Immortal Paladin

349 Mercy for the Damned

It hadn't been my intention to bring Yuan Shen here, right over New Willow, but the deed was already done. Accidents like this weren't rare for me, but I'd long learned to handle things as they came. Still, in a strange way, this wasn't the worst place for this fight. I was standing at the heart of faith, the very cradle of belief that once lifted me from a dying world. Here, even the air trembled with my name. The endless prayers and faint murmurs from every soul below reached me like a heartbeat, and every pulse made me stronger.

Through Qi Speech, Ding Shan's voice echoed across my consciousness, steady but edged with tension.

"My Lord… We, the Guardians, are ready to deploy…"

I responded instantly, cutting off his resolve before it turned into reckless courage.

"No need, Ding Shan. We got this handled. Focus on defending New Willow and its citizens."

I could feel his hesitation through the tether of faith between us, but obedience and trust soon filled the link. There were others, too… The thousands of faithful that made up the Guardians, the believers, and the people of New Willow. They were all radiating light into me. Above them all, there was Alice's faith, burning deep crimson, and Da Ji's colder, quieter faith, calm but unwavering. Yet even their devotion paled beside the collective faith of New Willow itself. This city had always been the birthplace of the Great Guard, the first seed of belief that ever took root in my name. No wonder the quality of faith here was so pure and potent. It was intoxicating, like drinking sunlight.

Across from me, Yuan Shen finally let the smile drop from his face. His eyes went flat, dead mirrors reflecting the stars. He formed a hand sign, and the world began to shift. The clouds that had glowed gold with the light of dawn dimmed, and one by one, false stars flickered into existence. A shroud of shadow fell over the Hollowed World. In an instant, he had forced night into being. I couldn't comprehend the mechanics behind it. His spell was foreign, almost alien, but its power was undeniable.

"You're going to regret ever releasing me into the world," Yuan Shen said, voice calm and absolute.

His tone made my knuckles ache with the need to strike him. Instead, I forced my focus elsewhere. Through Qi Speech, I called out, "Shouquan. Go to New Willow. Help the Guardians defend it. The shockwaves from this fight could wipe out half the city, even with the existing formations."

"You sure about this?"

"I'm sure," I said aloud.

He still looked doubtful, but he obeyed. With a flick of his hand, his form shimmered, wrapped in an illusion spell, and vanished in a streak of fading light.

"You're not going anywhere," Yuan Shen said darkly. The shadow beneath Shouquan stretched like tar, and Yuan Shen's figure leaped out of it.

Before I could even react, Alice was already there. She appeared in front of him in a blur of motion, her scythe wreathed in red flame. The two weapons met in a thunderous clash, scythe against saber. My Halo of Restriction formed around Yuan Shen at that exact moment, threads of silver light intertwining with faith and divine will.

It looked like Alice would overwhelm him.

But Yuan Shen wouldn't go down so easily.

He parried the scythe at the last instant, his dark saber vibrating with a pitch so sharp it cracked the Halo like glass. The explosion of their collision hurled both of them backward, flinging Alice across the air and sending Yuan Shen spinning higher into the artificial night sky.

Da Ji didn't waste the moment. She flicked her hand in a graceful, almost lazy gesture, reinforcing Shouquan's illusion and ensuring his retreat. Then she exhaled, and her body began to change.

It started from her tails, the nine white ones coiling around her like beastly appendages and transforming into pure energy. Her fox form expanded, fur gleaming silver-blue, until her monstrous silhouette blotted the starlight as she was encased in frost. Piece by piece, her ice-crystal body shattered, and from within it stepped another being entirely.

Where Da Ji once stood was now an elegant were-fox, humanoid in form yet ethereal, her nine tails fanning behind her like banners woven from pure yin qi. Her eyes glowed with calm ferocity, her breath turning to frost that danced across the night. The aura she released was unmistakable as she had finally synchronized with the Animal Soul within her.

I allowed myself a small, wry smile. My Six Souls had always been notoriously picky. They rarely cooperated with anyone, even those I trusted most. But Alice and Da Ji were exceptions, since both had carved their place in my soul through sheer will and closeness. For them to successfully invoke my souls' Divine Transformation… it was proof of something more profound than power. It was trust made manifest.

Yuan Shen steadied himself above us, eyes narrowing, perhaps recognizing what he was up against. His saber pulsed with darkness that ate away at the stars he'd conjured.

With the breath of quintessence, I conjured a Wandering Adjudicator armor to replace the replica that just got wrecked. I straightened, the air trembling around me as faith poured in like a flood. The light of New Willow shimmered faintly beneath our feet, and I raised my voice so it carried into the night.

"Yuan Shen," I said evenly, divine sparks flickering along my armor and skin. "We are your enemies. So focus on us."

The faith flowing into me was different. It was as though the heavens themselves had been distilled into my veins. It wasn't just more abundant; it was purer, denser, and alive. I could feel every heartbeat in New Willow echo through my soul. The connection wasn't one-way; I wasn't just drawing faith. Instead, I was part of it, an extension of their belief. Compared to the faith I'd once received in the Empire, this was hundreds of times stronger.

With this kind of power coursing through me, I was confident enough to manhandle Jia Sen even at his peak. My muscles thrummed with divine resonance, my mind felt vast, and my spirit sharp. I finally understood, at least partially, why my Immortal Art: Divine Appointment of the Faithful was so dangerous. For the longest time, I thought it was a support technique, something to awaken hidden potential in others, to bless them with strength born from their faith. It turned out it was far more than that.

The truth was staring me right in the face. This Immortal Art didn't merely "convert" faith. Instead, it manifested it. It was a bridge between thought and substance, between belief and law. Every prayer, every whisper of devotion, added another thread to my being, weaving a tapestry of something dangerously close to divinity.

Yuan Shen sneered, his face twisting with disgust. "You truly are an abomination."

I raised an eyebrow. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"You don't seem to understand," he continued, tone sharp and cutting. "Below the Ascended Soul, a cultivator must strengthen their essence, cultivate their qi, refine their form… each step dictated by balance. In the Ascended Soul, one must raise their existence by accumulating immortality. But beyond that…" His gaze sharpened, and the stars he had summoned above flickered unnaturally. "Beyond that, to reach the realm of the Rulers of Law, one must enrich their narrative, embody the truth of their existence, and merge with the laws that define them."

He pointed at me with quiet fury. "And yet, you—" he spat, "—you are not even a Ruler of Law, but you cultivate like one. So much faith flows into you, reshaping the order of your existence itself. You are an error in the system, a thing that should not be."

I couldn't help but smirk. "You sound jealous."

His eyes glowed faintly red. "Not jealous," he said coldly. "Determined to correct a mistake."

With a single smooth motion, he shifted his stance. I saw the flow of qi move from his dantian, spiraling upward through his chest, to his lungs, and out his right arm. The energy condensed in his index finger, shining like molten glass.

He pointed at New Willow.

For a split second, the air stilled. One of the false stars above us winked out of existence.

"Starfall," Yuan Shen declared.

The sky shattered. A blinding column of celestial energy tore down from the heavens like divine wrath, crashing straight into New Willow. The explosion was so bright that even the night Yuan Shen created couldn't contain it.

Then the light cleared.

New Willow still stood.

A vast formation barrier deep beneath the city glowed silver, its runes alive and shifting. Over it, a cracked but persistent golden barrier struggled to hold, its fractures slowly healing as streams of faith mended the damage. And above both, a faint third layer, nearly invisible, pulsed with the collective prayer of the city's people.

I exhaled and looked at Yuan Shen, unimpressed. "Oh, my bad," I said dryly. "Was that supposed to scare me?"

His eyes narrowed, but I could feel the ripple of frustration from him.

Faith was my strength, but it wasn't something I hoarded. It wasn't mine alone. I could share it, spread it, and multiply it. The faith flowing into me was the same faith reinforcing New Willow's defenses, flowing through my Guardians. It was the same light protecting every living being who believed. That realization brought a calm clarity to me.

If I could share power this way, then I'd gladly do so again and again.

Da Ji's voice broke through my concentration, crisp and teasing through Qi Speech. "Brother, as much as I enjoy watching you act all high and mighty, might I remind you that it's almost time for your coronation?"

I blinked, glancing at her. "Oh? You mean right now?"

She crossed her arms, a sly smirk tugging at her lips. "If we don't finish this quickly, you will never get a chance again. If that happens, I'll be the one dealing with Gu Jie and the rest of your disciples whining about it. So, yes… please, hurry up."

I couldn't help but grin. "You've got a real way with motivation, Da Ji."

"Someone has to," she said, her nine tails swishing behind her. Her expression softened slightly before she looked up at the shifting heavens. "Besides…" Her tone turned serious. "If my readings of the celestial movements are correct, the phenomenon we've been waiting for is coming soon. You don't want to be half-dead when that happens."

"Hey, buddy…" I called out to Yuan Shen, raising my voice just enough for it to carry across the ruined skyline of New Willow. "Is there any way you can just stay still and let me hit you? I'm on a timeline here, so I'd really appreciate it if you cooperate. I promise, I'll be gentle. It won't hurt… maybe. If it's not your first time, you'll be fine. Like I said, I'll be gentle."

Da Ji snorted behind me, barely suppressing a laugh. Alice rolled her eyes but didn't comment.

Yuan Shen, however, did not share their amusement. His expression darkened, the night sky above him twisting into swirling patches of obsidian light. "Of course," he spat, his voice laced with bitterness. "You look down on me as well. In the end, you are just like them."

"Them?" I asked, feigning curiosity as I tilted my head. "Who's them?"

He ignored the question, his eyes burning faintly red as he continued, "I have been cultivating within the veil for as long as I can remember, in preparation to take you down. Every moment, every breath… my entire existence shaped for that purpose." His lips curled into a small, cold smile. "Do not mistake me for another petty enemy. I have no hate toward you, Da Wei. I will even confess—" he paused, his tone softening almost unnervingly, "—to my eyes, you are my only hope."

That made me blink. "Hope?" That was new. Usually, enemies either screamed vengeance or threw themselves into nihilistic rage. But this one… he was strange.

As he spoke, I continued weaving a spell under my breath. Divine Possession, a subtle, invisible tether of divinity, stretched toward him like fine threads of silk. Normally, no one could even perceive its presence, much less counter it. Yet Yuan Shen's body shuddered faintly, and he brushed the air beside him as if waving off an invisible insect.

Damn. His resistance was strong.

I sighed, dropping my pretense of subtlety. "You talk too much," I muttered. "Let's speed this up."

In the silence that followed, I whispered a Divine Word, one of the gentler ones. "Rest."

Golden ripples flared around Yuan Shen's form, soft and soothing, like the hum of lullabies sung by gods. It should've lulled him into temporary slumber, if only to open him up to an attack.

"End him," I said to Da Ji, my tone cold. "I got your back."

Da Ji's eyes gleamed, her expression sharpening as her form shimmered. Her nine tails flared wide, her body outlined with silver frost and phantom flame. With a cry that shook the heavens, she unleashed animistic fury. A storm of foxes born of frost and illusion shot forward, streaks of silver and blue light, tearing through the air toward Yuan Shen.

Yuan Shen merely sighed. Then, in a grotesque display, he reached to his chest and ripped off a patch of his own skin. His blood sizzled as he traced an archaic character across the flesh with his index finger, one shaped like a twisted "reversal" sigil, glowing with inky qi.

The moment he released it, the talisman burned away into the air. A dark spherical barrier burst outward from him, swallowing Da Ji's foxes as though they were illusions in the wind.

I frowned. "You and your damn skin magic…" It was new, though.

Raising my right hand, I gathered divine energy in my palm. "Let's see how your barrier likes this."

"Holy Smite + Heavenly Punishment!"

A golden beam of power of concentrated divine wrath shot forth, its heat and brightness enough to scorch the horizon. It crashed against the barrier with the force of a collapsing star. For an instant, I thought it would shatter. Instead, it pulsed once and devoured the light entirely, absorbing it like water into sand.

"Tch." I lowered my arm. "That's cheating."

Within the barrier, Yuan Shen was unmoving, his mouth forming patterns that weren't human. I could feel the rhythm in the air around him, the vibrations resonating with something distant, ancient. He was casting something far larger than anything he had unleashed before.

"Let me handle this," said Alice suddenly, stepping forward.

I looked at her. "You sure?"

She didn't answer. Her crimson hair glowed faintly, the horns on her head pulsing with demonic energy. She dismissed her scythe with a twist of her wrist, the weapon vanishing into her pocket dimension. In its place, she drew out a staff, black at the core but veined with glowing runes of blood-red light.

Planting it into the air before her, she spoke calmly but with authority: "Curse Reversal."

A pulse of magic radiated from the staff, a distortion that bent the very laws around us. The dark barrier flickered, then reversed, consuming itself from the inside out. The talisman's residual curse turned upon its creator.

For a brief heartbeat, the air cleared and the barrier was gone.

But I could already feel it trying to regenerate, rebuilding its form with Yuan Shen's endless qi. There was no time to think.

I moved.

Zealot's Stride + Divine Speed.

The world stretched. My body blurred into a streak of light. The distance between me and Yuan Shen collapsed in an instant. I summoned Silver Steel from my pocket dimension, the blade roaring to life in my grip.

"Divine Smite!"

My sword blazed with white fire as I swung, pouring the full brunt of faith, fury, and divinity into that single strike. The heavens echoed, and the world itself seemed to hold its breath as I aimed to carve straight through Yuan Shen before his barrier could reform.

My sword connected, except it didn't.

Yuan Shen vanished into mist, and my blade cleaved through nothing but cold air. The weight of illusion pressed against my mind an instant too late; I realized the entire figure had been a projection. 'He used a full barrier art on an illusion?' The sheer arrogance of that move almost made me laugh.

Then the ground beneath me burst open.

Black, thorny, and living chains snapped up from the darkness and wrapped around my arms, waist, neck, and legs. Each link pulsed with some malignant rhythm, feeding on my qi and tightening whenever I struggled. At the other end of the chains stood Yuan Shen's real body, his dark saber gleaming.

"You thought I'd just let you strike me?" he said quietly, his tone more disappointed than mocking.

But he wasn't the only one who understood illusions.

The "me" he had trapped smirked, the light flickering oddly across its face, then dispersed into silver frost.

"Wh—"

Yuan Shen barely had time to react before the false Da Wei's form completely melted away, revealing Da Ji beneath the illusion. It had been her all along. Of course, the disguise was perfect, since she was my twin, her qi signature nearly identical to mine. With the Paladin skills she had learned from me and a little sleight of hand, even the reflection of Silver Steel had seemed real.

Da Ji's voice rang like a shard of ice. "You caught the wrong twin."

She seized the black chains in her hands; her nine tails flared out behind her as frost exploded from her palms. The metal groaned as it froze solid, cracks webbing outward. Yuan Shen's eyes widened as he knew what came next.

He reacted on instinct, slicing off his own arm before the frost could crawl up his shoulder. Black ichor sprayed into the air, steaming as it met the cold.

"You're getting predictable," I called from above.

The clouds parted as I descended, Soulsunderer gripped tight in both hands. Divine power pulsed around me like a heartbeat. The memories of my last encounter with Shenyuan, his intangible tricks and mock immortality, burned fresh in my mind. The only thing that ever worked was overwhelming damage.

Why should Yuan Shen be any different?

I poured everything into my weapon with three Ultimate Skills chained together: Holy Sword, Judgment Severance, and Heavenly Punishment. The blade's edges screamed with light, too bright to look at.

That wasn't all.

I whispered the words that tore at the fabric of the world.

"IMMORTAL ART — EXALTED GODSLAYER!"

Divine fire erupted from every rune etched into Soulsunderer's spine. The air warped from the sheer density of faith pouring through me.

Yuan Shen started to move, but a shadow erupted behind him.

It was Alice.

She emerged from his own darkness, her arms wrapping around his torso in a sudden, iron grip. Her crimson eyes glowed, her fangs visible as she hissed, "You're not going anywhere."

Chains of blood and shadow burst from her wrists, constricting him. I could feel the pulse of her magic from Blood Lock, Curse Lash, and Night Feast, the arsenal of a Warlock Vampire unleashed without hesitation. Her very shadow rose up to aid her, taking the shape of skeletal hands to bind Yuan Shen's legs.

That technique, Shadow Traverse, was something Hei Mao developed from his bloodline, one Alice had mastered through her own vampiric nature. I'd seen her use it only twice before; both times, it meant she was fighting to kill.

I didn't waste the opening.

I moved. Soulsunderer howled.

The impact thundered across the sky as I brought the blade down from crown to crotch, splitting heaven and shadow alike. Alice and Yuan Shen were both caught in the blinding arc. It was reckless, but I didn't hesitate. Even if she were a vampire, I could bring Alice back.

Light consumed everything. For a moment, I thought it was over.

Then came the laughter.

It was low at first, like the echo of something rotting. When the glare faded, Yuan Shen stood there, half torn apart and half merged with the shadows that once belonged to Alice. His mouth was twisted into a crooked smile.

"Did you really think I didn't foresee this?"

His voice layered over hers, two tones speaking as one. Alice's eyes, once crimson, were now black, streaked with veins of inky light.

Yuan Shen's smile widened as he raised a hand that wasn't entirely his own. "Karmic Shadow Possession of Ten Thousand Pains."

I lunged forward. Soulsunderer blazed in my grip, still thrumming with the layered power of Holy Sword, Judgment Severance, Heavenly Punishment, and my Immortal Art: Exalted Godslayer. Every swing carved trails of golden light into the night, and yet when my blade met Yuan Shen's dark saber, the impact was a deadlock. The clash sent out a ripple of divine and abyssal energy, twisting the air around us like a storm of colliding realities.

My grin split through the tension. "Gotcha."

I had been waiting for this moment.

From the start, I had treated Yuan Shen as if he were Shenyuan, that clone who could twist karma, swap souls, and even cheat death through possession. Everything Yuan Shen did screamed of that same foundation, only refined. His timing, his perfect evasion… it wasn't mere instinct. He was resetting himself. A Never Ending Bond of Regrets loop, perhaps, a prison of time he used as a weapon. That was how he dodged us so easily. However, even that technique should have limitations. We only needed to give our all to him, relentlessly.

"You are not going away this time!"

Alice's voice rang out. She pried herself from his body, her pale skin glowing faintly under the false starlight Yuan Shen had conjured. Her crimson eyes burned, her aura thick with killing intent. Then she raised her hand and declared, "Wretched Effigy!"

A small, doll-like figure of herself appeared above her head, bound with red string and dripping black ichor. It looked pitiful and eerie at once.

Her Ultimate Skill. A curse that amplified damage against the afflicted. She'd made her possessed body the target. Every wound inflicted on her would rebound with hundreds of times the pain onto the one she was bound to.

"Finish it!" she shouted, baring her fangs.

"Understood."

I lifted my blade, calling upon the Hell Soul residing within her, and spent a Manasoul to cast Divine Mandate of Proximity. Golden runes expanded across the void, forming concentric circles that locked onto Yuan Shen. The spell burned through the fabric of fate itself, binding his essence within Alice. No matter how he tried to escape, destiny would drag him back.

I could feel it. The invisible hand of providence was guiding my every step.

A memory flickered then, of Wen Yuhan, before she was devoured by the Supreme Void. She once told me in one of her lucid days, "If you ever face my disciple, do not pity him. Yuan Shen's curse is not his own; it's the will of something higher, looping through him again and again."

"I am going to free you, now, Yuan Shen… Be grateful!"

I tightened my grip on Soulsunderer and swung down.

The sword cleaved through both of them.

Divine light erupted in a blinding explosion, swallowing everything from the scream of the cursed effigy, the sound of cracking time, and the air itself, twisting and tearing apart.

Yuan Shen staggered, his expression wild with disbelief. The fusion unraveled like a shadow peeled off under sunlight. His voice broke as he shouted, "You're insane! Do you even know what you've done?!"

"I do," I said softly, my eyes narrowing as I felt the loop shatter. "I just broke a part of your Immortal Art, so there's no running away, this time…"

Yuan Shen's body convulsed; the chains of karma that bound him snapped audibly, echoes of countless timelines collapsing into silence. He stumbled backward, coughing up black blood, the possession undone.

Alice's body fell lifelessly, her eyes closed, her straw effigy burning away into ash.

I raised my hand and spoke the words, my tone firm but not desperate. It was a prayer turned command. "Divine Word: Raise."

Light enveloped her.

Alice gasped as movement returned to her being, the glow fading around her as her chest rose again. I could feel her essence flicker as she had lost several layers of immortality, but she was alive. I exhaled, relief and fury twisting in my chest.

Yuan Shen, trembling and pale, glared at me from a distance, his eyes wide, voice breaking into a whisper. "You're… completely mad…"

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"Hey, I'm not mad… It's called a strategy…"

Honestly, I wasn't keen on doing it again, since I hated every second of it.

"Crazy bastard!" Yuan Shen's voice cracked with annoyance.

Blood streamed from the deep wound across his torso, shimmering faintly with divine light, the mark of my Godslayer Immortal Art. Even I could feel the ripples of that technique gnawing at his existence, trying to unmake the essence that made him immortal.

The Godslayer Immortal Art wasn't merely an art of destruction. Instead, it was a statement of defiance against eternity itself. To be wounded by it was almost worse than death. The damage it inflicted would eat through Immortal Physiques, unraveling the flow of qi and laws that sustained the body. Moreover, it could 'hurt' an Immortal Art too. Yuan Shen might still be standing, but I knew the moment my blade connected, a countdown had begun.

I didn't plan to waste the opportunity.

"Now!" I shouted.

Nine Da Ji appeared in a swirl of frost and pale light. Her ninefold reflection surrounded Yuan Shen from every direction, each one bearing a single tail that shimmered with yin qi. They moved like predators in perfect unison, nine hearts beating as one. Each clone might have only a fraction of her true strength, but with the power of faith pouring through us like a shared current, even that fraction reached the might of a True Perfect Immortal.

The first Da Ji leaped forward, her tail coiling around Yuan Shen's arm. The second seized his shoulder, frost blooming from her fingers. The third and fourth struck from below, locking his legs in layers of ice that crept up his body. The fifth and sixth swung with their claws, leaving behind trails of shimmering illusory chains that confused his perception of space. The seventh pressed her palm against his chest, summoning a glowing seal of suppression that burned with divine intent. The eighth and ninth formed a barrier around him, an interlocking prison of frost, illusion, and faith.

For a brief, shining moment, Yuan Shen was truly trapped.

I raised my hand and called out, "Divine Word: Rest."

The command reverberated through the air, carried by the divine authority I held. The word struck him like a bell tolling in the night. Yuan Shen's eyelids twitched, and his body sagged slightly as the spell tugged at his mind.

His resistance was remarkable. He realized what was happening and immediately bit through his own tongue. The pain snapped him awake, but that moment of weakness was all I needed.

"Too slow," I muttered.

I swung Soulsunderer, the blade erupting with divine flame. Yuan Shen countered with a substitution technique; his form shattered like smoke and reappeared behind one of Da Ji's clones, swapping places.

Except, I had already anticipated that.

"Castling," I whispered.

My own form dissolved in gold light, reappearing between him and the horizon. Soulsunderer came down in a blazing arc.

"Brother, it's me!" cried one of Da Ji's clones, her voice breaking with fear as she stared at my sword going straight at her.

"Nice try."

It was a good trick, since he had disguised himself as one of her copies and replaced one with an illusion of his own body. But he should have known better. The Animal Soul within Da Ji was one of my Six Souls. Through that connection, I could never mistake her essence for another's.

Soulsunderer's edge passed through the false Da Ji's head, dispersing the illusion instantly. The real Yuan Shen stumbled backward, eyes wide, blood spraying from his mouth as the strike tore through his chest.

"You…" he wheezed, "you can't win this!"

"Watch me."

Da Ji, moving with perfect timing, tossed my Silver Steel sword into the air. I caught it mid-flight with my left hand, dual-wielding now… Soulsunderer in one, Silver Steel in the other. The clash between my holy light and Yuan Shen's dark saber filled the air with a blinding storm of energy.

We clashed again and again, the sound of our blades like thunder splitting the heavens. Each strike carried the weight of countless lifetimes of cultivation. His technique was flawless and his movements were honed and elegant, but my blows were backed by divine will and faith, every swing a surge of conviction.

We fought through the skies above New Willow, our battle dragging the stars in our wake. The world blurred below as we crossed the border between continents, the night sky shifting into the endless ocean. Water split beneath us as we struck, waves rising like mountains only to collapse under the shockwaves.

That was my goal… to lead him away from New Willow, far enough that no mortal or Guardian would be harmed by our clash.

Still, I couldn't help but feel a grudging respect. Yuan Shen was a [Level 47] Ascended Soul, and even after being struck by the Godslayer, he refused to die. His willpower was immense, his understanding of combat terrifying. Compared to his clone, Shenyuan, the difference was like heaven and earth. This was the original… unyielding, brilliant, and utterly relentless.

I felt my muscles burn, my divine energy surging dangerously high. He met my gaze, his expression grim and unreadable.

From a distance, a flurry of light and frost streaked through the sky.

"Support incoming!" shouted Alice.

Her curses rained down first with crimson sigils forming like falling meteors, exploding with black fire where they struck. She switched from long-range to close combat without hesitation, her scythe flashing as she carved through Yuan Shen's shadows. Each curse weakened his vitality and defense.

Da Ji fused her nine forms back into one. She reappeared beside me, eyes glowing with divine foxfire. "Brother, don't stop! I'll keep you up!"

Her hands moved gracefully, weaving sigils of frost and spirit energy. Healing light surrounded me, mending torn flesh as buffs surged into my body. My speed, power, and clarity sharpened all at once. The cold mist around us thickened into a field of illusions, forcing Yuan Shen to split his focus between reality and mirage.

"Don't hold back," Da Ji said softly, her voice steady despite the chaos. "We end this here."

Alice snarled as she clashed weapons with Yuan Shen again. "No more running!"

The light in Yuan Shen's eyes shifted; gone was the mockery and the detached calm. What stared back at me now was cold, deadly intent. His tone dropped, almost reverent, as he said, "I've seen all that you can offer. I guess it's time I show you my full might."

His hands began weaving complex signs in the air, fingers moving faster than my eyes could follow. The constellations above us flickered violently, as if the sky itself feared him. One by one, the stars winked out of existence until there was only a black void overhead. Then came his quiet, dreadful whisper.

"Starfall."

He wasn't finished.

"Hundred Pillars of Destruction."

The heavens answered.

In an instant, countless columns of incandescent light descended like divine spears. Each one carried the density of overwhelming destruction. The air screamed as they fell, tearing through the dark like blades. I felt the weight of them before they even reached me. It was a crushing pressure that made every muscle in my body tighten.

I leaped, twisted, and spun, each motion guided by faith and instinct. The first pillar struck where I had been standing a heartbeat before, the explosion blinding. The second came from the right, forcing me into a dive. The third and fourth followed without pause. For all my speed, for all the faith surging through me, dodging them was a grueling dance between life and obliteration.

The world was pure radiance and noise. Each impact distorted space, leaving echoes that clawed at my spirit. By the time the last pillar struck, the entire ocean below had turned into a field of light and steam.

When the brilliance faded, everything was silent. With a thought, I checked up on Alice and Da Ji. It seemed they were fine, since they were not Yuan Shen's focus.

I floated amidst the mist and rising heat, panting. My armor was fractured, my cloak half gone, but I still stood. Soulsunderer burned faintly in my right hand, Silver Steel humming in my left.

I couldn't see Yuan Shen.

"You're finally getting serious," I called out into the empty air. "That looked like it was going to hurt, so don't mind me for dodging all of it. Yuan Shen, show yourself! We're not done yet."

The only answer was the crash of waves below.

"Under the ocean!" Alice's voice broke through my mind via Qi Speech.

I turned just as the sea split apart. Shadows stirred in the depths with massive shapes that shouldn't exist. They came in droves.

Enormous beasts surged upward, each the size of a fortress. They were twisted things, their scales oozing darkness, their eyes glowing with crimson malice. Each one radiated the oppressive might of the Tenth Realm. The moment they surfaced, they attacked, screaming with warped, otherworldly hunger.

Alice raised her staff, chanting a curse that darkened the very air. Sigils of black and violet spun around her as her magic burst outward, striking the beasts. The curses ate through their flesh like rot, but for every one that fell, two more emerged from below.

"Damn it," I muttered, gripping my swords tighter.

I surged forward, cutting through them. Soulsunderer cleaved the first sea serpent cleanly in half, its divine edge burning through its cursed hide. Silver Steel flashed, striking another beast through the skull. I didn't even bother defending against the smaller ones, since they shattered themselves against my reflection damage, disintegrating into motes of dark light.

The ocean churned, black and red mixing like ink in water.

Da Ji landed beside me, her eyes glowing cold and bright. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled a massive wave of frost. The breath swept across the ocean, freezing everything it touched. In mere seconds, the waves hardened into glittering ice. The air turned brittle, and the beasts screamed as they froze mid-attack.

But before I could even appreciate the brief reprieve, something moved beneath the ice.

The frozen surface split apart like glass, and a mountain-sized form emerged.

It had eight enormous tentacles, each covered in jagged runes. Its body pulsed with a sickly red glow, and where its eyes should have been were bottomless holes. The creature's aura was suffocating. It was an Eleventh Realm demonic octopus, its very presence corrupting the sea around it.

"Are you kidding me…" I hissed, stepping back.

Its giant beak opened, releasing a shriek that split the sky. My focus wavered for a heartbeat, just enough to show an opening.

Yuan Shen appeared above me, his knee slamming down on my spine, forcing me toward the creature's gaping maw. Pain exploded down my back. I could feel the gravitational pull of the beast drawing me in, its madness gnawing at my soul.

"Let's see how you handle oblivion!" Yuan Shen's voice was right by my ear.

I could sense it now… the insane, hungry will of the void-touched octopus. The thing wasn't just alive; it was wrong, a fragment of nightmare made flesh. My instincts screamed that if it devoured me, even my immortality wouldn't save me.

Before the beak could close, a thunderous roar filled the sky.

"Get away from my brother!"

Da Ji's body erupted in divine light. Her human form shattered, replaced by an enormous fox made entirely of pure yin qi. Her nine tails whipped like blades of moonlight as she landed between me and the monster. The sheer cold she exuded froze even the sea vapor in the air.

The demonic octopus met her gaze and screeched, the sound splitting clouds.

I clenched my jaw, twisting my body and using Flash Step to break free of Yuan Shen's hold. In a burst of light, I reappeared behind him, Soulsunderer already swinging for his neck.

But my blade met nothing.

He vanished in a shimmer of dark mist, and when my sword cleaved through the air, all it struck was water.

From below, a single fish floated up. It was tiny, unassuming, and utterly ridiculous in contrast to the destruction around us.

He'd swapped with it.

I stared at the fish, its blank eyes staring back, and sighed. "A substitution technique… with a damn fish."

Da Ji's voice reached me through Qi Speech, soft yet firm with that familiar steel beneath.

"Brother, let me handle this rabid beast."

She meant the demonic octopus, its tentacles still tearing apart the ocean in its frenzy. I didn't argue. Instead, I silently wove my divine words into her essence, "Divine Word: Raise," embedding it in Spell Resonance. If she fell, my divinity would pull her back instantly.

I could trust her to hold the monster's attention. But Yuan Shen was still out there.

A surge of killing intent drew my attention just in time. A colorful sea serpent the size of a mountain breached the water, its scales shimmering like molten glass. Alice was already moving. She swapped her staff for her scythe, and her orbiting cursed weapons ignited with black fire.

"Hex of Hunger!" she shouted.

The serpent's scales blackened, its movements slowing as if time itself resisted it.

Alice glared across the ocean at Yuan Shen's vanishing outline.

"We need to finish this… he's toying with us," she hissed. "Any idea what his goals are?"

I cleaved through a turtle-fish monstrosity that lunged from below, its blood raining like molten tar. "No idea," I muttered, scanning the battlefield. "But he's delaying something. No one with that much power plays around for no reason."

The corpse of the creature split apart, and behind it, Yuan Shen appeared, his hands cupped together. Between his palms, a sphere of flickering starlight blended with shadow qi until it became something unnatural.

His voice carried, echoing through every drop of water.

"Ink the Light with my Darkness—Death of the Abyss."

The ocean screamed.

Reality split open below us, tearing into a vast, spiraling void. The waters didn't fall into it. Instead, they were devoured. Everything… light, qi, mana… was pulled downward as if the world itself had been punctured. My divine connection flickered, my faith-based spells faltered.

It was like standing at the edge of my own Judgment Severance, except amplified a hundredfold.

Alice's voice cut through the chaos.

"Come!"

I moved without hesitation, flashing beside her. Her fangs bit into her own lip, crimson drops falling as she invoked her blood magic.

"Black Guard. Drain Shield. Accursed Barrier!"

Her blood burned, rejecting the mystical even as she forced it to obey. The Accursed Barrier rose like a dome of obsidian glass around us, humming with defiance against the consuming pull of Yuan Shen's spell.

I layered my own faith-based protections atop hers by injecting more faith to forcibly cast them.

"Shield of Faith. Shield of the Eternal."

The two of us stood side by side, barriers overlapping, holding back the end. Yet the gravitational pull of the abyss dragged us downward. My armor creaked; the air itself pressed like a mountain on my lungs.

Outside the distortion, Yuan Shen stood calmly, his hands moving through another sequence of hand signs. Whatever he was calling would be worse than this.

Da Ji was locked in her own battle far away. I couldn't count on her for now.

Within seconds, my Shield of Faith shattered. The Eternal Shield followed. Alice's Black Guard cracked next, then Drain Shield. Accursed Barrier held for a moment longer before splitting like glass, and still she kept bleeding to fuel her sorcery.

"Buy me time," I said through clenched teeth. "I might have a solution."

Alice nodded grimly, summoning more cursed blades that spiraled outward like angry satellites, deflecting stray blasts of gravitational energy.

I closed my eyes and reached inward, to the core of my being.

My dantian pulsed. The familiar miniature world within it, Earth, rotated in silence. It had always been strange to look at, but it was my only true anchor, my World Core. Drawing in every fragment of faith, every Manasoul, and the unknown power dwelling in that inner Earth, I lifted my hand to the skies above the Hollowed World.

"Heavenly Punishment."

The clouds churned black. Lightning formed spears of gold. One by one, enormous swords of divine light pushed through the cloud cover, aimed downward.

I unleashed them all.

Yuan Shen's laughter echoed across the sea, arrogant and cold.

"Futile! You can't touch me!"

I smirked back, muttering just loud enough for him to hear,

"I'm not targeting you, idiot."

The golden swords fell, not at him, but past him, into the heart of the abyss. Their combined impact birthed a cataclysmic explosion of light that shook the entire Hollowed World. The void ruptured. The ocean inverted. For a single impossible moment, the darkness broke.

Yuan Shen's confidence vanished. He staggered, clutching his chest as his left arm exploded into red mist. Blood gushed freely as cracks of divine backlash spidered across his body.

He glared at me in disbelief, and I could feel the pressure of something beyond the Hollowed World, piercing through the rift my swords had opened.

I heard a voice, vast and echoing, shaking the air and my very soul.

"DA WEI!"

The sound was followed by a colossal eye peering through the hole in reality, a celestial giant, her radiance brighter than the sun itself.

It was Aixin.

"Hey, there," I greeted. "Did ya miss me?"

The suppression weighing on my body finally lifted. My divine energy flowed freely again, the suffocating grip of Yuan Shen's spell unraveling like mist before dawn.

"YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE ME, DA WEI!"

The voice was thunder wrapped in fury.

Alice cursed under her breath. "That's your plan!? To invite more disaster!?"

I didn't bother answering right away. She whistled sharply, summoning her bicorn, a two-horned beast with smoke curling off its hooves and a mane of crackling violet energy. The creature neighed. Without hesitation, I vaulted up behind her as she took off.

The air split as the bicorn shot forward, galloping through the clouds like a comet. I stashed Soulsunderer and Silver Steel into my pocket dimension, then recovered both my Heaven Soul and Asura Soul. The surge of returning power felt like an ocean tide rushing into me. I pressed my palm to the bicorn's side and cast Bless and Zealot's Stride, flooding the beast with radiant vigor. Its speed doubled instantly, tearing through the air with streaks of divine gold trailing behind.

"It's gonna work," I shouted over the roaring wind. "Trust me."

Alice shot me a glare over her shoulder. "Trust you!? David, we're past that…"

Before I could retort, the sky darkened.

An enormous celestial hand broke through the hole I had torn earlier, piercing the ocean from beyond the Hollowed World. The pressure it emitted dispersed the clouds above. The hand's skin shimmered with constellations, each movement making the heavens tremble. As it reached through, the rift widened, burning at the edges.

The sheer heat of it struck me next, waves of divine fire licking my armor. Wait… heat?

I looked up, and my blood ran cold.

A fireball, no, a sun, descended like judgment. It slammed into Aixin's arm, the impact shaking the entire world. The sea boiled in an instant, and the sky ignited in gold.

An ancient and deafening voice rolled across the heavens:

"I AM THE OTHER HALF OF THE WARDEN, THE SUN! HOW DARE YOU INTRUDE UPON MY DOMAIN!? THE SIX SUPREMES TASKED ME TO GUARD THIS PRISON! YOU DARE DEFY THE ANCIENT LAWS!?"

Aixin's scream followed, sharp and furious enough to crack the horizon. Her celestial hand caught fire, divine ichor dripping into the ocean like molten stars.

"HOW DARE A MERE WARDEN LAY HIS HANDS ON ME!? I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

The Sun's form solidified into a blazing titan wreathed in divine flames, his outline radiant and regal. Though only half the Warden, his presence eclipsed everything. His golden armor burned with the essence of judgment itself. I could feel his fury even from here through my Divine Sense. The two deities clashed, shaking the Hollowed World. Light and shadow warred in the heavens, creating a sky torn between day and night. Every collision sent ripples across the sea.

The bicorn galloped through the chaos, darting past falling embers and shrapnel of divine energy. Da Ji and the void-touched octopus were still locked in combat in the distance, their struggle looking almost insignificant beside the titanic battle above.

Alice's voice cut through the wind. "Where is he!?"

I extended my Divine Sense ahead, through the haze of shattered qi. Then I saw Yuan Shen, kneeling on a broken reef, his aura in tatters, his body still twitching from the backlash of my earlier strike.

"Straight ahead," I said. "He's down, but not out."

The bicorn shrieked as it plunged in a steep dive toward him.

I leaped from the bicorn's back as the wind screamed in my ears, the ocean below flashing like molten silver. My boots hit solid air as I summoned World Aegis, the tower shield manifesting in a burst of golden light. Its weight pressed against my arm, comforting in its familiarity.

"With Asura Soul—" I murmured, focusing my will. The crimson glow of wrath and precision enveloped the Aegis. "—Shield Bash!"

I surged forward, the shield propelled by Divine Might. It connected with a thunderous crack, smashing straight into Yuan Shen's chest. His body bent unnaturally, and he flew backward, tumbling through the sky like a broken comet. I caught a glimpse of his expression, filled with shock and disbelief. He hadn't expected me to tear apart his spell and nullify his abyssal suppression.

Yuan Shen barely regained his balance before Alice appeared behind him, her scythe a blur of black and scarlet flame. She swung, fast and low. Yuan Shen roared and conjured a dark saber, parrying the scythe in a shower of sparks.

But something else had appeared as dark spectral chains wrapping around Yuan Shen's throat, coiling tighter like serpents.

"Wait…" I muttered, my Divine Sense flickering in surprise. I recognized the pattern. Dark Binding Chains…? That was a Warlock Legacy curse… Alice had improvised it flawlessly.

The end of the chain materialized in my hand.

I grinned. "Oh, you're mine now."

I yanked the chains with all my Divine Might. The sky warped under the force as Yuan Shen was ripped from his position and slammed into the mountainside, carving a valley where one hadn't existed before.

Through Divine Sense, I felt the rupture in his immortal essence. He lost a layer. His level dropped from forty-seven to forty-six.

"Not done yet," I said coldly, pulling the chains again.

Yuan Shen's limp body was dragged through the air, streaking toward us like a meteor. Alice's eyes glowed crimson as she raised her hand.

"Wretched Effigy!"

A straw doll version of Yuan Shen appeared above his head, twitching grotesquely as she followed with:

"Malevolent Grasp!"

From the ether, a massive ghostly hand erupted and crushed Yuan Shen, his scream echoing across the broken landscape. His aura flickered, another layer gone. Level forty-five.

I dashed forward, smashing my shield into his body again. "Shield Bash!"

The blow sent him rocketing upward. The dark chains went taut, suspending him in the air like a puppet.

"ALICE!" I roared.

She appeared in a blink on the opposite end, her scythe already drawn back. "Crimson Soul Rend: Hell's Path!"

Through the pulse of Divine Sense, I felt his aura fracture with two more layers gone. Level forty-three. The chains dissolved, their curse duration spent.

I dismissed World Aegis, returning it to my pocket dimension, and summoned Soulsunderer once more. The sword hummed in my grasp, hungry for the divine. I descended like a falling star, landing atop the crater with enough force to send ripples through the ground.

Yuan Shen lay in the center, barely moving.

"End of the line," I muttered.

I grabbed him by the throat with my left hand, locking him in place as I activated Monkey Grip, Stagger, and Halo of Restriction. Silver light chained around him, sealing his movement, his breath, even the tremor of his aura.

Still, he murmured something.

I frowned. "You're still chanting? After all this?"

Since he unleashed Death of the Abyss, he hadn't stopped muttering. He was building something, an incantation or curse beyond comprehension. I didn't plan on finding out what. I attempted Divine Possession, forcing my soul against his, but he deflected it again. I switched tactics. Divine Word: Rest. Nothing. His body refused every divine command.

"Fine," I whispered, fury surging up. "We'll do this the hard way."

I raised Soulsunderer and drove it straight into his face. The blade pierced through, divine energy detonating on impact. His immortal body shattered for a moment, his head reforming slower each time. I pulled it out and stabbed again from the face, chest, throat… over and over, while maintaining my grip around his neck.

Each strike tore more of his existence apart, reducing him layer by layer.

Level forty… thirty-eight… thirty-one… twenty-four…

By the time I stopped, his aura was little more than a trembling flicker.

[Level 19].

But Yuan Shen smiled. His lips moved, forming the words with a voice both broken and exultant. "Worth it," he rasped. "Now… It's my turn." His hands formed a trembling seal. The world itself shuddered as divine patterns erupted around us, glowing with karmic light.

"Immortal Art: The Never Ending Bond of Regrets—Verse Two… True Karmic Possession, Bonding of Fates."

The light engulfed us both.

Alice had been watching me from a distance, her presence flickering in the back of my consciousness through the Hell Soul I left with her. I could see what she saw: my body standing over Yuan Shen, sword in hand, blood glistening on my armor. Everything should have been over. He was broken, defeated, and was slowly being stripped of his layers of immortality.

Yet, in the next moment, something went wrong.

I felt a thread snapping inside my soul. My hand twitched, and my sword froze mid-swing. My lips moved without my command.

"From now on," I heard my own voice say, "I am Da Wei."

I realized what had happened. Yuan Shen had stolen my body.

The grand spell he had been murmuring hadn't been an attack. It was an attempt to steal my body, a fusion of law and destiny that allowed him to claim my existence as his own. The Yuan Shen I had been tearing apart vanished, dissolving into light and shadow that sank into me.

From the shared link, I heard Alice's whisper, carried by the Hell Soul's resonance.

"Is that all, David? Surely, you can do better than that."

Her tone was sharp, but I could sense her faith in me. It was steady and fierce.

"Yeah," I murmured back in thought, even as I felt my control slipping. "Sorry for showing such a pathetic sight."

Yuan Shen laughed through my own voice, a strange and unnerving sound. But while he might have claimed my flesh, he had made a fatal mistake.

Within me stirred my souls, each a blazing world of its own. The moment Yuan Shen's presence brushed against them, they reacted like wolves defending their den. The clash began inside the inner realm, our true battleground.

Yuan Shen almost succeeded. Almost. But the instant my Six Souls recognized the intruder, they began devouring his karmic essence piece by piece.

I forced a breath through my mouth and whispered, "I'm going to finish this, Alice. But first, I have to retrieve my Six Souls."

"Then I trust I can leave the rest to you," she replied softly.

I could almost feel her smile through the Hell Soul, confident as ever.

I closed my eyes and whispered the incantation.

"Divine Possession: Transcendent Six Paths."

Light burst outward within the spiritual plane, splitting me into six currents of soul power. Yuan Shen screamed as the chains of divine authority coiled around him.

"I'm sorry, Yuan Shen," I said as I began reclaiming what was mine. "But this is my body."

The Hell Soul and Animal Soul, which I had entrusted to Alice and Da Ji, answered my call, streaking back into me like comets of dark flame and icy mist. The moment they returned, I felt whole again… balanced.

I dove deeper, into the heart of my inner world.

The fog cleared, revealing a rooftop beneath a pale sky. It was an old and familiar sight… Earth. My Earth. But everything looked distorted, incomplete, like a painting half-remembered. I'd long since sealed away my memories of this world, and now it existed here only as a hollow echo.

Yuan Shen stood there, gazing at the city skyline that was both real and unreal.

"This is a strange world," he said, voice soft, weary.

I joined him on the rooftop. "The last person I brought here kind of went insane," I replied. "Her name was Wen Yuhan. I believe you know her."

His expression didn't change. "I do."

That was it… just two words. I'd expected anger, regret, nostalgia… anything. But he looked empty, as if he'd burned through every emotion he ever had.

"So," I asked, hand resting on the hilt of my sword, "are we gonna fight?"

He turned to me, and in his eyes, I saw quiet resignation. My Six Souls worked behind me, drawing in fragments of his karmic thread, replaying the life he'd lived. Every battle, every death, every moment of obsession… it was all being absorbed into my understanding.

It wasn't that he surrendered. It was simply inevitable. The moment Yuan Shen chose to possess me, he lost.

He smiled faintly. "I lost," he said. "It's really unfair."

"Unfair?" I tilted my head, studying him. "Why?"

"Because," he said slowly, "there's no beating your kind."

I frowned. "My kind? What do you mean?"

He met my gaze.

"The Supreme Beings," he said.

I always had a feeling I knew where this was going. The suspicion began when the ox-head told me I wasn't human, but I chose to ignore it at the time. Still, hearing someone say it out loud carried a different kind of weight. My mind couldn't help circling back to the same question… what even was a Supreme Being? I didn't feel "supreme" in any sense of the word. I bled, I struggled, and I lost people. If I really were one, then what exactly was I the supreme of?

I stared at Yuan Shen, his form flickering like smoke, every edge of him smudged and unstable. "What is it you wish to gain by trying to possess me?" I asked.

He smiled faintly, the expression tired. "I thought I could become a Supreme Being if I possessed you," he said. "But instead… I've become you, in a sense of the word."

His voice was getting thinner, like he was speaking through layers of glass. I could barely hear him. I reached out and poured a stream of faith into his fading form. It wasn't mercy… I just needed him to stay coherent long enough to talk. My power restored his image for a moment, but it only hastened the erosion of his identity. The longer he lingered in my presence, the more my existence swallowed his.

I sighed. "Do you remember the Hollowed World before the Heavenly Temple? Back when it was just called the Temple?"

Yuan Shen nodded. "Yes, I do."

I didn't really care for his answer. I didn't want to walk down memory lane with him or share the tangled history he had with Wen Yuhan. Still, I couldn't deny that I owed something to that woman. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have realized that the "Game Master" I'd spoken to in the False Earth wasn't real… that the Supreme Void itself was the False Earth.

"When I confronted your master back in the False Earth," I said slowly, "she gave me a destiny… to elevate mortals. Before she disappeared, she showed me a memory. Two children, twins… a boy and a girl. I know Wen Yuhan only had two disciples: you and Shouquan. Who was the girl?"

"She's my twin sister," Yuan Shen answered, his tone calm and detached.

"Where is she now?"

"She serves as the Heavenly Master of the Heavenly Temple."

I frowned. "You're strangely cooperative."

"I know when I am beaten," he replied.

He wasn't wrong. He couldn't hide anything from me. His existence was laid bare before my will. Truth bled out of him like light from a broken lantern. This conversation didn't need to happen at all, but perhaps it was hypocrisy or curiosity that made me continue. I wanted to understand.

"What made you think I'm a Supreme Being?" I asked.

Yuan Shen looked down, then gestured toward me… or perhaps inside me. "Your dantian," he said. "I believe it's called… Earth. Something the Supreme Beings have been searching for to elevate their power. It's my first time seeing it this close… but I don't think they know you carry it within you."

That made me pause.

Earth? Inside me?

I just stood there, staring at him. My thoughts tangled, disbelief twisting through me. The image of my inner world flashed in my mind, the blue and green sphere floating in an endless void. I'd always thought it was symbolic, a manifestation of my faith or a reflection of something lost. But now, hearing him call it Earth...

I rubbed the bridge of my nose and groaned. "So what, I've been carrying a planet in my stomach this whole time?"

Yuan Shen chuckled weakly. "If you want to put it that way."

It was absurd, yet strangely fitting. Everything that happened since the False Earth, the endless cycles, the loops of fate… it all tied back to this. I was starting to feel dizzy just trying to piece it together.

The edges of Yuan Shen's form began dissolving again, fragments of his essence flaking away into motes of faint light. He looked peaceful now, almost human.

"The past could never be brought back," he murmured, his voice fading. "But if I ever had a second chance in life… I think I'd try to do better."

There were only regrets left in him. It was fitting, considering the Immortal Art he used was called Never Ending Bond of Regrets. I could feel the truth of that name with every word that left his fading mouth. Yuan Shen's existence was unraveling, yet there was no fear in his eyes… only exhaustion and a quiet longing. It was a shame to let him go. He knew too much, and perhaps, if things had been different, he might have been a valuable ally. Still, even when I mentioned the False Earth and his master, he didn't flinch. That indifference told me more than anything else that he'd already made peace with his sins and his fate.

What unsettled me most was how he knew about Earth and the motivations of the Supreme Beings. My Six Souls worked quietly in the background, dissecting his memories piece by piece. I could sense the caution of my Six Souls. Some of those memories were wrapped in divine traps and forbidden runes, marks left behind by the Supreme Beings themselves. Even a mere glance at those fragments caused ripples in my soulscape. To avoid corruption, my Six Souls sealed several of them away for later examination.

When I thought of the Ancient Souls, I used to pity them. They were fragments of will, doomed to be played with by the Supreme Void and discarded when no longer useful. But Yuan Shen… he had it worse. He wasn't just manipulated by one godlike entity. Instead, he had been the toy of six Supreme Beings. Their brands lingered all over his existence, faint traces of power older than creation. Each scar was a whisper of torment, a lifetime of servitude that twisted him into the weapon I fought.

Still, curiosity got the better of me. "How about your sister?" I asked quietly. "Can you tell me more about her?"

His expression darkened immediately. "She's a monster."

I flinched. Of all the things I expected, that wasn't one of them. His tone carried neither hatred nor disgust, only a hollow sort of grief.

"If I am the head of a snake," he continued, his voice trembling, "then she's the head of a monstrous dragon of disaster. She's the reason Master fell into the False Earth, and the reason I offered myself to the Supreme Beings. I did it all to protect her. She's the only one who ever mattered to me… even if she was like that."

"Like that?" I pressed, though I already knew the answer would not be comforting.

"You'll understand once you meet her," he said softly. "I know we're enemies, but I want to make a shameful request. When you kill her… tell her it wasn't her fault."

"Whose fault is it then?"

"It's the Supreme Beings' fault."

I didn't understand the full story, but something in his tone convinced me he wasn't lying. His "sister" sounded like the kind of trouble that would demand a miracle to handle. I sighed quietly. Another name added to my growing list of inevitable conflicts.

Still, as I looked at Yuan Shen's dissolving figure, pity crept into my heart. I didn't need to do anything for him. He was beaten, hollow, and fading. Yet I couldn't help it… Softheartedness had always been my fatal flaw.

"Since you've been so cooperative," I said, lifting a hand and gathering a spark of radiant energy, "I'll give you a reward."

The spark glowed, unraveling into a familiar shape, a faint figure, warm and bright, a sliver of destiny that once belonged to Wen Yuhan.

Yuan Shen's eyes widened. "M-Master?"

From the light, Wen Yuhan's voice flowed like silk, teasing and melodic. "Ara ara, my cute little disciple has been so naughty," she said with a smirk that was equal parts fond and amused. Her golden eyes shifted to me. "Da Wei, don't you think this is a waste? I'm a fragment of destiny… a powerful one. You could've kept me for yourself."

I shrugged. "Nah. I'll be fine."

The world around us shimmered with soft luminescence as the piece of destiny fully awakened. Yuan Shen trembled, his body flickering as Wen Yuhan embraced him, pressing his head against her chest. His face turned red with a mix of shame and disbelief.

"Be at peace now, Yuan Shen," she whispered. "You've done enough."

He didn't answer, but I could sense his soul finally letting go, his regrets melting away in her warmth.

Satisfied, I stepped back and let the inner world fade around me. My consciousness returned to the stillness of my core, leaving the master and disciple behind in the world of memories.

They deserved that small mercy. I told myself it was pragmatism, that by doing this, I'd loosen the traps woven into Yuan Shen's mind and gain insight into the Supreme Beings. But deep down, I knew the truth.

I was merciful like that.