1 Origin

'CRACK'

A violent wave rippled through space, creating a gaping distortion that closed up a couple of breaths after.

A valiant looking man wielding a spear stared ahead of him, exuding a strong fighting spirit. In front of him was a gigantic life form. The life form had a serpentine shape, but its body wasn't flesh and blood. It was somewhat void, occasionally shimmering in and out of nothingness. As it did so, it generated ripples in spacetime.

Compared to its enormous body, the golden spear held by the man looked tiny and inconsequential, however, the killing intent generated at the tip of the spear seemed to suggest otherwise.

The man and the gigantic life form collided against each other again, their collisions causing more apocalyptic destruction around them. The surrounding spacetime entered a cycle of creation and destruction. Around them, countless stars exploded, causing a chain effect among the other stars. The violent outburst of energy had no effect on the bodies of these two. The serpent even opened its mouth and unleashed a devourung force, swallowing some of the violent energy.

"Foolish human, do you really think your pathetic weapon can cause any damage to my void body?" As it spoke, its body coiled in a manner similar to a rattlesnake. The man's eyes narrowed, and his spear curved around him cyclically in defense.

'BOOM'

The coiled snake sprang forward abruptly at an unbelievable speed. The sound it generated as it pushed against empty space was extremely deafening.

The man closed his eyes as he merged with his spear. Under this unique state, his defensive position was magnified countless times.

'BANG.'

Both of them were blown some spaces away in opposite directions. The runes surrounding the man's golden spear dimmed as the man stabilized his bearing. The snake wasn't any better off, as it failed to maintain his void form.

"RUNIC DARK CAGE."

A dignified voice sounded. It came from another man, dressed in all black. Behind him, an illusionary apparition formed several hand signs, generating runes which converged to form a massive formation. The runic formation closed the space around the serpentine creature, trapping it. Dark, oppressive qi all extended towards it from the cage in a bit.

The gigantic body of the snake shrunk, and it stabilized its void form once more, formed a looped, cyclic, figure. The smaller its body became, the greater the aura it generated. With a shake of its body, it sprung at the barrier.

'KA'

The cage was shattered almost instantly as the snake's body vanished and appeared in front of the dark-robed newcomer. Its mouth opened, and a suctioning force dragged the man into its mouth.

'Time Stop'

'Space Stop'

Two female voices sounded at the same time, causing the spacetime laws to stop. This lasted only for a micro-breath, after which the two ladies spat out mouthfuls of essence blood as the spell was broken. They could only watch in despair as their partner was swept backwards towards the gaping, open mouth.

The snake gave a triumphant smile when the dark robed man finally got swallowed. It soon realized however that the two ladies were smiling eerily too, so it blinked in confusion. Its confusion didn't last long.

"Ha," It felt a terrifying pain in its abdomen. In its moments of pain, the spacetime laws were paused again, preventing it from counterattacking. Outside the influence of spacetime, the valiant man swung his spear at its head. The snake could only watch as the spear neared its head.

The spear hit, but the expected effect didn't materialize. Instead, it seemed its head absorbed the force and used it as a springboard to eject the parasite out of its body.

'Cough, cough,' The man was rushed at by the two ladies, making the spear wielding man shake his head in exasperation.

"Save your lovey-dopey fretting for another time. Our plan didn't fool it."

His words caused the ladies to look irritated.

"Bai Sheng took the biggest risk in this plan, and you have the guts to tell us not to fret over him" Spatial distortions accompanied her words. Bai Sheng held her hand, hushing her.

"I am the mighty Ouroboros. I have swallowed countless universes, yet this is the first time some puny ants have managed to injure me," It fumed. The brief moment Bai Sheng had been in its belly was dangerous, as he had activated the highest level of his darkness divine art to disintegrate him from the inside. Even though its body was void, it had actually almost been corroded.

As it thought up to this point, the anger it felt grew. The eye on its forehead shone with a venomous gleam as it exuded a terrifying might.

"This particular technique of mine has taken almost an eon to reach just minor accomplishment, he he he. I'll allow you witness its might," His words caused their faces to pale visibly. Minor accomplishment, as it implied, was a rather minor realm in terms of comprehension at the Saint Stage, but the group knew better. The fact that the technique had only reached minor accomplishment after so many years called for alarm.

At their level, mastering cultivation techniques was as easy as breathing. Only Dao level Arts could power some difficulties to master, and the longer it took to do so, the more terrifying the art was.

'Reincarnation,"' It only said one word, but space began to warp violently. Without wasting time, Bai Sheng and the two ladies vanished from the spot and reappeared in front of it. The speed of the Ouroboros slowed, and the cage reappeared around it again. Within the limited space, Kira summoned spatial blades while the spear wielding man threw the spear at it.

The spear landed, and the Ouroboros' void body convulsed violently. At this moment, the runes surrounding the cage started coming together, causing the Ouroboros trapped inside to hiss painfully.

The four coordinated sharply, and in no time, the runic cage became extremely small. With a few more hand signs, it became a miniature runic seal. The hisses from the snake finally stopped.

"We have succeeded," There was a smile of Lue Yue face. Kira's cold face held a hint of a smile too.

Bai Sheng threw an arm round the other man's shoulder, "Brother Xi, it was all thanks to you that we were able to capture this beast."

Xi Cheng straightened his spear and smiled, "It's nothing. We are brothers after all."

Lue Yue smiled at the cordial scene. Kira snorted at her smile, but didn't say anything. While it might seem that Xi Cheng contributed the least to sealing the beast, it had to be said that he fought with the snake the longest, wearing down its energy. The final spear throw he made was also significant, as Bai Sheng had seized that chance to close up the runic cage.

Bai Sheng made a grabbing motion,and the seal flew to his hand. The four came together and looked at it in curiosity.

"Master will be so proud of us," Lue Yue said.

"We should leave, though. Even at our level, we are not entirely safe in chaotic space. Master says..."

"You sound just like Master," Kira snorted at Xi Cheng. "I can safely get us all back, don't forget I'm a master of Space."

"Your level is a bit insufficient to flaunt so shamelessly," he teased her. She looked like she was about to send a spatial blade his way in anger, but Bai Sheng calmly grabbed her hand.

Xi Cheng shook his head in exasperation and looked enviously at his junior brother of his who captured the heart of his two junior apprentice sisters.

(To think he does not mind the 'no-dating' code between fellow disciples under the same master, this Bai Sheng is a goddamn pervert��)

Kira's spatial divine force enveloped the four of them. It was at this point that the seal began to gleam with a demonic light.

"What is this?" The meticulous Lue Yue was the first to notice the unusual change. Kira, who was prepared to teleport them away, paused.

The light from the seal grew in intensity. Bai Sheng's face visibly expressed her confusion.

"Screw it, let's just destroy the seal."

"No...'

"Junior brother, as you can see, the snake is using some unknown technique to break free. Under your 'Dark World Seal', it is supposed to fall into a state of unawareness. If anything, this change indicates it is more dangerous then it seems"

"If Kira teleports us away in time, we will be able to reach master before it breaks free."

Xi Cheng wanted to listen to his junior brother, but his instinct told him that the demonic gleam was not ordinary. As if to prove his discomfort right, the light shone brighter.

"Now" Xi Cheng didn't bother explaining, but instead directed a pierce at the seal to destroy it. Bai Sheng eyes widened, and he made layers of darkness divine energy to stop the spear.

The spear broke through the layers like fragile glass, and the spear tip neared the seal. Gently, it suddenly began to slow under the influence of spacetime. Xi Cheng was perplexed and looked at his companions, noticing that the eyes of the other three were gleaming, as if mind controlled. He realized something.

"Wake up," His law-infused roar caused the bodies of the three to convulse, then they regained their consciousness.

"Were we just.....bewitched?"Lue Yue whispered. Kira said no words but instead formed giant spatial blades and targeted it at the seal. The other three also directed strikes at it.

Around the seal, a gigantic vortex formed, swallowing all their attacks. Before they could attack again, its open mouth blasted out their energies back at them. Bai Sheng summoned a dark barrier to protect them.

"Yin-Yang Redirection?" Xi Cheng face turned cold. "This isn't part of the abilities Master told us it possessed."

"Maybe Master didn't know. It is an ancient specie after all, most of its abilities are not know to us" Bai Sheng commented, but his face wore a thoughtful look. Hadn't his Master displayed this ability a couple of times to them?

"Ha ha ha, idiots" The Ouroboros body broke free from the seal and laughed."Don't you think it's too much of a coincidence that I suddenly appeared just when your teacher mentioned he needed the eye of an Ouroboros to smelt a new weapon? My species are barely seen in billions of years, but one miraculously appeared in your zone of spacetime? Ha ha"

"What are you insinuating?" Kira looked pissed. She hated mind games.

"He he,I meant...this"

Nothing happened. The four looked perplexed. Bai Sheng lost his patience.

"Well, since you want to be tight-lipped, even if I have to ignite my saint soul today, I'll capture you and search your soul for answers," He said and tried to do so when he discovered his body was numb.

"Xi Cheng, try to launch an attack" his voice carried some urgency.

Xi Cheng attempted to do so and noticed the anomaly. Kira and Lue Yue also noticed. Lue Yue's face turned ashen.

Above them, a giant sphere of divine laws formed and closed in on them. The Ouroboros was included.

"Master, why am I being trapped with them too? This is not part of the plan," The Ouroboros yelled. The four humans stilled; the men's face betrayed anger, while Kira stared sharply at the newcomer. If looks could kill, he would have been dead a trillion times.

"Master," Lue Yue's voice carried disbelief. "Master, why?"

"From the day I accepted you four as my disciples, I had plans to cultivate you to Divine Saint stage and use your vitality to cultivate the forbidden chapter of the 'Forgotten Emotions Sutra', saving me long, bitter years of cultivation" His voice was cold, different from the kind voice they were so familiar with.

"What about me?" The Ouroboros wailed. "I am your pet beast, surely I can't be part of your plan."

"Your Void Constitution and innate gifts, Kira's high affinity for space, Lue Yue's affinity for time, Bai Sheng'd affinity for darkness and Xi Cheng's hegemon dao of the spear. Combining all five and severing my emotions to complete my new body, no, my perfect body,he he" As he spoke,they started to feel their energies being drained from them. A body which looked identical to their Master was at the center of the formation, being norished by their powers. Its aura grew stronger as theirs grew weaker.

"Sasmaric Reincarnation, Soul Transfer,"

The old body shone with a demonic gleam and vaporized into a stream of energy that entered the new body. The 'new body' opened its eyes, and the entire spacetime region froze.

"Finally, I can return to the Pantheon Universe, ha ha" As he spoke, all the planets in that region exploded, killing all the inhabitants and turning into bloody fog that nourished his body.

"No!" Lue Yue screamed. Xi Cheng's face was devoid of any other emotion, only hate filled his eyes. They all watched as their home planets were destroyed, alongside their families and friends.

The entire spacetime zone turned chaotic.

After the body received enough nourishment, he glanced at the five whose bodies had been destroyed, leaving only five saint souls. The sphere shrunk to the size of a palm, and he threw it into the now chaotic spacetime and vanished without a care.