To forge his Higher Self, Qin An first had to steady his heart within this Source, which resembled a river of time. He could not let its flow sweep him away until he lost himself in it.
Otherwise, his body would become a walking corpse, and he would never return.
As time continued to pass, the scenery around him changed again. Species multiplied, and life gradually took root across the land.
Birds appeared in the sky, beasts on the ground, and fish in the water.
Gradually, life spread farther and farther across the land.
Then time flowed on once more, as though someone had pressed fast-forward.
In less than a few breaths, humanity was born.
Though little time had passed since humanity's birth, to Qin An, it felt like countless years.
Through those long years, he felt his consciousness sinking ever deeper. At any moment, he might lose his sense of self in the river of Source and become a walking corpse carried along by its current.
But Qin An held on.
He gritted his teeth and resisted the force's assault.
Yet Qin An knew he could not last much longer. The farther time advanced, the stronger that force became.
Even with his cultivation at Great Completion of the Heaven-Human Realm, he could barely withstand it.
I have to find a way. If this goes on, death is all that awaits me.
He truly did need a way out. Though so little time had passed, the Source had already flowed a great distance.
Before his eyes, humans divided into factions and established tribes. They began fighting one another, each seeking to swallow the others and ultimately rule the world.
Thus began the conflicts.
As the conflicts began, those strange fluctuations multiplied, and Qin An felt himself sinking faster and faster.