He parted his lips slightly, trying to call out, but no sound escaped. He stretched his arm toward the light shimmering in the lake, only to realize the distance was impossibly vast.

Somehow, an undeniable thought erupted within him: he had to touch that light, no matter the cost.

This was a primal cry, one that never left his mouth but echoed incessantly in his soul.

With a single step, He Yiming’s foot plunged into the lake water. The frigid night water soaked his pant legs, rising to his calves, the intense cold swiftly leeching the warmth from his limbs. Normally, He Yiming would have yelped and jumped back, but at that moment, he seemed utterly numb to sensation, and his other foot followed suit, sinking into the water.

In that dazed bewilderment, He Yiming didn't notice that both his feet had already entered the depths, and soon, his entire body began to slip beneath the surface.

Above the lake, the peculiar color flickered intermittently, gradually sinking lower until it settled deep within the heart of the water.

It was merely a small lake, and the fish and shrimp scattered instantly upon witnessing the bizarre luminescence, yet He Yiming drifted toward that strange light as if his soul had been momentarily misplaced.

He Yiming had learned his swimming technique in this very lake; every summer since childhood, he had wrestled and played here, his proficiency in the water acquired through pure immersion. While not top-tier, navigating a stretch of water was no issue for him.

Gradually, He Yiming closed the distance to the strange radiance.

The nearer he got, the more intense the compelling attraction became. It was like a child spotting candy, or a rake sighting a stunning beauty—He Yiming simply possessed no capacity for resistance.

He extended his hand, reaching out gently toward the strange light.

Softly, as if cradling a priceless treasure, or perhaps his very life force, he grasped hold of the thing.

It was a mass of light, light seemingly devoid of mass, yet the moment his hands made contact, a torrent of inconceivable images and sounds flooded his mind.

The first vision was one of sheer emptiness. There, everything was void; nothing but vastness upon vastness. He himself experienced a profound sense of the universal nullity.

No worry, no sorrow, no joy, no laughter—nothing existed. He felt like a fetus suspended in amniotic fluid, fully inhabiting the meaning of "emptiness."

This was not merely a spiritual vacuum; it was true… nothingness.

After an indeterminate time, a single point of light appeared in the void, like the first sliver of dawn breaking through the endless expanse of “nothing.”

However, this first thread of light did not emerge smoothly from non-existence; after an abrupt flare, it dimmed suddenly, plunging the world back into boundless darkness once more.

But the light swiftly returned, banishing the darkness and revealing all things.

Then, light vanished, reappeared, vanished again, and reappeared.

This cycle repeated ceaselessly, each disappearance and return feeling like a cosmic rebirth. With every cycle, the power of the light grew stronger until, finally, it conquered the night, blazing forth in a sudden, overwhelming brilliance that engulfed everything.

He Yiming’s spirit seemed to awaken at that moment. He watched the bizarre transformation like a detached observer, stunned. For one so young, he could not begin to fathom the meaning of these shifts. The only certainty he possessed was that he had stumbled upon something momentous.

When the light finally seemed to bloom eternally, the darkness appeared to concede its inability to extinguish it. Yet, it did not depart, but intertwined tightly with the light, eventually forming a singular, strange object from two diametrically opposed forces.

In He Yiming’s mind, an image seemed etched: a Taiji symbol of Yin and Yang, the central nexus spinning relentlessly, as if attempting to draw everything inward.

A deafening roar echoed in his consciousness, and his spirit was instantly pulled in without resistance.

From the ever-spinning center of the two poles, countless unbelievable images faintly emerged, flashing continuously through He Yiming’s mind.

At that instant, he felt himself soaring high, standing tens of thousands of meters in the air, feeling the searing wrath of the sun and the relentless, immense, cutting gales. He seemed plunged into the deep ocean, witnessing breathtaking underwater beauty, then experiencing the terror of colossal hundred-meter waves surging around him.

While his jaw hung open in astonishment, he was instantly transported to the earth’s core, beholding strange and exotic minerals, grasping the nature of every single one. The next moment, he was immersed in subterranean magma, the splashing crimson liquid capable of dissolving anything, nearly scaring his soul from his body.

The scene blurred, and he was wrenched away from that unforgettable, beautiful, yet terrifying underworld, arriving instead in a massive gorge. Looking up, he saw towering peaks that stretched beyond sight, and standing beneath them, he felt as insignificant as a speck of dust.

In the next instant, his stature ballooned; the entire world seemed to lie beneath his feet.

It was a beautiful world, brimming with vibrant life, filled with countless rare flora and ancient forests. He sensed the immense, vital energy of the entire world being continuously unleashed.

Suddenly, a wave of white mist surged forth from every corner of this realm. In an instant, everything froze; the world became utterly encased in ice. He could even see beautiful flowers caught mid-bloom, rendered into ice sculptures that looked like the work of the finest artisan.

He Yiming was filled with profound horror. If there had been any possibility, he would have fled this environment immediately, but now he felt completely bound, unable to depart no matter what.

In this frozen world, even his spirit and consciousness seemed stiffened, paralyzed.

Abruptly, a colossal sound of thunder ripped across the sky.

The entire white expanse immediately dimmed, the heavens flickering with massive, unimaginable lightning bolts, seemingly infinite and inexhaustible.

Thick shafts of light sliced through the air, descending upon the thousand-mile expanse of ice, blasting everything into fragments.

Giant bolts of lightning danced across the sky, causing He Yiming’s soul and spirit to sway precariously.

Finally, as one bolt struck directly before him, He Yiming saw a sudden apparition of light.

This was light in its most primal form, containing the essence of initial origin power.

He Yiming did not hesitate; he reached out and tightly seized this light. His body and mind seemed to merge completely with it.

Everything before him began to tremble, the world slowly shattering before his eyes.

He Yiming suddenly shivered violently, abruptly regaining control over his physical form.

The cold permeated every inch of his body, reminding him vividly of his precarious situation. He looked around: water surrounded him; he had somehow ended up submerged in the frigid lake.

Panic seized He Yiming. Although his constitution was far stronger than most thirteen-year-olds, he was still just a child. Suddenly appearing inexplicably in a lake, it was impossible not to be thoroughly terrified.

More than that, He Yiming felt a suffocating pressure, as if a bomb had been placed in his chest, ready to detonate at any second.

Perhaps driven by sheer survival instinct, He Yiming’s arms began to move naturally, and his body shot toward the lake surface with the swiftness of a darting fish.

He failed to notice that his swimming ability seemed to have undergone a fundamental transformation. With only a few languid strokes of his limbs, he dramatically propelled himself from near the bottom of the lake straight to the surface.

“Hah…”

He Yiming’s head breached the water, and he sucked in the fresh air greedily. A sensation known only to those snatched back from drowning overwhelmed him, making him cherish the air as if he needed to inhale a lifetime’s worth of breath in that single moment.

After a long while, He Yiming finally relaxed. He let out a massive sneeze, shuddered violently, and then swam like a flash toward the shore.

Moments later, he reached the bank, grasped the edge, and executed a neat flip, landing lightly on solid ground.

He looked back at the dark, brooding lake, his heart filled with dread. In his memory, he recalled only washing clothes by the water and seeing that mysterious, strange light. Everything after that was a blur, save for a sequence of bizarre and unbelievable visions glimpsed in a haze.

The visions felt intensely real, yet he knew they must have been mere fantasy. Because if those sights were true, he certainly wouldn't be standing here alive right now.

Glancing at his soaking clothes, He Yiming knew they wouldn't dry anytime soon, and this place felt steeped in strangeness; he dared not remain any longer.

Turning sharply, He Yiming fled toward the He Family Village in the other direction with the speed of a terrified fugitive. As for the lake, it had burned a massive shadow onto his psyche.

P.S.: Deepest thanks to my brothers for your patronage; Bai He is truly overwhelmed with gratitude.

It’s the same old refrain: during the launch of a new book, I plead for my brothers and sisters to offer their support. Bai He desperately needs recommendations—thank you...

Also, this week’s featured posts are too few to be officially highlighted; I promise to make up for it next week.

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