The Beginning of Everything

In the vast northern region of the Central Continent, there lay a colossal mountain range stretching over ten thousand li, known as the Seeking Demon Mountain Range. Magical Beasts ran rampant within its depths, with no shortage of Seven-star and even Eight-star beast clans entrenched there. Yet within this forbidden land for humans, pavilions and towers stood proudly atop more than a dozen peaks towering a thousand zhang high. Not even the shadow of a single Magical Beast could be seen in the area where these peaks stood, as though it were a forbidden zone for Magical Beasts!

At the eastern end of these buildings, a massive gate plaque stood between two peaks, engraved with three grand words: "Myriad Sword Pavilion."

The Myriad Sword Pavilion was known to everyone across the Central Continent and stood among the continent's foremost powers. Of the "One Hall, One Tower, Two Sects, Three Valleys, and Four Pavilions," one of the Four Pavilions was the Myriad Sword Pavilion. Its pavilion master was a Dou Venerate expert, Gongsun Xiao, known as the Sword Venerable.

The Myriad Sword Pavilion had a very peculiar trait: it had few disciples, and its requirements for recruitment were exceptionally demanding. There were five hundred outer disciples, while the inner disciples numbered only a few dozen on the surface. Yet every person who emerged from among them was a genius renowned throughout their region.

However, deep within the Myriad Sword Pavilion lay another world entirely!

On the rear side of the main peak supporting the Main Pavilion stood an enormous Space Gate, hundreds of zhang wide and exceptionally stable. Passing through it would lead one into another space.

There, a massive Floating Continent stretched more than three thousand li in both length and width. Several cities stood upon it, inhabited by an ancient clan—the Gongsun Clan.

At the center of the continent stood the largest city in this space, Jian City. Seven lofty and elegant peaks that pierced the clouds surrounded Jian City. From an elegant courtyard pavilion on the side of one of those peaks came the weak, agonized cries of a woman.

Several figures stood outside the pavilion's entrance. At their head was a man in white with Sword Eyebrows and Starry Eyes, a face like polished jade, and an extraordinary bearing. Yet at this moment, anxiety filled his face, and his fists were clenched tightly.

"Elder Brother... Little Sister has already gone to invite Shennong the Elder. She should be back in another quarter-hour," the man in green behind him said, patting his shoulder as if to comfort him.

"Yu'er and I are both Dou Saint experts. Who could have imagined that Yu'er would have a difficult birth? What kind of strange occurrence is this? I, Gongsun Lin, have roamed the continent for a thousand years, yet I have never heard of a Dou Saint suffering a difficult birth! Sigh!"

"Elder Sanbu said it was because the child's destiny and physique were too outstanding. Perhaps... after two thousand years, the Sword Clan will produce another descendant with an ultimate Divine Grade Bloodline," the man in the green robe said.

"But what if something happens to Yu'er..." Listening to the agonized cries from within and sensing the energy fluctuations, Gongsun Lin closed his eyes in pain.

"Elder Sanbu said that the most important thing now is to continuously supply Sister-in-law with vast amounts of Life Force and Soul Power to prevent her life and soul from being exhausted. Most of the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures related to Life Force and Soul Power in the clan treasury have already been gathered here. Now, all that remains is to wait for Shennong the Elder to refine the Life-Returning Spirit-Transforming Pill with the Flame of Life."

"Let's hope so..."

A quarter-hour later.

A spatial ripple appeared beside the two men, and an elderly man in green robes emerged as the ripple faded.

"Shennong the Elder, it's wonderful that you came!" Gongsun Lin revealed a relieved smile and clasped Shennong the Elder's hand in gratitude.

"Clan Leader Gongsun, there is no need to be so polite. The Sword Clan's ancestors once showed me kindness, and you have offered me generous compensation as well. If I did not hurry here, would I not become a heartless beast?"

"Then, Shennong the Elder, are you confident that you can save my wife?" Gongsun Lin asked nervously.

Shennong the Elder did not answer. He merely held up three fingers, then made a gesture for seven.

"What does that mean?"

"I am absolutely certain that I can successfully refine the Life-Returning Spirit-Transforming Pill. However, the chance of surviving after taking it is only thirty percent. Even if she survives, her cultivation will decline, and she will find it difficult to return to her former realm."

Hearing this, a trace of despair flashed through Gongsun Lin's eyes, and an air of dejection spread from him.

"However! If... you abandon the child in her womb and sever its connection to the mother, I have a seventy percent chance of saving her. Her cultivation can also remain at the Dou Saint level..." Shennong the Elder said slowly.

"This..." Gongsun Lin became conflicted.

"I will go refine the pill first. Clan Leader Gongsun, think it over carefully." Leaning on his cane, Shennong the Elder departed under the guidance of an attendant.

Gongsun Lin watched Shennong the Elder leave, took a deep breath, and pushed open the pavilion door.

Inside the pavilion hall was only a small pool, currently surrounded by more than a dozen people. The midwives and maids hurried about anxiously.

The bathtub was filled with green liquid that radiated dense Life Force. Within it lay an incomparably beautiful woman with pale pink hair, her legs spread as she let out agonized screams.

"Clan leader, Madam's body has already reached saturation in absorbing the Life Fluid. The replenishment of her Life Force can no longer keep up with its rate of loss!" a woman overseeing the work said to Gongsun Lin in alarm.

"How is the child?" Gongsun Lin asked.

The woman shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "Madam's water has already broken, but the child still refuses to come out. Yet it truly is absorbing Madam's Life Force, even the energy within the Life Fluid."

Gongsun Lin gave a bitter smile. What a heaven-defying little life this was. Before it was even born, it had nearly drained a Dou Saint renowned throughout the world dry.

"Lin... my child, my... my child... how... how is she? Ahhh..." The pink-haired woman stared blankly at her husband by the pool and cried out in agony.

"Yu'er... Shennong the Elder said your situation is extremely dangerous. His recommendation is... to give up..." Gongsun Lin did not dare look at her. He clenched his teeth and turned his head aside.

"Get out! Who agreed... to give up? I... ahhh... I won't allow it!" Like a madwoman, the pink-haired woman tried to sit up, but the waves of tearing pain from her lower body seemed to drain all her strength away.

"I'm telling you... the child, I must give birth to the child! She is... she is my flesh and blood! Even if I... even if I die, I will give birth to her! Do you hear me?!" The woman stared resolutely at Gongsun Lin.

"But..."

"Gongsun Lin! Look at me!"

Gongsun Lin turned and met the woman's gaze.

"The child must be born! Otherwise, I won't live either!"

Feeling the woman's determination, Gongsun Lin gritted his teeth and nodded after a long silence.

"Have you decided?" Shennong the Elder appeared behind Gongsun Lin, a jade-green pill now in his hand. The pill's appearance raised the Life Force surrounding the courtyard by an entire level.

"Yu'er wants to keep the child," Gongsun Lin said in a deep voice.

Shennong the Elder nodded and lightly tapped his cane against the ground. "Understood. This old man will certainly do everything in his power to preserve both mother and child."

"Thank you! Once this is over, sir may choose any one item from our clan's secret realm." Gongsun Lin bowed deeply.

"Hehehe, it seems this old man must work hard, then!" Shennong the Elder stroked his beard and chuckled gently before pushing open the door and entering.

Watching Shennong the Elder enter, Gongsun Lin closed his eyes and silently prayed in his heart.

A certain blue planet.

"Sima Penguin, what kind of trash game is this? How many IPs have you ruined, damn it?" Zhang Yu angrily threw his phone onto the bed, rubbed his hair in frustration, and continued cursing.

The game he had been playing was a mobile game adapted from Battle Through the Heavens. Its crude quality and shameless cash grabs had finally driven him to explode after he spent several 648s.

As a ten-year-old fan of Battle Through the Heavens, he had read the novel countless times.

From childhood through adolescence, his parents had controlled him strictly. Other than attending school, they would not let him go out, touch any electronic devices, or have any entertainment. The only thing he had ever come into contact with was three pirated copies of Battle Through the Heavens that his elementary school desk mate had slipped to him.

From the age of ten to eighteen, whenever he had the chance, he would pick up those novels and read them carefully, imagining every plot point and every scene. He dreamed of roaming the world like the protagonist, cutting through thorns and brambles, marrying into a harem, and reaching the pinnacle of life.

After the college entrance examinations at eighteen, all the shackles on him had been broken. He could afford a phone, a computer, and every kind of entertainment device. Yet Battle Through the Heavens remained the one he loved most. Though he gradually came to understand that many novels had better logic, deeper plots, and more detailed characters, none of that could diminish this novel's place in his heart. It had accompanied his childhood and had been his only companion.

"Whew..." After venting, Zhang Yu lay flat on his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

"I really want to... transmigrate..." he murmured.

Only the ticking of the alarm clock, its hands pointing to four, answered his absurd words.

"I'd first build up some strength, then find the protagonist and get on good terms with him. Then I could just ride his coattails! I'd marry a few wives too and live the life of an Emperor of the Harem! Hehehe!" The more Zhang Yu thought about it, the more excited he became, but the exhaustion in his body also grew stronger and stronger.

Gradually, the ceiling before his eyes began to twist and blur. In the end, everything went black.

"She's born! She's born! Madam has given birth!" A midwife's delighted shout came from within the pavilion.

Hearing the news, Gongsun Lin was overjoyed and immediately pushed open the door.

"Clan leader, mother and daughter are safe! Both mother and daughter are safe!" The midwife said excitedly as she watched Gongsun Lin hurry over.

"Good! Good! Good!" Gongsun Lin did not care that the pool was filled with liquid. He kicked off his shoes, jumped in, and sat beside the pink-haired woman, who had already collapsed from exhaustion, tightly holding her slender little hand.

"Lin... our child... has been born." The pink-haired woman slightly opened her eyes and smiled gently.

"Mm. You have suffered." Gongsun Lin nodded.

"Clan Leader Gongsun, Madam is no longer in danger. You should understand what remains, so this old man will take his leave first." Shennong the Elder coughed lightly and said somewhat weakly.

"Alright. I, Gongsun Lin, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Go rest first." Gongsun Lin spoke gratefully to Shennong the Elder, then called out, "Shu! Take Shennong the Elder to the guest pavilion to rest, and bring him some premium restorative pills as well!"

Shennong the Elder nodded and walked out of the pavilion with his cane.

Gongsun Lin turned back, gently stroked the woman's face, and wore a tender expression.

"Lin... I can feel that much of the Dou Qi within me is gone. I'm afraid I can no longer bear the position of peak master."

"It's alright. With me, Gongsun Lin, here, are you afraid I cannot protect you and our child?"

The pink-haired woman smiled softly and looked toward the people still busy outside the pool. Her tone was incredibly gentle. "I want to see my child."

"Alright!" Gongsun Lin stood and walked over to the midwife, who was wiping the infant's body.

"Clan leader." Seeing Gongsun Lin, the midwife stopped what she was doing and bowed.

"No need for formalities. How is the child?" Gongsun Lin asked as he looked at the tiny figure on the jade platform.

"Clan leader, the child is healthy... it's just... she won't cry..." the midwife said awkwardly.

"She won't cry? Then the amniotic fluid..." Gongsun Lin gently lifted the infant and looked at the midwife in confusion.

"The amniotic fluid... she spat it out herself..." The midwife lowered her head.

"As long as she spat it out, it's fine." Gongsun Lin sighed in relief. So long as the amniotic fluid came out, not crying was nothing serious.

"Go attend to something else first. I'll hold her for a while." Gongsun Lin lowered his head to look at the infant in his arms.

"Yes." The midwife answered and withdrew.

The infant had a head of pale pink newborn hair. Her tiny blue-violet eyes struggled to remain open as she stared straight at Gongsun Lin, seeming somewhat curious.

"A little girl. That's wonderful." Gongsun Lin chuckled, tapped her tiny nose, and gently scolded her, "You really put your mother through a lot."

The baby girl furrowed her brows, then suddenly began to cry.

"Hm? You're only crying now?" Gongsun Lin was puzzled.

At that moment, intense spatial vibrations erupted from a Space Gate at the top of the Floating Continent.

Gongsun Lin raised his head and looked in that direction through layer upon layer of walls.

"This is..."

Thirteen different treasured swords shot out of the Space Gate and flew toward the pavilion. They finally stopped outside it, circling around the building.

An aged voice rang out from the sky.

"Han Guang, Fleeting Time, Heart Rain, Seven Stars, Tian Hen, Xuanyuan, Zhan Lu, Yue Yin, Chun Qiu, Thousand Illusions, Gu Xian, Tai A, Mo Ning. When the Thirteen Swords emerge, the Thirteen Absolutes may be forged."

Gongsun Lin lowered his head in astonishment and discovered a tiny sword mark on the baby girl's forehead, radiating seven-colored light.

"A natural... Clan Mark."

That day, a descendant of the Sword Clan's clan leader was born and formally appointed as the young clan leader. That same day, Gongsun Yu, the Five-star Dou Saint who had once astonished the world with a single dance of Sword Qi, suffered a severe loss in cultivation and fell to the Dou Venerate realm. She also resigned from her position as the peak master of Kongming Peak.