Forward

The sound of shattering rang out. Within the blockade of Limbo and the Realm of Ultimate Bliss, devastation lay in every direction. Innumerable sharp crystals crisscrossed across the area, jutting from the earth and vault of the sky, riddled with cracks. The only thing left intact was the petrified remnant of Ji Jue's body. Drip... Thick, viscous blood slowly seeped from the fractures along her arm, dripping to the ground to pool below. Yet not a trace of crimson could be seen—only wisps of phosphorescence, like dissolved crystals, rapidly solidifying. Boom! A fist of the Desolate Ruins tore through the air once more, smashing the aged face into powder and crushing his entire body into dust alongside it. Yet under the tripartite chain, the elder Wen Sheng regenerated in an instant. With a flick of his finger, Wen Wen was hurled backward through the air, crashing hard against the ground as the fissures across her body spread further. "I truly thought you would be the strongest among us all. "Because of that, I was jealous, fearful, and hesitant—tossing and turning, unable to sleep night after night. Never did I imagine you would degenerate into such a pathetic state. It's almost like..." Wen Sheng looked down at her battered figure and sighed softly. "Like a clown!" Amid three shifting, coalescing silhouettes, the three distinct auras of the Demon of the Abyssal Void, the Evil of Weiyang, and the Defilement Demon surged in turn, churning without end as the three cycled through their transformations. Faced with the punch Wen Wen threw his way, he casually raised a single finger to block it. "Solid as Bedrock, immovable for all eternity. When you embraced the True Essence of the Desolate Ruins long ago, why are you so fragile now?" Boom. Amid a deafening roar, the sound of fracturing crystals rang out. Her left arm, pushed past its absolute limit, snapped at the elbow and broke apart completely! Yet no flesh or blood spilled from the stump—only razor-sharp facets, like sheared gemstones. Wen Wen was indifferent, not uttering a single word, as if she could feel no pain at all. She merely clenched her remaining right fist once more and stood in front of Ji Jue. Unwavering. "I see." Wen Sheng sighed in sudden realization, letting out a mocking laugh. "You never told him, did you? "Why you appeared within this dream of Ascension... and why the Desolate Ruins, the very incarnation of matter, would be ensnared and bound by this phantom bubble?" If one were purely iron and stone, how could one be drawn into a dream? Why would the Desolate Ruins, inherently insulated from fantasy, be captured by Huangliang? Even if Ji Jue was an unexpected interloper, she—as a Celestial Chosen of the Desolate Ruins at the Exaltation rank—was by nature insulated from both Ascension and the Heart Pivot. Why would she be here? All along, Ji Jue had been deceived by Wen Wen's calm façade, so much so that he had never thought—or rather, could never have imagined—the answer she had kept hidden. That seemingly eternal, solid bedrock had long been riddled with cracks. And Wen Wen, who resisted the dream's erosion, was herself severely infected with Dreamloss Syndrome! "For a monster like you to hide her claws, conceal her nature, and deny her essence, pointlessly delaying the inevitable until your soul and material form are almost completely severed? Haha... Hahaha, hahahaha!" Wen Sheng could no longer hold back his wild laughter, doubling over as he cackled. "Have you worn that mask for so long that you've even fooled yourself, Wen Wen?" Back then, their father had slaughtered the race of stone beneath the Vortex, desecrated their altars, destroyed the dragon skeleton, and searched high and low until he finally cultivated the seed of primeval matter from his own blood. In the end, he created the monster standing before him. For years, Wen Zheng had poured endless effort and affection into her, hoping she would surpass him. Yet the one thing he never anticipated was that Wen Wen would be so rebellious. Born inseparable from the Vortex, she turned her back on it. Though she could have become a natural disaster—a worldly abomination—simply by attaining Celestial-Human, she chose instead to weave her own cocoon and bind herself within. The so-called 'Minerva' was less an auxiliary matrix than a meticulously chosen restraint, a set of shackles forged to oppose her very nature! What need was there for stasis? Why would she ever need eternity? Just by breathing, she would naturally beckon disasters. Storms, thunder, droughts, and floods were mere trifles to her. As long as this pure True Essence of the Desolate Ruins existed, it would naturally draw the seeds of natural disasters from tens of thousands of miles around, catalyzing them and pulling them toward her. Just as matter coalesced under the pull of gravity. If she grew to a certain degree, she would even be capable of piercing through the Vortex, using herself as a fulcrum to fling the world beneath it straight into reality. She would become a living natural disaster. Yet such terrifying talent was sealed away with the so-called stasis and eternity of Minerva, which belonged to the same path of the Desolate Ruins—like a boulder jammed into the mouth of a volcano. It seemed towering and imposing, but in truth, it was so brittle that the slightest tap could shatter it. Day after day of repression and blockage, of futile delay. She had even gone so far as to become a hospital test subject just to completely erase the foundation of her own existence. And so, she brought this suffering upon herself. In the end, she had fallen into such a laughable state. Her consciousness was like duckweed adrift on water, her soul like a flower blooming on bare stone... Amid endless contradictions, the bedrock crumbled from within, and eternity collapsed. When the two could no longer coexist, spirit and matter parted ways, unable to remain united! Just thinking about this brought tears of uncontrollable laughter to Wen Sheng's eyes. He wasn't merely mocking Wen Wen; he couldn't help but mock himself. He had staked everything, burned through his hatred and obsession, died and returned to life—all to defeat and overcome... a thing like this? It was too absurd, too ridiculous. Boom! That laughing face shattered. From the fractures in the spirit of Ascension, razor-sharp crystals pierced outward one after another. Minerva's stasis rippled out, nearly freezing the flow of his spiritus. "Don't get it twisted, Wen Sheng." Wen Wen raised her hand indifferently and wiped the dust from her face, her expression steady. "Even if I only have Minerva, and no matter how battered I become, a piece of trash like you still isn't fit to face me." "Burning your ego to suppress your nature?" Wen Sheng let out a disdainful sigh, plucking out the crystalline thorns sprouting from his body. "So practiced at it, dear sister. If I didn't do the same so often, you almost would have fooled me. But your soul is so weakened that it can't even resist a spiritus plague. How much longer can you keep burning it away?" "Long enough to grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes!" The fist of the Desolate Ruins howled through the air once more! "Then let me see—" Wen Sheng's three faces sneered in unison as he raised his hand again. "Just how much love and hate that heart of stone can still feel!" In an instant, he saw straight through Wen Wen's weakness. And launched a savage assault. Intoxicating rainbow radiance surged anew, condensing infinite love and hatred, joy and sorrow into a torrential downpour that crashed down upon her—only to shatter like fragile raindrops before the unyielding stone. It was utterly useless. Yet right after, amid the countless scattering fragments of spiritus, those emotions of love and hate took physical shape, stabbing straight toward her precariously balanced soul! They pierced her instantly, easily shaking the foundation of her consciousness and self. More importantly... *Soul-Burning Thorns?!* "No, that technique... A-Su?" Realization dawned on Wen Wen, and she could no longer contain her fury. "Where is A-Su?!" "Only remembering her now?" Wen Sheng grinned viciously. "How cold of you, Wen Wen. Even at the very end, she was still calling out for you! Even I could barely stand to watch!" Beyond the Realm of Ultimate Bliss, the giant serpent coiled atop the illusory dream slowly shifted. It raised its long tail, revealing the withered skeleton ensnared in its tip. Countless moths fluttered over it, having long since devoured every scrap of the soul. Only that spiteful, hateful face remained preserved within the illusory dream, the light completely gone from its hollow eye sockets. To the very end, the Pontiff had faithfully carried out all of Wen Sheng's commands—including keeping the closest possible watch over Wen Su. The moment any sign of hesitation or betrayal of the contract was detected, he was to strike without mercy! "She really loved you, Wen Wen." Wen Sheng's serpent tail swayed slightly, displaying the broken remains. "Look. On the surface, she played the obedient partner, yet she would rather face the consequence of violating the contract and having her soul annihilated just to secretly poison me through the cycle of self-nature. "And yet, who would have thought? The beloved sister she wanted to save never came to rescue her in the end. How pitiful." "..." In the dead silence, Wen Wen stood blankly, speechless. *Sister, why didn't you come save me?* A venomous question seemed to echo through the wind, choked with sobs. For a moment, Wen Wen wanted to speak, but no sound would come out. She had no idea what she could possibly say to bid farewell. They had clearly become like fire and water long ago. Wen Su had already tried to control her before this, attempting to turn her into an obedient puppet. Yet for some reason, Wen Wen suddenly remembered the day she had abandoned everything and walked away. So many years had passed. She had thought she could leave the past behind and break free from her chains, never realizing that the past still followed her like a shadow, the bonds still coiled tightly around her. There had been no escape. The only thing she had truly left behind was that child, clutching the hem of her clothes, following her every step. Wen Su had remained in hell, quietly waiting, hoping that one day her sister would return. Day after day, through endless torment, the waiting never stopped. Because of that, she grew to hate. And because of that, she went mad. Even though Wen Wen had never promised her anything, she still couldn't stop herself from wondering... If she had taken Wen Su with her back then, would everything have been different? No matter how foul her nature was, as long as it was corrected early, she surely could have changed, right? Maybe she would have grown more obedient. Maybe not. Maybe it would have been even worse. Maybe. In that fleeting instant, she finally understood what she had missed. Perhaps the hope of changing it all had been right before her eyes, yet she had fled. What had seemed like a rebellious departure had been nothing more than wishful escape. She hadn't even dared to look back. All because of her own fear and cowardice. "I'm sorry, A-Su. It's my fault. Please... curse me." She closed her eyes, murmuring silently. When she opened them once more, darkness surfaced within the crystal-like purple gleam of her irises, reflecting the silhouettes high above the heavens. "Wen Sheng, failing to kill you completely back then was my mistake!" "Do you regret it?" Wen Sheng's voices overlapped in cold disdain. "You won't get another chance!" "Good." Wen Wen broke into a laugh, so bright and cheerful, entirely free of restraint. "Then let's perish together!" The sound of fracturing rang out once more—from her face, from deep within her soul. Behind the loosening shackles, her brutal, berserk nature seemed to awaken from a long slumber, opening its eyes. A total release! The illusory dream trembled, and the Realm of Ultimate Bliss fractured. With the eternal prison shattered, the phantom of a dragon revealed itself. This time, what rose behind her back were no longer tiny stone wings and flames, but a natural disaster born of the Vortex after all matter had been utterly destroyed! The Unborn Dragon roared in furious wrath. A deluge surged toward the heavens, hurtling toward the enemy before her. *Die!* *** "..." Ji Jue stood dazed. In a momentary trance, he seemed to hear a distant cry. He instinctively looked back, but outside the window were only dappled shadows of trees. In the courtyard square far off, children were still kicking a ball around and laughing. Nothing had happened. There was nothing to see. "Ji Jue, Ji Jue, stop daydreaming." Across the dining table, his mother waved a hand in front of him, raising her voice. When he finally snapped back to reality, he looked down at the table. Cured sausages, bacon, stir-fried kidneys, mapo tofu, twice-cooked pork, steamed pork belly slices, bean paste fish... The table was completely packed, with barely enough room to rest a bowl. There was too much food, and it was far too spicy. His chopsticks hovered in hesitation. Noticing this, his mother asked in confusion, "Not to your taste?" "Ah, no, not at all!" Ji Jue shook his head, picked up a slice of the least spicy steamed pork belly, and began shoveling rice into his mouth. His mother smiled. "You're always away, and you rarely come back. Eat more." "Yeah." Ji Jue paused, hesitating. "Mom, I..." He hesitated, catching himself, and instinctively changed the subject. "Um, where's Dad?" "Oh, downstairs, probably? By the garage." His mother sighed. "He ate a few bites and left. He's still tinkering with that beat-up car of his. "These past few days, he's been messing with it non-stop, no idea what he's up to. Men really are strange." Ji Jue hesitated again, not daring to speak. He kept his head down, eating, but soon felt his mother's gaze fall upon his wrist. She seemed mildly surprised. "You put on your grandfather's watch?" "Huh?" Ji Jue looked down at his wrist. The hands on the dial were still ticking silently. Even knowing this was only a dream, he couldn't hold back his curiosity. "This watch..." "That watch." His mother gave a soft sigh and chuckled. "Back then, your grandfather acted all mysterious when he gave it to me, treating it like a family heirloom. He fooled me for the longest time. "Then one day your grandmother told me that on my birthday, he forgot to buy me a present. He was scared I'd cry, so he took something he'd just bought for twenty yuan and pretended it was an ancestral heirloom to trick me." "Huh?" Ji Jue was stunned, thoroughly baffled, unable to believe or comprehend it. "If you like it, wear it. If you think it's a bother, feel free to toss it out. It's just a watch, after all. More importantly..." His mother shook her head dismissively. Resting her chin on her hand, she looked at him, her gaze suddenly turning sharp. "Do you have a girlfriend yet?" "Uh..." Ji Jue hesitated, instinctively stammering, "I don't know." "You don't know?" His mother was amused and had no intention of letting him off the hook. "What do you mean, you don't know? Do you or don't you?" "..." Ji Jue lowered his head. After a long moment, he sighed. "I don't know." "Let me put it another way then." His mother's smile grew wider as she pressed, "Is there someone you like?" "..." Ji Jue fell silent, shoveling rice even faster as if he hadn't heard. Yet he could hear his mother's teasing, delighted laughter. He had no idea what conclusion she had jumped to. She simply rested her chin on her hand, watching his flustered look with a gentle smile. "Then you'll have to work hard, won't you?" "...I—I'm full." Avoiding her gaze, Ji Jue set down his bowl. "I'll go check on Dad." "Go on, go on." His mother chuckled, shaking her head as she cleared the table. Hearing his hasty, fleeing footsteps fading away, she couldn't help but laugh out loud. He could hear it even through the closed door! In the stairwell, Ji Jue let out a helpless sigh. He looked up at the stairs leading to the roof, but he couldn't bring himself to take that first step. By the time he came back to his senses, his feet had already carried him back down the stairs, returning to the ground. Back to square one. No matter how much he encouraged himself, he was still standing in place. He looked up, staring blankly toward the rooftop terrace, unable to erase the hesitation and doubt in his heart—if he jumped from up there and they saw, would they be heartbroken? Or should he pick another spot? Could he truly do it without any hesitation at all? He didn't know. Even if all of this was fake... was a fake truly so bad? He just wanted to look. To look a little longer... Under the midsummer sun, Ji Jue wandered aimlessly through the neighborhood. Eventually, he stopped before the garage, crouching on the steps to watch the figure bent over the front of the car, busy at work. Several times, he wanted to speak, but he didn't know what to say. No matter how much he longed to be close, to understand more, facing the father who had passed away when he was young left him feeling lost for words. Until his father turned around, looked at him, and waved, pointing at the hood. "Hold this for a second." Ji Jue reached out and held up the hood, peering inside with curiosity. "Not wearing gloves?" His father's hands were covered in engine oil, leaving black smudges across his face where he had wiped it. "Too hot. My hands get soaked with sweat." His father held out a hand. "Wrench." Ji Jue handed him the wrench. Acting as an assistant, following orders and directions, he helped out. While watching from the side, he suddenly heard his father's voice. Without looking up from his repairs, his father asked, "Shouldn't you be heading back to work soon?" "...I want to stay home a bit longer." Ji Jue fell silent for a moment before reaching out. "The belt is a little aged, but it's actually fine. The valve clearance is probably too wide." "Hmm?" His father paused, squinting as he leaned in closer. Then he nodded in understanding. "Right. I was too focused on the pistons and the oil cup." Ji Jue added, "The hydraulic lifters are acting up, too." "Can't be, can it?" His father shook his head. "I dug up the original factory blueprints. This is the exact model." "Then it's a design flaw. These lifters have been used for too long, and the internal oil pressure isn't enough." Ji Jue shook his head. "The car has too much mileage. The engineers probably never imagined someone would drive it this long." His father was taken aback, then understood. He let out a soft sigh. "It's a minor issue. I'll handle it." Ji Jue took the tools, swapping places with him. His movements were deft and fluid as he adjusted the linkage mechanism of the engine valves with practiced speed. He had never expected to pick up his old trade inside a dream, which brought a wistful sigh to his lips. It felt like wherever this car went, it had to be repaired—endless maintenance that never stopped. Maybe he really was cut out for fixing cars. "All done. Take a look." Ji Jue smiled and turned around, only to find his father staring at him in quiet, focused silence. That look inexplicably made Ji Jue's heart flutter with unease. "Wh—what is it?" "Nothing." His father raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his brow and closed the hood. "Good work." He thought for a moment and added, "Much better than me." They washed their hands by the outdoor water pipe below the building. His father scrubbed hard at the grease on his hands, then suddenly asked, "If you don't leave now, won't you be late for work this afternoon?" Ji Jue fell quiet. He wanted to say something, but his father spoke again. "It's time to go." "..." Ji Jue went still for a moment, then nodded. "I'll go tell Mom goodb—" His father waved a hand dismissively. "I'll tell her." With that, he wiped his hands dry on his trousers, worked a car key off his keyring with some effort, and held it out to Ji Jue. "Things move fast these days, and it's busy out there. Don't waste time. Take my car." Ji Jue hesitated, not taking it. "What about you?" "I'm retired. If I need groceries, a bicycle is plenty. Why waste money on gas?" His father pressed the car key into his palm. "It's an old model, so don't look down on it. Your mother and I drove this car when we got married. Took us a long time to pay off the loan." "It really has been around for years, huh." "I originally planned to give it to you when you grew up," his father said. "A pity... I couldn't make it until then." He fell silent for a fleeting moment, then said softly: "I'm sorry." "..." Ji Jue froze. He halted instinctively, lifting his head to look at him. He could barely control his trembling and shock. He couldn't bring himself to believe it. His father looked back at him, as stolid and silent as ever. Just looking at him. Watching him. "Go, Ji Jue." Standing in the shadows of the past, his father gazed at Ji Jue bathed in the sunlight. His habitually restrained face showed neither relief nor sorrow, only a quiet farewell. "Go on." Ji Jue stood petrified, gripping the car key as he watched his father turn and walk away, his figure disappearing into the stairwell. Instinctively, Ji Jue wanted to chase after him, but an invisible wall seemed to rise before him, uncrossable, forbidding him from ever turning back. The door that had been within arm's reach suddenly felt so far away. Only the car beside him started up on its own, the engine roaring as if urging him forward. The door swung open, waiting. *It's time to go, Ji Jue. Don't delay any longer.* *But... do I really have to go?* The moment he stepped inside, the car began moving on its own, carrying him slowly forward. For a split second, Ji Jue wanted to slam on the brakes, wanted to turn around and take one last look. But he seemed to feel a gaze resting upon his back. Calm and serene, watching him leave, yet wishing for him to hesitate no more. *Don't look back. Keep moving forward.* And so, the car accelerated... Faster and faster. He heard the sound of shattering—continuous, unending. It was the sound of the dream fracturing, rolling on without pause. Yet why was it echoing from the deepest reaches of his own soul? From faint echoes, it gradually swelled into an earth-shattering roar. Everything began to dim, fade, and rapidly disperse. He could no longer tell whether the dream was dissolving or his vision was blurring with tears. Within the fading remnants of the dream, two figures on the balcony quietly watched the car drive into the distance, letting out soft sighs. "He must have come a very long way, hasn't he?" "Mm." "He'll go much further still, won't he?" "Mm." "All by himself... it must be so hard," his mother murmured softly. His father thought for a moment, then shook his head. "He won't be alone." "That's good, then." His mother smiled, filled with relief. She turned to look at the man beside her, meeting his gaze. "To see him again, and to see you... it's truly wonderful." "Yeah. Me too." And so, the departed phantoms clasped hands, leaning into each other. Gradually, they faded away, departing into the distance alongside the dissolving dream. To a place Ji Jue could not reach. The car continued forward, hurtling along as if soaring. Outside the window, everything blurred into streaks of light, dissolving amid his tears. Though it was a sweet dream from which one could never break free, it had chosen to let Ji Jue go. They let go of their hands. No matter how tightly Ji Jue had clung to them. With smiling farewells, they pushed him along the path—forward, ever forward! And so, Ji Jue pressed forward. The sound of shattering rang out from the deepest depths of his soul. Something woke from a long dream, opened its eyes, struggled desperately, crawled forth, and let out an earth-shaking roar. It lunged at the dream's phantom bubble right before it. Fangs bared, claws outstretched! Boom! The sound of shattering crashed against the earth once more, the ground already riddled with holes. "Just how many more times will you repeat this, Wen Wen?" Wen Sheng looked down at her fractured face, sighing in mild disappointment. "It's too late, and you're too weak! How much of yourself do you have left to sacrifice and burn?" Killing Wen Sheng, no matter how many times, was utterly pointless. It was nothing more than a fleeting upper hand. No matter how brutal her strength, if she could not overturn the essence of this illusory dream in an instant with absolute violence, all her efforts would be reduced to futility against Wen Sheng's endless resurrections. If she had unsealed her restraints earlier and shattered the cycle from without, Wen Sheng might have found her troublesome to deal with. Unfortunately, it was already too late. She had imprisoned herself in meaningless repression and bondage for far too long. Seventeen counterattacks, killing Wen Sheng twenty-one times—all in vain. Her soul, meanwhile, was on the brink of collapse. "How pathetic, Wen Wen. "A weakling like you was never going to live up to Father's expectations. Why refuse to turn back?" Wen Sheng sneered in mockery. Like a true deity granting a rare moment of mercy, he extended a helping hand toward an opponent who posed no threat. "Come home, sister. Go apologize to Father." He lowered his eyes, dispensing his pity. "For Father's sake, I might even forgive you." "Home?" Wen Wen was amused. Did such a thing even exist in this world? Yet for some reason, at the mention of a word so foreign to her, familiar silhouettes and smiling faces surfaced in her mind. A younger sister who trusted and relied on her, a well-behaved and sensible little brother, an old man who idled his days away yet would always have her back, and... a shameless, dog-like fellow who always left people exasperated. Someone who would raise a glass with her with a smile, who would get dead drunk by her side, who would invent an excuse to turn the day they met into a holiday just to secretly prepare a cake. Home was a messy office forever piled high with clutter, a rickety folding bed set up on a whim, the noisy chatter of variety shows and games outside the door, the sound of water boiling for tea, idle gossip over snacks, sudden cheers and complaints, and comforting, familiar footsteps... She couldn't stop herself from reminiscing. She couldn't hold back her smile. Perhaps what Ji Jue said before was true—she had always been running away from the trust of others. Yet the moment she realized she was trusted, relied upon, and cared for, what she felt was a happiness like salvation itself, a peace she had never known. *I really have walked a completely different path from the one that man laid out for me!* "I already have my own family." She glanced at that hypocritical face. "A family a hundred thousand, a million, ten million times better than pieces of dog shit like you and Wen Zheng!" It was precisely because of this that she struggled tirelessly, enduring this torment of her own making. She didn't want anyone to see her at her ugliest. She didn't want to become a monster with nothing left but destruction. And she refused to degenerate to the pathetic level of the trash before her! "Stubborn fool!" Wen Sheng's expression turned livid. With his hypocritical mercy cast aside like worn rags, he could no longer conceal his contempt and hatred. "A weak waste like you living in this world will only bring disappointment to Father!" "Then your old man can go drop dead!" Wen Wen laughed without a care, holding her head high. "All my life, I fought, scrapped, and clawed like hell against everyone—not so I could turn into a freak like you! "—I'd rather die!" Had that line left too deep an impression on her? Without realizing it, she seemed to have infringed on a certain bastard's copyright. Well, whatever. *I've covered for you so many times. Let me borrow such a cool line just once!* With that, she clenched her fist once more. Facing the opponent before her. Facing Wen Zheng's puppet, she launched her challenge! Even as she was crushed once more and slammed into the earth, there was still no fear or hesitation in her. "Then have it your way—die!" A Spirit-Destroying Sword connecting heaven and earth surged into the sky, fueled by the circulating essences of the Abyssal Void, Weiyang, and Defilement. It cleaved downward toward her final soul with murderous intent. Wen Wen smiled, closing her eyes. Waiting for release. In that final instant, along with regret and reluctance, an indescribable sense of relief and delight welled up in her heart. *It's a relief that he didn't see me like this in the end...* Huh? Wasn't this final moment lasting a bit too long? In the overly drawn-out wait, she grew increasingly tense and uneasy, her body going stiff. ...Suddenly, she didn't dare open her eyes! Amid the brief, dead silence, the Spirit-Destroying Sword never arrived. It seemed to have lost its way entirely, missing its appointment! Then, something seemed to lean in close, looking down to inspect and admire her conflicted, nervous expression, silently grinning. "Why do I get the feeling someone really didn't want to see me, Sister Wen?"