Ni Luo passed away, surrounded by his closest relatives.

The moment his breath faded, it was as if something invisible snapped across the entire Heaven Rending Dynasty. A heavy, suffocating gloom descended over the empire, spreading from the imperial capital to the most distant border towns. The sky remained overcast for days, as if even the heavens were reluctant to part with him.

From nobles to commoners, from seasoned warriors to frail elders, every single resident stepped out of their homes to mourn. Streets were lined with white cloth and incense smoke. Bells tolled slowly, each chime echoing like a heartbeat coming to a halt.

Most of them remembered.

They remembered the age of despair, when beasts roamed freely and humanity stood at the edge of extinction. They remembered the young Martial Saint who had appeared like a miracle, carving hope out of blood and ashes. If not for Great Human Emperor Ni Luo, humanity might have already been erased from history, reduced to scattered bones beneath monstrous claws.

Sigh.

Wang Chen let out a quiet breath, his gaze filled with emotions too complicated to put into words.

He did not know why he had chosen to watch everything—from Ni Luo's rise to his final breath. Perhaps it was curiosity. Perhaps it was guilt. Or perhaps, deep down, it was respect.

For the first time in a long while, Wang Chen asked himself a question he had never dared to face.

If he were born in that ruined world…

If he had lost his family at a young age…

If there were no tower, no system, no hidden advantages waiting for him…

Could he have done what Ni Luo did?

The answer surfaced instantly.

No.

He wouldn't have lasted long enough to ask that question. He would have died quietly on some forgotten street, swallowed by hunger or beasts, long before destiny ever noticed him.

Wang Chen turned his gaze toward the horizon.

In the distance stood Ni Luo's tomb—a vast palace of white stone stretching across tens of kilometers, encircled by endless fields of white flowers. It was solemn, silent, and dignified, just like the man resting within.

Without hesitation, Wang Chen bowed.

It was not the bow of a cultivator to a mortal, nor of a superior to someone weaker. It was the bow of one existence acknowledging another who had truly earned their place in history.

After a breath of time, Wang Chen straightened.

His expression returned to calm composure, but something subtle had changed.

"I've lingered long enough…" he murmured softly.

Turning away from the tomb, Wang Chen returned to his original position, his thoughts already shifting back to the outside world. The age of demons was advancing, and sentiment alone would not stop what was coming.

Ni Luo's story had ended.

But the storm awaiting the world had only just begun.

Just at this moment, a faint, ghostly figure seemed to rise from Ni Luo's tomb.

It floated soundlessly above the palace, drifting into the sky like mist carried by an unseen current. The figure was indistinct, its outline wavering as if it might dissolve at any moment. Gone was the sharpness, the will, the unyielding intellect that once defined Ni Luo. What remained was hollow—an empty shell staring blankly into nothingness.

Wang Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Ni Luo's… soul?" he muttered in a low voice.

Souls were not some mythical concept. Every living being possessed one. Yet since the creation of the Garden of Eternity, this was the first time Wang Chen had ever witnessed a soul with his own eyes.

His confusion lasted only a moment before realization dawned.

Before his death, Ni Luo had stepped onto the path of cultivation. Even though it was only the Foundation Building Realm, it was still enough to anchor his soul, preventing it from dissipating immediately after death.

As Wang Chen watched, Ni Luo's soul was gently carried by an invisible wind, drifting aimlessly toward the distant edge of the world.

In the Garden of Eternity, there was no cycle of reincarnation.

No samsara.

No return.

Without such a system, even a figure as great as Ni Luo—one who had changed the fate of an entire race—could only wander endlessly, stripped of memory, purpose, and self, until time itself erased him.

This sight made Wang Chen fall silent.

Once again, he was reminded of a cold, bitter truth.

The heavens were ruthless.

They did not care how much one had sacrificed, nor how great one's achievements were. In the end, all lives were treated equally—discarded once their usefulness had run its course.

If he truly wished, Wang Chen could attempt to create a cycle of reincarnation within the Garden of Eternity…

The thought alone made his temples throb.

He shrugged, a crooked smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"And what would I gain from that?" he muttered. "Enlightenment? Gratitude? Or just another headache?"

Creating a reincarnation cycle—such a concept was so absurdly vast that merely thinking about it made his head ache.

No. Not now.

With that, Wang Chen turned to leave.

But before his consciousness withdrew, his gaze swept across the world one last time—its lands, its skies, its countless lives struggling forward.

"I still need something to recover my spiritual strength…" he murmured softly.

Only after confirming there was nothing else of immediate concern did Wang Chen finally pull back, his thoughts already shifting toward his next step—toward survival, growth, and the relentless climb to the peak of the Foundation Building Realm.

The world behind him continued on, indifferent and eternal.

It was at this moment—almost as if the world itself wished to contradict him—that something suddenly shot toward Wang Chen from the direction of Ni Luo's tomb.

A streak of pale light cut through the void.

Wang Chen barely had time to react before the light halted in front of him, resolving into a crystal no larger than a human fingernail. It hovered silently, radiating a soft, restrained glow.

"Hm?" Wang Chen's brows lifted slightly. "What is this?"

Inside the Garden of Eternity, no one should have been able to sense his presence. Unless Wang Chen allowed it, even standing beside someone, he would remain completely undetected.

Yet this crystal had flown directly toward him.

That alone was abnormal.

As Wang Chen examined it more closely, a strange sensation brushed against his perception—a subtle, gentle emotion flowing outward from the crystal.

Gratitude.

Not directed at Ni Luo.

Not directed at the world.

But at him.

That realization sent a faint chill down Wang Chen's spine.

"Huh…" he muttered, unsettled. "This feeling again…"

Suppressing the unease in his heart, Wang Chen extended his hand and grasped the crystal.

The moment his fingers closed around it, a familiar mechanical voice echoed in his mind.

[Ding! You have acquired: Ni Luo's Crystal of Enlightenment.]

[A supreme treasure containing all of Ni Luo's accumulated understanding of the world.]

[Effect: Greatly enhances spiritual perception. Capable of instantly restoring all exhausted spiritual energy.]

"…?"

Wang Chen froze.

His gaze locked onto the system window, his expression blank for a full breath.

Then—

"Is this for real?"

For the first time in a long while, genuine shock surfaced on Wang Chen's face.

This was not just a valuable treasure.

This was the exact thing he needed.

A solution to his greatest bottleneck.

A remedy to the exhaustion caused by the Chains of Enlightenment.

A lifeline thrown precisely when he was on the verge of suffocation.

For a moment, Wang Chen didn't even look at the crystal again.

Instead, he instinctively glanced around his surroundings, his divine sense sweeping the void as if afraid someone might be watching.

But there was nothing.

No figures.

No auras.

Only endless silence and cold emptiness.

Wang Chen let out a slow breath.

"So… it really was coincidence," he murmured softly.

Or perhaps—

He glanced once more toward Ni Luo's tomb, now silent and empty.

—perhaps this was the last gift of a man who had burned his life away for his world.

Wang Chen tightened his grip around the crystal, his expression gradually turning complex.

"…You really don't like owing favors," he muttered.

Yet, for once, he didn't reject it.

Because this time, the heavens had given him exactly what he needed—

and refusing it would have been an insult to both fate and Ni Luo himself.

…

Wang Chen slowly opened his eyes in the real world.

Everything was exactly the same as before. The courtyard was silent, the air calm, and the faint spiritual fluctuations around the Phoenix and Dragon Dojo remained unchanged. Yet the hundred or so years he had just experienced inside the Garden of Eternity lingered in his mind like a half-forgotten dream—distant, heavy, and unreal.

He drew in a deep breath, steadying his thoughts.

Only after another measured exhale did he finally rise to his feet and lower his gaze toward his palm.

Floating above it was a crystal no larger than a human fingernail. Its surface was smooth and flawless, emitting soft, gentle rays of light that felt warm rather than blinding—like a quiet reassurance rather than raw power.

Wang Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.

"So the problem of spiritual force is finally resolved…" he murmured.

With this crystal, the greatest bottleneck restricting his cultivation had vanished. The terrifying drain caused by forging Chains of Enlightenment was no longer an insurmountable obstacle.

His lips curved faintly.

"In that case, I'll push straight to the peak of the Foundation Building Realm in one sitting."

There was no hesitation in his thoughts.

Although he would never admit it out loud—and would certainly never show it on his face—the fact that his cultivation realm currently matched that of his own disciple left a subtle pressure in his heart.

A pressure he did not like.

Wang Chen clenched his fist gently, the crystal hovering obediently above his palm.

"This won't do," he thought calmly.

It was time to move forward.

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