The crushing silence of pure energy lasted an eternity, then stretched into a profound, chilling stillness. Liu Jin felt no body, no pain, no fear. Only a vast, echoing emptiness. When awareness slowly returned, it was not to the rubble of Puncak Azure, but to a boundless expanse of pristine white.
He was standing on a plain of endless snow, stretching infinitely beneath a sky of muted, pearlescent grey. The air was frigid, yet he felt no cold, for he had no skin to chill. He had no warmth to lose. He was a consciousness, a single point of being in a universe of pure, unsullied ice. The wind, if there was any, made no sound. His steps, if he moved, left no mark. It was the ultimate solitude.
Where am I? The thought formed, a silent ripple in the boundless calm.
"You are in the space bet
