The Eye of the Heavenly Dao hovered above us, vast and indifferent. When it finally spoke, its voice echoed through the void like the toll of a divine bell—cold, distant, and absolute.
"Blessing request accepted."
In the next instant, a golden light descended—blinding and pure, as if the heavens themselves were shining down upon us.
Then it began.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
I felt it deep inside. Not pain exactly, but something older than pain. Something ancient within me was shattering. Not bone. Not muscle. But chains—shackles buried in the very fabric of my soul.
I had never known they existed.
But now, I couldn't unfeel their absence.
Their breaking released something inside me.
Power.
Not raw strength—something deeper. Something fundamental. A current surged through me, subtle yet unrelenting, flowing with each breath, pulsing through every vein. My body hummed with it. My cells drank it in like starving beasts.
And then—my mind.
I could feel it change.
Thoughts began flashing like lightning—brilliant and endless. Equations, probabilities, memories—they moved at blinding speed, as if time itself had slowed just for me to think.
It wasn't just perception. It was evolution.
But then came the storm.
BOOM.
The world inside my mind exploded.
Pain ripped through me like a tidal wave of needles—thousands of them, stabbing, tearing, dragging my sanity to the brink. I clenched my jaw. Blood filled my mouth. I refused to scream.
Time became meaningless.
Then—stillness.
Silence, complete and terrifying.
But in that silence, something awakened.
I could see beyond myself. Not with my eyes—but with something else. I could feel thoughts, motion, life, the subtle energy of existence itself. It was as if I had stepped beyond the veil of the mortal mind.
"Divine Consciousness…"
The words whispered through me like a revelation.
I had read about it—envied it. But now, I was it.
A trait that separated cultivators from mortals. The power to project one's awareness into the world, to perceive on levels no ordinary human could even imagine.
I reached out with it instinctively. The world unfolded.
A kilometer around me came alive in stunning clarity—like viewing reality through thousands of perfect lenses. I could see the faint quiver of a moth's wing. Hear the flicker of someone's heartbeat. If I focused, that perception deepened, becoming something transcendent.
And then—
I saw them.
Tiny, vibrant motes. Floating. Dancing. Multicolored and radiant. Ever-shifting.
Aether.
I breathed it in. It flowed into me, merging with blood, bone, thought. Every cell trembled as it was torn down and rebuilt—reforged by this sacred force.
Then—
BOOM.
A violent detonation erupted from within my chest. My vision dimmed. The pain—impossibly worse than before—pulled at the edges of consciousness. I staggered mentally, forcing my awareness inward.
And I froze.
My heart… was gone.
In its place, something else pulsed—a brilliant core of swirling Aether, like a star cradled in my chest.
"An… Aether Heart…"
The realization hit like thunder.
This wasn't just energy. This was a rebirth.
I remembered the path of cultivation—how it was divided into two great boundaries: the Mortal and the Immortal.
Tiers 1 through 5… that was the Mortal Boundary. At Tier 6 and beyond, one began stepping into the realm of immortality—acquiring an Immortal Soul, grasping the Laws of the Universe, and wielding their essence.
But first, Tier 1.
To be considered an Early Tier 1 Cultivator, one must forge an Aether Heart—turning the mortal body into a vessel of power capable of refining and circulating Aether.
Now, I had it.
The heart pulsed within me—each beat drawing in more Aether, refining it, transforming me.
With every pulse, my strength multiplied. My senses sharpened. My bones, muscles, and very essence evolved.
I could crush steel with a thought. Flatten buildings with a gesture.
I was becoming something else.
Time passed in a blur of light and stillness. The Aether kept flowing into me, endlessly…
Then—
Crack.
A sound like a shell breaking echoed from within.
A barrier had shattered. The limit of the Early Tier was gone.
And with that sound, power flooded through me like a tidal wave.
I opened my eyes.
For a moment, starlight danced within them.
I had ascended.
Peak of Early Tier 1.