Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

An indistinct shadow flashed into existence near a gloomy, black lake. There were fishes with dark-green scales that dimly lit the lake's surface. 

Yan Zaizen's figure slowly morphed into the shadow. It was a brief transition yet it felt as if space, time, and the laws of the world were carving him inch by inch until he was fully realized. After emerging, Yan Zaizen's amber-gold eyes were somewhat dim and his expression was pale.

"I didn't think superimposing all of my forces still wasn't enough to fully initiate teleportation. I nearly faded into dimensional, chaotic, and void space all at once. Holy shit…" Yan Zaizen cursed as he recalled his earlier experiences. When he witnessed the unique teleportation-like divine art of the Old Timer, he felt confident enough to replicate it. 

Unfortunately…

"Teleportation isn't as simple as creating a portal into chaotic or void space and shifting through it, exiting from the other side. It truly relies on the perfect cohesiveness of time and space to instantly bypass temporal and spatial limitations. You're acting against the natural laws of the universe itself." A wise voice echoed as Master Qiankun arrived, a smile on his face.

Yan Zaizen gave him a side-glance. He scoffed, "No wonder celestials are so legendary." His remarks held his truest feelings. The Celestial Cultivation Path was a little too strong in comparison to Heavenly Cultivators.

Master Qiankun gave off a stuffy chortle, "Us celestials rely on ourselves, not external power. We are the heavens and we are the universe. Apologies."

Unlike Heavenly Cultivators who rely on the external heavens to comprehend and develop, Celestials create their own essence and step by step grow their own heavens. Therefore, the heavenly, worldly, or universal laws held very little influence over their power.

Yan Zaizen had used Yri's Celestial Essence to bypass the temporal limitations and segregate into time remnants to experience the future. In fact, looking into the future was incredibly difficult and nearly impossible without a heaven-rivaling or exceeding cultivation base. Even still, the most they would obtain would be vagueness and uncertainty. As for Celestials, they could perceive the legitimate aspects of the future with near certainty.

That being said, the logic of peering into the future changes the future still applies. As long as they kept it to themselves, exerting any impact on the timeline until the future carried out, they could rewrite their own vision rather easily. In fact, doing absolutely nothing can cause ripples in the timeline(Unless that's what you originally did).

Yan Zaizen regulated his breathing as he regained his heavenly energy from the surrounding essence. He didn't have much time, his prophetic instincts continued to blare like a disaster siren. The chase hadn't stopped.

Master Qiankun calmly peered into the dark, gloomy lake. A mysterious light surfaced within those wizened eyes surrounded by his withered face. This light contained some profound exhaustion.

"Celestials aren't invincible," he said suddenly.

Yan Zaizen's eyes lifted slightly. Those words were said with the utmost sorrow. 

Master Qiankun continued staring at the lake surface. Yan Zaizen couldn't tell his expression, even the reflection within the dark waters were murky and indistinct, yet he somehow felt that this Old Timer was crying. He felt a similar sorrow well in his heart.

"Pinaka…" he clenched his fist. A figure so beautiful, so warm, yet the last image he saw was her brave sacrifice and contentful, believing smile. 

Was she doing well?

Was she lonely?

An old sage and a young sovereign stood beside a dark lake beneath gloomy skies, to each their own thoughts. A cold breeze flowed between them, whispering a tune that defined their own tragedies and failures.

A long moment passed before Master Qiankun spoke, "Do you know that Celestials originally bled gold blood?" 

Yan Zaizen was startled. Bled gold? He had seen Yri bleed, and her blood wasn't gold. Thinking about it, her body wasn't her original one. She had discarded it for a new one for a chance to grasp the Dao Heart after twenty-plus billion years.

"Why does that matter?" Yan Zaizen calmly asked. 

Master Qiankun didn't answer for quite a while, but he sighed and said, "Perhaps it does. Perhaps it doesn't." 

Yan Zaizen felt this old timer was becoming more and more confusing, unable to understand his intent or desires clearly. He checked his current state, and realized his body and heavenly energy had fully restored. With a nod, he readied to depart.

However, at the last moment he was about to shoot into the sky, vanishing like a comet over the horizon, he halted his energy. 

"Old Timer, I don't know what you want or who you are. Honestly, I don't care. As long as you're not against me, then I won't take action against you." After he said this, he turned to see the melancholic expression still linger on Master Qiankun's face.

"The world is unfathomable, fate is malleable. All I want is to become friends, and that is enough." Master Qiankun said, wiping off the sorrow from his face and eyes, revealing his once more wizened eyes and hearty smile. He sent over a ray of soul energy. Within it contained his Divine Art that explained the theories of teleportation as well as the universal imposed limitations.

Yan Zaizen paused for a moment. He was shocked by the transmission of valuable information. Normally, he wouldn't try to invest too much time in this, but he felt drawn by something. It wasn't his prophetic instincts, but his own senses. They told him that this old man was worth befriending.

He nodded. "Then, from today onwards: We're friends." After that, he didn't delay any longer and sped into the dark skies. With a flash, he vanished from the gloomy horizon that enshrouded the Dusk Region.

Master Qiankun gazed at the horizon with a calm expression. The word 'friend' was quite normal, expected among mortals, but cultivators were unreliable in this regard. They often acted for strength, self-interest, and eternal life. They fought for resources and avoided those too weak, believing they were beneath them, meant to be subordinates or servants tending to their desires.

Even cultivators of equal strength may consider each other friends, but in a moment of crisis or fortune, this word can crumble to dust in one's mouth.

However, when Yan Zaizen said this, the world of the Master Qiankun changed. A faint dao enshrouded him, unseen yet ever present. From henceforth, Yan Zaizen would eternally consider him a friend.

As long as he didn't betray this title. It felt free and mystical. A smile emerged on his withered face. "To think it was that easy. He's quite simple and direct, but I like that."

He turned towards the opposite horizon, already feeling the ripples of power from the various pursuing ships. These were individuals with all sorts of ill-intent, self-desires, and ruthlessness befitting their status. 

"A river of blood and gold. Flowing once more into the heavens. I can not wait for that day." He laughed once more, vanishing from the lake.

-----

In a distance of tens of billions of miles away, a worldship of white and luminescence was berthed in the void. Within this worldship was a world of eternal light, housing Celestials of all ages and cultivations. 

Before a grand mirror that reflected all except the light within this world, a figure bathed in white light stood before it. She seemed like the origin of all light within this world of light. She watched the images displayed on the grand mirror, witnessing the fight between Pseudo-God Kirri and Creator God Byzi. At the end, Yan Zaizen had arrived and sneakily claimed Pseudo-God Kirri's life.

"..." She was silent, and so was the billions behind her who waited patiently for her orders. While the scenes were fantastical, they held very little relevance to her objective.

After a while, the image soon flashed to a dark light that was dimly lit with a green light, originating from the inhabiting fishes. A young man and old sage were quietly resting beside this lake. They seemed lonely and suffused with yearning and sorrow, yet at the end, a change in their aura uplifted this atmosphere.

Afterwards, the mirror rippled endlessly, distorting the picture. The billions watching were startled, unsure of what this development meant, but the woman of light was calm and undisturbed, causing her fanatic believers to quiet down and watch in silence.

A figure pierced through the mirror, exiting from it like a human entering the surface of a body of water. When the figure arrived, it revealed itself to be an old man with wizened eyes and a withered face.

The woman of light, the Light Sovereign Queen, respectfully said: "Master Qiankun."

Master Qiankun smiled at this woman whose face and body couldn't be seen, drenched in luminescence light like a blazing sun. "Little Ammie, we can leave now."

Those words caused a clamor to rise from the billions watching. The Light Sovereign Queen, otherwise referred to as Little Ammie by Master Qiankun, was visibly trembling. "You obtained it?" She asked with a hint of impatience.

Master Qiankun smiled, "No. It's impossible to obtain, I told you this. The only way is to be allowed to exit, granted permission. The 'Key' isn't something that can be persuaded with threats, and the Heavenly Origin Grounds Heavenly Laws will intentionally loosen its restrictions around him while simultaneously suppressing any threat. It's not possible to capture him."

He turned towards the mirror, "You must've seen how he killed Pseudo-God Kirri, right? How Celestial Creator Byzi didn't dare to strike him."

The woman nodded. This was indeed strange considering Byzi's intentions and Pseudo-God Kirri's profound cultivation base. In fact, while Yan Zaizen was strong, he shouldn't have the power to surmount Three Heavenly Phases, regardless of his foundation or laws.

The Power of Paths, Power of Laws, and then the Power of Grand & Minor Heavens were fundamentally different to the point a thousand-times gap between would be describing it as too little. Yet, he did.

Master Qiankun continued, "With the Heavenly Daos present, all those he holds ill-intent towards would weaken by at least a millionth of their power when the 'Key' acts, this is moreso true for Celestials than Heavenly Cultivators. Even 'he' would be unable to kill him in the Heavenly Origin Grounds. Haha. Enough, lets go."

A silver skyship flashed into being, arriving next to the bright worldship. It used a beam of sorts to send itself into the world of light.

The Light Sovereign Queen felt elation, she ordered: "Set a course! To the Ninety-Nine Heavens of Zen!"

Master Qiankun didn't hinder her happiness as he looked at the grand mirror that reflected Yan Zaizen's figure. He whispered softly, "It's no longer called the Ninety-Nine Heavens of Zen anymore, but the Thirty-Three Heavens."