Volume One: The Revival of Spiritual Energy

Chapter 1: Rebirth, Foundation Building

On a certain day in 2020 AD, a post on a campus forum suddenly went viral.

The post contained a video.

In the video, a boy who looked about seventeen or eighteen suddenly grew branches from his body, and in an instant, he turned into a towering tree.

“Damn, this is way too exaggerated. What kind of special effects are these? They’re insane!”

“Please, leave some dignity for domestic TV dramas, thank you!”

“I bet a pack of spicy sticks this isn’t special effects. Don’t ask me how I know—because I work in special effects, and this is simply impossible to achieve with special effects!”

In just a few hours, the post’s views had already surpassed ten thousand. Many people came to check it out, but when they clicked on the post, they found it had already been 404’d.

But this kind of strange video was only the beginning. As if overnight, all sorts of bizarre events suddenly appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Some people swore up and down that they saw someone suddenly sprout a pair of wings, able to fly in the sky and control lightning, just like Lei Zhenzi from myth and legend.

“Lei Zhenzi, huh? Why don’t you just ascend to the heavens?”

“No, he’s already up there, shoulder to shoulder with the sun!”

“No pics, no truth. Even rumors need to follow the basic laws!”

Others swore that their own strength had suddenly skyrocketed overnight, like the peerless generals who dominated ancient battlefields.

All kinds of strange posts and videos appeared overnight, and then disappeared just as quickly.

It was as if they had never existed, but many people already sensed that something was different.

Yet no one knew that an unprecedented great era was about to arrive.

In the dense forest outside the suburbs of Fu City, Min Province, a person sat cross-legged on a smooth, large rock.

He was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties, with delicate features, wearing a white T-shirt on top, slim black pants below, and a pair of white sneakers on his feet. He looked just like any ordinary young man you’d see in the city.

Yet the breath he exhaled from his nose actually turned into two small dragons, stretching and contracting with his breathing.

After a long while, the young man slowly opened his eyes, and the two little dragons vanished.

What a pair of clear, bright eyes—sharp and spirited, as if two blazing suns were shining with brilliance. After a moment, the light faded, and they returned to normal.

His delicate, handsome face paired with those jet-black eyes gave him an extraordinary, unforgettable presence.

At this moment, the golden crow was rising, the morning sun shining upon him in dazzling gold, making him appear somewhat divine.

The young man’s body trembled slightly, and the dew that had gathered on him during a night of cultivation instantly vanished without a trace.

“This Taixu Origin Technique truly deserves to be called the source of all methods. Legend has it that it was deduced by many Celestial Lords in ancient times as the strongest heavenly technique, pointing straight to the origin of the Dao. In just one night, I’ve already completed the basic foundation building!” the young man said slowly. “It’s a pity that when I obtained it, the technique was already perfected, so it was impossible to sever my cultivation and start over!”

“I never expected that I would begin cultivating the Taixu Origin Technique in this way!” A bitter smile appeared on the young man’s face.

After all, in his previous life, he was known as the youngest Celestial Lord in history—a legendary figure in the cultivation world.

A so-called Celestial Lord is a title reserved for the strongest beings in the endless universe, across all worlds.

And he, Ethan Carter, was one of them in his previous life!

But who would have thought that he would be ambushed by several Celestial Lords working together, shaking heaven and earth. After a ten-day, ten-night battle, he was ultimately no match for their combined assault. Though he managed to take one Celestial Lord down with him, he finally fell, his body and soul perishing.

What surprised him even more was that after his fall, he actually returned to his youth.

And now, it was the very beginning of the great era—the spiritual energy of Earth had just begun to revive. It would still be many years before it became the cultivation holy land of countless civilizations across the worlds.

But as the saying goes, fortune and misfortune go hand in hand. Being reborn in his youth gave him another chance to cultivate. In his previous life, in order to pursue cultivation, he had joined many sects and practiced many techniques, which was actually detrimental to his progress.

If not for his extraordinary talent and a series of fortuitous encounters, he could never have become a Celestial Lord.

Now, having lost all his cultivation, he could start anew with the Taixu Origin Technique, said to be the strongest origin technique of all time.

“But the Taixu Origin Technique really is domineering. The spiritual energy contained in this spiritual eye of the aura tide was completely devoured in just one night!” Ethan Carter thought to himself.

Others might not know, but Ethan Carter, who had been reborn from the future, knew that on today’s Earth, spiritual energy was gradually reviving. This process was called the aura tide, but not all places had the same concentration of spiritual energy.