While being shuttled through a sea of luminous light, Yan Zaizen couldn't help but recall the incident earlier. The manifestation of 'Yan Zaizen' which displayed an art of the Origin Path - Gaze of Origin Shock.
He was curious about two things:
Why did the Monolith decide to display this to him?
How did he obtain the complete cultivation method?
He had no clue about the first question, but the second was reasoned. When he was in the Asura Phantom Realm, at the first-floor entryway, he was hit with a beam of soul energy that could transform the soul. This beam was thoroughly devoured and consumed by the black hole. Despite this, he still retained the remnant information it carried.
"The Black Hole can't absorb information or thoughts?" When he thought up to here, he felt it was incorrect. From what he learned, Ezekiel had been absorbed into his soul and likely other soul beings. Yet, he retained none of their memories or information.
"Could it be related to an unconventional soul structure or soul energy?" The soul beam carried profound soul laws, including a phantom cultivation method. While the manifestation of 'Yan Zaizen' carried an Origin Path cultivation method. If it was soul energy, he should've been able to absorb information from soul crystals, but soul crystals were simply ambient soul energy emitted from living creatures and condensed over time.
"I can't absorb information from soul flames or physical minds, but other non-sentient soul-based existences that carry information?" This was his conclusion, and he felt it was correct. If there was another source that carried information and was soul-based, he was almost certain he could retain information from it.
Looking at his palm, he saw the light emitting from between his skin and muscles. "Sixty-six…" Supposedly, this number mattered greatly at the end of the trial. As he looked closer, he felt like something was wrong.
Abruptly, the number changed. From '66', it converted to 'Heavenly End'.
Before he could analyze the situation thoroughly, a burst of bright light exploded in front of him. For the first time since cultivating, he felt blinded by light.
He could stare at suns or even arrive near one, yet he would still be able to retain his vision. Yet, he lost his vision due to this light.
"What?!" At a loss of what to do, his eyes flashed with a light of dark-amber. Any fear of the unknown that existed was sent away, replaced by a tyrannical gaze that seemed to look at the world with arrogance. With the eruption of his dao, his calmness was regained and he closed his eyes.
His body shuttling forward suddenly stopped. He felt solid ground beneath his feet and the heavenly laws circulating around him. After opening his eyes, he narrowed them.
A figure donned in white heavy armor stood before him. This figure had a sturdy, muscular build. He stood upright with a sword in right hand. Most notably, the white armor had claw marks that seemed to emanate some profound law.
His helmet covered a majority of its face, leaving only the eyes to be seen. However, those weren't normal eyes. There was no pupils or irises within these eyes, but pure white sclera. It was as if looking at those eyes would drown you in a sea of white.
Yan Zaizen took note of the sword in its right hand. The figure held it horizontally and it was perfectly still. The sword wasn't truly a sword, but more so a white wolf's fang that seemed to hone and emit the predatory supremacy of a ferocious beast.
If Yan Zaizen's dao wasn't invoked, it's possible he would quiver in inferiority at the sight alone.
The environment wasn't normal. There was a white sun above with a grey sky. The white was exceptionally brilliant and felt blinding. He concluded that the light from earlier emitted from this sun. This sun felt like a grand predator and the light released smells and felt like blood when it touched the sun.
"What is this place?" With a calm tone, but furrowed brows, Yan Zaizen directly asked. From what he was informed about the trial, all the trials were the same with different outcomes, but...there shouldn't be any trial that tests one's battle prowess.
The three trials highlighted potential, intelligence, and will. The next trial should be a puzzle of some sort, not this. Unless...
"What is it I'm supposed to do?" He inquired, taking more information from the surroundings. If this was some sort of puzzle, he would definitely take this chance to absorb all the information he could. However, this area was essentially blank ground. The only two features were the white sun and grey sky.
"Greetings, Yan Zaizen." The white armored figure, obviously male from the voice, spoke in a deep and growling like voice.
Yan Zaizen became cautious. For one, this situation started to feel odd. "You know my name, but I don't know yours. Don't you find this rude?"
"...I go by many names. Tu Hanxu, Xiha, or the White Sirius Heavenly Monarch. You can call me what you wish."
"What?!" Yan Zaizen was deeply shocked. Was this person the White Sirius Heavenly Monarch? Shouldn't that be impossible? After all, he died tens of thousands of years ago during the Chaos Era!
"Heavenly King Xiha." Yan Zaizen respectfully greeted. Heavenly Commanders are typically called Lord by equals, and Heavenly Lord by those with lesser status. Heavenly Monarchs were similar, with the 'Heavenly' denoting a clear agreement to a lesser importance or status.
To Yan Zaizen, it was entirely possible that this person was the White Sirius Heavenly Monarch. If not him truly, then it was an avatar he established before his death. Astral Remnants could exist after death and he was sure that Heavenly Cultivators could do similar things with his cultivation base.
As he heard Yan Zaizen's form of address, his eyes turned nostalgic and if he wasn't covered by a suit of armor, Yan Zaizen could've sworn he smiled. "Yan Zaizen, the one I've been waiting for," Xiha spoke. His tone was quite ambiguous. Yan Zaizen couldn't determine if it was effused a sense of relief or pain.
"Me?" Yan Zaizen thought for a brief period. If this was a trial then there had to be an end goal. It was likely his scores earlier determined his outstanding talent and thus met some criteria that the Heavenly Monarch left behind. If so, then this could be considered him meeting those standards.
Xiha turned his sword vertical and then stabbed it into the ground. A rippling wave surged outwards as if the solid ground was water. This ripple carried an unfathomable distance.
Yan Zaizen calmly watched this all. He didn't feel any malicious intentions from the Heavenly Monarch or any instinctive feelings of danger. Instead, there was a deep sensation of fortune at the horizons. All he had to do was wait.
Xiha's eyes of white turned towards Yan Zaizen, they carried an unfathomable emotion and hint of sadness. "I was born forty million, three hundred thirty-three thousand years ago. I died three hundred thirty-three thousand years ago. On my forty millionth birthday, I perished and entered the cycle of Samsara."
Yan Zaizen merely listened, but his mind had already been stunned. To live for forty million years! What type of concept was that?! Even peak Heavenly Commanders can live only a million years at most, and that's if they're lucky.
Xiha continued, as he did, the world's surrounding changed to depict his story. He spoke of his early years, how he slaughtered countless men and beasts. How, as a hybrid, he was subjected to disdain from both the human and beast races.
Yan Zaizen was shocked to learn that forty million years ago, racism and speciesism was at its height. The humans and divine beasts were at constant war, and internally wasn't any different. They warred against anything different than themselves.
"At the time, the 27th Heaven was unclaimed." An unclaimed heaven essentially meant a heaven without a Heavenly God. Yan Zaizen was enraptured by the story of his upbringing and his struggles.
However, he also explained his failures. "As I reached the Heavenly Creation Realm, I attempted to claim this heaven as my own but failed. My dao was unable to support it."
Yan Zaizen's brows furrowed at this. Pinaka informed him that to obtain control of a Heaven, you needed a true dao. However, was it that simple? From Xiha's words, it didn't seem to be the case.
"I became injured...with this delay, I lost to the Chaos Origin Heavenly God. My biggest regret was also my biggest fortune. I continued cultivating and developed my own path, my path that could exceed the heavens! The Sirius Path!"
"Becoming a Heavenly God means giving up your independence, potential, and merge your True Origin with the heavens. Forever, until death, you must exist with the heavens, but never can you become anything more! Unfortunately…" Xiha faced towards the skies, the surrounding shifted to a different imagery.
Yan Zaizen saw Xiha dressed in an elegant white robe roaring towards the heavens with a wild expression. He was surrounded by a blinding white light. This white light was remarkably similar to the aura of the white sun and fang sword. The roar was filled with desolation and sorrow. It caused Yan Zaizen to feel a heartfelt sense of melancholy and unwillingness within.
"In the end, I failed." Xiha indifferently said.
A bolt of lightning that seemed to exist outside of the heavens descended. Xiha was struck and his light dimmed.
"My Path was unable to ascend." With those words, the world returned back to its original grey sky and white sun. His white gaze no longer faced the sky but collided with Yan Zaizen's gaze.
Yan Zaizen felt an aching in his heart. As if those words were far too heavy to hear, putting an invisible pressure on his existence. A cultivator's goal is to rival the heavens and exceed it! Yet, the White Sirius Heavenly Monarch failed to do so. It felt stifling to hear.
"I have one request."
Taking a deep breath, Yan Zaizen could already guess this Heavenly Monarch's intentions. After all, he did all this so his legacy could continue despite his failure.
"I wish for my Path to be eternal within the heavens. For as long as the heavens exist, so does it. As long as it exists, so does the heavens! This, I ask of you, Yan Zaizen!"