I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

He illuminated his surroundings with the power of the Heavenly Dao. Golden light surged from his body, but it was absorbed by "Void" as soon as it left, unable to illuminate anything.

He looked into the void with his Eye of Termination. In his black pupils, the world remained empty—there was no "end," because if there was no existence, then there was no end.

"It's no use," said the Void King. "I told you, your power is ineffective here."

Lin Qing'er closed her eyes. She stopped looking, stopped listening, stopped feeling. She only did one thing—held Qin Yuan's hand.

"Brother Qin Yuan, are you still there?" she asked.

Qin Yuan said, "I'm here."

Lin Qing'er smiled. "Then we weren't lost. Because you were with me."

The Void King remained silent. For a very long time.

Then it said, "Interesting. The 'connection' between you is something I cannot erase."

Qin Yuan suddenly understood something. He opened his eyes and looked at his hand holding Lin Qing'er's.

The King of the Void can erase space, time, and existence, but he cannot erase "the relationship between him and her." Because the relationship does not exist in the void, but between the two people. As long as he and Lin Qing'er are still there, the relationship will remain.

He concentrated the essence of protecting the Heavenly Dao into their clasped hands. Golden light surged from between their hands, not to illuminate the void, but to "define" it. Wherever the light passed, "emptiness" transformed into "space"—it gained direction, distance, and color.

A greyish-white light spread through the void, like ink spreading on rice paper. Qin Yuan saw it: deep within the greyish-white space, there was a tiny crack, like a fissure on a mirror, like a crevice in ice. That was the core of the King of the Void.

"You..." The Void King's voice wavered for the first time, "How could you possibly..."

Qin Yuan said, "Your emptiness can erase everything, but it cannot erase the fact that 'we are together'."

He released Lin Qing'er's hand and slashed at the crack with his sword. The golden sword energy pierced through the grayish-white space, striking the core precisely. The crack widened, spreading outwards like a spider web.

The Void King's voice echoed in his mind: "You've won... but there are two more levels above... they are a hundred times stronger than me..."

Qin Yuan said, "I know."

The core shattered. The void began to collapse. "Emptiness" became "space," and space took on a color—grayish-white, like the sky before dawn. The grayish-white space began to shatter, like a giant mirror being broken, the fragments turning into a rain of light that scattered in all directions.

A seventh light curtain appeared in the void.

Lin Qing'er looked at Qin Yuan and smiled. "We're really out."

Qin Yuan nodded. "Because you're here."

He took her hand and flew toward the seventh light curtain.

[Ding! The seventh gatekeeper above all realms—the Void King—has been defeated. Reward: Unlimited Energy Points.]

[Cultivation Breakthrough: Origin Saint Venerable Level 5 → Origin Saint Venerable Level 9]

[Lin Qing'er's advancement: Origin Saint Venerable Level 1 → Origin Saint Venerable Level 5.]

[Obtain Special Item: Void Core (Creates a small void that traps enemies for ten breaths).]

[Obtained: Seventh Heaven Pass.]

[Gained: Proof of Relationship (Permanently enhances the bond with Lin Qing'er, sharing spiritual power).]

Behind the light curtain lies the eighth heaven.

There were two more gatekeepers waiting for them. But Qin Yuan was no longer in a hurry. He took Lin Qing'er's hand and walked over step by step. No rush, because she was there. No panic, because she was there. No fear, because she was there.

Behind the light curtain of the eighth heaven was a giant roulette wheel.

Countless gears, varying in size, are embedded in the surface of the wheel; some are as small as a fingernail, others as large as a house. Each gear is turning, at different speeds and in different directions—some clockwise, some counterclockwise. They mesh together, emitting a low rumble, like countless people praying simultaneously, or like countless people sighing at the same time.

Qin Yuan and Lin Qing'er landed in the center of the roulette wheel. Beneath their feet were constantly rotating gears, each meshing spitting out tiny sparks that landed on their robes, burning small, charred holes.

All the gears stopped rotating at the same time.

The sound vanished. Silence surged in like a tide, engulfing everything. Light began to converge on the gears, rising from the center of each gear like countless rivers flowing into the sea. The light coalesced above the wheel, forming a gigantic phantom—formless, like a mechanical god composed of gears and pointers. Its body was transparent, with countless gears turning inside, each representing the fate of a living being.

"The gatekeeper of the eighth heaven, the Wheel of Fate." The voice was like the clattering of gears, cold and mechanical. "The fact that you made it this far means that all the trash from the first seven heavens is dead. But you cannot pass my test."

Qin Yuan gripped the Xingtian Sword tightly. "My destiny has already been severed."

"You have only severed a projection of fate," said the Wheel of Fortune. "I am the source of fate. You cannot sever me."

It didn't make a move. It simply hovered above the roulette wheel, silently watching them.

Two paths appeared on the roulette wheel. One went left, the other right. The left path, paved with golden bricks, led to a portal of light, beyond which the starry sky could be faintly seen. The right path, paved with gray bricks, led into darkness, where something was writhing.

"Choose one," said the Wheel of Fortune. "Choose right, and you will cross over. Choose wrong, and you will be trapped in the abyss forever."

Qin Yuan asked, "Which one is correct?"

"I don't know," said the Wheel of Fortune. "Fate has no right or wrong, only choices. You made your choices, and the outcome is set."

Lin Qing'er looked at the two roads. She felt the road on the right calling to her—not a sound, not a picture, but a deep-seated familiarity. The darkness that road led to reminded her of something, yet she couldn't quite recall it.

"That road..." she pointed to the right, "seems to be related to me."

"Because at the end of that road lies the memory of your past life," the Wheel of Fate said. "Do you want to know the truth about the Azure Emperor? Do you want to know why you owe so much karma? Do you want to know why you were reincarnated as Lin Qing'er? The answers are there."

Lin Qing'er's hands trembled. She wanted to know. She had always wanted to know. Why was she the Azure Emperor? Why did she have to sacrifice countless lives? Why did she have to endure 99,999 reincarnations? These questions had tormented her for billions of years, and there had never been an answer.

She took a step and walked to the right.

Qin Yuan took her hand in his. He didn't say anything, he just held it tighter.

Lin Qing'er stopped and looked into his eyes. There was no questioning or dissuasion in those eyes, only a calm and unconditional support.