Everything is decided by the Tree of Tao, the Will of the World. There are those it blesses… and those it curses.
Reaching the peak (ninth star) of the Nascent Soul is not enough. One must create their own inner world, the Ashkharsh. Where, in my old world, this stage represented the pinnacle of power, here, it is only the beginning. For once this foundation is laid, a new ascent opens up to the truly cultivated.
The Ashkharsh is divided into three stages: knowing its law—understanding its law—Creation of the inner world.
Then come the true steps toward power: Sage, Saint-Sage, Supreme-Sage, Celestial King, Transcendence, Celestial Emperor, and Immortal. Until now, cultivators remain measurable. Some have more powerful laws, others more solid foundations, but the difference remains understandable. Even if the power is all the more immeasurable. The power that separates an ant from a mortal is closer than the power that separates an emperor from someone who has not yet reached Transcendence. That is why, upon reaching their level, many emperors either numb their emotions, become detached from the world and cultivate in seclusion, or become extremely violent, killing everything like insects under their feet.
But from the next level, all comparison becomes futile. Reaching this stage means becoming one's Law. It is no longer mastery, but absolute fusion. Law Incarnation. A cultivator of fire no longer wields the flame: they are the flame. A master of ice no longer invokes frost: their presence numbs spacetime itself. There are no tiers at this level. Nor any way to detect this stage of power.
And yet… one final threshold remains. Here, it is no longer about individual laws, but the fundamental principles that govern the universe.
Ruler Incarnation, the hypothetical level the first Devourer had reached.
The rules are fourfold: the Dharma, which represents the cycle of Creation and Destruction, encompassing laws like time, space, fire, ice, light… The Samsara, which embodies the cycle of Reincarnation, encompassing life and death. The Karma, which governs the cycle of Destiny, encompassing causality and the connection between all things. And finally, the Nirvana, the source of desire and primordial chaos, born from the extreme Yin of Nothingness.
All these rules are subdivisions of the Taoji, the Universal Order. But there is an adversary. The opposite of the Taoji. Where the Taoji shapes and balances, the Wuji consumes and annihilates, returning all to nothingness. Its harbinger? The Devourer, an entity embodying extreme chaotic Yin Qi.
The natural enemy of this world. The antithesis of the Will of the Tao.
The one who should not exist.
That is why, wherever he goes, he is condemned. Wherever he hides, they will hunt him down. No matter his strength… they will never stop.
And I, BaiShe… I am the Devourer of this era.
End of POV
***
Far too many people wanted BaiShe dead. Since his awakening as the Devourer, he had become an abomination in the eyes of the world. He embodied a scourge that the universe itself sought to eradicate, for his existence defied natural laws. Yet, despite countless hunts, despite the enemies rising against him, he had to survive.
Using his Devourer form, he had already transcended the Ashkharsh stage, a phase few cultivators had reached. But he knew he could no longer afford to display it. Too conspicuous, too dangerous. Every use of his power attracted even more powerful predators. Fortunately, they all had this unspoken rule: it was the younger generation's duty to hunt and kill him.
Why?
Because the appearance of the Devourer triggered a unique phenomenon. The Tree of Tao, the mysterious entity guiding the world's evolution, countered the threat by sowing unforeseen opportunities. Ordinary talents could find supreme artifacts, become reincarnations of powerful cultivators, or inherit techniques lost for eons. In five hundred years, a mere mortal could be shaped into a Heavenly Emperor.
It was a response programmed by the Tao itself.
Every era that saw the birth of a Devourer was a time of fervor, of unmatched geniuses.
BaiShe was not naive. He knew he could not directly fight against this inevitable tide of prodigies. He needed another path, a different cultivation, a Qi and a law capable of masking his true nature.
A cultivator's talent was determined by two aspects: spiritual roots and physique.
Spiritual roots defined an individual's raw potential for cultivation.
- One root: mediocre talent.
- Three roots: passable talent.
- Seven roots: a prodigy guaranteed to reach the peak of Heavenly Emperor if properly nurtured.
As for physiques, they were tied to bloodlines and strengthened the cultivator's connection with the law they wielded.
- Silver Physique: a high-level asset.
- Golden Physique: rare and precious.
- Celestial Physique: transcendent.
- Primordial Physique: Physiques that appeared eons ago, during the birth of the first Devourer. In BaiShe's time, only primordial gods possessed them.
Hu Sijin, for example, possessed the Anarchy Void Law and the Celestial Void Body, allowing him to travel through space at an unreachable speed without being torn apart by his own power. Even a random Heavenly King would be reduced to dust trying to follow at that speed.
And let's not even mention his rival Qing Long, who possessed the Dharma Physique.
Facing such monsters, BaiShe knew his raw power would not be enough.
As his wounds slowly closed, he attempted one last experiment.
He activated his Eye of Truth.
His silver left eye glowed with a green light, and instantly, the world around him transformed. Space seemed to tear, revealing a complex network of nodes suspended in the void, intertwined threads of different colors.
Then pain exploded in his skull.
"Kuuh—!"
A blinding migraine seized him, as if an avalanche of information was forcing his mind to assimilate the incomprehensible.
"F-Fuck!"
Blood slowly trickled from his eye, but he did not immediately release the technique. He searched through this flood of knowledge, seeking what concerned him.
Finally, he found it.
[Hu BaiShe, Linfer Vamp
Seven spiritual roots: Thousand-headed serpentine creature.
Peak of Spiritual Refinement / Creation of the Inner World.
Ashkharsh: All Red / ??? / …
Physique of the 7 Primordial Chaos (The seven desires of Nirvana) / Physique of Celestial Truth / ???
Devour Law / ???]
He clenched his fists in pain.
He already knew the Devour Law allowed him to absorb essences and strengthen his cultivation. But what he had just discovered… was far more terrifying.
His Physique of the 7 Primordial Chaos, or the seven desires of Nirvana, did not merely increase his power. It allowed him to recreate what he absorbed, giving him infinite potential.
"This power defies even the laws of the Tao. So how did I obtain it?"
He had already gained another constitution by absorbing Shen, but he could not use it openly either.
The Physique of Celestial Truth was very powerful. The Eye of Truth, part of the Karma Ruler, could even see destiny and better manipulate his plans. For even though the techniques of the Black Tortoise ancestral family remained secret, he suspected the threads and nodes he had seen were the very foundations of this world. Too bad he had absorbed Xuan Shen before he developed his Law.
He sighed, "My level was too low to perceive the entirety of my own nature. But it seems the Tao is not as absolute as I thought."
Moreover, there is information I do not yet have the power to understand.
[A/N: This is what the *???* symbolize—information he cannot yet conceive.]
BaiShe crouched on the ground, his hand pressed against his bloodied eye, while his whistling breath mingled with the energy-charged atmosphere of the place. The experience of the Eye of Truth had overwhelmed him. He knew his understanding of the world's laws was still incomplete, and yet, he had already glimpsed terrifying truths about himself.
"Anyway, the thing I lack the most… is power."
BaiShe repositioned himself in a lotus posture and calmed his mind.
"To get out of here… I should at least reach the peak of the Nascent Soul."
He took a deep breath and let out an ironic smile, plunging his psyche into a meditative state.
If he had to fight against the laws of the entire world, then so be it. All bets were off; he would do everything to survive.