22 Endless Void, Gray Mist, Purple Lightning

My Purple Mansion is finally coming out. The third chapter is out today, brothers and sisters, keep it up and keep pushing forward. If you have votes, please cast them to keep the ranking up; whatever you do, don't let me drop! I'm counting on you!

Endless void.

It was confused. It felt as if its "brains" had been stirred into a mush, chaotic and jumbled. It couldn't remember anything—it didn't know who it was or where it had come from. Occasionally, it would regain a moment of clarity, vaguely remembering that it was someone. It drifted back and forth, constantly alternating between confusion and lucidity.

It was now just a ball of white light, about the size of a thumb, thin and dim, lighter than smoke. It seemed as if a gentle breeze could blow it away, causing it to vanish from the heavens and earth forever, leaving no trace behind.

Fortunately, there was no wind in this void.

It did not know where this place was. It had been drifting in an endless void, surrounded by a gray haze that shrouded everything. Because of this gray fog, it couldn't see clearly beyond a hundred yards; it could only perceive what was within that distance.

It drifted in this boundless void, lost and without direction. It drifted from one end to the other, then back again. Aside from the endless gray fog, it saw nothing else, and no one paid it any mind. At first, it was somewhat interesting, but as time passed, it grew increasingly bored.

Why was it here?

Where was this place?

It "clutched" its head in pain, struggling to think.

It couldn't remember anything. It didn't understand why it was here. It felt vaguely that it should have been in some other, much more vivid and interesting place, rather than this desolate void where there was almost nothing but gray fog.

But it had forgotten where it was supposed to be. Because it couldn't remember anything at all.

Whenever its "mind" was about to recall something, a wave of intense drowsiness would suddenly wash over it, causing it to drift into a confused slumber. By the time it regained a bit of clarity, whatever had happened before was wiped clean, and it couldn't remember a single thing. It would then begin to drift happily once more.

Just drifting like that.

It happily discovered that it seemed capable of drifting to an infinitely distant place.

However, the surroundings remained a gray expanse, devoid of anything. As time went on, it couldn't tell if it was actually drifting or staying in the same spot. There was almost no difference between the two.

However, after spending a long time in the void, it finally discovered a second thing besides the gray fog—Purple Lightning.

This little thing was only as thick as a strand of hair and about an inch long. It also emitted light, though it was a faint purple glow. It moved very, very slowly, swaying its head and tail like a fish swimming through the void, occasionally emitting a pizhi-pizhi sound, like a tiny bolt of purple lightning.

Strangely, there was no gray fog within several yards of this little thing. Wherever it swam, the gray fog would automatically part, as if avoiding it.

In terms of shape, this little thing was much smaller than itself.

After all, it was at least a ball of light, while this little thing was merely an inch-long streak of light.

It called this thing Purple Lightning.

It had initially thought it had found a companion and was very happy, wanting to drift over and greet it in a friendly manner. Perhaps they could become companions and drift together, saving it from the loneliness of drifting alone. After all, this void was too solitary, and to find such a little thing after so long, it naturally wanted to get to know it.

However, when it drifted to within a hundred yards of the Purple Lightning, a sudden, instinctive sense of extreme terror welled up in its heart—the kind of primal fear one feels when encountering a deadly natural predator.

It was like a mouse meeting a cat, or a rabbit meeting a hawk; there was no logic to it, only one word: run.

Without a second thought, it turned and fled for its life. It didn't know what this little thing was, nor how dangerous it truly was, but its instinct told it that if it didn't run, it would die.

It wanted to get as far away as possible; going over to say hello was suicide.

The slowly swimming Purple Lightning suddenly stopped, seemingly having noticed it. Its lazy posture vanished, replaced by an incomparably sharp aura. The Purple Lightning twisted its body and suddenly darted forward, chasing after it with lightning speed.

Terrified out of its wits, it summoned every ounce of strength it had and fled for its life.

Two streaks of light, one white and one purple, one in front and one behind, chased each other through the endless gray void.

It was slightly faster, gradually widening the distance. However, the Purple Lightning pursued relentlessly, refusing to give up. Even after hundreds, then thousands of yards, it kept chasing, stubbornly biting onto the trail of energy it left behind in the void.

It didn't know how long it had been running; it felt like countless centuries.

It regretted its actions so much it could have died. As it fled frantically, it encountered a second, third, and fourth strand of Purple Lightning along the way—countless strands. Because it was running too fast, it accidentally intruded into the territories of these little things, startling them and causing them to join the chase.

It had never known that there were so many damned natural predators in this endless void. The moment it sensed the threat of Purple Lightning ahead, it could only turn and flee in another direction.

Now, a massive swarm of thousands of Purple Lightning strands followed behind it. Some of these little things were several inches long, while others were only half an inch. As thousands of these strands collided, they gradually condensed into a single, larger bolt of Purple Lightning.

I do not know how much time passed.

That bolt of Purple Lightning, now as thick as a finger and nearly a yard long, had absorbed nearly ten thousand miles of smaller lightning strands. It stirred the gray fog of the area, and as it tore through the void, it constantly emitted thunderous, crackling roars.

It was still fleeing, trying its best to stay as far away from that terrifying Purple Lightning as possible.

Fortunately, by this time, that bolt of Purple Lightning no longer cared about the weak little ball of white light; it couldn't be bothered to chase it, having become entangled with the gray fog of the endless void at some point.

The gray fog here was not inanimate; stirred by the Purple Lightning, it formed a massive vortex nearly a mile in size. The vortex was imposing, frantically sweeping up and absorbing the surrounding gray fog, constantly condensing and becoming increasingly dense and solid.

Meanwhile, the Purple Lightning continuously unleashed heaven-shaking purple bolts, attempting to tear the vortex apart.

"Crack, BOOM!"

In that instant, the bolt of Purple Lightning erupted with a ten-thousand-yard-long purple flash, violently tearing through the vortex shrouded in gray fog. The gray fog vortex was split in two; the clear energy rose, and the turbid energy sank.

The bolt of Purple Lightning finally exhausted its essence, gradually collapsing and breaking into inches of purple light until it vanished entirely.

It hid far away, watching the changes in the void with trembling fear. It looked up in astonishment as the gray fog in the sky gradually dissipated and cleared, while the ground below gradually solidified, revealing solid rock.

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