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

"Go to the left," she said.

Qin Yuan didn't ask why. He took her hand and led her down the road to the left.

The wheel of fortune did not stop it. It simply said, "Once you've made your choice, there's no turning back."

The road to the left was very long. Golden bricks stretched out beneath their feet, seemingly without end. Qin Yuan and Lin Qing'er walked for a long time, so long that they forgot about time. The surrounding wheels and gears disappeared, replaced by a golden void.

At the end of the road was a wall. A white wall, without doors, windows, or any gaps.

Qin Yuan turned around and found that the path on the right had disappeared. Behind him was the same golden void, without the wheel, without the gears, without the wheel of fate.

"You've made the wrong choice," the voice of the Wheel of Fortune echoed from the void above. "This is the path to the abyss."

Lin Qing'er's face turned pale. "How could this be..."

The ground cracked open. Golden bricks slid to both sides, revealing endless darkness below. Something writh in the darkness, like countless snakes intertwined. A suction force surged from the darkness, pulling Qin Yuan and Lin Qing'er downwards.

Qin Yuan grasped Lin Qing'er's hand and activated his Guardian Dao with all his might. Golden light surged from his body, forming a light curtain beneath their feet that supported their bodies. The suction was strong, and the light curtain trembled like a canvas in a storm.

"It's no use," said the Wheel of Fortune. "Fate has no right or wrong, only results. Your result is the abyss."

Qin Yuan raised his head, looking at the phantom image made of gears in the void. "You're giving me a choice, but the choice itself is meaningless. Because no matter which path I choose, you'll say it's wrong."

The Wheel of Fortune was silent for a moment. "You guessed right. Because that's how fate is—no matter what you choose, the outcome is already predetermined. You think you're making a choice, but you're just walking the path I've laid out for you."

"Then I won't choose it."

"Not choosing is also a choice. The result of not choosing is an abyss."

Qin Yuan smiled. It wasn't a bitter smile, nor a cold smile, but a genuine, heartfelt smile.

"You're wrong," he said. "Destiny isn't the road, it's the person walking it. The road has no meaning; it's the person walking it that has it."

He released Lin Qing'er's hand, gripped his sword with both hands, and slashed at the Wheel of Fate. Not at its body, but at the axle at the center of the wheel—the axle that connected all the gears.

The golden sword energy ripped through the void and struck the axis.

The shaft wasn't broken. But it started to loosen. The gears, no longer restrained, began to spin wildly, some fast, some slow, some clockwise, some counterclockwise. They no longer meshed, but collided and rubbed against each other, emitting a piercing metallic scream.

"You...you have destroyed my rules!" For the first time, the voice of the Wheel of Fortune wavered, no longer mechanical and cold, but filled with anger and fear.

"It's not destruction," Qin Yuan said. "It's proof. Proving that fate can be chosen, and it can be changed."

He swung his sword again. This time, the sword's energy struck the core of the Wheel of Fate—the center of that phantom composed of countless gears. The core shattered, the gears scattered, like a broken clock.

The wheel of fortune began to crumble. Gears detached from its body, falling to the ground and turning into rusty pieces of iron. Its sound grew weaker and weaker, like a machine coming to a halt.

"You...you have transcended fate..." it said, "but above...there is still..."

It didn't finish speaking. Its body shattered completely, turning into countless iron filings that dissipated into the void.

The roulette wheel shattered. The ground cracked open, and the abyss closed. The golden void returned to calm.

[Ding! The eighth gatekeeper of the myriad realms—the Wheel of Destiny—has been defeated. Reward: Unlimited Energy Points.]

[Cultivation Breakthrough: Origin Saint Venerable Ninth Level → Origin Saint Emperor First Level.]

[Lin Qing'er's advancement: Origin Saint Venerable Level 5 → Origin Saint Venerable Level 9.]

[Obtain a special item: Gear of Fate (briefly alters the probability of an event once; disappears after use).]

[Obtained: Eighth Heaven Pass.]

The ninth light curtain appeared in the void. The light curtain was white and brighter than all the previous light curtains, like a door leading to the sun.

Qin Yuan took Lin Qing'er's hand and walked towards the light screen.

"Aren't you going to ask me why I chose the left side?" Lin Qing'er said.

"No need to ask," Qin Yuan said. "You choose the left, because there's an abyss on the right. You're not afraid of the abyss, but you're afraid I'll fall in with you."

Lin Qing'er lowered her head. "I don't want to drag you down with me."

Qin Yuan stopped and turned to look at her. "You didn't drag me down. You chose the left because you knew that the abyss only held your past, not our future. You made the right choice."

Lin Qing'er looked up, her eyes reddening.

Qin Yuan wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. "Let's go. There's still one more heaven."

The ninth heaven is empty.

It wasn't nothingness, not darkness, not emptiness. It was a kind of "nothingness"—a place where even the concept of "nothingness" didn't exist. There was no up or down, no left or right, no near or far, no time, no space. Qin Yuan and Lin Qing'er floated here, feeling like they were the only "existence."

The only light came from a huge white wall of light.

The wall of light stretched from the ground into the void, its boundaries invisible. There were no patterns on the wall, but those who approached it felt as if they were being watched. Not watched by a particular person, but watched by the Tao itself.

A shadow appeared on the wall of light. It was neither human nor animal, but a flowing, ever-changing shape—like ink dripping into water, like smoke drifting in the wind. It had no fixed form, but each of its changes carried an indescribable rhythm.

"The guardian of the Ninth Heaven, the Shadow of the Dao." The voice didn't emanate from the shadow, but from the wall of light itself, from every direction, from every corner. "I am the shadow of the Dao of Myriad Realms. The fact that you've made it this far shows you're strong. But you cannot pass my test."

Qin Yuan asked, "Why?"

"Because you are still within the 'Tao'," said the Shadow of the Tao. "I am both a part of the Tao and a test of the Tao. If you wish to cross over, you must first answer my questions."

It asked Qin Yuan, "What is your Dao?"

"guard."

"What are you protecting?"

"Protect those you want to protect."

"If the person you are protecting dies, will your path still exist?"

Qin Yuan fell silent. He wanted to say "existence," but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Because he knew that if Lin Qing'er died, his Dao would cease to exist. His Dao wasn't an abstract, independent existence, but rather rooted in Lin Qing'er herself. Without her, protecting her would be meaningless.

The Shadow of the Dao turned to Lin Qing'er. "What is your Dao?"

Lin Qing'er opened her mouth, but couldn't speak. She had never thought about this question before. She cultivated, she fought, she followed Qin Yuan throughout the myriad realms. But she never had her own path. She simply followed him.

"I have no way," she whispered.

"Without your own path, you can never surpass him," said the Shadow of the Path. "You'll forever only stand behind him, watching his back. Are you content with that?"