"Senior… y-you must be joking…"
Cold sweat streamed down Yun Che's temple as his voice trembled despite his best efforts to stay composed. His mind was already on the verge of breaking thanks to all the word this seniors said earlier.
Right now, Yun Che legs were already shaking as his mind spinning, like a cart wheel. His heart pounded like thunder, and deep within his soul, the instinct to run—no, to kneel and submit—roared louder than reason.
He clenched his fists tight, suppressing the chaos of thoughts flooding his mind.
How the hell am I supposed to fight YOU?!
Even standing here, merely gazing at him, was already enough to make Yun Che's soul feel as if it were unraveling. A weight, invisible yet suffocating, bore down on his shoulders. He hadn't even thought of fighting from the beginning—how could he?
Looking at Yun Che, whose soul wavered and body trembled, clearly on the verge of surrendering to fear, Fen Juechen's lifeless eyes shimmered ever so faintly—not with malice, but with understanding.
Without a word, his form began to shift.
The air grew still. The void quieted. The overwhelming aura that had suffocated Yun Che until now slowly began to recede.
And then—
Clang!
A soft sound echoed through the emptiness as a sword appeared in Fen Juechen's hand. A blade forged from the echoes of sin and sorrow—the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword.
Just like in the past…
Then, Fen Juechen form disappeared as a new form appeared.
What stood before Yun Che now was a man.
Clad in simple green robes that rippled gently in the absent wind, his frame was lean and composed, neither tall nor imposing. His long black hair was tied into a plain ponytail that reached his waist, and his face—drawn, sunken, utterly unremarkable—was a face that could disappear into a crowd. A man you'd walk past without noticing.
!!!!
Yun Che's pupils shrank as he instinctively recognized the figure. Afterall, how could he forget?!!!
Xuanyuan Wentian!
And then, Xuanyuan Wentian spoke.
"You fear me, knowing who I am.You fear me, knowing my power.You fear me, because you respect me… and thus, you do not wish to raise your blade."
He raised the sword, not in threat—but in offering.
"So let's do this then."
His voice, calm and even, carried not a trace of dominance—only resolve. A tone that struck Yun Che deeper than any shout or roar ever could.
Time itself seemed to halt. The breath of the void paused, and in the next instant, the boundless space around Yun Che dissolved and reformed into a familiar yet distant world—a reflection of the Blue Pole Star.
The skies dimmed to a deep azure, the earth trembled with a subtle stillness, and the stars above faded from existence.
Yun Che stood at the center of it all. But in that very moment, he felt his cultivation—his strength that had once soared to shatter gods and defy the heavens—fall all the way to Emperor Profound Realm. That was all that remained.
His body grew heavy. His veins dulled. His profound energy became fragile, thin, as though it could be scattered by a mere gust of wind. The world he knew—the countless memories, the bitter battles, the friends, the enemies, the lives he had touched, and those who had touched him—everything beyond the Blue Pole Star began to blur into mist.
They slipped from his grasp like sand through parted fingers.
Even Li Suo—whose presence had never left the depths of his soul—was sealed away, unreachable, silent.
It was as if... everything he had endured was nothing more than a dream. And now, he had awoken.
Back to the beginning.
And before him—
Xuanyuan Wentian.
The once self-proclaimed Heavenly Sovereign stood tall, a twisted smirk pulling at his lips. But unlike that of the past where his strength was merely comparable to someone whom half a foot into Divine Origin Realm, this Xuanyuan Wentian...his strength, was already firmly at Divine Origin Realm Level 2!
In one hand, he gripped a long sword, its blade humming with dark energy. And in the other hand of his— A woman.
So breathtakingly beautiful that the world itself seemed to dim in comparison, her presence a fragile blossom in a storm. But now, her beauty was marred by pain—her face pale, her lips trembling.
Xuanyuan Wentian held her aloft by the throat, her delicate feet just above the ground as she struggled to breathe, her arms limp, her profound energy sealed.
Yet, she manages to call out to Yun Che as she begged him.
"Run....away...." her voice was weak as if she already knew her fate.
"XUE'ER!!!!!!!!!!!"
Yun Che's voice cracked.
His soul—stripped of the memories, robbed of power, cast back into the shadows of his past—screamed silently as he gazed upon the woman who once walked by his side... now on the edge of death.
The aura surrounding Xuanyuan Wentian was like a towering mountain pressing down from the heavens—unshakable, indomitable, eternal. In Yun Che's current state, it felt impossible to surpass. His knees nearly buckled, his breath caught in his throat, and the world itself seemed to darken in Wentian's presence.
Her face pale, her body limp, her eyes dim yet still filled with that faint glimmer of hope—hope that Yun Che would do the right thing.
Yet, he didn't.
In that instant, something ignited. The fear gripping Yun Che soul was devoured by a storm of fury.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
A primal roar tore from Yun Che's chest as his profound energy surged violently from his core. The ground beneath his feet cracked and erupted, space itself trembled, and the very air cried out as if scorched by his rage.
A sword burst into existence within his hand, its body trembling in harmony with his wrath. He no longer thought—no logic, no strategy—only the overwhelming desire to protect, to tear through the heavens if he must!
His figure shot forward like a bolt of divine lightning.
BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!
The clash of swords erupted like the roar of a thousand storms. The impact split the skies and shook the very plane they stood upon. A blinding burst of power surged outward as the two collided, sending shockwaves that crushed the land beneath and split the heavens above.
!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Weak… such pitifully weak."
The voice—cold, detached, absolute—rolled across the frozen heavens like a divine verdict, shattering all illusion of hope in Yun Che's heart. Xuanyuan Wentian stood like an immovable shadow, towering in the sky, with the gleam of the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword in one hand and, in the other, the delicate, breathless form of Feng Xue'er, her snowy robes fluttering limply in the wind, her long hair cascading like ink through the void, her pale, bloodless face turned toward Yun Che as though she could still see him... still call out to him…
And in that moment, as Yun Che gazed at her lifeless form, dangling so helplessly in the clutches of overwhelming power, something inside of him shattered—something raw, something primal, something that no longer listened to reason or fear.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
The scream tore from his throat with a force that seemed to rend the very fabric of his soul. His world narrowed to her alone—everything else blurred into meaningless gray as fury, pain, and desperation surged together like a tsunami, bursting through his veins and erupting into a surge of profound power that lit the world in violent brilliance. His sword materialized in his grasp, glowing with the agony of a man pushed to the edge of madness, and with a roar that shook the heavens, he launched himself at Xuanyuan Wentian like a falling star, all thought consumed by the need to save her.
BOOOOOMMMMM!!!
Their blades collided with an earth-splitting crash, sending shockwaves through the sky and tearing open fissures in the clouds above. The sheer force of Yun Che's strike could have leveled mountains, but… it was meaningless.
"Is that all?" came the sneer, so calm it made Yun Che's blood run cold.
And then—
CRACK—!!!
A sickening sound, sharp and final. Feng Xue'er's body was thrown aside like shattered porcelain, spinning through the air in slow motion, her delicate frame weightless in death, her eyes wide with fading light, her fingers outstretched as if still reaching for him even as life slipped silently from her grasp.
Yun Che's legs buckled. His soul screamed.
"Because of your weakness… she has died."
The words were daggers, every syllable piercing his chest with unbearable weight, and Yun Che's breath caught in his throat, staggered by the truth of it, the cruelty of it, the finality of it. He stumbled forward with trembling limbs, trying to reach her, to catch her, to change the ending—but before he could take another step—
SHHRRRRKKKK!!
The Heavenly Sin Divine Sword flashed, faster than thought, colder than death.
He didn't even see it—he only felt it: the searing pain of his flesh splitting apart, the unbearable cold of blood gushing from his torn body, and the dreadful weightlessness as his vision inverted and his world spun wildly out of control.
His body slammed into the earth, broken and bleeding, faster than even Feng Xue'er's falling corpse.
And then… silence. Darkness. Death.
And—
"…Weak…"
His eyes flew open. His body convulsed.
Once more, he was standing beneath the pale, blue-tinged sky of the Blue Pole Star. Once more, Xuanyuan Wentian stood before him with a blade in one hand—and Feng Xu'er in the other.
Her pale face turned toward him.
Her lips trembling as they tried to call his name as she murmured the same words.
Exactly the same. Everything the same.
Once more, rage engulfed Yun Che like a tidal wave crashing through his soul, its fire blinding, its fury uncontrollable. Without thought, without hesitation, he surged forward, the roar tearing from his throat more beast than man, all logic drowned beneath the tide of vengeance and grief. His sword blazed with profound power, yet it was still the sword of a man led by emotion, not clarity.
And yet again, reality answered his defiance with cold finality.
Once more, the lifeless corpse of Feng Xue'er tumbled from the sky like a fallen star whose light had been stolen, her crimson robes fluttering lifelessly in the air, her delicate face frozen in a moment of pain and sorrow. Once more, Yun Che's body was cleaved apart, his flesh split open, his bones shattered by the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword—his scream swallowed by the void before everything was devoured by darkness.
And again, he awakened.
The same sky.
The same moment.
The same nightmare.
His lungs gasped as though surfacing from drowning, but before him stood Xuanyuan Wentian again, unchanged, unmoved, as if time itself had circled back to mock him.
"Ai…" A soft sigh echoed in the air—not from Yun Che, but from the being who wore Xuanyuan Wentian's face… the one who was now Death.
In that sigh was a weight older than the heavens, as if he had seen this cycle a thousand times and would see it a thousand more.
"To temper the soul, the body, and the mind… one must pass through tribulations not once or twice, but again and again, until the scars run deeper than flesh, until the heart itself learns what the mind cannot teach." His words were not cruel, only quietly resolute, spoken as if to himself more than to Yun Che.
"You, Yun Che, have walked through countless fires, shouldered countless burdens—but even so, if not for the body Mother granted you, if not for the miracles born of others' sacrifices, if not for the blessings of fate and the whim of the heavens…" He paused, gazing at the trembling form of Yun Che now waking once more, "…you would have lost everything long ago."
"And one day, Yun Che… you will have none of that. One day, there will be no miracle to save you, no divine relic to turn the tide, no loyal ally to shield you from the blade. Your enemy will not pause. Your foe will not wait. There will be no time to awaken your power. No time to think. No time to regret."
The air stilled around him as if even the heavens were listening.
"Sometimes," he whispered, "to save the many, one must let go of the one. Sometimes, the price of preserving the future… is parting with what is most precious to you."
His voice faded into silence, but the weight of his words remained, lingering like invisible chains.
And still, Yun Che, with his memories intact—his rage, his grief, the unbearable weight of watching Feng Xue'er die again and again—chose the same path. Not because he didn't feel, but because he couldn't stop himself. Because pain had not yet carved deep enough to awaken something beyond rage.
And Death… could only wait.
Because for now, Yun Che remained trapped—not by the cycle, but by himself.
-------
Outside, in the silence of the void, Yun Che sat motionless—his body perfectly still, yet within, his soul trembled as if tormented by an unending storm. The sweat on his brow, the trembling of his limbs, and the faint distortions in his aura all bore testament to the agony that wracked his inner world. For the Yun Che who now sat here, eyes half-lidded and body faintly glowing with profound light, was not simply meditating—he was suffering through death and loss, over and over again, within the battlefield of his mind.
Every slash, every scream, every failure that shattered him from within was but a reflection of the trial Death had cast upon him. A trial that was not physical, but one that scarred the very core of his soul.
From a short distance away, the one known as Death—now cloaked once more in quiet solemnity—stood in silence, watching over the young man. His gaze was emotionless, unfathomable, as though he were reading every thread of pain unraveling inside Yun Che's heart. Each death, each repetition, each broken moment had been shaped by his will, crafted with purpose—not cruelty. This trial was not meant to punish, but to temper.
He turned away slowly, his tattered black robes dragging like shadow against the frozen earth of this boundless, lifeless plane.
At that moment, behind him, a second presence wavered in the space—a silhouette bathed in pure white light, delicate and radiant, yet trembling ever so slightly as though the very act of standing here tested the limits of her courage.
It was Li Suo.
Torn unwillingly from the sanctuary of Yun Che's soul by a power so absolute she couldn't resist it, she now stood in the world once more—separated, vulnerable, and face to face with the one existence that every part of her divine essence warned her to flee from.
Her divine aura trembled, her fingers clenched, and the radiant veil of light that cloaked her form flickered erratically as she fought against her fear. Though her expression was calm, her body betrayed the truth—every fiber of her being screamed at her to run, to hide, to vanish from his presence.
And then, his voice—low, cold, and ancient—spoke.
"Don't be afraid… little sister. I won't harm you."
There was no threat in his tone, no malice, only a quiet certainty that somehow made it all the more terrifying. Because for her… that name, little sister, came with no memory. And yet it echoed deep within her very soul, stirring feelings that should not have existed, invoking fear that came not from the mind—but from the law that made her.
Li Suo's eyes widened as the voice reached her, and without hesitation, she stepped back once, then again—until her figure blurred and disappeared into the distance. She didn't stop until she was millions of miles away, crossing the empty space in a single breath, her heart racing with every beat.
There, in the farthest corner she could reach, Li Suo finally stopped. Her hands moved swiftly, erecting layer after layer of divine barriers, weaving protective formations of life and light around herself, until even the faintest wisp of Death's aura could not pass through.
Only then did she sink to her knees, breathing quietly, wrapping her arms around herself as her eyes cautiously peeked through the veils of light she had constructed—watching from the furthest distance.
Watching Death.
Watching Yun Che.
And saying nothing.
"..."
"..."
The silence between them was deeper than space, heavier than the law of death itself. And within it, everything began to unfold.
---------
In Abyss, it had only been a few short weeks in this world since Yun Che vanished along with Hua Caili and Pan Buwang, swallowed by a power beyond comprehension—but in that other place, beyond time, beyond life and death, where Heaven's laws no longer reached...
Tens of thousands of years had passed.
And now, finally, in that endless world of cycles and torment, he made a different choice. A choice shaped by loss, by pain, by countless deaths relived again and again.
His soul stirred.
His eyes—eyes once clouded by fury, by unrelenting despair—now gleamed with newfound clarity, calm not from indifference, but from hard-earned control. And with that clarity, Yun Che finally made a different choice. For the first time, he turned away… just as Feng Xue'er had pleaded with him to do countless times before.
After all, the nightmare had never ended with her death alone.
In this cruel, endless trial designed by Death, he had been forced to relive millions of lives, to watch his friends, his family, and those dearest to him fall, again and again—each tragedy a mirror held up to his flaws. Time and time again, their deaths had not come from a difference in power or the cruelty of fate alone, but from his own recklessness, from the rage that clouded his mind, from the inability to stay his hand even when wisdom demanded restraint.
And now, after a torment that spanned tens of thousands of years in the span of weeks, something in Yun Che had shifted.
He did not become colder. He had not lost the emotions that made him human. No—he had learned to master them.
So this time, when Xuanyuan Wentian once again held death in his hand, Yun Che's breath did not quicken, his mind did not blur, and his heart did not burn with blind fury. Instead, his gaze turned cold and resolute, and without saying a word, he left. He left, knowing the fate of his loved one lay in another's hands—but also knowing that one day, he would return.
Not out of vengeance.
But because he had sworn it—he would come back, and he would bring with him absolute power.
Power not born of miracles, or treasures, or allies who paid the price in his stead.
Power that was his alone.
And when that day came, he would not simply fight Xuanyuan Wentian—he would shatter him utterly. Strip him of every shred of arrogance and darkness. And he would do so not out of rage, but as the one who had walked through endless lifetimes of agony to protect those he loved.
Until then, he would endure, and with his people, vanish into the shadows—to grow, to refine, and to rise beyond even the fate that once bound him.