"Did the voice really come from within the box?" he asked himself as he slowly crept to his table. He stared at it for seconds. But nothing came from the box. It remained still and silent. "Is there something, or someone, sealed within the box? A powerful demon perhaps? Would it kill me if I were to inadvertently set it free?"

He shook himself, expelling the horrors of the old wives' tales away from his head. Slowly, he took the box into his hands and looked at it closely. Despite a few tries to open it, the box would not bulge.

Not even his Divine Sense could penetrate the confines of the box, he realized. There was something about the material which stopped him from trying to find out what was locked within. Then he saw the crevices which might conceal traps or hidden mechanisms. "How about trying to penetrate from this small slits? My Divine Sense might be able to get in from here to find a way to unlock the box."

He sat down and calmed himself, keeping his thoughts clear. Then he closed his eyes and concentrated on using his Divine Sense and slowly reached into the tiny clefts on the box. They were small, but elaborately designed like a labyrinth that he would have to start all over again whenever his Sense made a wrong turn inside.

It took an hour's worth of delving and crawling until Xiao Chen finally reached the core of the box. There, he was welcomed by a sorrowful, mourning that resounded in his mind suddenly, "Between Heaven and Earth, my remains were left to be defiled, under the Sun and the Moon, under the glittering stars of the Night..."

Xiao Chen's eyes sprang open. He was no longer in his room, but in limbo at the middle of the galaxy with the Sun, Moon, and all other celestial bodies around him. Despite the stars twinkling at him, he felt himself gripping with cold.

"Wait! The words I heard earlier... 'Between Heaven and Earth, my remains were left to be defiled', have I stumbled upon a great demon's ancient barrow?"

Just when he was trying to fully comprehend the words he heard, a hulking figure appeared before him. The image was s.h.i.+mmering, obscured beyond recognition, but Xiao Chen could feel an imposing and indomitable presence radiating from the unknown figure.

"Y-you! Wh-what are you! Who are you! Why am I here!? What is this place!?"

Panicking beyond his wits, Xiao Chen had blurted everything all at once.

"I am the Seventeenth Apostate of Heaven. This is where my remains rest after my doom," the powerful voice rumbled.

"What in the world?! The Apostate of Heaven?!"

Xiao Chen felt his back becoming wet. A cold layer of sweat drenched his back as he remembered Fengxi's tale about the beginnings of the Annihilation Times.

According to the legends, the mortals were tired of the ruthlessness of the Natural Law that the first great demon who had reached the levels of the Supreme Realm, the Heaven Exterminator, had led the first rebellion against the forces of Heaven. The invasion turned out to be a ma.s.sive failure and the soul of the Heaven Exterminator was utterly destroyed. He was henceforth known as the First Apostate of Heaven.

As the legends slowly fade from memory to be covered by the sands of Time, mortals began dismissing the story as mere fables and myths. No one today realized that it was true, and Xiao Chen could not believe his ears at another revelation: the figure had announced himself as the Seventeenth Apostate of Heaven. This would mean that there have been seventeen attempts to overthrow the rule of the Natural Law upon mortals, but all had failed miserably.

"Urm... Senior? Can you tell me the purpose of the rebellion? Why were you waging war against the Natural Law?" The revelation was so shocking that Xiao Chen was still reeling with confusion and disbelief.

His question seemed to somehow annoy the gargantuan figure. "Humph!" The figure snorted indignantly. "The Natural Law has long outlived its purpose since the lapse of innumerable mult.i.tudes of ages! It is nothing but malice, seeking to subjugate all that draws breath and trample over everyone! This was why we fought; for our own freedom!"

"Subjugate all that draws breath?!" Somehow Xiao Chen found it hard to believe; he had never heard of such heresy before!

"Your ability to awaken my soul by using your Divine Sense is proof that you are no ordinary person, young one. Here lies all that remains of me following my downfall. Hear me well!"

"Pray continue, Senior," Xiao Chen remarked with a bow. As one of the most powerful figures in history, this person must wield great powers in the past, even though his conquest of Heavens had ended in an ignominious defeat. There could be merit in his advice and he would do well to pay heed.

"The Natural Law rules supreme, because it dictates the mortality of every being across all domains. Neither even Immortal Kings nor G.o.d-Kings could fully unravel the secrets of mortality and escape death. But if and once you have completely uncovered the mysteries of mortality, you are fit to overthrow the rule of Natural Law!"

Xiao Chen's head lowered as he pondered those words. Man had been trying to harness arcane knowledge and skills to become immortals and achieve the rank of G.o.d-Kings, not knowing that even G.o.d-Kings were bound by the unbreakable rules of mortality. No one escapes the rule of the Natural Law. But what was wrong with everything having the life and death of its own? Would the domains not be in anarchy and chaos if the rule of the Natural Law were to crumble?

"What is your definition of immortality, Senior?" Xiao Chen asked suddenly.

A huge slab-like hand slowly rose and its fingers snapped. Immediately, one of the stars near them exploded in a huge supernova, startling Xiao Chen. "Is this man not dead!? What sorcery is this that he wields dominion over the galaxy?! Or is this an illusory domain which he holds full control over?"

"This is no illusion," said the figure, as if reading his thoughts. The giant hand opened and flexed its fingers, and snapped again. The star which had exploded earlier was once again in place as if nothing had happened before.

"What you saw, happened in mere seconds. But what happened at the star system, was a complete cycle of rebirth. That is the significance of it. Do you see it now? Nirvana."

"Nirvana?!" Xiao Chen fell into deep thought again. To achieve Nirvana, one had to experience Death, Samsara, Rebirth, only then one must discover the key to mortality to fully achieve eternal life. "Does it mean I have to first experience death?!"

"You have a sharp mind, young one. That is true; only by experiencing death. Have you not heard of the Nirvana Realm; the highest rank up the ladder of power. But that is nothing but a travesty. No one has ever achieved true Nirvana before. This is what many dream of all their lives: to achieve Nirvana. But despite their ceaseless strife, many agonized and failed."

Finally, Xiao Chen now fully comprehend the actual cost to achieve true Nirvana: death. Only by dying once, one had paid the toll of reaching the final destination of immortality. But it was too heavy a cost for most people to pay, especially after attaining great power. The risk was just too great. By dying, one risks entering Samsara and have all their efforts undone. "Would anyone dare take such a risk?"

"Everything is nothing but hypocrisy! The Nirvana Realm, the Apotheosis Realm, the Grand Completion Realm, and finally becoming the allegedly-undying Immortal King! Everything is nothing but a sham! That is no true Nirvana! Even if I were to achieve the Supreme Realm, I would still be powerless again the rule of the Natural Law!"

"No one has ever achieved true Nirvana, hence no one has ever been able to escape the manacles of life and death. Hence, no one could truly wrestle the total dominion of all domains from the rule of Natural Law. This was why all seventeen Apostates of Heaven have failed!"

Xiao Chen did not remember himself falling. When he came to, he was already sitting; his knees had buckled at the revelation that everything he believed in was nothing but a farce. A blunt and ugly truth hit him: No one overthrows the rule of the Natural Law. The cost for achieving True Nirvana was nothing but a paradox the Natural Law has set in place to maintain its never-ending sovereignty upon all life. But only by achieving True Nirvana and toppling the status quo, the destinies of all life could once again be rewritten!

Xiao Chen flailed his head wildly from side to side to shake himself free from the pervading thoughts. "No! This is the demon trying to corrupt me! Everything he said is in contrary to what Teacher had taught me! It's completely against Nature! We are the keepers of the arcane knowledge," he remembered his teacher's words suddenly, "We defend the Natural Law and everything that abides by it." It was the Apostates of Heavens who had always been acting against what was right! It was they who had been trying to distort right and wrong! "Demons, so they are," Xiao Chen mused and said, "what is its true intention actually?"

For the first time since coming in, he began to perceive more about his surroundings. A chilling dread snaked down his spine as he began to wonder if he had stumbled into a nightmare which he would never recover from... Then it hit him.

"Wait a minute! I had reawakened after thousands of years! Is that not dying once?!"

"Somebody had been trying, and had succeeded to resurrect me! This is all one large masterplan to ensure that I could achieve True Nirvana! But what is my role on this chessboard? Who are the hands that move the pieces?!"

Prior to this shocking epiphany, Xiao Chen had only the pursuit of the location of his teacher in his sights. He had continually suffered distractions or setbacks and had always dismissed them without much giving much thought, taking them as what they were. But now, he was beginning to think that there were more than it than that. He had always believed that it was his teacher who had arranged for him to be resurrected and she had brought him back to life because of her motherly love for him. But now, he was starting to worry. What if there was indeed another purpose to his resurrection?

"Why was Teacher trying to bring me back? Where is she now? Everything remains a mystery as long as she remains hidden!" Then again, there was something that he was certain of: his teacher would never stand alongside the Apostates of Heaven to defy the Natural Law! It was simply impossible!

"It seems that you too, have plenty of doubts that require answers, young one," said the giant figure suddenly, breaking Xiao Chen's line of thoughts.

Xiao Chen looked up at him. "I do," he replied coolly, "Too many, in fact. I would hope that I'd be able to reach true immortality one day. But I would NEVER become the Eighteenth Apostate of Heaven. Never."

He could only guess that everything had been part of something, or somebody's elaborate scheme; from the beginning of his death, to his resurrection, and until now. All to ensure that he conquered Death.

"WHY?!" The lumbering figure roared with incredulity.

"Because I'm looking for somebody. She is the most important person to me and I have been devoting my life to search for her. And I will. I must. Natural Law be d.a.m.ned," Xiao Chen said, his voice still and placid.

"She is the love of your life?"

"No. She's my Teacher and she is the reason I still live. If she's already dead, then I'll do my best to resurrect her. Even if this is against the will of Heaven, even if it costs my own life."

There was a moment of silence between them until the shadowy figure began to laugh with amus.e.m.e.nt. "I see... I see now..."

"What is it that you've seen, Senior?" The giant's murmurs suddenly drew his attention. "Did you see the person I'm looking for? Where is she?"

The giant ignored him. His thunderous laughter never stopped rumbling, until he finally paused and boomed, "We've been talking for more than an hour, young one. But it has been three days in your world. Go back. My body is no more and my soul is damaged, but I'll endure. Remember me—the great demon, Heaven's Bane!"

"Heaven's Bane?! It sounds strikingly similar to the Heaven Exterminator, the First Apostate of Heaven."

"Indeed," said the giant figure, once again guessing Xiao Chen's mind, "It is the First whom I had the most respect for. Hence I forsook my own name and named myself Heaven's Bane as a tribute to him."

The figure finished speaking and swung his large sleeves like a huge wing and slowly vanished before Xiao Chen felt everything went dark around him. When he woke up, he found himself back on his bed. Everything was like a dream just now; surrealistic and other-worldly. His mind was more refreshed now, no longer languid and lethargic now that he was out of the Heaven's Bane's domain of influence.

"So, Heaven's Bane, eh?" he mused. The name still sounded ludicrous to him. A tad silly even. Only a child could ever come up with something as ridiculous as vanquis.h.i.+ng the rule of the Natural Law. The Natural Law is not a dictator or a tyrant that oppresses all mortal beings. It was the most supreme set of laws that governed Nature and everything in it, such as the coming and pa.s.sing of seasons and the growing and wilting of plants and flowers. It was absurd to think that one could wield enough power to overthrow the rule of the Natural Law, no matter who that ent.i.ty was, be that the First Devil G.o.d of the Archean Eon or the most powerful Demon G.o.d.

"But what is actually this "Natural Law" that the evil folk is referring to? Is it the same Natural Law that I know?" Something seemed wrong to him.

As he redirected his attention back to reality, he began to realize that he was not alone in his room.