emitting killing intent... he's about to make a move on me,' Fang Yu's heart turned cold and he quickly reached towards his waist to unhook his Taotie Sack.
Taotie Sacks were treasures crafted from the hides of Giant Taotie Beasts and were equivalent to several cubic meters of storage space. It had cost Fang Yu almost all of his accumulated fortune to purchase an inferior-quality Taotie Sack that required no magic power to activate, and it was exactly for situations such as this one.
Zhang Rouchen's brows furrowed slightly in confusion as Fang Yu retrieved a weird looking contraction from his Taotie Sack and pressed down on a switch. The next second, he saw a spurt of steaming liquid flying out of its nozzle and towards him.
"Shit!"
Instinctively, Zhang Rouchen knew that he shouldn't allow the liquid come in contact with his body and tried to move away. But it was too late; his skin sizzled loudly as the drops landed successfully.
Meanwhile, the two other hunters on the team– Wu Lei and Cao Xin–wore dumbfounded expressions at the abrupt turn of events and stood rooted on the spot, giving Fang Yu enough time to aim the nozzle of his contraption at them too.
"NO–"
Their loud shouts were cut short as the drops landed on their throats, vaporizing away their voice boxes and cutting right through their necks.
Fang Yu expressionlessly took in the sight, then he flung the horn blade in his other hand which streaked through the air and landed accurately as a stab into Zhang Rouchen's chest.
With a few taps, Fang Yu engaged the safety mechanism of his jet spray contraption and returned it to his Taotie Sack, promptly taking his leave right after. From the beginning, he didn't spare as much as a glance at the Godshard which was a few metres from him.
"You're quite an interesting lad!" A powerful voice suddenly boomed behind Fang Yu, stopping him right in his tracks.
'Shit, I was too slow to leave the scene at the end!' Fang Yu's face immediately contorted into a grimace. At the same time, he felt his body get controlled against his will by a telekinetic power and found himself face to face with a kind-faced old man whose eyes twinkled with mischief.