Chapter 1

The highest peak on Earth — the summit of Mount Everest.

Under the moonlight, the cold wind was piercing, and the ancient, unmelting snow and ice had covered countless millennia.

On the highest mountain peak, untouched by any living being for millions of years, a figure in white, as pure as snow, stood alone at the summit.

This figure appeared to be a girl of seventeen or eighteen, but her gaze was as deep as the night sky, as if she had seen through the passage of time and the changes of the ages.

"It's time to leave!" she sighed softly, her gaze piercing through the layers of snow-capped mountains, crossing the vast rivers and mountains, and finally taking a last lingering look at the ancient capital of Chang'an — the place where she was born, grew up, and left countless profound memories.

Time passed, and the years changed. In the blink of an eye, she had been in this world for several hundred years. Now, everything she was familiar with had disappeared in the long passage of time, and her last connection to this world no longer existed. It was time to leave this world and embark on a new journey.

She withdrew her last glance at this world, drew her long sword, and thrust it into the void.

Suddenly, the sky and earth turned dark, the stars stopped twinkling, and the flowing moonlight seemed to be frozen like amber. The snow-capped peak no longer felt the ceaseless cold wind, as if it were in another space.

Then everything came to a standstill, a deathly silence.

At the core where the sword pointed, a red and a white energy were rapidly rotating.

"Boom!"

An invisible "gate" opened in the void.

At that moment, the girl's figure, without hesitation, rushed towards the immortal gate at full speed.

"Boom!"

The moment the girl's figure entered the gate, an irresistible energy surged out from the "gate," and the gate closed. The boundless energy surged in the void, instantly breaking the frozen state of the sky and earth.

The moon was bright, and the stars were sparse. The ancient, unceasing cold wind began to flow again.

The snow-capped peak, untouched by any living being for thousands of years, returned to its peaceful state, waiting silently for the next living being to arrive.

...

What lies beyond the void, beyond the immortal gate? For thousands of years, no one knew.

At this moment, Dugu Feng was experiencing the transformation that countless martial artists had dreamed of for thousands of years after breaking through the void.

The moment she stepped through the immortal gate, boundless energy poured into her from every acupoint, every pore, and every cell. The primordial spirit, formed by the fusion of the yang and yin spirits, greedily absorbed the boundless energy, like a newborn baby, growing and developing at an incredible speed with each breath and each moment.

In an instant, the ordinary six senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell lost all meaning. Only the seventh sense, which grasped time, and the eighth sense, which grasped space, expanded and amplified, allowing Dugu Feng's perception to completely transcend the superficial constraints of form and appearance, "seeing" a vastly different and magnificent layer of the world.

The primordial spirit, like a hungry and thirsty infant, was constantly devouring the energy of the void, growing and developing continuously, gradually transforming from a vague concept into a tangible "substance." The constantly expanding thoughts and senses explored and spread along the dimensions of time and space, presenting a splendid and colorful world before Dugu Feng.

Against a dark background, countless streams of white-hot energy, winding and twisting for thousands of miles, flowed in all directions.

This was a universe compressed by billions of times. Countless celestial bodies were constantly forming and dissipating in the void.

Nebulae, galaxies, massive globular clusters, and quasars were constantly merging and splitting, creating endless cosmic wonders. In a short time, they underwent various changes from prosperity to decline.

From the youthful, fiery white sun, through red, purple, blue, white, and yellow light, they finally decayed into dark celestial bodies.

From the sun to red giants, white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes, these transformations spanned several cosmic cycles in an instant.

Starbursts emitted bright light, and the universe was constantly renewing itself, repeating the cycle.

Dugu Feng seemed to become part of this illusion, losing her sense of self and traveling in this strange world with a transcendent perspective.

Her vision suddenly withdrew, and all the nebulae, galaxies, and clusters became smaller and smaller as she withdrew.

The sky and earth turned dark, and the depths were black.

After an unknown amount of time, a red glow appeared in the profound and distant darkness.

It was a magnificent fireball.

In the blink of an eye, the fireball's light became an unbearable peak of brightness, and it exploded silently, the immense shock wave instantly pushing Dugu Feng's consciousness into another space or another level of existence. Around her, cell-like things were constantly expanding and splitting.

Strange colors, suddenly appearing from nothing, trembled and struggled, transforming into various indescribable forms, endlessly shining and changing in the dark void. The world transitioned from the macrocosmic level of galaxies to the microcosmic level of life, with countless indescribable phenomena and illusions competing to present themselves in Dugu Feng's nearly stagnant consciousness.

Everything was happening silently, seemingly without any particular purpose, yet it seemed to contain the deepest meaning of the universe.

Dugu Feng stopped thinking, and her spiritual senses followed an invisible arc, circling and advancing towards a certain core. Passing through multiple layers of space and levels, she spiraled deeper and deeper. Each level had a different grand landscape.

In an immeasurable amount of time, Dugu Feng's consciousness witnessed the rise and fall of the universe over countless ages. However, the visual images created by her consciousness were only a tiny part of the true nature of the universe.

Space was constantly changing, from dark to light and back to dark, spiraling and revealing the mysteries of the universe, captivating Dugu Feng in this realm, making it difficult for her to let go and unwilling to leave.

A mysterious wisdom arose in Dugu Feng's consciousness, warning her that if she remained immersed in this realm, she would eventually be assimilated by the will of the universe, and her life form would evolve into a nebula in an endless ascent.

In an instant, Dugu Feng "woke up."

In the boundless void, the undulating, contracting, and trembling "fetal movements" gradually subsided. The cells and atoms that had been dispersed in the void, accumulating energy and matter for the birth of a "stellar infant," gradually gathered into a body.

Her eyes were tightly closed, and each tremor seemed to resonate with the universe. A faint mist flowed over her crystal-clear, translucent skin, bringing an indescribable sense of sanctity and beauty. Her black hair, as deep as the cosmic background, floated in the silent vacuum, shimmering with points of starlight under the distant nebulae.

After an unknown amount of time, Dugu Feng finally opened her eyes, her pitch-black eyes, which seemed to contain the cycles of the universe, sweeping over the surroundings. She sighed with relief, "Phew, that was close. I almost got assimilated by the universe."

Dugu Feng did not know what others experienced after breaking through the void, but the situation she faced was extremely dangerous. After passing through the immortal gate, what she faced was clearly not the paradise that Yan Fei perceived in "The Legend of the Borderlands," nor was it another world as described in immortal novels. Instead, it was an endless evolution and sublimation of life, a process of completing the self from a flawed individual to a perfect cosmic consciousness, transcending from an endless sea of suffering to eternal life. If the transformation were complete, her spirit would perfectly merge with her body, transforming from a human into a nebula, with each cell becoming a star, each life factor becoming a biosphere, and becoming a higher existence known as a "stellar infant." This seemed beautiful, but for Dugu Feng, who still retained some human attachments, transforming into a nebula without self was absolutely unacceptable. Therefore, she woke up at the beginning of the transformation.

Looking at the boundless starry sky, Dugu Feng sighed slightly. She now understood why Ying Yuan in "Covering the Rain and Turning the Clouds" was startled and retreated from the edge of breaking through the void. Clearly, the cause was the "War God Chart." She originally thought she had unraveled all the secrets of the War God Chart, but only now did she realize that "breaking through the void" was just the starting point of the War God Chart. This supreme martial art, which recorded the secrets of the "War God" creating the universe, was actually a "Nebula Evolution Manual." Only after breaking through the void could its true secrets be revealed, allowing one to grasp the mysteries of cosmic evolution. Once immersed in it, one would involuntarily initiate the evolution from human to nebula.

Dugu Feng did not know what kind of existence the "War God" was, but it was clear that the evolutionary direction of the War God Chart did not align with human wishes. It was no wonder that Ying Yuan, who had inherited all of Ying Yuan's memories, not only retreated from the edge of breaking through the void but also completely forgot the War God Chart, choosing a different path to break through the void.

Unfortunately, she realized this a bit too late. Now, even if she had not been assimilated into a star, being lost in this starry sky, how could she find Earth and return to the human world?

Although she could now survive in the cosmic starry sky and breaking through space was not difficult, this starry sky was boundless, and she had no star map. How could she find the Milky Way where Earth was located? Relying on luck to break through space and wander aimlessly, she might never find Earth even if the universe were to end.

As Dugu Feng felt troubled, unsure which direction to go, a mysterious voice suddenly "rang" in her mind.

"Dimensional search... Reincarnated being Dugu Feng, breaking through the limits of life, meeting the conditions for absorption by the Cycle Space. Do you choose to become a Cycle Warrior?" a solemn voice asked.

"Ah!" Dugu Feng couldn't help but raise her eyebrows in surprise. "Cycle Space?"