Prime Originator

Suddenly, Aria had a bad feeling.

If this person was stuck in this memory world, then what was going to happen to her? Was she going to be stuck in this world too?

She was supposed to be in the middle of her Transcendence!

"Is there really no way to leave this world? I can't be stuck here. I was still in the middle of a breakthrough before I entered this place!" Aria said with an urgent tone.

The other Aria glanced at Aria with surprise and asked, "You didn't come here after dying, but while you were in the middle of a breakthrough? What realm were you breathing through to?"

"What? Of course not!" Aria denied the possibility of her dying. Shortly after, she explained, "I was in the middle of breaking through to the Transcendent Realm."

"The Transcendent Realm? What kind of realm is that?" The other Aria asked with furrowed brows. She had not heard of this realm within the realms of Divine Cultivation.

"The Transcendent Realm is the realm that comes after…" Aria began explaining to the other Aria about Awakening Cultivation and the comprehension of laws.

After she was done, the other Aria had an understanding look while saying, "I see. That sounds like a really interesting cultivation system. However, something would not be possible in the Divine Realm. It seems we are really from different worlds."

The other Aria recalled the World Tree that Aria mentioned in her world—A World Tree that bloomed in a world with scarce Spirit Energy.

"Why don't you tell me more about your world? Maybe we will be able to figure out a way to leave this place if I get a clearer understanding of your situation." The other Aria explained.

She was intrigued by Aria's world.

Aria nodded.

"It's rare to have someone to talk to. I shouldn't keep calling you, you, and the same goes for you too. My name is Aria White. And you are?" The other Aria decided to finally introduce herself.

Aria glanced back at Aria White in surprise.

Not only did they look the same, but they also share the same name? Although it was only the first name, it was enough to prove that some profound and separable connection truly existed between them.

"I am Aria Rivera."

"Ah, another Aria. I see. We really do share some sort of inexplicably intertwined fate. Come to think of it, you share the spitting image of my younger self. If you were to practice my divine cultivation technique, we would become like twins in a few years."

"Is the divine cultivation technique called the [Ice Phoenix Divine Canon]?" Aria asked.

Aria White was immediately taken aback before she said, "So you also know that name of this divine cultivation technique too. It seems we will have a lot to talk about."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise. I have so much I wish to learn from you."

When the two Aria tried to shake hands, something happened.

Their hands phased through each other just like when they tried to interact with the memory world—However, that was not all. Aria White's body became slightly translucent, like a part of her being was absorbed by Aria Rivera.

The scene stunned them both.

"I-I'm sorry… I did not expect for this to happen…" Aria apologetically said, taking a few steps back with shock and incomprehensibility.

In mere moments, she experienced a greater shock as a source of information flowed into her head.

"Y-Your memories… I have them in my mind…"

"So that is how it is…"

The other Aria said.

She glanced at her slightly translucent hand for a moment before she seemed to have understood what was going on.

Shaking her head, she said, "No, don't be sorry. This is fine by me. I am supposed to be dead anyway. This could be the secret to leaving this place. Destiny brought us together for this moment—I was kept alive for this moment. Let us become one."

"No! There had to be another way!" Aria denied while retreating backward. Her hand was still clear as can be, while only Aria White had become translucent. "You will die if this continues!"

"Yes, as it should have been years ago." The other Aria nodded, thinking nothing of it. Her heart had died long ago.

The only she was still alive in this place was because she cannot kill herself.

Aria frowned.

"Don't you want to know more about my world? We can sit down somewhere; I will tell you more about it!" She persuaded.

"There's no need for that."

"Besides, your world's power is centralized around law comprehension. In that case, you will find my knowledge especially useful. You see, this place is ideally the best place to comprehend the Temporal Laws."

Aria was startled when the other Aria suddenly disappeared in front of her.

When she thought about it, they were both observers in this memory world. Yet, the other person could freely change the flow of time to show her specific events within the history of the memory world.

At this moment, the other Aria was also displaying the usage of Spatial Laws. Aria was amazed that this person could freely control the Spatial and Temporal Laws despite not being an Awakener.

'Divine Kings were amazing.' Aria thought.

However, she was wrong.

Aria did not know that even among Divine Kings, no one is able to control the Temporal Law as well as Aria White had shown.

"Time moves in a linear path. The first step is to speed up the flow of time, achieving Temporal Acceleration."

The other Aria reappeared in another location and lectured Aria while showing a demonstration.

"The second step is to slow down time, achieving Temporal Stagnation…"

"The third step is to stop time, achieving Temporal Suspension…"

"The fourth step is to reverse time, achieving Temporal Reversal…"

"This is what I have comprehended. If there is a fifth step, allowing you to reverse time back to the beginning of time... Well, I suppose you would have the same power as the Creator—if there's one, of course."

The other Aria flickered and disappeared again, reappearing and launching a surprise hug from behind, wrapping her arms around Aria.

"That's about it. You should understand the rest once you absorb my knowledge. Alas, I do not know how useless this knowledge will be in your world. However, I pray that you make the most of it."

"Stop it, Aria! Let go of me! You're disappearing!" Aria struggled, but she could not great free from Aria White's embrace.

Aria White's body gradually turned more transparent. Parts of her body faded into nothing, but a smile hung on her face while her eyes appeared clouded and unfocused.

Her mind was preoccupied with something else.

"I see… he was reborn into that world. You were a lot braver than I was… I hope you can take care of him well for me… my other self." The other Aria spoke before the last trace of her being completely vanished into Aria's body.

"Noooo!" Aria cried.

The invisible force restricting her movements were lifted, along with Aria White's disappearance. Aria tried to catch the final fading particles of light, but they just vanished into her hands.

Two streaks of tears ran down Aria's cheeks while an endless stream of information entered her mind.

They were absorbed directly into her soul core and grew increasingly like a patch of snows being added to a rolling snowball. It was not like a growing balloon; there was no stress on her mind.

Shortly after, cracks began to form on the distant edges of the memory world. It broke down in parts as large pieces of the sky fell to the ground one after the other and shatter like glasses until everything disappeared.

The world outside the memory world was not the infinite void of darkness but a great grey expanse. Aria only managed to catch a few glimpses of it before she felt an invisible tug on her mind and brought her back into her sea of consciousness.

Everything had disappeared in an instant and gave Aria the surreal feeling that everything she had witnessed was nothing more than an illusion.

'What kind of spiritual world was that?' She mused quietly with a forlorn expression.

…

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Divine Realm.

A man wearing a traditional silk robe with luxurious dragon patterns was seen inside a dark but spacious underground tomb with dimly lit candle fire.

The temperature of the underground tomb was below freezing point, and the soft billows of cold mists could be seen filling the place. Any ordinary person who touches this cold mist would freeze in an instant.

Nevertheless, the man in dragon-patterned silk robes did not seem bothered by this coldness. A faint layer of Divine Energy shielded his body.

His cultivation was not very high, only within the middle stages of the Divine Transformation Realm. Even so, it was more than enough to protect him against the cold.

He was seated by an ice coffin made of something called 'Icesoul Crystals,' something used to preserve the body of the dead in their most pristine state.

Legend had it that when someone is preserved in the Icesoul Crystal Coffin for 100 thousand years, their soul fragments would slowly gather in that timespan until the person is finally revived.

However, at this moment, the Icesoul Crystal Coffin suddenly cracked. Extreme frosty air began to spill from inside immediately as the coffin walls gain translucency, revealing the person of a fairy-like woman with otherworldly beauty inside.

"No!"

The man cried with desolation and misery immediately.

He shot to his feet and tried to quickly seal the crack in the Icesoul Coffin before roaring with anguish, "Why did this happen?!"