The air crackled with power, white arcs splintering away from the clouds as they tore through space. The world groaned in pain under the wrath of the Sphere of Existence, each little crackle of lightning was like a knife that cut through it. Space was torn open without regard or care, but the gashes left by the lightning were so turbulent that the scenery beyond the scar constantly shifted and distorted.

And following that crackling power was an inhumane presence that crushed down on everything. It was many magnitudes worse than the last time Liang Chen had sensed it, it felt as if it was trying to compress an entire planet into a single pea-sized marble.

But Liang Chen still stood tall, if his current form could even manage that. The Void was outside of the Sphere of Existence's jurisdictions, it was not shackled by any one of the three Spheres. No, it was they that were shackled by the Void, it was they that had to fear it, because sooner or later they would return to it. And that was true whether they wanted it or not.

But Liang Chen wasn't the only one present, and him being able to bear it did not mean that the others would be able to do the same. Yumao and the others were forced to the ground, sprawled flat as their bones creaked and the earth groaned. The Sphere was indiscriminate in its wrath, it had been aroused so the area that awoke it needed to be erased.

But even as he was being pressed against the ground, Yumao did his best to maintain his domain. It was trembling and constantly breaking under the presence of the crimson clouds, but each time it shattered he reformed it straight away, ignoring the toll it took on him and Sheng Lian as well as the cost they had to pay. Liang Chen reached out to the two of them, a tendril of chaotic energy replacing his hand as he stroked their heads.

"Enough, that's enough. You've done enough, thank you. Now rest, leave everything else to me and sleep peacefully."

He wasn't sure if they'd be able to even hear his words, but it seemed that worry was pointless. The two raised their heads as fast as they could, the desperation that filled their eyes washing away like dust in the rain. They both flashed wide smiles, Yumao's looking exceptionally creepy since he was still trapped in his bestial form.

The dark domain cracked and shattered one more time, but this time it wasn't reformed. The surge of power it provided also faded, leaving only the chaotic wrath of the Sphere and the mass of energy that was Liang Chen. Yumao wriggled slightly as he tried to dive into his familiar home, the house that held his egg and birthed him, Liang Chen's dantian. But there was nothing, no response, no bond. The home he once inhabited was gone, the internal ties it had created were erased.

Liang Chen retracted the tendrils of energy he had stretched out and focused on the crimson sky above him. More and more lightning was crackling across the clouds, their roar drowning out even the sounds of space tearing and the world groaning. This time there would be no Universe Consciousness coming along to shoo it away, this time it would just be him and it.

Lightning continued to gather, but Liang Chen practically ignored it and kept on increasing the size of his domain. More and more trees sprouted as the domain grew, pale white earth and grey grass covering the land as he openly challenged the Sphere. He expanded his domain towards Yumao and the others, enveloping them in it.

This domain was his own Void, it was not a place for living beings that didn't belong to the Void. But right here and now he was the Void, it was nothing more than another part of him. And there was no way he would let a domain of his creation harm his friends. As such, the only thing the domain did to them was shield them from the wrath of the Sphere, giving them some breathing room as they rested amidst the maple-like trees.

"Well? Are you just going to sit around and watch forever?"

He once again raised his attention towards the cloud-covered sky after ensuring that Yumao and the others were safe, practically taunting the lightning. But the Sphere was not rushed, or perhaps it simply couldn't hear the words of an existence like Liang Chen. It kept gathering its power, crimson clouds slowly dyed white by roaring lightning.

It was a beautiful sight, a sky covered in untainted white, boundless and eternal. But the roars it brought with it were anything but beautiful. They spoke of the end of the world, unacceptable desires snuffed out before they could cause harm. And it was with exactly one such roar that the Sphere started its judgment.

It was a bolt of lightning but it looked more like a pillar that connected the heavens and earth. It was so bright that it was hard to tell exactly how large it was, but Liang Chen guessed that it was likely at least a few kilometres in diameter, it was far too thick to actually be called a bolt of lightning.

It also didn't splinter off like normal lightning, not a single arc branched away as it descended. No, all its power was gathered within, not an ounce was wasted as it descended upon Liang Chen. Was it a warning shot to put him in line, or was it perhaps testing his limits to see if it could get away with using a minuscule amount of energy?

Liang Chen had no answer to that question, he was just a man so he had no idea how the thoughts of the Sphere of Existence worked. But would this be enough to take him down? Oh, for this question he had an answer, and it was a resounding no.

His will moved, and the energy that formed him moved in response. The lightning tore apart the world and space as it descended, but Liang Chen tore apart reality as he moved. A gash opened in the world and swallowed the lightning, the massive pillar-like bolt sinking into the scar without a single sound as it vanished.

But as it vanished, the mass of energy that was Liang Chen recoiled slightly. It was as if it had taken a hit that forced it down, shrinking slightly as a result. And as the mass of energy shrank, the domain expanded again, the crimson leaves gleaming slightly.

The Void took in all, accepted all. In the end, everything would become the Void, Existence was in the end nothing more than food for the Void, the energy that would be used to start a new world. In the past the Sphere may have been able to stop him, it would have been able to crush him as it pleased.

But now? No, now it was already too late. The man had faded and the Void had been born, and as long as the Sphere was unable to crush the Void, it would be equally unable to crush him. Would things be the same after he managed to compress himself into a physical form? He didn't know, there was after all no telling how the Void would react to being completely merged with other laws. But no matter what happened later, right now at least he was practically invincible. And the first one who'd have to suffer from that would be the Sphere of Existence.

The probing attack had failed spectacularly, in fact, the energy that fueled it had been taken in by the enemy and used as fuel to promote their own growth. The clouds and the lightning covering them trembled as a result, but was it done out of fear or anger? Whatever the case was, the response chosen by the Sphere was an all-out attack. A single charge to decimate that which dared to go against it.

The lightning that covered the sky loosened bit by bit, once again revealing the crimson clouds that covered the blue of the sky. But the crimson clouds also started to dissipate, pouring themselves into the white lightning as the Sphere prepared its final attack, the final part of its judgment. The bolts didn't fall down one by one to push Liang Chen to his limits, no, they poured down like rain.

The sky collapsed and fell, that was what it looked like from below. An uncountable number of lightning bolts descending at once, each one as thick as a heaven-connecting pillar. This was an attack meant to completely ruin the world, an attack that would leave nothing in the end.

But what meaning did an attack that would leave nothing have to do with the Void? It was the nothing that remained in the end. Liang Chen gazed at the world-ending spectacle that descended towards him. This was the full extent of the Sphere of Existence's wrath, a collapsing sky and a ruined world. But if it thought that this would be enough to compete with him then it would end up disappointed.

Liang Chen had seen several planets already, he had seen so many skies and worlds that he couldn't be bothered to count them anymore. And in each one there were screams, each one housed innocents that fell for no good reason, sinners that evaded judgment. His wrath encompassed all skies, all worlds, and the Sphere thought it could take him down by only bringing out enough power to take down a single sky, a single world?

"You have no place here. I'll do what you should have been doing from the start, so you can just fade away."

If the heavens wouldn't punish sinners then he would do so, that was how Liang Chen had started his path. He still stood by those words today, it was just that they'd been expanded unknowingly to also include saving the innocent. To save and to punish, that was his goal. The one who responded to screams, both silenced ones and those still going on, that was Liang Chen.

The sky collapsed on him to punish him, but he tore apart reality to welcome it. A gash appeared above him, a scar on existence. But this one was larger than any he had ever created before, it seemed to stretch from one end of the horizon to the other. A gash upon reality, a tear in existence that could swallow even the sky as it fell.

And it did just that, it swallowed the pure white lightning that filled the air. A small figure had rushed towards the gash from within it, but the white lightning swallowed it up before anyone could spot it. And with the lightning sinking into the Void, the mass of energy that was Liang Chen started to quickly change.

Bit by bit it shrank, like a barrage of hits was smashing it into the ground. A sword needed to be hammered to be forged, dents and impurities had to be beaten out so that the weapon could reach its full potential. And Liang Chen was the same right now, directing all the energy of the lightning into himself to hammer himself, to forge a body.

The domain around him also changed as the mass of energy did. It stopped expanding after a bit and instead seemed to grow denser, more connected to Liang Chen. Slowly but surely, every inch of the domain felt like it was part of him, each tree or blade of grass just another extension of his body.

And then, when the last bit of lightning vanished into the Void, the gash on reality collapsed in on itself and sank into its creator with a sound that was akin to rusty metal gears grinding against each other. The domain he had stretched out also did the same, but it didn't leave the altered world behind.

No, the land, the trees, the grass, the black worms, all of it vanished. A gaping crater was left in the area, Yumao and the others hurriedly catching themselves before they fell. And then their gazes were all drawn towards the same place, the previously empty area that now housed a familiar and naked man grasping a crimson interspatial ring.

--

Kongxu Zhuren stood inside the Void with a twisted expression as he looked at the spot where the large gash had just been. His grey eyes gleamed darkly and his green hair was dishevelled, had it not been for the lightning that fell on him just now then he would have been able to hop out of the gash and instantly reach the location of the fake ruler. He had noticed his presence the second he opened a gash, but it had been pretty far away from him so he needed a bit of time to rush over.

"...Fine, you're lucky, lucky boy. But that luck will run out sooner or later, you can't hide from me forever."

He couldn't help but grumble at the other party's luck. If he could only sense the other party's energy for a bit then he would be able to locate him and tear open a gate to reach him. But the other party, the fake ruler, his connection with the Void made it nigh impossible for Zhuren to properly sense him, he simply melted into the surroundings.

"And this...Don't think that I'll take this insult sitting down."

Zhuren's gaze lowered slightly, landing on a patch of land beneath him. The earth there was pale white and grey grass had sprouted, hundreds of maple-like trees dotting the land. This was a patch of land that shouldn't exist in the Void, it had no home here. Yet here it was, standing safely there as if to mock Zhuren.

And worst of all was that Zhuren couldn't interact with it. The entire stretch of land was surrounded by a bubble that rejected him, it refused to let him or his energy get close to the land. He was a Voidborn Ruler, born of the Void to rule and control it, how could there possibly be a patch of land in the Void that rejected him?

"This is my home, not yours. The Void doesn't need a fake ruler, an intruder who doesn't understand a thing about it. I will cut you off, just you watch."