I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

This time, he stood high in the sky.

Beneath my feet lies a vast land of mountains and rivers, cities, ranges, and forests...

The whole world groveled at his feet.

Behind him stood countless people—celebrities dressed in white, warriors in gleaming golden armor, and magicians in flowing silver robes.

Everyone looked up at him, their eyes filled with awe and fervor.

Above his head hung a blazing golden sun, its rays shining brightly.

In the distance, a crack appeared in the void, and a blinding white light shone through the crack.

That is the gate to "ascension".

Once he enters, he can reach a higher level of the world and continue his path of seeking the Tao.

But he didn't move.

Another version of him stood beside him, no longer with scarlet eyes, but with eyes as black as his own.

"Look, in this small world, this is 'Unrivaled Rule Through the Ages'." His voice was calm. "All races submit, all realms unite. You are the sole ruler of this world; everyone looks up to you, everyone fears you, everyone needs you."

He turned his head to look at Ji Tian, ​​a slight smile playing on his lips.

"And now, you may go. Ascend to a higher world and continue your path. Those who look up to you will remember your appearance, sing your praises, erect statues of you in temples, and write poems about you in books."

He paused, then said sarcastically:

"And then? A thousand years from now, ten thousand years from now, no one will remember you. This world will have new heroes, new demon kings, and new heroes. The traces you left behind will be erased by time. The sect you founded will decline, perish, and become ruins. The people you saved will die. The enemies you destroyed may be reincarnated."

He took a step forward, stood in front of Ji Tian, ​​and looked him straight in the eye.

"You can 'rule the ages alone,' you can 'control the cycle of birth and death,' and then what? The world will continue to function without you. The path you pursue, in the end, is nothing more than making everyone make way for you. What have you 'ruled alone'? What have you 'controlled'?"

Ji Tian did not answer.

He looked down at the faces at his feet that were looking up at him, and stared at them for a long time.

Then he turned around, his back to the gate of ascension.

"To rule alone through the ages, to control the birth and death of all things, is not just about making everyone make way for me."

He reached out and plucked the golden sun from above his head.

The sun in his hand transformed into a sword—a long, pure white sword with golden patterns flowing across its blade.

"Or so that no one needs to make way for anyone other than me anymore."

He let go.

The sword fell from the clouds, through the clouds, through the sky, and crashed to the earth.

No one dared to pick it up.

Ji Tian strode towards the gate of ascension.

He walked to the door, stopped, and did not go in.

"The world would keep turning whether I was there or not. But because I existed, it's different now."

He reached out and pressed his hand on the door.

That's enough.

The door was broken.

It wasn't that he pushed it open, but that he closed it himself.

The points of light scattered like fireflies, and the gray-white void closed up again.

The other one stood opposite him, his scarlet eyes now a deep gray, like a flame that had burned for too long and finally run out of fuel.

"You...aren't you going to ascend?"

"No rush."

"Where is your path?"

"My path is here," Ji Tian pointed to the ground, "not behind that ethereal door."

The other man remained silent for a long time.

He suddenly laughed.

There was no madness or mockery in his smile, only a sense of relief.

His figure gradually became ethereal and indistinct, and at the last moment he nodded and clapped, saying, "As expected of me."

Then it transformed into countless points of light and dissipated into the void.

The grayish-white void began to crack, and blinding white light shone through the cracks.

Ji Tian closed his eyes.

Consciousness returns.

The moment he opened his eyes, excruciating pain surged from every corner of his body.

It's not the pain of inner demons—it's the pain of heavenly lightning.

Forbidden-level heavenly lightning bolts were striking his body one after another.

The aftershocks turned the spirit of the Emperor's Banner, which had temporarily taken over his body, into ashes!

Lightning cascaded down like a waterfall, purple arcs of electricity danced wildly across his body, his skin charred, cracked, and peeled off, only to regrow under the nourishment of new spiritual energy.

Every breath felt like swallowing razor blades, and every heartbeat felt like a hammer pounding in my chest.

The golden elixir shattered.

Inside the dantian, the once full and round golden elixir, its surface covered with golden patterns, had now shattered into countless fragments, like a broken glass bead.

The fragments spun in his dantian, connected by countless fine golden rays, like a net being woven.

In the center of the net, a small figure was curled up.

Vague, transparent, and not yet fully formed—the nascent soul.

The nascent soul looked the same as he did in his childhood in his previous life, but he was much more powerful, as if he could change everything in the world!

Ji Tian's charred lips split open, revealing bright red flesh inside. His smile was more like a grimace than a cry, but the light in his eyes was bright.

"It's almost done."

He reached out and grasped the Emperor's Banner that was stuck beside him.

The soul imprint on the banner had dimmed considerably, and nearly half of the myriad souls had dissipated under the bombardment of heavenly lightning. This was caused by the death of the artifact spirit.

But if you look closely, you will find specks of golden light flowing from the surface of the banner—that is the transformation of the Emperor's Banner from death to life.

Ji Tian looked up at the final, and strongest, bolt of lightning brewing in the sky.

The bolt of lightning was as thick as a mountain peak, entirely black, yet its edges were burning with white flames.

It hangs in the clouds, as if gathering strength, or perhaps hesitating.

Ji Tian took a deep breath and stood up.

The white robes had long since turned to ashes, and electric currents crackled across the charred body, like startled snakes.

"Come!" He raised his head and roared, his voice louder than thunder, making the mountain peaks beneath his feet tremble.

The black heavenly tribulation descended with immense force.

Ji Tian didn't use any magic to resist or buffer the calamity; he simply threw a punch at it, just like in his previous life, saying, "Let me see just how powerful this world's calamity really is!"

The lightning engulfed him.

At the summit, a beam of light shot into the sky, turning the entire sky a vast expanse of white.

The light lasted for a long time.

long time……

Then, all fell silent.

The mountaintop had been erased by a forbidden lightning spell, leaving a crater, which made the whole mountain look more like a volcano.

In the center of the ravine was a small earthen mound. A shirtless man pulled a cloak from thin air and draped it over his shoulders. He looked up at the clouds dispersed by the aftershocks of the lightning tribulation, and suddenly felt a surge of inspiration. He softly chanted...

"The myriad souls are summoned, dark clouds gather, thunder strikes, banners fall, and calamity is imminent."

The forbidden spell was insufficient to satisfy the will of Heaven, and the inner demons suddenly arose, encroaching upon the foundation of one's Dao.

The golden elixir shattered, giving birth to an infant; the divine consciousness traveled alone through the ages.

From this desolate hill, where fate reigns alone, destiny arises and vanishes in the palm of one's hand!

Nascent Soul, complete!