Chu Ming took a deep breath.
There was no air.
No such thing as "air" existed on the Eternal Bridge.
No oxygen, no nitrogen, no carbon dioxide.
There was only "nothing."
Not chaos—chaos was, at least, a kind of existence. This was "the absence of existence."
But his body had grown accustomed to the motion of "taking a deep breath." It slowed his heartbeat, steadied his breathing, loosened his muscles.
He stepped forward.
Through the archway.
The instant the sole of his foot crossed the threshold, an invisible force surged from the bridge.
It did not come from any particular direction.
Not from the beginning of the bridge, not from its end, not from the left, not from the right.
It emerged from "the bridge itself," like sweat seeping from skin, like sap flowing from a tree trunk.
That force enveloped his entire body.
Starting from the crown of his head.
An icy sensation entered through the Baihui point, like a drop of ice water falling onto his scalp and spreading downward.
From the top of his head to his forehead, from his forehead to his eyes, from his eyes to his nose, from his nose to his mouth, from his mouth to his chin.
Icy, yet not cold.
It was not a lack of temperature, but a thinness of "existence."
As though an invisible hand were "caressing" him.
Not a caress meant to offer emotional comfort.
But an "inspection."
Like a scanner passing over you during a security check.
The scanner would not harm you, attack you, or oppress you.
It merely "looked" at you.
To see whether you carried anything you should not.
That force moved through his body.
From the crown of his head downward, through his throat, through his chest, through his abdomen, through his limbs.