Awakening

Xiao Ran's "consciousness" floated in this boundless void.

The feeling was mysterious and hard to describe. He could clearly sense his own existence, yet also felt that he was part of the void itself.

With a single thought, his form changed at will. He could become a vast nebula, a roaming whale-shaped shadow, or frozen lightning. He could even split into tens of thousands of tiny points of light in an instant, then gather again the next moment into the silhouette of a giant towering between heaven and earth. He seemed capable of anything; this void was a canvas for his will.

This was the fourth level of the Soul Cultivation Technique. He was no longer an existence confined to a tangible body or limited thoughts. Instead, he had truly touched the source of the spirit and become a chaotic state closer to the "Dao."

Yet behind this sense of omnipotence lay an icy prison.

It was like someone who had struggled in the water for a long time, finally learned to swim freely, and tried to break through the surface—only to discover that an impenetrable layer of ice covered the water!

His will surged through this vast, universe-like expanse, built by his own Soul Cultivation Technique, yet he still couldn't truly wake up.

Each attempt was like throwing himself with all his strength against an invisible, immovable wall.

That barrier didn't come from an outside enemy. It arose from the very nature of the "innate primordial qi" realm. Its extreme freedom also brought extreme isolation.

His spiritual essence was too vast, and his existence too free-form. As a result, the path back to the material world had grown indistinct, nearly sealed shut.

"Could this be why I can't get out?"

The more Xiao Ran thought about it, the more