Without a body.

"Second realm cultivator..."

A hint of hysteria shone, but this was soon overcome with confusion. It was a confusion that blasted with abject terror, and in a matter of a moment, his eyes refocused and gazed at Li Wei with a newfound light.

Silence passed, and through this, the Sect Master spoke with a dry voice.

"That wasn't the Overseer..."

He turned a little and looked at the corpses on the ground, littered in blood. Fury rekindled in his eyes, but this was flushed out soon after as hesitation surfaced.

He seemed to be deep in thought, and as these thoughts raged, Li Wei took a light step back in retreat.

'Leave...'

Of course, why on earth would he want to stay around this person?

'Sh...'

His movements were silent as he retreated more and more, tension magnifying like it was fermenting inside of him.

He tiptoed ten metres.

Fifty.

His eyes were shaking and his heart pounding.

*BANG*

A sudden rupturing bang shook the sky.

Li Wei cursed.

"Shit."

Then, and in a resounding fashion, a voice rocked space itself.

"Where are you going?"

Li Wei's face froze as he watched the Sect Master materialise in front of him. Though, for some reason, he wasn't attacked.

The Sect Master just stood there, eyes gleaming with suppressed anger.

"Who are you?"

His voice rumbled, and his pupils sharpened.

...

...

"Uh..."

In a strange world that was within another, in front, and all around, strands of greyish matter swirled. They seemed endless, alarmingly so.

A golden-haired man stood within this with a dignified face. His eyes shined a deep golden light as he done so, gazing at a small manual in his grasp.

"I wonder..."

A murmur escaped from his breath as a surreal rumble quaked around him. Space itself seemed to tremble, where a terrifying aura began to pulsate and writhe around him.

"Supreme..."

His voice scattered without restriction and encompassed the world. It rumbled and boomed, carrying a feeling of utmost paramount nature.

Nonetheless, as his voice faded, his aura did too. From a freak of nature, he fell and fell in stature.

To a powerhouse.

To an admirable cultivator.

To someone ordinary.

His golden eyes dimmed until no colour shined in his gaze. In fact, the absence of colour caused black to surface...

A black, a black made from the void...

Yet, it was weak and without lustre. It held nothing, no power, no energy.

A mortal could achieve a similar level of power that came from his gaze, for it was not even in the first step of the first boundary.

"What a loathsome feeling..."

His voice rumbled once more, absent in any sort of aura. Though, somehow, he didn't seem like a mortal. His voice still quaked and boomed, and his body still stood high.

He may be without any sort of cultivation, without the normal ancient aura, but he has one thing that cannot be revoked.

A body built to hold the power of the Ancient Ones.

*CRACKLE*

His eyes narrowed as he gripped his fists.

A surreal flutter sprouted out from his gaze, and in a sudden turn of events, the grey strands around him shook. It was a minute shake, and only a few were affected, but this was enough for him.

"Heh, so you have a use!"

He laughed as he loosened his grasp on the manual. It plodded onto the ground, resounding in a dull thud.

This man was Su Min!

"Supreme!"

His roar blasted, his mind seethed!

*Swish*

Then, and in a strange fashion, a single grey strand trembled from his gaze and darted straight towards him!

*POP*

It collided with Su Min's body and brought an odd popping sound! Although it didn't move fast, it somehow caused Su Min to stagger...

'What is this?!'

Su Min's eyes widened as he felt an ethereal force bloom around him.

*SSS*

"Guh!"

Su Min's face rose into a pale white as shock filled his gaze. This single strand, it was painful!

*CRACK*

That wasn't it!

His body quivered and his blood boiled! A collection of thunderous ruptures quaked in the sky as his legs broke the sound barrier, all just to stabilize himself!

'My blood feels hot...'

Su Min's face reddened as he let out a sudden cough, where steam rose out!

'What are these strands?'

His eyes quivered as he sensed what was going on in his body.

'Uh...'

They widened, and it all came from what he saw.

When one would sense themselves, it would, of course, form an image of their body. This image is formed through meridians and the energy pathways created in cultivation, however...

'Where's my body?'

Su Min felt disorientated as he sensed himself!

He knew that he needed to use this energy to form a single cycle in his body, and in this area, the supreme cultivation manual was no different from the Limitless Sects.

Yet, when he sensed his body, all he saw was the strand, floating in a void!

His body was nowhere, not even its outlines!

'How?'

It made no sense, and it gave him a surreal feeling of not existing. Yet, he knew that he existed and that he had a body! Even then, he has sensed his body before when he first cultivated to the first stage in the Martial realm!

So, what on earth was happening here?

'Calm...'

Su Min attempted to compose himself as he focused on the issue at hand. Well, the many issues.

'This is problematic.'

He could tell that nothing else but this strand was around, floating in a void that made little sense. Though, if he were to just accept this fact, how would he cultivate?

'I don't have any meridians to, well... Cultivate.'

Even if he ignored this, he was also in a little situation concerning leaving this goddamn place.

"Huh... This is getting confusing."

Su Min sighed as he laid on a soft pillow made out of those grey strands. They were still soft, but he was starting to regret the decision of ingesting one of them.

'Hm...'

His thoughts wandered as he continued to gaze at the strand within him, or more accurately within a void. A void that was meant to be him, or something.

'Well, how about I try this.'

Trying wouldn't hurt him, probably. So, he focused his mind and attempted to manipulate the strand. Of course, his mental energy was immense so doing so should be simple. But as he held no comprehension on this energy, it was rather difficult.

'Cycle... In a void..?'

Su Min coughed a little as he continued to try this absurd method. Thus, the strand shivered, quivered, and began to move in a circle.

Su Min didn't know how big the circle should be, but he didn't want to make it too small.

'This should be about right.'

He nodded as the strand whooshed through his senses and began to form a loop that was as big as a tree.

'Up...'

It was surprisingly arduous, and as Su Min finished the first half, his face even began to sweat.

'... Wait...'

"Fuck. I forgot that I needed to recover!"

He let out an instinctive cry as he jumped in fright.

"Gah!"

However, he has already consumed nearly half of the mental energy he recovered, so stopping would make it even more wasteful...

'Goddammit, whatever, you better work!'

His eyes teared up as he clenched his teeth and worked his mind without reserve. The strand trembled due to this, and before his eyes, it shot straight down and finished the loop!

'My head...'

Su Min felt the last 50% of the energy he recovered dissipate into thin air.

His gaze remained fixated on the strand he had just looped in a void. A couple seconds passed, and as he became jittery, a faint change emerged...

'Oh..?'

A thin line began to form and follow the exact path the strand took, all the way until it connected and became a loop. It floated in the sky, and in the instant it finished, that absent-minded strand trembled!

This tremble caused the strand to sway in the air. It swung a random tune, though it was soon apparent that it was moving towards the faint thin loop in space.

It didn't take long for it to, out of coincidence, touch this loop.

*THUD*

Su Min's mind shook as his vision blurred. A tearing sensation erupted out of his black eye, unbearable pain writhing throughout him.

"Damned... Bloodline..."

He could only stutter out a curse as his mind continued to tear and tear. This pain was unlike anything he had ever experienced, even comparing to his wide array of past experiences.

It was as if his mind was rupturing, his very soul. Comparing this type of agony to bodily pain is meaningless, as the two are in two separate realms. One is a toddler, and the other a monster...

Yet, this pain never stopped.

It continued and continued.

A neverending onslaught, battering and battering.

Su Min never realised that cultivating this energy would be so painful...

So, so, painful.