Primordial Rebirth: Thunder, Chaos, and the Abyss

Far away from these grand schemes and ancient calculations, Xu Tianran remained completely unaware.

Inside his secluded immortal cave, his original body sat cross-legged in cultivation, while his fifteen clones roamed the beast-filled lands, tirelessly slaughtering everything below the Peak Void Refinement Realm. Each fallen beast became nothing more than a cold number—converted directly into Devouring Points.

Names, species, bloodlines—none of it mattered to Xu Tianran. Beasts were simply fuel.

The flow of points was rapid, but before long, his clones began to struggle. There were no longer any weaker beasts left in the region. Even Peak Void Refinement Realm beasts had grown rare, as his clones mercilessly hunted and killed them the moment they appeared within range.

Xu Tianran opened his eyes suddenly, his heart tightening. A sense of crisis swept over him—a formless pressure, like a predator's gaze from somewhere beyond sight. It could have been paranoia, sharpened by constant battle, or it could have been real. Either way, he didn't dare ignore it.

"In this world, only strength is reliable," Xu Tianran muttered to himself. Enhancing his strength through Devouring Points was certainly an option, but Xu Tianran instinctively felt it wouldn't be enough. Trusting this intuition, he decided to tap into his Law of Technology—and activated a newly unlocked system function: Brainstorming.

"System, run a full brainstorming analysis. Focus on all possible upgrades related to Silent Star Bomb."

In an instant, countless insights and concepts flooded his mind—some simple, others absurdly complex. After careful filtering, Xu Tianran reached a clear conclusion.

Raw power couldn't be enhanced further for now, because his combat power was tied directly to the destructive force of Silent Star Bomb itself. Increasing its power would destabilize his current combat calculations, leaving too many uncertainties in actual battle. Instead, the most efficient path was to add functionality rather than raw strength.

Drawing inspiration from time bombs of the modern world, Xu Tianran created a new function — Timely and Triggered Detonation. With this enhancement, he could plant the bomb anywhere within his spiritual sense range and detonate it remotely as long as it remained within his spiritual sense range. Additionally, he could set a countdown timer, allowing it to explode even after it had left his spiritual sense coverage.

This dual functionality gave Xu Tianran far greater strategic flexibility in battle, transforming Silent Star Bomb from a simple weapon into a deadly tactical tool, perfect for creating traps, ambushes, and unpredictable kill zones.

He didn't just sit still. First, he recalled all his clones, directly refining them into Silent Star Bombs—why waste valuable resources? After that, he upgraded the remaining 13,000 bombs, embedding the newly developed functions into each one.

After upgrading, he paused all further production of new Silent Star Bombs, shifting his focus entirely toward breaking through using his accumulated Devouring Points. After all, with every breakthrough, the combat power of his Silent Star Bombs would also rise significantly.

Without hesitation, he ordered the system to display his current status of devouring points.

Devoured Points:

Talent: 2,00,000

Cultivation: 2,45,000

Skills: 1,85,000

Upon seeing this, Xu Tianran noticed the + symbols glowing beside Body and Talent in his system status. Without hesitation, he directly selected both for immediate upgrading.

Body: Innate Immortal Thunder Body (Mid level) +

Talent: Chaos Origin Spiritual Root (Mid level) +

The status window flickered violently, lines of text distorting before stabilizing into something entirely new:

Body: Eternal Chaos Thunder Body (Low level)

Talent: Chaos Origin Supreme Spiritual Root (Low level)

The moment the upgrade completed, his entire body was engulfed in unimaginable pain. Cracking sounds echoed from within, as if his bones, meridians, and even his very cells were shattering and reforming. Previously, his body occasionally flickered with faint purple-golden lightning, but now thick strands of pitch-black lightning coiled and slithered across his skin like living dragons.

Every muscle, bone, and meridian expanded and transformed, as if his body itself had evolved into a vessel capable of holding chaos thunder. Each cell greedily absorbed this terrifying power, adapting to its destructive nature.

And just as his body settled, his talent began its transformation. Though the change started silently, deep within his soul, something snapped—chains that had unknowingly bound his very existence shattered, one after another.

In that instant, Xu Tianran felt a freedom he had never experienced before, as if the shackles that limited his potential had been forcibly removed, He felt ecstasy and took an hour to calm himself down.

He didn't stop after upgrading his talent — his eyes locked onto the + symbol beside his cultivation technique. Without hesitation, he used his accumulated skill points to trigger the upgrade.

Cultivation Technique: Blackhole Star Devouring Cultivation Technique (Minor Success) +

The moment he pressed the symbol, the status window trembled violently, its lines distorting into chaotic patterns.

Suddenly, a torrent of insights flooded his mind — not just about reaching Great Success or even Perfection, but something far beyond. Just as he believed the process was ending, the technique itself began to transform, its very foundation breaking apart and reforming into something ancient, boundless, and terrifyingly alien.

It was no longer a technique born from mortal comprehension — it became a Primordial-level cultivation method, something tied to the birth and death of universes themselves.

The status window flickering stopped, and a single new name replaced the old one:

Eternal Abyss Star Devouring Codex (Primordial Low Level) (Mastery)

Before Xu Tianran could even react, more insights than his mind could handle poured in, each one touching on truths so profound they felt like whispers from the abyss itself.

He sat there frozen, his thoughts blank, body locked like a statue. Even his heart seemed to skip a beat, while his status screen flickered ominously, as if it too struggled to contain the sheer weight of this new cultivation path.

This was no longer a technique meant for ordinary cultivators. It was a forbidden path capable of creating a singularity point within the Abyss Realm, devouring the endless chaos within, and even consuming stars, laws, karma, and fate itself.

The Abyss Realm, much like the Immortal World, exists as a vast and terrifying domain. However, it is home to immortal demons — beings of unimaginable cruelty and power. These demons frequently invade Heavenly Dao Worlds and even Great Dao Worlds whenever the passage between realms opens. Such passages form when the negative energy within a Heavenly Dao World or Great Dao World accumulates too quickly, surpassing the world's ability to purify it in time.

After half a day spent fully integrating the terrifying flood of insights, Xu Tianran didn't waste any more time. With the new Eternal Abyss Star Devouring Codex now firmly engraved into his soul, he directly activated the + symbol beside his cultivation realm, spending his vast reserve of cultivation points.

Cultivation Level: 1st Void Refinement Realm +

The moment the upgrade began, a tide of dark and ancient chaos energy flooded into his body—not simple spiritual qi, but something far more primal. This new cultivation path devoured everything in its wake—fragments of laws, lingering threads of fate, even traces of karma itself. At the same time, it opened a singularity point within the Abyss Realm, a point unnoticed by all except the Abyss Realm Will. However, the Abyss Realm Will remained indifferent, its nature forever impartial, neither obstructing nor assisting.

The black lightning flickering across his skin grew thicker and more oppressive, crackling with a terrifying majesty that would make even peak Tribulation Transcendence powerhouses instinctively flee on sight.

His cells no longer merely absorbed spiritual energy; they actively pulled in fragmented laws drifting through the Abyss Realm, swallowing incomplete rules left abandoned in the flow of time. Each fragment was refined into pure chaos energy, further strengthening his foundation. His cultivation points also underwent a complete transformation, turning into condensed chaos energy, waiting to be fully refined. Simultaneously, endless waves of chaos energy poured in directly, forming a terrifying cycle of devouring and refinement.

His cultivation soared without pause:

2nd Void Refinement Realm…

3rd Void Refinement Realm…

5th Void Refinement Realm…

8th Void Refinement Realm…

Peak Void Refinement Realm…

Half-step Unity Stage…

Reaching Unity Stage normally required balancing soul and body, fusing the two into a seamless whole where the body nurtured the soul and the soul guided the body in perfect harmony.

But Xu Tianran already possessed the Eternal Chaos Thunder Body, and his soul had long been tempered by his old cultivation technique. With the foundation laid, his body and soul fused naturally, without the slightest bottleneck or need for deliberate guidance.

1st Unity Stage…

3rd Unity Stage…

5th Unity Stage…

7th Unity Stage…

Only then did the breakthrough finally halt, his body floating in the air, black thunder swirling around him like a crown of annihilation. With a mere thought, his power could obliterate entire sections of the Heavenly Dao itself, leaving void and silence behind.

For a moment, Xu Tianran's mind swelled with dangerous ambition — the thought that even heaven itself might one day kneel before him. But he forcibly shook his head, scolding himself to stay grounded.

"Don't start daydreaming, idiot," he muttered under his breath. "I'm still nothing compared to the real monsters out there."

Yet deep inside, he couldn't deny the flicker of excitement burning in his chest.

This was only the beginning.