Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

The swirling black hole continued to spin. With each rotation, the surrounding world’s chaos was pulled towards it in an impossibly tyrannical manner. Before long, the swirling was so rapid that the supernova had already been completely absorbed, parts of the sub-realm were being consumed as well, the storm outside was being drawn simultaneously, and even the surrounding space itself was being ruthlessly and indifferently consumed!

A single picosecond(*) passed.

The surrounding space no longer contained anything, no people, no remnants of a realmship, no parts of planets, spatial storm or supernova. Only a single existence stood with his eyes closed in the vast emptiness of space. If someone saw him, they would be shocked. Not even the edge of his clothes was harmed after being in the center, literal center, of a sub-realm collapse.

After ten seconds, Yan Zaizen opened his eyes.

Firstly, he slowly looked to the left.

Then, he looked to the right.

Bringing his hand to his face, he blinked heavily with both eyes.

"I..." The realization of his survival slowly crept into his mind like a profound idea reaching its completion. "I’m ALIVE?!" Extreme elation filled his every cell as he wildly moved his arms and legs in triumphant. He pushed his fist into the sky and kicked the empty space.

He could feel his legs and arms, he could feel his heart beating powerfully in his chest, and his lungs taking in the surrounding space, converting it into deathly aura, sending it into his bloodstream, converting it into lifeforce when it reached his heart, which later converts to soulforce when it reached his brain, and all of his body being strengthened as a result.

This is how it feels to be alive!

He softly touched his glabella, "Thank you." He knew he had survived because of this mysterious black hole implanted into his soul by whoever created him. In a situation of absolute despair, it saved his life!

"YAN ZAIZEN!!!" Pinaka shouted, her voice filled with disbelief and urgency. It was like a wife called her husband when she finds a problem she can’t handle alone. It wasn’t often that Pinaka called him by his name, but when she did, it was typically important. He immediately, almost instinctively, entered his soul form in his sea of consciousness. Pinaka was there, staring at Yan Zaizen.

"Hehe, see! We didn’t die," rubbing his nose with a little awkwardness, he said with a wide smile. However, Pinaka still looked at him with a dead-on stare. Her brows perked up but then she turned solemn.

"Do you not perceive the changes in your soul form? DO YOU NOT FEEL IT?!" She shouted at the end, unable to contain her horror and disbelief.

"What?" Yan Zaizen was shocked by her response. What changes? He looked downwards towards his soul form, but when he saw his torso, his eyes widened to the point they couldn’t widen further. His soul form was no longer bluish, it was completely, thoroughly, entirely black! It was so black he couldn’t visibly see his conceptual laws, Mortal Dao, or Astral Stars.

"I..." He froze. The strangest thing was that he could still sense the existence of all those things, but they just didn’t seem to be there! "How is this possible?!"

"..." Pinaka didn’t even try to respond. She was as clueless as anyone else in this world. One moment, she was in Yan Zaizen’s soul form. The next thing she knows, she was shrouded by infinite darkness and space. It was as if Yan Zaizen’s soul form became an actual black hole, pulling all existences into it without any scruples or care.

It’s not like she couldn’t exit if she wished, and nothing really changed, but the sudden transformation panicked her greatly. She was worried that Yan Zaizen had suffered some immense change.

Yan Zaizen calmed himself down. After surviving that sub-realm collapse, he started to think these black hole mysteries were far, far too deep. "My soul form’s made some changes, nothing much. I can still connect to my conceptual laws, Mortal Dao, and Astral Stars. Nothing’s changed." These words calmed himself down, but then he realized he couldn’t see the black hole in his glabella any longer.

He touched the glabella of his soul form.

Pinaka spoke, "We should ma-"

WOOSH!!!

Suddenly, he felt carried through an infinite darkness, devouring, consuming, assimilating all creation! Words echoed through his mind repeatedly at speeds that were nearly incomprehensible. The cadence was so odd that he felt a splitting headache.

"The Earth? Devour. Sky? Consume. Heavens? Exceed. The Earths and Skies, DEVOUR AND CONSUME ALL!!"

"..." His mind was shaken to blankness. He felt a profound concept from these words. However, it wasn’t a concept. No. It was greater. It was like a law. No. It was greater. It was like heavenly law! No!! IT WAS GREATER!!

His mind spiraled and reeled to the point he nearly lost himself. He couldn’t keep himself focused as the words spoken in a language that should be completely foreign to him was more familiar to him than his own thoughts!

"The Earth, Sky, Heavens - DEVOUR AND CONSUME ALL!"

"Devour, Consume, Exceed - The Earths and Skies!"

It was only with time that he realized that the cadence of the words formulated two different phrases, not one!

WOOSH!!

Yan Zaizen shifted back to his soul form.

"...ke sure that everything is okay. We should be careful so as to not cause any unforeseen issues." Pinaka finished his words from earlier. However, Yan Zaizen’s gaze contained a profound light. Unfortunately, due to his pure black soul form, Pinaka couldn’t see it.

"It’s fine." Was all he said. He understood now. Closing his eyes, the blackness of his soul form became a background. The stars of his body once more resurfaced, the astral stars formulated, his Mortal Dao, and conceptual laws. They all took priority while the pure darkness became simply a background. When Pinaka saw this, she was stunned.

"What...?"

"My soul and the black hole fused somehow. I have some control over it right now." He clenched his soul form, the words from earlier echoed in his mind, and he realized a profound truth. The Earth, the soul! The Sky, the body! The Heavens, the essence!

Taking a deep breath, he returned back to his body. He whispered, "The Earth." His two eyes formed into two black holes. They did not swirl, they remained stationary. However, he knew, if he desired it, he could devour and consume the soul!

"The Sky," two black holes at the center of two palms formed. It was stationary like his eyes. If he wished, all things physical would be devoured!

"The Heavens!" At his glabella, a black hole formed - stationary. If he wished? All laws beneath the heavens can be devoured!

He recalled the Herculean Immortal Method: "Exceed the heavens and shatter the skies!" He realized skies meant the physical limitations of the body enforced by the heavens and likely more. It didn’t mention the earth or earths, which further strengthened his belief in that profound truth.

"Is this my bloodline?" Yan Zaizen muttered inquisitively, "or is it an unintended development?" Knowing he was a Non-Entity infused with an artificial soul and the black hole, he didn’t feel like this was an intended result. Could it be...the black hole is the bloodline of another? Of his creator?

Normally, he would have some guess whether something is right or wrong, but he couldn’t get a single feeling on this. It was as if it exceeded his current limits of understanding.

"Could that be it?" He mumbled to himself while Pinaka stayed quiet. She didn’t know what had happened, but she could see the obvious change in Yan Zaizen. It seems he was telling the truth. He had gained control of this black hole to a greater degree than before.

It seems the black eyes was just a single part of it divided into three. His first transformation happened with his eyes after consuming all of the resources found in the Meteor Ring, the next transformation likely only included his palms, and then his glabella, but because of the circumstances, this was sped up.

Even she couldn’t tell if this was planned or not.

Looking at Yan Zaizen, she quietly muttered in her heart, "I hope everything works out...I can’t lose you too."

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(*) - One trillionth of a second.