Immortal Paladin

[POV: Da Wei]

When I closed my eyes and glimpsed infinity through the Ophanim, I found myself within the vastness of the universe.

I floated through the endless vacuum of space, my consciousness absorbing the myriad details of existence around me. There was too much. Far too much. The sheer volume of information overwhelmed my mind until I could no longer process anything at all. I simply remained there in stasis, suspended within an eternity that I could neither comprehend nor escape.

It reminded me of the time I had secluded myself in the new Underworld to consult the future. Back then, I had risked allowing my soul to fall into the mercy of the Origin, knowing I might either become trapped in a vegetative state or lose my mind somewhere beyond myself.

The small mercy in such a fate was that I would not suffer through it. I would not even know it was happening.

I was like a single nerve in a human body, exposed to an eternal instant that may or may not have existed. A nerve had no emotions. No ego. No sense of self.

So why was I feeling like this?

When I finally opened my eyes, I did not return to where I should have been.

Instead, I found myself inside someone’s home.

I rose from the sofa and looked around. Framed photographs rested on shelves and hung across the walls, each one depicting people whose faces had been completely blacked out. There was something unsettling about them, though I could not immediately determine what.

Where was I?

I could tell this was Earth, at least. But this was not my memory. I would have known if it were. I had begun to treasure my memories far more after losing them the first time. That was why I had established so many countermeasures in the event that I ever lost them again.

”At ease, warrior,” a voice said. ”You drink tea? Please, seat.”

My guard immediately went up.

A man entered carrying a tray with several cups of tea and a plate of biscuits. Like the people in the photographs, his face was blacked out. Not merely obscured, either. It was as though there was nothing there at all, a hollow space where his features should have been.

”Who are you?” I asked.

”Your savior.”

He sat down and carefully placed the tray between us.

”What are the last thing you remember?”

”Being trapped in a singularity.”

He nodded.

”That’s accurate. Now, how about you be more grateful and indulge me? Sit down.”

I sat, though I remained wary as I studied him and the strange room around us. I did not think this was a dream. It did not feel like one. Nor was it a memory. I would have known.

”How did you save me?”

I could almost see the smirk beneath his featureless face as he stirred his tea. He lifted the cup and took a quiet sip before answering.

”The first question you asked was how, and not why. I ask, why?”

I answered honestly.

”So that if something similar happens again, I’ll know how to save myself. As for why you saved me, I don’t know. I believe you’ll eventually tell me anyway, regardless of whether I ask.”

He nodded, setting his cup down.

”Perceptive. The stronger an ’Existence’ becomes, the less perceptive they tend to be.”

He set his cup down.

”As for how I saved you? I simply plucked you out of the infinity where you were trapped. It was sheer coincidence that I found you. Though, knowing coincidence, I would dare say it was partly fate that brought us together.”

He paused before adding, almost casually, ”As for why I saved you, I suppose I was bored.”

He leaned back.

”I hope you don’t mind, but I took a look. There is only so much entertainment to go around. Consider it compensation for saving you.”

He stood and walked over to a rack beside the television. After examining it for a moment, he pulled out a CD and placed it into a DVD player.

”So, a movie?” I asked.

”Your memories, recorded in a movie format. Interesting, isn’t it?”

He sat back down.

”Back when I still roamed the cultivation world, I used to recreate little trinkets from Earth and introduce a bit more culture. Half the time, I was chased out for being a heretic. Other times, I forged bonds with people I would never willingly give up.”

The published chapter can be found on NovelPhoenix, but this page used it without permission; reading the author’s version supports their work.

The television flickered to life. My memories appeared on the screen. Specifically, the Hollowed World War. The images moved at a speed no mortal could possibly follow. Frames vanished within microseconds, then fractions of those microseconds, as entire stretches of my existence played out before me.

I watched myself confront Dark David.

I turned toward the man beside me.

”Who are you? How did you end up here?”

It was obvious he was a Supreme Being. Someone who had once been a vessel of the Source.

He answered without looking away from the screen. ”I haven’t been able to remember my name for a very long time.” He paused. ”Because I cast it out.”

My eyes narrowed. ”And how did you end up in this place?”

”I was exiled here.”

He continued watching the movie, completely absorbed by the scene playing before him.

I asked firmly, ”Where is here?”

”A place beyond space and time.”

I stared at him. ”Who are you?”

For the first time, he turned toward me. ”I’ve been known by many names.” His hollow face remained impossible to read. ”But most know me as the Supreme Void.”

This was nothing like the Supreme Void I knew.

Certainly, he was nothing like the regressed, childish aspect I had encountered, nor the insane and violent monster I had fought. Whatever this version of the Supreme Void was, he seemed almost... normal.

I calmed myself. I doubted I could do anything to him in this place anyway. This was his territory.

”How do I leave this place?” I asked.

He answered with a question. ”How did you arrive in this place?”

”I used my Origin Art, Ophanim. I tried to touch upon the near-omniscience of the art, and I found myself here.”

The suppression of the False Earth had probably helped, and that was why this was only happening now. Without it, I might have accidentally lost myself somewhere in space and time much earlier. I could also hazard a guess as to why the Ophanim had become so uncooperative. It was because I no longer had my Supremacy Trait.

”Ophanim?” he repeated. ”It’s an ambitious name. If you wish to leave, you will have to use this Ophanim to do so.”

”Can you not send me back?”

”I don’t have such power.”

That answer confused me.

Without his intervention, I would have remained trapped within that infinity. If he could pluck me out of it, why couldn’t he simply send me back to where I belonged?

”I can’t,” I revealed. ”I lost my Supremacy Trait.”

For the first time, he sounded genuinely baffled. ”Lost? How? Is that even possible?”

This ’Void’ was clearly different from the one I knew. Or perhaps he was simply playing me. Either way, I decided to call him Voidy in my head. It would make distinguishing between the different versions of the Supreme Void considerably easier. We continued talking while he watched his movie. I told him about the Yellow Emperor, his scheme, and his desperate attempt to steal my Supremacy Trait after his plans had failed.

”This is unheard of,” Voidy said.

”You really have nothing for me?”

”I have advice, though.” He continued watching the screen. ”All of this is happening within your mind. While I am here, you are not. Your ’Existence’ is the basis of your being. It does not merely exist within your mind. It exists within your body as well.”

Hmm.

It was a remarkably vague explanation. It sounded like bullshit, but I thought I understood the general idea. If my consciousness was trapped within my mind, then perhaps I could use the connection between my mind and body to create an exit.

I used the Divine Phantasm of Dreams.

My consciousness extended outward, and a moment later, I found myself standing outside as a dream projection. I was back on the building we had raided not long ago. My body was still there, leaning against the sofa while Tao Long watched a horse race with several paper strips clutched in his hands.

”Great Guard, please let Harry Trotter win!” Tao Long prayed, his eyes glued to the television. ”I bet my entire allowance for this month on him!”

I coughed deliberately. ”I am not a god of gambling.”

Tao Long turned toward me, then he looked at my body slumped against the sofa. ”Long time no hear.” He immediately turned back toward the television, completely invested in the horse race.

”How long has it been?” I asked.

”Two months.”

Two months?

That was not a particularly long time. I had expected centuries at the very least.

That was how frightening being trapped within the Ophanim had been.

In the past, I would have emerged from such an experience without any memories of the time I had spent inside. This time, however, I remembered it all. I remembered those endless stretches of infinity and the sensation of staring into a universe I could perceive but could not interact with.

A mortal would have become a vegetable from something like this.

Even someone with a considerably higher cultivation might have suffered the same fate.

”What happened while I was gone?” I asked. ”Give me an update.”

Tao Long gave me a rough summary.

Nongmin had taken over a gang organization and had been supporting them since then. Hei Mei had been studying the current floor and was currently working on securing a path to the next floor. N’wa had been minding her own business and studying. She seemed to be adapting to this world rather well and had even started attending college to satisfy her curiosity.

”As for Ru Qiu...” Tao Long scratched his head. ”I have no idea. The man seems to be hunting someone.”

”Figures.”

I glanced back toward my body.

”Do you have a plan right now?” Tao Long asked.

”Not yet. For now, I’ll have to figure out how to get back my agency. Damn eyes are going to be the doom of me, I tell you. Anyway, I’ll see you later.”

When I returned to Voidy’s place, I found myself sitting exactly where I had been before, as though I had never left.

Voidy glanced toward me. ”Did it work?”

I nodded. ”Yes. It worked. But I don’t think returning to my body will be easy just yet.”

I had managed to project my consciousness outside, but that was only the beginning. I still needed to bridge the distance between myself and my physical body. I closed my eyes and used the Ophanim again. This time, I did not merely reach for its power. I used it to construct a plan in a limited simulation.

”I need your assistance, Voidy. I intend to touch upon the near-omniscience of my Origin Art again. Last time, it threw me into that singularity. If I try again, there’s a chance it could happen again. If that happens, I need you to pluck me out again.”

Voidy remained silent for a moment. ”You understand the danger, don’t you?”

”Yes.”

”You could destroy your ’Existence.’”

I frowned, thinking about how often he used the word. ”Existence?”

”The thing more fundamental than your mind or body. If your Existence is damaged, you may not have anything left to return to.”

I knew about the Weight of Existence, but it sounded like he meant more when he referred to it. The way he put it, he was almost referring to the soul, but more. I understood the implication behind his words. The consequence of a damaged ’Existence’ might be worse than a destroyed soul.

”I still need to do it,” I said.

”You could fail.”

”Then I’ll try again.”

”You could destroy yourself definitely.”

”If it takes doing this again and again, then I’ll do it. So, I will be careful. That way, I can continue doing it again and again as I please, until I see enough and come up with a real solid plan that gets everyone a happy ending.”

There was no other choice.

I could not remain trapped here forever, nor could I accept simply waiting for someone else to solve my problem. If the Ophanim was the reason I had ended up here, then it was also the key to getting me out. This was a gamble. Not only on the Ophanim, but on Voidy’s character. I had no proof that he would save me again. I had no reason to trust him beyond the things he had already done.

But I wanted to believe what I was seeing in him.

Voidy eventually sighed. ”I’ll cooperate.”

I looked at him. ”Really?”

”It would be less dull with another face around.”

I smiled faintly. ”Thank you.”