My little Zifu is finally about to emerge. The third chapter is out today! Brothers and sisters, keep fighting, let’s keep pushing forward! If you have any votes, please cast one to keep me on the charts—don't let me drop off, I'm begging you! －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ The boundless void.

It was muddled. Its "brain matter" felt churned up, a chaotic mess, unable to recall anything—who it was, or where it came from. Occasionally, it would surface into brief clarity, dimly remembering its own nature. It constantly cycled between confusion and momentary awareness.

It was now merely a pale white orb of light, about the size of a thumb, thin and dim, lighter than smoke, seeming as if a mere breeze could scatter it completely, causing it to vanish from the world without a trace.

Fortunately, there was no wind in this void.

It had no idea where it was, only that it had been drifting endlessly within this expanse. Everything around it was a dull grey, enveloped by a misty, ashen fog that stretched in every direction. Because of the grey mist, visibility dropped sharply; anything beyond a hundred zhang faded into obscurity. It could only clearly perceive what was within a hundred zhang of itself.

It drifted in this boundless emptiness, utterly lost and without direction. It floated from one end to the other, and back again. Aside from the endless grey mist, there was nothing else to see, and no one to bother it. At first, there was a strange novelty to it, but as time wore on, boredom set in.

Why was it here?

And where exactly was here?

It painfully "clutched" its head, desperately trying to think.

It could recall nothing. It could not understand why it was in this place. Yet, deep down, it felt as though it should have been somewhere else—a place vibrant and interesting—not in this desolate void, almost devoid of everything save the grey mist.

But where should it have been? It had forgotten. Because it could remember nothing at all.

Whenever its "mind" was about to recall something, a powerful wave of drowsiness would suddenly wash over it, plunging it back into a hazy slumber. When it finally regained a slight awareness, everything that had just transpired was wiped clean, leaving not a single memory. Then, it would joyfully begin drifting again.

And so, it drifted.

It happily discovered that it seemed capable of drifting to infinite distances.

However, the surroundings remained a monochromatic grey, devoid of anything. Over time, it could no longer discern whether it was actually moving or simply suspended in place; the two states felt nearly indistinguishable.

Yet, after spending so long in the void, it finally discovered a second element in this strange emptiness besides the grey mist—Violet Lightning.

This tiny thing was no thicker than a strand of hair, perhaps an inch long, and it too emitted light, albeit a faint violet one. It moved agonizingly slowly, swaying its head and tail as if swimming through the void, occasionally emitting a faint pi-zhi sound, like a tiny thread of purple static electricity.

Strangely, within several zhang of this little entity, the grey mist was absent. Wherever it swam, the surrounding mist automatically receded by several zhang, as if actively avoiding it.

In terms of sheer bulk, this thing was minuscule compared to itself.

After all, it was a sphere of light, whereas this creature was merely a sliver of incandescent line.

It named this thing Violet Lightning.

Initially, it was overjoyed, thinking it had found a fellow being. It wanted to drift over and offer a friendly greeting, perhaps find a companion to drift with, to ease the crushing solitude. After so long in this lonely void, encountering such a small entity demanded acquaintance.

However, when it drifted within a hundred zhang of the Violet Lightning, a profound, instinctual fear erupted within it—the primal terror reserved for encountering an ultimate, existential predator.

It was like a mouse meeting a cat, or a rabbit spotting a hawk; there was no room for logic, only one imperative: flee.

Without a second thought, it instantly reversed course and fled for its life in a desperate scramble. It didn't know what this tiny thing was, nor how dangerous it truly was, but instinct screamed that lingering meant annihilation.

It had to put as much distance as possible between them; approaching for a greeting was suicide.

The slow, undulating motion of that sliver of Violet Lightning ([omitted text]) instantly ceased, and it seemed to have noticed the white orb. Its languid posture vanished, replaced by an intensely sharp and fierce aura. The Violet Lightning twisted, suddenly darting forward, chasing the white orb with lightning speed.

This sent the white orb into sheer panic. It mustered every ounce of energy it possessed, flying madly away.

Two streaks of light, one white and one violet, one leading and one pursuing, chased each other through the endless, grey expanse of the void.

Its speed was marginally faster, allowing it to slowly widen the gap. Yet, the Violet Lightning relentlessly followed, never giving up. Even hundreds, then thousands of zhang away, it continued the pursuit, tenaciously locking onto the residual aura the white orb left in its desperate flight.

It could not tell how long it fled—it felt like eons.

It regretted its actions immensely. As it fled frantically, it encountered a second thread of Violet Lightning, then a third, a fourth... countless others. Because it had fled so quickly, it had inadvertently blundered into their territory, alarming these small entities, which had joined the chase.

It had never realized that this endless void contained so many cursed natural enemies. The moment it sensed the threat of a Violet Lightning ahead, it could only pivot instantly and flee in another direction.

Now, it was trailed by a veritable swarm of thousands of Violet Lightning threads, some several cun long, others barely half an cun. Tens of thousands of these threads collided, gradually coalescing into a single, thicker strand of Violet Lightning.

After an unknown length of time.

The resultant stream, thick as a finger and nearly a zhang long, absorbed the Violet Lightning threads from nearly ten thousand li around it, churning the surrounding grey mist into chaos, emitting a continuous, grating zha-zha-zha sound as it tore through the misty void.

It continued to flee, keeping as far as possible from that terrifying concentration of purple energy.

Fortunately, by this point, that thick stream of Violet Lightning had long since deemed the weak white light orb unworthy of pursuit, dismissing it as irrelevant. It had become entangled with the grey mist of the infinite void.

The mist here was not inert. Stirred by the Violet Lightning, it formed a massive vortex nearly a li in diameter. The vortex roared with immense power, frantically sweeping up and absorbing the surrounding grey fog, constantly condensing, becoming heavier and more substantial.

The Violet Lightning continuously unleashed deafening purple bolts, attempting to rip the vortex apart.

"CRACK, BOOM—!"

In that instant, the stream of Violet Lightning erupted with a ten-thousand-zhang-long purple flash, violently tearing the vortex of grey mist in two. Pure energy ascended, while the turbid settled downward.

And the beam of Violet Lightning finally exhausted its essence, gradually disintegrating, breaking apart into inch-long segments of violet light that vanished.

It maintained a safe distance, watching the changes in this section of the void with a trembling heart. Astounded, it looked upward as the grey mist in the sky slowly dispersed, gradually clearing, while the ground below began to solidify, revealing stone.