The Void is not mere space. It is not a vacuum. It is an idea—an unreachable limit of emptiness, a theoretical construct rather than a natural phenomenon.
It is what remains when all matter and energy are stripped from a region of space, when nothing is left behind.
It is also an imagined space without boundaries or dimensions, like a mathematical point or philosophical nothingness.
In reality, the void cannot be created or observed, because there is always something, whether matter, energy, or interference, standing in the way.
From this context, one might conclude that the void does not truly exist. It is a concept, not a phenomenon.
But that is not entirely true.
Indeed, the true void does not exist within reality. But what about outside of it? The answer... is yes.
Beyond the boundaries of reality, it lies in wait—an emptiness untouched by reality's will. It stretches between realms, across dimensions, and even between universes themselves. It is the silence behind existence.
The Infinite Void—as most called it—and some, like the ancient cultivators from the Eternal Dao Multiverse Domain, referred to it as the Primordial Chaos.
The Infinite Void was the term most beings across realities agreed upon—one of the few things considered truly infinite. Or at least, it remained so… until someone proved otherwise, perhaps after an eternity.
Compared to it, even the vastness of the universe seemed limited. For all its immensity, the universe still had boundaries. And if one possessed enough strength and means, even those edges could be reached.
The ones who stand above the majority and can go beyond their own world, the first thing they would face is the Void.
However, the void is a dangerous place, not one where one could roam freely.
Most could not withstand its nature, especially the weak ones. Similar to an astronaut in the middle of space—if they don't have a spacesuit, they will die from the harsh environment of space.
If one steps into the void without "a spacesuit," they will face the same fate as the astronaut without the spacesuit—Death, but with a different approach. They will be eroded to nothingness by the void erosion.
"A spacesuit" could be many things, whether it's their powerful body, immense power, protective artifacts, divine treasures, unique abilities, or cosmic structures like the Astral Web. These things could protect one from void erosion.
Even though it was called the Void, it was not truly empty.
It was nothing and everything at the same time—more like primordial chaos rather than the void.
Despite its dangerous environment, it was not without dwellers. In fact, the void had more history and even more dwellers than most universes.
Its rich history was clearly due to its eternal and infinite nature. Many events occurred in the void as eternity unfolded, including battles between powerful beings, the destruction of universes, and even wars between universes.
All these Legendary events took place within the void.
The countless realities rise and fall around the void for eternity, and it continues to be so.
Aside from the realities surrounding the void, the void itself was not entirely an empty space; it was filled with ruined realms and dimensions, or ancient ruins.
These broken pieces of existence served as both a treasure trove filled with opportunities from destroyed realities. and evidence that proved these fallen realities once existed.
When one addresses the dwellers of the void, it does not just mean those who came from the realities either.
The void also had its own natives, such as outer gods, great old ones, eldritch horrors, void beasts, etc.
These natives of the void were not very welcome in most realities, since they often caused problems—and worse, multiple times, they served as agents of the inevitable cycle of creation and destruction, bringing the Great Calamities to the realities.
The Ultimate Tribulation of the realities and their peoples.
If the realities withstood the Ultimate Tribulation, they would rise; if they failed, their destiny was to become another ruined realm and dimension, or ancient ruin, becoming one with the void.
Aside from the natives of the void, the majority of void dwellers were beings that came from the realities.
There are numerous reasons why these people from the realities decided to reside in the void—whether to hide from the powerhouses of their home realities, those who cultivate the power of the void, like many Taoist sects that practice void-related techniques, decide to found their sects in the void realm for a better cultivation environment, or those who had no place to go.
These void dwellers mostly resided in the Void Realm—a realm born from the fusion of many ruined worlds. It resembled the realities surrounding the void, though far more dangerous and chaotic due to the overlapping of countless world laws.
The void dwellers—some were lone wolves who often stayed away from others, while some came as a group.
Those who want to live as a group form a society of void dwellers, exchanging resources or living close to each other for better protection against the natives of the void.
The void did not seem to be a bad place to live if one knew what to do in order to survive there.
However, not everyone can settle in the void—at least not forever.
This is because some realities have given birth to beings whose very nature is vulnerable to the void.
The beings from these worlds require more powerful 'spacesuits' than others, just to survive within the void, let alone settle.
There was a stereotype of such realities that most void dwellers knew about: it was the reality where the Primordial Gods reigned supreme.
In most realities, once a Primordial God accomplished their purpose, they would soon lose their status as the supreme being in their realities by many methods, depending on that reality’s will.
Some Reality's will, without mercy, would kill the Primordial Gods right away; some would give them a chance to survive through trials.
It was a necessary process for most realities that the Primordial Gods had to go.
If not, there would be no opportunity for other beings to rise and catch up with them. If the beings within a reality do not strive to ascend, then that reality itself will never have the chance to rise.
In the case of realities where Primordial Gods reigned supreme, it meant the will of those realities did not favor the idea of rising higher.
They preferred to maintain the status quo and order, which most likely led to them giving birth to beings that were not very adaptive to changes in the laws.
This was a worse trait one could have when dealing with the chaotic void laws and their harsh environment.
This often happens to realities that emerge with a higher dimensional level than most.
The Great Loka World, for instance, could accommodate Tier 13 beings from the moment it was born, while most begin at Tier 10 or lower.
In the infinite void, within the territory of the Supreme Divinity Multiverse Domain, one Void Realm was drifting within the emptiness.
In the surrounding void, space and time were not concepts one could easily comprehend—one step could take a person to the edge of a world or not move at all, and time might flow differently for each individual, even moving backward for some.
However, within the Void Realm, such unpredictable chaos did not occur.
This Void Realm was called the Wanderer God Realm.
It was an ancient Void Realm created by a group of wanderer gods who couldn’t return to their worlds for various reasons, whether due to exile or because their worlds had already been destroyed.
The Wanderer God Realm was immensely vast, as its interior could contain an entire multiverse within it.
A vast city floated above the divine white clouds in one corner of the Wanderer God Realm.
It was home to the Loka people, led by Lord Vishnu—the only member of the Trimurti to survive the Great Calamity.
"Hm…?" Vishnu murmured.
"What's wrong?" Lakshmi asked gently.
"One of my incarnations was destroyed," Vishnu said, his voice calm but thoughtful.
"Is that so unusual?" Lakshmi asked, unfazed. "What makes this one different?"
After all, Vishnu had scattered countless incarnations across the multiverse to gather resources for their plans.
It was inevitable that conflict would arise with the native forces of those worlds.
Losses were to be expected.
“The incarnation’s memory was wiped clean. Only an image of the killer and a single word returned,” Vishnu said, his voice laced with curiosity.
“What word?” Lakshmi asked.
“Chaos,” he replied, narrowing his eyes as the face of a young man with long black hair surfaced in his mind.
Suddenly, Vishnu felt an overwhelming sense of danger from the image itself, as if the figure within was about to gaze back at him through the lingering memory.
Without hesitation, he erased the memory from his mind, severing the connection.
Seeing this, Lakshmi let out a quiet breath of relief.
“It seems you may have unknowingly offended a Transcendent,” she murmured.