Elizabeth POV

Elizabeth kept her weapon lowered while she watched Mars.

The tension between them had faded a little, and she let out a slow breath.

"We really don't need to fight each other," she said.

Mars nodded. "Yeah. We're from the same planet. I don't see a reason to go that far."

He paused, then shrugged.

"Though I still want to fight a bit. Just not to the death."

Elizabeth gave him a look.

He just grinned in response.

Before she could speak again, the shadows at their feet began to ripple.

She felt it first as a faint pressure, like something pushing up from below.

Mars noticed it too.

"Are you doing that?" he asked.

"No. This is something else," she said.

The shadows expanded and twisted. A figure rose slowly from the darkness.

Golden hair. Golden eyes.

Zeus.

He staggered forward as if he had just woken up from a long sleep.

His eyes were unfocused for a moment, then snapped toward Elizabeth and Mars as he noticed them.

He froze.

Then his entire body tensed like a cornered beast.

"Are you with Neo Hargraves?" he asked.

His voice was serious, and his tone sharp enough that Elizabeth felt her own aura shift in response.

She frowned.

Something in the way he said Neo's name made her blood boil.

"Why are you asking that?" Elizabeth asked.

Zeus narrowed his eyes. "Answer me. Are you with him?"

Elizabeth felt a low pressure rising from her chest.

It wasn't anger, exactly.

It was instinct reacting to danger.

He hates Neo. He sees Neo as an enemy.

And if Neo sealed him… then his hatred must be deep.

Pieces of information came together in her mind.

'Neo must have sealed him in Shadow Space.'

'And when Neo died, Shadow Space collapsed, and the seal shattered.'

'Which means he's free now.'

Her grip tightened on her weapon.

Before she could move, Mars raised a hand.

"There is no need to fight," he said.

Elizabeth turned to him. "What are you talking about?"

Mars pointed directly at Zeus.

"That man can't do anything here."

Zeus's expression shifted.

He lifted his hand and activated divine energy— or tried to.

Nothing happened.

He tried again.

And again.

Nothing happened.

His face twisted in confusion.

Mars nodded. "Yeah. Thought so."

Zeus glared at him. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. Elemental Gods and Divinity Gods don't have their usual power here. This place doesn't care who you were outside," Mars said.

He crossed his arms.

"Here, you're basically just a normal person."

Zeus looked down at his hands, then at the ground.

He activated spell after spell, but nothing responded.

He looked… stunned.

Elizabeth lowered her weapon again but didn't fully relax.

"Explain yourself. Who are you and what are you doing here?" Mars said calmly.

…

Shadows Beyond Worlds Peak, Heavenly Sect

A flame went out.

Inside the quiet temple at the top of the mountain peak, the man who served as the Keeper of Flames opened his eyes.

There were thousands of flames across the grand chamber, each floating above a small stone pedestal.

Each flame represented a life.

He stood up and walked toward the one that had just vanished.

Only smoke remained above that pedestal.

"Another one…" he whispered.

Normally, in ancient times, a disciple's death would have sent shockwaves through the sect.

Revenge would have been demanded.

Sect honor would have been at stake.

But in the current era, the Qi of Heaven and Earth was nearly gone.

Cultivators were rare.

Resources even rarer.

If a disciple died now, members of the sect often felt relief rather than grief.

One less person consuming the limited Qi.

But this time was different.

The Keeper bent down and examined the name engraved in the pedestal.

His hand trembled.

"Bai Zhen… an inner disciple."

This was no ordinary outer disciple whose death could be ignored.

An inner disciple represented significant talent.

Their death wasn't something the sect could overlook.

"This is bad," he whispered again.

He looked toward the distant halls where the Peak Master resided.

"I need to report this at once."

He turned and hurried out of the temple, heart pounding.

Something was happening in the world again.

And he feared the Shadows Beyond Worlds Peak was about to be dragged into it.

…

Neo's POV

Nothing.

There was nothing.

Neo didn't feel his body.

He didn't feel time.

He didn't feel existence.

He had no thoughts. Or consciousness.

He floated in a place where even the idea of "floating" didn't make sense.

He wasn't alive.

He wasn't dead.

He simply wasn't.

In that empty darkness, blue screens appeared one after another.

[Neo Hargraves have devoured Cultivator Bai Zhen.]

[Stats will be transferred. No physical body present. Unable to transfer stats.]

[Memories will be transferred. No physical, or metaphysical body present. Unable to transfer memories.]

[Path will be— Path will be— Pathwillbe— Pathwillbepathwillbepathwillbepathwillbepathwillbepathwillbepathwillbepathwillbepathwillbepathwillbepathwillbe]

The screens glitched like a machine breaking apart.

Letters stretched and repeated.

Voices overlapped.

Signals collided.

More screens flickered into existence.

[You have connected to Dao of Shadow Beyond Worlds—]

[Youhaveconnectedtodaoofshadowbeyondworlds—Youhaveconnectedtodaoofshadowbeyondworlds— Youhaveconnectedtodaoofshadowbeyondworlds— YouhaveconnectedtodaoofshadowbeyondworldsYouhaveconnectedtodaoofshadowbeyondworldsYouhaveconnectedtodaoofshadowbeyondworldsYouhaveconnectedtodaoofshadowbeyondworldsYouhaveconnectedtodaoofshadowbeyondworlds]

The entire space around him quivered.

The screens flickered violently, their words crashing into each other until they lost all meaning.

Then everything stopped.

Nothingness itself shuddered.

A presence formed.

Something impossible.

Something that did not belong to any universe Neo had ever known.

An [Entity] appeared.

It was impossible to observe the [Entity] and describe its appearance.

Its existence alone felt like a violation of reality.

The nothingness around Neo recoiled.

It wasn't alive, yet it seemed terrified.

It shrank back, as if running from the [Entity].

As it retreated, something else came into view.

A sphere.

A small, bright sphere surrounded by invisible chains of law.

Neo's Cosmos.

His identity as a Heavenbreaker.

His Dao.

His life's accumulation.

Everything he had achieved.

The [Entity] looked at the Cosmos.

The Cosmos trembled.

Not physically, but at its core.

Fear spread through it, a feeling so strong Neo would have collapsed if he had a body.

The Cosmos wanted to die.

To surrender.

To apologize for existing.

Then the [Entity] opened its mouth.

"————————!"

The sound was indescribable.

It wasn't a sound, yet it tore through everything.

Nothingness cracked apart.

The Cosmos shattered like thin glass.

From within the broken pieces, something else emerged.

Another [Entity].

Just as overwhelming as the first.

Just as impossible to endure.

The nothingness went mad.

If it had a voice, it would have screamed.

But the two [Entities] didn't care.

They stared at each other with a force that made the empty space twist.

Their aura rose.

The pressure intensified.

It felt like a fight would break out at any moment.

Then—

Tap.

Tap.

Someone walked toward them.

The footsteps echoed across the blank space, sounding strangely calm.

The two [Entities] turned toward the newcomer.

"He is only First Step. And even the new Dao he gained is only Third Step. Why are you two already fighting over him?"

Cole stepped out of the darkness.

His tone was calm, but his eyes were sharp and cold.

His aura rose slowly, like a lion's roar building through a valley.

The pressure pushed against the two [Entities], forcing them to back away.

The first [Entity] shrieked.

The second [Entity] roared back.

Their auras surged forward and clashed against Cole like tidal waves.

The second [Entity]—the one that had emerged from Neo's shattered Cosmos—bared its teeth.

It looked furious.

As if it felt insulted that someone dared stand up to it.

It leaned forward, ready to fight.

But the first [Entity] suddenly pulled its aura back.

The second [Entity] looked at it in surprise.

"———!"

"—————!!!!"

They exchanged a series of sounds that were impossible for any normal mind to understand.

After a moment, the second [Entity] clicked its teeth, annoyed.

It glared at Cole as if memorizing his existence.

Then the first [Entity] merged into the second.

Their forms rippled and slowly condensed together into a single presence.

The second [Entity] gave one last look toward Cole.

And then it retreated.

As they merged, something else formed behind them.

Neo's Cosmos.

Repaired.

Restored.

Floating like a quiet sphere in the void.

Blue screens appeared in front of it.

[Path gained.]

[You have gained access to Dao of Shadow Beyond Worlds.]

Cole's expression changed instantly.

The relaxed calm vanished from his face.

He stared at the screens with a tight jaw.

Then he walked toward Neo's Cosmos.

"You do really have a [Fate] of attracting trouble. Even when you are dead or half-dead, things get messy around you."

More screens appeared around Neo's Cosmos.

[You have devoured a Cultivator, his Path, and Dao.]

[You have shown exemplary sincerity.]

[The Dao of Devouring has given you its blessing.]

[You have gained access to Dao of Devouring.]

The moment those screens flashed, Cole's face hardened even more.

Beside the two [Entities], another presence appeared.

This one was faint but unmistakable.

It was not a normal being.

Cole raised his hand.

He exhaled softly.

"Sigh… fine."

He closed his eyes and allowed the curse placed on Neo by Apollyon to activate.

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