Heaven’s Forsaken System

Chapter 21: The First Steps of a New Era

Light and shadow spiraled together, collapsing and expanding at once, as if the universe itself was holding its breath. Shen Liang stood at the precipice of something unprecedented—the birth of a world that had never been written into the annals of fate.

The remnants of celestial law and abyssal hunger no longer fought but intertwined, forming something beyond what any divine or abyssal being had ever conceived. He could feel the weight of creation pressing against his soul, asking, waiting. The threads of reality, fragile and malleable, hovered at his fingertips, awaiting his command. He had shattered the cycle that once bound all existence, and now, he had to decide what would rise in its place.

The envoy, once bound to the rigid structures of celestial order, turned to him. "It has begun, but it will not be stable without direction. The old laws have crumbled. What will take their place?"

Shen Liang exhaled slowly, watching the cosmic energies swirl around him. "Not laws. Not chains. But choice."

The system pulsed in response.

[System Notification: World Parameters Defining – User Input Required]

A blank slate stretched before him. Not just a world—an existence without limitations, where neither Heaven nor Abyss dictated the fate of those within it. A realm where cultivators did not ascend through preordained stages, where realms did not war over celestial decree. A place where paths were infinite, and destiny was not dictated by unseen hands. A world free from predetermination.

Yet, the weight of such a decision pressed on him. Could a world truly thrive without balance? Without rules? Even the void had structure, the abyss a hierarchy, and the heavens a grand design. Could he allow chaos to govern everything, or did freedom demand some kind of order?

Something stirred at the edge of his awareness. A presence, vast and patient, watching. The Entity Beyond Fate had not spoken since the unraveling began, but it had not vanished. It lingered at the threshold, observing, waiting. Its silence was not indifference—it was expectation.

The envoy shifted beside him, wary. "It does not interfere, but it does not leave."

Shen Liang turned his gaze to the formless space beyond creation, where the Entity's presence pulsed in the dark. "Because it knows. This is the moment that will decide everything."

[System Warning: External Influence Detected – Interference Potential High]

The light twisted, the abyss trembled. The Entity, silent and omnipotent, moved for the first time.

The very fabric of space buckled as the Entity's form stretched beyond perception. It was not something that could be contained in a single existence; it was infinite yet present, unshaped yet undeniable. A voice—if it could be called that—rippled through the void, neither spoken nor written but understood on an instinctual level.

"You have unraveled the loom of existence. Now, you must weave anew."

Shen Liang felt the weight of those words settle over him like a mountain. He had expected opposition, resistance. Instead, he was given authority. The very force that had dictated fate for eons now placed the responsibility of creation in his hands.

The envoy turned to him, golden and abyssal streaks in their eyes reflecting the swirling energies of this newborn realm. "If you do not define it, something else will. The void abhors stagnation."

Shen Liang clenched his fists. He had spent his life defying control, shattering predestination. And now, he was being asked to establish something in its place. Was this irony, or had this always been the path leading him here?

He extended his hand, and the forming world responded. Pillars of pure energy surged upward, forming the foundation of a realm unlike any before it. He did not create hierarchies, nor did he impose restrictions on power. Instead, he shaped a world where cultivation was not bound by external constraints but by the will of the individual.

[System Notification: First Principles of the New Realm Established]

1. There shall be no dictated path of ascension—only potential. 2. Strength shall not be predetermined by fate, but forged by one's own hands. 3. The cycle of war and destruction shall end; conflict shall not be divine decree but personal consequence.

The envoy observed the shifting world with something akin to awe. "This… this is not merely balance. It is something new."

Shen Liang nodded. "Let them choose. Let them build."

But the Entity was not yet done.

"If you create, you must protect."

Darkness surged. A crack appeared in the forming world, a rent in the newly woven fabric of existence. Something else was watching. Something that had lurked beyond even the Entity's domain.

The envoy tensed. "What is that?"

Shen Liang narrowed his eyes. The system pulsed with an alert unlike any before.

[System Warning: Unknown External Force Detected – Intrusion Level Critical]

A presence seeped through the void, alien and vast. It was not Heaven. It was not Abyss. It was not Fate.

It was something else entirely.

The system's interface flickered. Glitches. Corruptions. Shen Liang had never seen anything like it.

[System Error: Undefined Presence Detected. Adjusting Parameters…]

Whatever this was, it did not belong to the cycle of existence. It had not been waiting for the cycle to break—it had been lurking outside of it. Watching. Anticipating.

A voice—not the Entity's, but something older—rippled through the void.

"The fracture has opened. The boundary weakens."

The envoy's gaze sharpened. "You did not just create something new. You exposed something hidden."

Shen Liang's mind raced. Had his rejection of fate, his defiance of balance, somehow broken a seal? Had existence been shielding itself from something beyond all this time?

He turned his gaze to the void, to the darkness beyond the Entity, and in the endless abyss, he saw something stir.

Something awakening.

Shen Liang stood at the edge of his creation, the weight of responsibility and power pressing upon him. This was not just about forging a new world—it was about defending it from forces that should never have existed.

He had broken fate. But had he also awakened something even older?

As the void trembled, he clenched his fists. "Then let's see what comes next."