Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

The current Meteorite City was not the same Meteorite City he remembered. The buildings, people, and atmosphere had all changed. Even its history and controlling forces were no longer the same. With the passing of several thousand years, how could it not? 

Yan Zaizen calmly strolled amongst the busy streets and people of the city, looking at all that was both familiar and unfamiliar to his eye. He had grown up in this city, both this body and his previous one. After awakening, he truly felt the winds of time brush past this location when comparing his previous life. The clans of old were no longer a factor, even worse, they weren't even a part of the current city's history. They had been replaced, moved on, or been crushed into nothing.

"The only true thing that hasn't changed is the meteorite that gave the city its namesake." In his past, the meteorite was named due to the catastrophic culling-level meteor shower that wiped out all living things for countless miles. The city of his past worshipped a surviving meteorite as a sign of rebirth and persistence. Despite that, its lands were razed to the grounds and resources became abnormally scarce. This allowed even the Yan Clan, a force whose strongest leader was at the Qi Unification Realm. 

Yan Zaizen observed the cultivators and citizens engage in various activities. Their average cultivation bases hadn't evolved by any means. The weakest were still at the lowest Qi Foundation Realm, the first Realm of the Essence Path, while the strongest was at the Qi Unification Realm. This was pathetically low.

He silently sneered in his heart. The old him, the one that was merely at the Qi Cyclone Realm at the age of sixteen, had felt that the Qi Unification Realm was godly and unequalled. Now, having been exposed to those that could rival and exceed the heavens, he truly understood the meaning of frog in a well by retrospective insight. 

All those memories of his younger self felt fresh. Those experiences, those memories, is what inevitably led to his future and Dao forming. He found them incomparably precious. In the end, he let loose a soft sigh of complex emotion, "I can't delay my cultivation." This visit down memory lane had to be short lived. His path couldn't encompass the Heavenly Path, and was strictly the Herculean Path. If his cultivation was sufficient, he could use his physical body to resist the strange force entrapping his original body.

"The only issue is...how to avoid the Heavenly Annihilation Light." This was a crucial aspect he couldn't neglect. When he was younger and first started out on the path of a Herculean, it was a path that had been outlawed by the Heavenly God of this Heaven, prohibited from being cultivated and anyone who attempted to go against this law would be dealt with swiftly. He had deeply learned about the Heavenly Laws during his adventures in the Heavenly Origin Grounds, and thus knew of the difficulties of going against the Heavenly God's laws. 

If this was his original soul with the Black Hole within, he wouldn't fear it. 

"The Herculean Path is a complete path, exceeding the Heavenly Path's power," he remarked with a 'tch' at the end. When he cultivated the Herculean Path, he had experienced a vision and the Herculean Path's manifested representative figure eclipsed the heavens by a considerable degree. This meant its Path was fully formed by an expert that had exceeded the heavens limits, developing their own Original Path to an absolutely unfathomably shocking level. 

"Before, I got lucky. The Black Hole had to have absorbed it, just like all the other threats to my soul. Unfortunately…" He truly felt himself at an obstacle. How could he cultivate the Herculean Path without being killed by the Heavenly Annihilation Light? There was an answer, he just needed to dig it out of his memories. 

While he had regained the entirety of his sense of self from before, even his older memories, he still was without all of his most recent ones. They were still coming in like the trickles of rain. 

Just as he was about to focus more on this issue, he heard a voice shout from afar. 

"Hold it!" The rumbling of heavy, armored footsteps echoed from the distance alongside an authoritative voice filled with harsh intent. Yan Zaizen turned, spotting three men in the city guard's armor stomping towards him. At the head was a familiar figure, someone this new life of his had interacted with heavily - Old Man Bo.

A mischievous light entered his amber-gold eyes, with a silent flashing of interest. This old man had a cultivation at the mid-Qi Cyclone Realm, and following beside him were two guards at the initial-Qi Cyclone Realm. Their eyes radiated ill-intent and frustration, obviously having suffered humiliation at his hands before. The poor citizens in their way were ruthlessly pushed aside, being tossed left and right as they bulldozed a clear path towards him.

He chuckled. "Old Man Bo, aren't you tired?" He teased from several dozen feet away. Then, he felt the rushing of wind surge from behind him. His eyes flashed, as he ducked and tumbled to the side. Two beefy arms swiped like a pincer at his previous location.

"How intelligent!" This Old Man Bo had purposefully made his presence known from far away to draw his attention away. He regarded the owner of those two arms. He had a fierce gaze, beefy body, and seemed to have a cultivation base at the same level of Old Man Bo. 

"You!" He exclaimed through gritted teeth as he lunged forward towards Yan Zaizen's squatted form in an attempt to snare his movements. Unfortunately, Yan Zaizen was Yan Zaizen. Even though this body was fresh, this soul was nascent, and his uniqueness had vanished, he was still a possessor of a Dao! A peak Upper-Dao!

The Dao was unfathomable. It could exude an energy that could enhance cultivation speed, improve senses, and even connected Paths. The Heavenly Path relied on it. The Soul Source Path definitely could not do without it. The very act of interpersonal development was deeply connected to the Dao.

"That's it!" Amber-gold light suffused his eyes as he came to an abrupt realization. The way his original self had deduced the means to avoid the Heavenly Annihilation Light was using his Dao, the Dao of Sovereign Ascension and his Dao Heart, Grand Soul Art. A grin on his face, he said, "Thanks!" Before dashing into the crowd, his movements swift and practiced. It was as if he could predict future actions as he evaded and smoothly integrated with the busy streets and out various areas. 

When he entered an alleyway, the others followed only to be unable to find a trace of his presence. 

"You bastard! I'll strangle you one day!!" Old Man Bo shouted to the heavens in fury and rage. 

-----

The day soon passed and night quickly descended. 

In his makeshift home, Yan Zaizen felt all of his previous questions vanish and become brighter. Even though this portion of his original soul had been segregated, he had utilized the Divine Art of Yri, the Dao Heart, Grand Soul to instil a seed of his Dao Heart into this new soul. It was the same manner of which Yri wished to obtain a Dao Heart, but due to the incompatibility of their souls, she had to first intermix souls through dual cultivation to succeed. He, however, had no need to use such a troublesome means.

Currently, his Dao Seed was still festering within him, awaiting for him to awaken it. It was a risk, but with it, he might be able to resist or even fool the Heavenly Annihilation Lightning. This was a very delicate matter, and if it failed, he would perish and his original body would forever be trapped within the Deep Mine's unique environment indefinitely.

He couldn't allow that to him; he couldn't fail.

He sat down in the lotus position and regulated his breathing. The Immortal Herculean Method's first level had no special requirements, only wrestling away full control of the body's functions and removing the limiters bestowed to the lifeform by the heavens. This may sound simple, and when he was younger he felt it was, but as experienced as he was now, he understood the fierce difficulty in achieving this feat. The very first step wanted to exceed the heavens! The very, very first step!

If it wasn't for his Unyielding Flame of Life and Black Hole, he would've perished trying to tackle this path without a doubt. Now, he no longer had the Unyielding Flame of Life or Black Hole. His insights in heavenly cultivation had been unable to be transferred, leaving him with only what could, his Dao Seed for his Dao Heart.

His Dao, the Dao of Sovereign Ascension, was his only card in challenging the heavens and the Heavenly Gods restrictions. The only thing he had to empower his body to withstand the tremendous damage incurred by attempting this path.

"Huuuuu! Haaaa!" Deeply inhaling and exhaling, he calmed his mind to its utmost. 

Today, he starts anew.