In the vast, boundless expanse, a gray, paste-like energy filled the space.
At the heart of the endless gray energy, a small continent, several dozen meters across, floated incongruously in the void. A thatched hut stood on it, and in front of the hut grew a stout, low osmanthus tree. Beneath the tree sat a rough stone table and chairs.
An unkempt middle-aged man lounged casually in one of the stone chairs. He held a cup of fine osmanthus wine in one hand, but his attention was drawn to several enormous spheres far in the distance.
There were four spheres, one large and three small. The smaller ones revolved endlessly around the large one, together forming a stable configuration. The middle-aged man's gaze settled on one of the smaller spheres, and he smiled with faint delight. "The strings of fate are stirring. Is it that little snake? Its unusual soul aura seems to have grown stronger."
As he spoke, he recalled how, more than twenty million years ago, an ignorant soul had somehow appeared in the Hongmeng Space. Its essence was far greater than that of the lives born in the universe, yet it still could not withstand the erosion of the Hongmeng Space. Fortunately, Hongmeng had discovered it in time and rescued it before it vanished completely. He had intended to send it into the Main Universe, but by some twist of fate, it had ended up in a Subordinate Universe instead. At the time, Hongmeng had sensed fate changing.
To this middle-aged man, more than twenty million years was shorter than a second.
In that Subordinate Universe, the power of countless elements had been drawn to this otherworldly soul and gathered around it. Using that as a foundation, they had opened up a new Material Plane. The soul