Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

"...What the hell..." He felt mystified by this. He had seen titan realms, suns, moons, and even the immensity of the black hole in a vision, but only the last could compare to this eye. "The mysteries of the heavens..." Muttering to himself, he somehow calmed his rumbling heart. Wiping off the wet blood that had still stayed on his lips, he went after Mei.

"Wait..." Yan Zaizen hastily stopped himself. This eye was too immense; there’s no way he could’ve missed it when he arrived. Instead of pursuing Mei, he stepped back. He continued stepping back, shifting through the void while doing so, his distance from Mei enlarging at a breakneck pace. Only after traveling for a while did he stop, his eyes stared at the sky with solemness.

"The eye vanished," he inspected the sky to realize that the eye was no longer there. "The eye can only be seen in a certain range? Could it originate from this Gate of Heaven or...maybe it’s a Paradise Sword Realm observation art?" The eye likely didn’t exist in the physical world. This was his assumption after realizing it could vanish from his eight senses.

He stepped forward, moving very slowly until the eye reappeared. He looked at the ground, his eyes flickering with a profound light of calculation. He dropped downwards, landing on the spot that was set as a demarcation line to view the eye. Below was a grassy plain filled with beasts and humans undergoing various hunting activities or merely fetching materials from nearby.

"The ground...nothing’s strange?" He continued to inspect yet sensed nothing. However, he couldn’t quite lose the feeling like there was something at this line. He touched the ground, his eyes transforming into a set of spiraling black holes. Suddenly, a strand of something seemed to be extracted from the ground and entered his eyes. However, this strand entered his soul but couldn’t be refined or consumed. It merely lingered in his soul.

This strand was like a hair, thin and fragile, yet it stayed resilient through any force. "Spirituality? No...Yes?" Yan Zaizen continued to grow more confused as he inspected the strand. Its aura wasn’t dissimilar to the entity that had taken Pinaka, but it was also different. It was as if the strand had mutated somehow...this was the feeling he felt.

Every so often, the strand would twirl and flip about without cause or reason within his soul as if it had an essence of spirituality of its own.

Suddenly, he felt a cold air flow throughout his body. It caused him, a Herculean, to shiver uncontrollably. His heart couldn’t help but grow cold as well, feeling as if he was being watched...

He slowly turned his head.

Lifting it up, he saw the sky.

"!!!"

The eye was constricted, and its narrowed gaze and sudden shift made it clear that it was looking...directly at Yan Zaizen!

The strand within his soul wiggled and surged, but it couldn’t escape. Yan Zaizen’s soul bloodline had mutated from the swirling black hole that could devour spirituality, physicality, and essence, after being devoured, unless Yan Zaizen willed otherwise, extricating oneself was impossible. Considering Yan Zaizen weakened soul state, this still was a fundamental law of existence as a whole!

The eye continued to stare at Yan Zaizen, its pupils and irises shrunken and intense, but Yan Zaizen didn’t release the strand. Instead, his eyes grew brighter than ever before! At first, he thought there was malicious intent within the eyes, but that wasn’t the case.

It was abject fear!

As he observed longer, the eye seemed to constrict even further, unable to hide its fear like a mortal. The strand continued to fight, but it was unable to obtain freedom within Yan Zaizen’s unique soul. Cocking his head to the side, Yan Zaizen inspected the eye’s reaction.

"Interesting..." With a thought, he released the strand of odd spirituality. It merged back into the ground, becoming a whole, and then vanishing from Yan Zaizen’s senses once more. The eye kept its gaze on Yan Zaizen, but slowly its intensity disappeared. It regained its normal appearance after a short period but kept its gaze focused on Yan Zaizen.

"This eye isn’t an observation art...its alive. How is that possible? Could it be a spiritual creature like those in the Border Expanse? Unfortunately...it’s too far away to sense its qualities, nor do I have any intention to inspect it closely." Yan Zaizen was unable to risk himself at the moment, especially when Pinaka currently had a time limit.

Ignoring the eye, he shot towards Mei. With his speed, he swiftly caught up. Mei didn’t find his disappearance concerning. She had purposely slowed down after realizing Yan Zaizen had halted and retreated. She felt that Yan Zaizen was doing this to get her attention once more, but she didn’t feel he was worthy enough for him to gather such attention from her.

"The eye is still following me...I wonder..." He could feel a particular gaze intently honed to him. However, this gaze was cautious and curious, as if it both feared Yan Zaizen but couldn’t help but want to know more about him. This feeling left him thinking of a small child following a scary looking dog. It was somewhat cute.

Before long, they arrived at the Immortal City.

The city was truly a place for immortals. It glimmered with a faint white light that gave off a holistic aura. The area wasn’t fully industrialized by cultivation standards, included within its borders were tall mountains, long rivers, cascading waterfalls, and more. It gave off a sense of natural majesty.

However, it did have residents, shops, skyscrapers that towered to the sky, and unique symbols denoting the Paradise Sword Palace. It was like the perfect mixture of beautiful nature and mortal creations.

"Truly beautiful..."

"Indeed!" Mei exclaimed, her eyes glimmering with pride and excitement.

Yan Zaizen didn’t comment further, his eyes focusing on the border walls of the Immortal City. It wasn’t tall. Actually, it was quite short with a height of nine meters. However, etched onto the walls were inscriptions that looked like a long painting. This painting had rivers and mountains with a sun and moon above. The clouds moved about, and it was as if the painting detailed the reincarnation cycle of day and night.

The truly astonishing point was the vividness of it all. The sun, moon, clouds, rivers, and even the grass on the mountains moved. It wasn’t like watching a painting, but like watching the real world pass through the endless time.

Yan Zaizen noticed that some of the objects in the paintings were mirror images of landmarks within the city. "This painting gives off a very ancient feeling...if that’s the case, then perhaps its truly an immortal city?" Yan Zaizen soft said, marveling the profoundness of an Immortal City.

"Yes!" Mei seemed ecstatic at Yan Zaizen’s words. Normally, a person of the realm with a decent cultivation base has seen the Immortal City once or twice, so it wasn’t that special to them, but when a newcomer comes, it becomes a life imprinting event. "The Immortal City has stood since time immemorial! The mountains and rivers inscribed on the walls have been there even before the Paradise Era!"

Mei’s enthusiasm caused Yan Zaizen to smile softly. He has seen many things in his life, and this would be something imprinted into his memory, but it wasn’t too important. He had created a realm between two universes, was at the center of a sub-realm collapse, seen a black hole that seemed capable of devouring all, and even that giant eye above was beyond the city in his mind.

They went past the gate, not eliciting any reaction from the guards. It seemed they were likely there only for show. After all, this was the Paradise Sword Realm. Who would cause an issue when the god of this heaven was two feet away?

"Where’s the Gate of Heaven?" Yan Zaizen looked around casually, then above. The eye was staring at Yan Zaizen without relenting. However, its gaze had returned to normal but seemed unwilling to let Yan Zaizen out of its sights. He couldn’t help but chuckle softly. It was like a child unwilling to let something curious out of its sights.

Mei didn’t understand why Yan Zaizen was chuckling, she but continued leading the way. "The Gate of Heaven is at the center of the Immortal City."

Earlier, Mei had informed him earlier during her excitement that the reason the city stood tall regardless of the era and will was due to the Gate of Heaven. It was the only method to enter the Heavenly Origin Grounds, the center of the thirty-three heavens.

Yan Zaizen nodded faintly, but he felt curious. "That existence said ninety-nine heavens...yet no one speaks of it. Is it possible it was wrong or is it a secret only the peak of the world knows?" As Yan Zaizen contemplated this, they quickly made their way to the center of the city.

The sights were remarkably beautiful. Yan Zaizen made a note to take Pinaka, Tao, and Bai Lufeng here one day. "Maybe there’s an Immortal City in the 27th Heaven?"

"We’re here!"