The story continued from the same moment.
Deep inside the MC's consciousness, a foreign presence appeared.
"Haha… interesting," the old man sneered. "Despite such severe injuries, his body is recovering far faster than expected. This is good for me."
He wandered through the black void of the MC's mind, his spiritual sense spreading outward.
"Let me inspect his consciousness."
What he encountered was not an empty mental sea—but a vast black space. At its center floated something completely unnatural.
A piece of land.
The old man halted midair.
"Hm? What is this?"
He descended cautiously, standing before a strange landmass sealed by an invisible barrier.
"A land… inside a mortal's mind?" His greed surfaced. "How amusing."
He placed his hand against the barrier.
"Oh? Such mystery. Let me test it."
With brute force, he shattered the shield and stepped forward.
The instant his foot touched the land—
Boom!
The ground shook violently. The land softened like quicksand, and an overwhelming suction erupted.
"What—?!"
His spiritual energy began draining uncontrollably.
"This land… it's absorbing spiritual energy!"
Panic crept into his voice as the absorption intensified.
"No! Stop!"
But it didn't stop.
Even his Nascent Soul was pulled into the land.
"My soul—this is impossible!"
He struggled desperately, trying to retreat, but his body sank deeper.
"I must leave! Now!"
No matter what he did, escape was impossible.
Moments later, his body, soul, and cultivation were completely devoured.
Silence returned.
The land expanded once more, growing richer and more vibrant. A surge of vitality flowed outward and entered the MC's broken body.
Bones healed. Flesh regenerated. Blood stabilized.
The MC remained unconscious for an entire day.
When he finally opened his eyes, darkness greeted him.
"…Is this heaven?" he muttered weakly."So I died without accomplishing anything?"
He sighed.
"No fairies… no clouds… guess heaven's disappointing."
He took a step forward.
Squish.
"AH—!"
"Holy shit!"
He jumped back in shock.
A massive beast corpse lay beneath his foot.
"…Huh?"
His eyes widened.
"How the hell is this beast dead?"
Suddenly, a sharp pain exploded inside his head.
"Ahhh—!"
He grabbed his head and screamed as countless memories flooded his mind.
Vast worlds. Endless stars. Cultivators standing above mortals.
Cultivation.
"What… is this…?"
Knowledge poured into his consciousness. His understanding of reality expanded rapidly.
After several minutes, the pain vanished.
The MC dropped to his knees, drenched in sweat, breathing heavily.
"…That wasn't a dream."
He glanced at the corpse again.
"I should leave first."
His eyes shifted to the dead cultivator. He retrieved a small storage pouch and dragged the beast away before leaving.
Back in his cave, he threw the beast's corpse into a corner and leaned against the wall.
"So… this is the truth."
The memories revealed the vast structure of the universe: Three Thousand Great Worlds—Upper, Middle, and Lower.
His planet, however, was in the Outer Region of the Middle Thousand Worlds, a place so insignificant that it wasn't even formally acknowledged. Only planets with human civilization and established cultivation societies were recognized as part of these great worlds.
"That's why no one knows this place…" he muttered."And why that old man could hide here."
The MC's mind turned to the question he had long wondered: how could the old man, who was nowhere near a high enough cultivation level, even reach this place?
The answer was clear in the memories: the old man possessed a flying boat—a rare treasure capable of crossing great distances regardless of cultivation level.
The flying boat operated using spiritual stones. Even a Qi Refining cultivator could use it, which explained how the old man managed to appear on this planet despite his relatively low level.
However, the memories also warned that using it without sufficient spiritual stones was risky. It could only take the user back to its previous coordinates, which were unimaginably far away—and filled with enemies waiting to ambush him.
"That explains everything," the MC murmured."No matter how powerful this boat is, it's useless to him now."
The Middle Thousand Worlds contained seven cultivation realms:
Qi Refining → Foundation Building → Golden Core → Nascent Soul → Soul Formation → Soul Transformation → Immortal Ascension
Each realm had nine levels, and many professions existed—alchemists, array masters, formation experts, and others. Only cultivators at the Soul Transformation Realm or above could freely traverse the void.
The old man had been a wanted criminal across many worlds, hunted by bounty hunters and cultivators far stronger than him. Poisoned by a Soul Formation master and eventually killed by the devouring land, his techniques were mostly sinister and unusable—but his storage pouch still contained valuable formations, movement arts, and treasures.
Then there was a sealed box.
"This is what he risked his life to steal."
The MC opened it.
Inside lay a cultivation technique.
"…Body–Soul Unity Art."
Technique rankings were divided into six levels:
Ordinary → Yellow → Earth → Heaven → Ancient → Primordial
This technique belonged to the Heaven-ranked, middle-grade category.
Its value and importance alone were enough to make it highly coveted across the Middle Thousand Worlds. Any cultivator or sect who knew of it would consider it priceless.
The MC's breathing grew heavy.
"A technique like this…"
On an unacknowledged planet.
In the hands of a mortal.
He closed the box slowly, eyes burning with resolve.
"…I'll start practicing."
The cave grew quiet.
The MC slowly straightened his back.
"In a world like this… weakness is a sin."
He clenched his fists, feeling his newly recovered body.
"I won't remain prey forever."
He sat down cross-legged, breathing steadily.
"From today onward… I cultivate."
And in a world that did not officially exist, a path that would one day shake the Great Worlds quietly began