In a plane separated by life and death, two figures stood still—one frozen in disbelief, the other gazing with quiet, unreadable longing.
The world around them was lifeless, void of wind, sound, or color, and yet in that moment, it felt as though time itself had stopped.
"Shen Xi..."
Without hesitation, Yun Che rushed forward and wrapped his arms around her. He held her tightly—desperately—as if afraid she might vanish the moment he let go. His trembling hands clung to her slender back, and his breath caught in his throat. For a long time, neither moved, lost in the surreal silence between them.
Eventually, they parted.
Shen Xi lifted her eyes to his. "What… what are you doing here…?" she asked softly. Her voice quivered—not with longing, but with confusion, as though she couldn't comprehend the scene before her.
Yun Che stared at her, but said nothing.
Their love had always been faint, like a fleeting dream. From the beginning, there had been no promises, no true connection—only necessity. For Shen Xi, it was a means of freeing herself from the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, and for that, she had given Yun Che her body. In return, she had helped him remove the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark. That was all.
Just a transaction.
And yet… in this place where life and death blurred, they met again.
But everything that happened afterward… the arrival of their daughter, Yun Xi, had been nothing more than an accident. And yet, that accident became the thread that unraveled the coldness that once bound Shen Xi's heart in silence. She had lived with detachment, with clarity of purpose—but Yun Xi's birth had stirred something deep within her, something she never intended to feel.
Back then, when her body was drawn into the land of the dead by the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, Yun Che's consciousness had, for a fleeting moment, been dragged along with it. In that moment beyond life and death, she had entrusted him with one final wish—to find their daughter, and live a peaceful, happy life.
But instead, Yun Che had tried everything in his power to bring her back with him.
She had been touched... truly touched. But of course, that could never happen. He was still among the living, and she—she no longer was. She was only a soul at the time, lingering in this lifeless plane, bound by death itself.
Even that senior… could not leave this place.
Yet now, once again, he stood before her—here, in the Well of Samsara. And this time, it wasn't just his consciousness. Shen Xi could feel it clearly—his entire being was here. His body, his soul… everything. But how could that be possible?
As she stared at Yun Che with eyes filled with disbelief, the same look was mirrored on his face.
"I... I came to take you home..." Yun Che said, his voice trembling with emotion as his gaze never left hers. The Shen Xi before him—she was whole. Her body, her soul... all of her was here, complete and alive. But how? The last time he saw her, she had been nothing more than a wandering soul, fading in the land of the dead.
"...But... even Senior... was never able to leave. How... how could you take me back?" Shen Xi whispered, her voice soft, her tone filled with disbelief. Yun Che's words felt like a divine melody echoing in her heart, but she was still Shen Xi—clear-minded, composed, unwilling to embrace a dream without reason.
She didn't know how Yun Che had managed to arrive here, but the truth remained—nothing in this plane could ever leave. Not even her. When that senior gathered her Life Essence, soul, and physical body, reforging them into a complete existence and granting her new life… it was proof of a power so terrifying, so unfathomable, that it rivaled—no, perhaps even surpassed—that of her former lord, Li Suo, the Goddess of Life during the Primordial Era.
And yet… even with that level of power, even that senior could not leave this place. So how could Yun Che possibly bring her back to the world of the living?
"Senior…?" Yun Che murmured as a flash of realization crossed his mind. The respectful tone in Shen Xi's voice lingered in his thoughts—and in that instant, the image of the figure clad in black, the one who looked like Fen Juechen, surfaced.
There was only one possible answer.
"Are you talking about the senior in black?" Yun Che asked, his eyes narrowing as he met Shen Xi's gaze.
"I don't know who he is… but I know he's incredibly powerful. He was the one who mended my shattered soul and broken body… and gave me life once more," Shen Xi said softly, her voice carrying a deep, heartfelt gratitude. The gift of a second chance—of truly living again—was something beyond anything she could ever hope to repay.
"You don't know?" Yun Che echoed in confusion, his brows furrowing deeply.
He had scanned this entire place over and over again when he first arrived. Compared to that vast, endless plane with the long river of Life Essences, this realm was much smaller—just a few thousand miles in diameter before it ended in pure nothingness. He had sensed nothing else. No other presence. No other soul. Even Shen Xi's existence was completely hidden from him until the moment that mysterious senior had vanished toward the skyborne palace.
A sharp thought flashed across his mind.
Without delay, Yun Che sent his divine sense sweeping outward once more, covering every inch of this lifeless world. Perhaps something had been blocking his perception all along—just as he couldn't sense Shen Xi's presence before that senior departed for the floating castle above.
Yet as Yun Che's divine sense swept across the land once more, blanketing every inch of this barren realm, he still could not detect a single trace of another living being. His divine sense carefully scanned every structure, every broken corridor, every silent chamber… and then, as it reached toward the castle in the sky—just for a moment—it met resistance. A cold, invisible force blocked it, but only briefly, before it was allowed to pass through.
And in that fleeting instant, as if the very act had been noticed, Yun Che felt it.
Within the highest tower of that floating palace, the figure of Fen Juechen turned ever so slightly, an unreadable smile upon his face, a mirror held lazily in his pale hand. His eyes, devoid of life and yet impossibly aware, seemed to pierce straight through the void. The moment they aligned with Yun Che's probing intent, a dreadful chill surged through Yun Che's soul—so potent that his entire being quivered in instinctual fear. Before he could even respectfully retract his divine sense, cold sweat had already begun trailing down his forehead.
But he didn't get the chance.
"Don't—don't look… don't!" Shen Xi's terrified voice rang out beside him as she reached out and shook him hard, snapping him back to his senses. Her face, normally as calm as the moonlit sea, was now drained of color, her expression contorted in a fear he had never once seen before.
"You'll see the senior…" she whispered, her voice trembling, as if even speaking his presence aloud invited destruction. Her hands were still gripping his arm tightly, her nails digging into his skin. Just his simple attempt to peer into that palace had nearly caused her god soul to collapse.
And she had reason to fear.
As the daughter of the Primordial Azure Dragon God, raised under the watchful eyes of her father, her clan, and later, her revered master Li Suo—the Goddess of Life herself—Shen Xi's cultivation had long since stepped into the pinnacle of the True God Realm. She had even begun to master the Heavenly Laws and crossed the threshold into the domain of Ancient True Gods.
Yet, even with all that…
When she first tried to gaze upon the being who had saved her—tried to look upon that "senior" who had reconstructed her broken body and soul—she found herself unable to. Her entire existence trembled. Her soul nearly shattered.
That man… was not someone mortal, god, or devil could gaze upon lightly.
Her divine soul, her will, even the foundation of her existence had nearly collapsed just from the mere presence of that man. That was why she panicked—why she reacted so strongly. She was terrified that Yun Che, unaware of the danger, would provoke that presence again… and die without even knowing how.
Unfortunately, her desperate reaction only deepened Yun Che's confusion.
Seeing the puzzlement in his eyes, Shen Xi took a breath to steady herself, though her voice still trembled.
"I... I don't dare... to gaze at the senior..." she said softly, her eyes lowered. "Even just sensing his divine aura... it filled me with dread. It felt like my soul was going to be ripped from my body and shattered into dust..."
She shook her head slowly, her hands still clinging to his sleeves as if to anchor herself from the memory.
"I don't even know what he looks like… I've never truly seen him. But..." she paused, her gaze softening as she looked into Yun Che's eyes, "I'm sure... he's a kind person. He saved me, gave me back my body and soul… gave me a second life."
Her voice grew quieter near the end, tinged with sincere gratitude—but also an emotion Yun Che could not quite place. Something like awe... and something far closer to reverence.
"...."In the deepest corner of Yun Che's soul, Li Suo remained silent, unmoving—her presence concealed beneath layers of divine energy. She listened to her disciple's voice, a voice she hadn't heard in countless years. Right now… more than anything, she longed to emerge, to step forth and reunite with the one she had once personally guided. Yet… she couldn't.
Not because she didn't want to—but because she truly could not.The fear anchoring her soul, the dread that had rooted itself in her very being... it went far beyond simple apprehension. It was an instinctual terror born not of emotion, but of the fundamental laws that defined her.
That man in black… the one who had called her "little sister" so casually...She had no recollection of him. Not a fragment, not even a hint of his existence among her vast memories from the bygone primordial era. And yet, every divine law, every strand of creation that made her what she was—recoiled at his presence.
It wasn't that he had attacked her. He hadn't even released any intentional pressure. And yet, just by existing… he invoked within her the purest and most absolute fear she had ever known.
Because she could tell... no, she knew—that he stood as the complete opposite of her.She, Li Suo, the Goddess of Life.And that man… he could very well be the God of Death.
But that was impossible… wasn't it?!Across all her memories—of the Ancestral Era, of the births of the Creation Gods and Devil Emperors from the fragments of the Ancestral God—there was never a record, never a whisper, of a Creation God or Devil Emperor of Death.
Then who… what was he?!
And what terrified her the most… was not just what he might be—but the sheer, overwhelming truth that his power, that very existence… was vaster, deeper, and more unfathomable than even the Creation Gods or Devil Emperors she had ever known.
That reality alone shattered the foundation of everything she understood.
So, with a heart weighed down by fear and disbelief, the once-proud Goddess of Life could do nothing but remain hidden within Yun Che's soul—silent, still, and trembling. From the deepest recesses of his inner world, she could only watch the reunion between Yun Che and Shen Xi unfold, unable to reveal herself… unable to speak… powerless to do anything but witness.
She was no longer the guide, no longer the protector. In this moment, she was just a shadow—swallowed by the presence of something even she, a Creation God, could not begin to comprehend.
From confusion… to a gradual understanding—Yun Che, amidst the soft, uncertain exchange with Shen Xi, slowly began to piece things together. Bit by bit, as their reunion unfolded in the lifeless land, as her trembling voice recounted the impossible and her eyes shimmered with both fear and warmth, Yun Che found clarity amidst the chaos.
This world… this being… none of it could be measured by the logic he once knew.
Eventually, the two stood in silence—Yun Che by her side, his gaze lifted toward the distant palace floating in the sky. The space where that existence resided… the one who mended Shen Xi's soul, who called the Goddess of Life his "little sister," who brought terror to Creation Gods without ever lifting a hand.
Without a word, Yun Che respectfully lowered his head and offered a deep bow toward the castle in the sky. There was no arrogance, no challenge, no resistance—only reverence, and an unspoken recognition of something far beyond his understanding.
Then, in that quiet moment, he turned back to Shen Xi and gently reached out his hand. She took it, wordlessly, and the two began to walk together, step by step, across the lifeless world.
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The two walked for a long time, and in that timeless stretch of their path, they spoke of everything—everything that had happened since the moment they parted. From Yun Che's side, from Shen Xi's side… there were countless stories, countless events, countless moments to be shared. Their words carried joy and sorrow, guilt and longing. Some tales brought smiles to their faces, others made their gazes heavy with silence.
Eventually, all those scattered memories and paths of the past finally came to converge—toward the present.
"You… truly have a way to leave this place?" Shen Xi asked softly, her voice trembling like a whisper caught in the wind. The hope in her words was faint, restrained, as if she did not dare to fully believe it. After all this time… after so many years of isolation, of silence, of despair—was there truly a way out?
She had long yearned for it—to return to the world of the living, to see their daughter again, to walk once more under the sun as someone alive. But for her, that desire had always felt like a dream too distant to touch. Something never meant for her.
Ever since the day her father—The Primordial Azure Dragon God—bound her soul to the Heaven Punishment Ancestral Sword in a desperate bid to protect her during the calamity that shattered the heavens, she had survived... but at the cost of freedom. She had been trapped for millions of years within that divine blade, her soul suspended between life and death.
It was only around two hundred thousand years ago that the power of the sword had weakened to such an extent that she was finally able to emerge once more. Even then, her soul was still shackled. Her freedom, incomplete.
It wasn't until she and Yun Che became one—until that union of body and soul—that her bindings began to loosen, that the last remnants of her curse began to unravel… and for the first time, the hope of true freedom began to flicker in the depths of her heart.
But because of Yun Che… and because of their daughter's existence… Shen Xi, who had been eternally bound to the Heaven Punishment Ancestral Sword, was forced to draw upon its dwindling power. To bring back their daughter's soul and her fragmented Life Essence, she willingly poured what remained of her own divine soul into the sword, further weakening its already fragile state. In doing so, the sacred sword, unable to sustain its form any longer, began to be devoured by the forces of this forsaken realm.
And so, in a desperate attempt to preserve itself, the sword enacted its final will.
It reversed the flow—swapping Shen Xi's soul and physical body into this realm, while it itself fled to the world of the living, hoping to survive and one day regain its strength. It was a cruel exchange… one that left Shen Xi imprisoned in this land of death, while the sword drifted across the vast cosmos.
And fate, as if moved by unseen threads, it found Yun Che right away. It eventually found its way into his Profound Veins and, once fully awakened, became a world within him… slumbering in silence, waiting for the day its true power would be ready once more.
"I cannot guarantee it," Yun Che said softly, his voice filled with both resolve and uncertainty, "but I believe we can leave this place. After all, that senior told me—once I found you, and once everything was complete—I must go and find him again."
Shen Xi's eyes remained fixed on him, filled with unease. "Will you truly be alright?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly, even though Yun Che had already reassured her many times. Despite his confidence, the worry in her heart had only grown deeper.
Yun Che didn't answer immediately. Instead, he pulled her gently into his arms, holding her close, tightly, as if to shield her from everything in this world—death, despair, fate itself.
"I'm sure I will be fine," he whispered again, softly but firmly, as if repeating the words enough would make them true—for both of them.
With that, the two seemed to reach an unspoken understanding, as Shen Xi remained nestled within Yun Che's embrace. Her heart, which had long grown cold and distant, softened further with each beat against his chest.
This man—once a foolish, desperate soul she saved only because of her connection to Hong'er… who could have imagined he would climb so far? Who would have thought that, despite their shallow beginnings, he would one day cross into the land of the dead itself… just to bring her home?
The thought stirred something deep within her.
And for Yun Che, the soft warmth of her body, her gentle fragrance that lingered in the air—it all became overwhelming. His breath quickened slightly as her presence pulled him in. The sweet closeness of this moment... it made him forget the horrors he had just faced.
But just as he was about to draw her even closer—
"COME SEE ME NOW THAT YOU'RE DONE."
A cold, emotionless voice rang directly inside Yun Che's soul like the crack of a divine whip, and in that instant, Yun Che's entire body stiffened. His breath caught in his throat as a chill raced down his spine. His third leg, previously standing with pride, instantly turned soft as if struck by lightning.
Shen Xi blinked, tilting her head in confusion as she looked at Yun Che's sudden frozen expression.
"Yun Che?"
Yun Che didn't answer immediately. He just stood there, expression pale, sweat beginning to gather on his brow.
Even in death, there was no peace... no happiness.