Birth

The universe was not eternal. Even the vast universe would one day meet its death and end.

Above a blue planet, sparse starlight slowly gathered and took the form of a woman. By human standards of beauty, she was exceptionally beautiful, seemingly the very embodiment of perfection. Yet her face was filled with sorrow, because this universe was nearing the end of its time.

Tens of billions of years—time that was nearly eternal to humans—might have been only the equivalent of a few hundred years to this universe.

She muttered to herself, "This universe has developed too quickly. The rate of birth can no longer keep up with the rate of destruction. There is only one solution now: to bring more vitality into this world."

As she spoke, specks of light gathered in her hands and slowly formed the shape of a human infant. Her expression turned cold as she said, "You will be without emotion or desire. You will be born only to grow stronger, and live only to revive this world, until you become another existence like me..."

"Excuse me, but isn't that a little too cruel for a child?"

The Mysterious Woman was greatly startled. She even abandoned the light form that was about to take shape in her hands as countless starlights gathered around her, ready to attack at any moment. With her strength, no one in this world should have been able to harm her, yet she remained extremely vigilant. Even if she had been distracted while creating an avatar, it was impossible for her not to notice someone approaching—unless that person was as strong as she was.

She looked toward the source of the voice. It was something humanoid. Why call it humanoid? Because it merely looked human. It was as though an entire starry sky had been molded into the shape of a person. A hat made of stars rested upon his head, while a cloak radiating starlight hung from his back. Compared to the sparse starlight behind him, his body seemed to contain an entire universe.

The woman's vigilance vanished, replaced by fear and shock. The starlight around her dispersed as well, because she understood that if she truly fought the person before her, she would likely only hasten her own destruction. She forced herself to remain as calm as possible while looking at him. At a time like this, acting as respectfully as she could would probably make her safer.

Just as she was about to speak, the other party spoke first. "This universe has already reached the brink of decay. You were trying to create a promising avatar just now, weren't you? You wanted him to slowly grow to your level and bring more opportunities to this universe."

The woman did not deny it. "Yes. I no longer have enough spare power to create an avatar at my level. Now, I can only use the species with the greatest potential and creativity in the entire universe as a foundation to create an avatar with even greater potential. He will become an existence like me and bring new opportunities to this universe."

The Mysterious Person said, "By the standards of a Cosmic Consciousness, you are qualified."

Indeed, this Mysterious Woman was actually the manifestation of this universe's will. Calling her the strongest being in this universe would not have been an exaggeration at all.

But he continued, "Yet from the perspective of a mother, you are utterly unqualified. You should know that if you create an avatar capable of growth who inherits part of your power, then he will be no different from your biological child. If you erase his emotions, he will never be able to integrate into the human world. He will only head in the opposite direction and will never achieve the result you desire."

The Cosmic Will said calmly, "But I must place the survival of the greater universe above all else. If he develops human emotions, things will only proceed in unpredictable directions. I must intervene with stable development as the priority. Besides, with your strength, you should not want to interfere in my affairs. There are also higher laws restricting our actions. Although you are powerful enough to travel between parallel universes, this is ultimately my domain. I may not be able to drag you down with me, but I am still confident that I can severely injure you."

Seeing that the Cosmic Will had calmed down, the Mysterious Person said nothing. Instead, he raised a hand and made a snapping motion. A sharp snap rang out, and the surrounding starlight vanished instantly. Then came another snap, and the starlight returned as though nothing had happened. But the Cosmic Will was already trembling all over in shock. Only she understood what had just occurred. With two snaps, he had made all the stars in the universe disappear, then brought them all back. In other words, he had directly taken away her authority—and had bypassed the restrictions of the laws to use it twice. Was he above those laws?

The Cosmic Will asked in surprise, her voice trembling slightly, "Are you going to take everything from this universe?"

The Mysterious Person said, "No. I have no interest in this universe. I am merely a traveler, and I will leave this place soon. I should not interfere too much with a universe."

Cosmic Law asked, "Then why are you interfering in my affairs?"

The Mysterious Person said, "If I have to give a reason, it is because I am more interested in that child who has yet to be born. He and I have many similarities, so I offered some advice. And although I know I should not interfere too much, I am simply the kind of person who cannot help meddling in other people's affairs. Hahaha..."

As his laughter faded, the Mysterious Person's figure gradually grew faint, as if he were merging into the starry sky. Only the Cosmic Will's incarnation remained, staring at the ball of light before her that had yet to be infused with consciousness.

"Advice? And many similarities... It seems I have underestimated this child." The Cosmic Consciousness spoke calmly.

Then she suddenly smiled and said, "Perhaps that advice is not bad. Then this child shall retain his humanity and his seven emotions and six desires, and live in the human world. Before that, I shall bless you in the name of the universe and give you a name. You shall be called..."

At the edge of a Small Town, two people approached after hearing the sound of crying. They were an Old Man and an Old Woman.

The Old Man said to the Old Woman, "The crying should be coming from here. Can you sense where it is?"

The Old Woman said irritably, "Look at how anxious you are. You were not even this anxious when our granddaughter was born, and I was the one who named her."

The Old Man hurriedly changed the subject. "This is the wilderness, and we are right near the Soul Beast Forest. There is also the sound of a crying child. Judging by my cultivation, this definitely is not some soul beast imitating a human cry. It must be the voice of a human child..."

The Old Woman suddenly said, "Stop. I found the exact location. It is surprisingly far away. That child has quite a loud cry."

The two continued deeper into the forest for a while before finally finding the source of the crying. It was a human infant. They hurried over and picked up the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. The Old Woman said heartbrokenly, "Who would abandon a baby in the forest? It is far too dangerous."

The Old Man looked around for traces of anyone else. The Old Woman said, "Old man, leaving him here is not an option. Why not take him back to the village?"

The Old Man said, "That is the only thing we can do now. Let us bring him back to the village and take good care of him. Hmm... How about I give him a name now? What should I call him?"

The Old Woman said irritably again, "Forget it. You do not know how to name people, and this child already has a name. Look." The Old Man looked over and saw a dark blue stone lying beside them, with the three words Tang Chenfeng written on it.

The Old Man smiled. "It seems naming children will never be my turn. Oh well."

Then he smiled at Tang Chenfeng and said, "Little fellow, welcome to this world."