A Fleeting Life, Lodged in a Dream Within a Dream, Part 4

That day, within the Fate Palace of the immortal realm, demonic flames surged, reducing the towering Primordial Immortal Mountain to scorched earth.

Across the Ninth Heaven, the Six Directions, and Eight Deserts, gods and Buddhas wailed in lamentation.

At the heart of the blazing hall, the Wheel of Reincarnation radiated golden light, nearly outshining the three thousand star lamps.

On that same day, the first demon to reach the threshold of sainthood sacrificed his soul, rivaling the Three Saints, to forcibly activate the Wheel, reversing Qianyuan’s time by a millennium.

In the end, only a wisp of his soul remained, escaping through the Wheel into a temporal black hole.

In the final moment before the Wheel closed—

The golden butterfly, entwined with demonic flames, folded its wings and flew into the Wheel’s three-petaled core.

The Wheel traversed the black hole, plummeting into the heart of Qianyuan’s demon realm, beneath the Tianyun Abyss, where demonic flames reignited.

The frozen Qianyuan world, sealed for a thousand years, began to awaken.

The golden butterfly, sealed within the Wheel with most of its divine soul power, flew toward a consciousness left in this world to endure tribulation—

It soared from the Tianyun Abyss, crossed the Two Realms Mountain, entered the Qianxuan Mountains, and finally darted into a cave mansion on the peak of Tianxuan.

The consciousness, hosted in a red-robed woman, was suffering from qi deviation during seclusion. The End’s spark was uncontrollable, teetering on the edge of madness, when the golden butterfly rushed into her brow.

Boom—

Even with a strand of divine consciousness protecting her, the clash of the End’s spark and the butterfly’s divine essence was like heaven and earth colliding, fire and water merging.

The original consciousness shattered into countless fragments, scattering through her mind.

The woman’s face flushed crimson, coughing blood as she clutched her splitting forehead and opened her eyes.

The golden butterfly at her brow was entwined with the End’s tendrils, transforming into a blood butterfly, manifesting at her forehead. Countless indistinct fragments churned in her mind.

[This place… it’s called Qianyuan?]

The woman looked down, dazed, at her familiar yet unfamiliar form.

[I seem to be… a little fairy from the Fate Palace…]

Her murmured words faded. She suddenly looked up as the cave’s gate slowly opened—

A familiar, long-missed sword cry resounded, echoing through Qianyuan’s Four Seas and Eight Deserts as she awoke.

…

Yun Yao slowly opened her eyes in this dreamlike retracing of immortal dust. The divine mark of the golden butterfly at her brow shimmered faintly, radiant with sanctity.

The Wheel’s spirit, now in the form of a burly, bearded man, stood eagerly in her mind’s sea.

Yun Yao sighed after a long silence. “So I am Origin… This is everything I forgot.”

“Master? You finally remember?” The bearded man’s face lit up, then turned aggrieved. “I waited here for you so long, I thought you’d forgotten me.”

Yun Yao sighed softly. “Sorry, there was an accident. Beyond the soul power sealed here, I forgot too much of my past.”

The Wheel’s spirit tensed. “Oh no! Did that hinder stopping the demon from destroying the world? Did it fail?”

“It was close, but safe. But…”

[I came to kill a divine lord, but they hid too well.] [Then I’ll slaughter Qianyuan’s humans and demons, destroy all things, let order collapse, and all fall to ruin—until Qianyuan is annihilated, returning to the End!]

[Why must you do this—]

[Because I want to save you.]

[…That ending, I’ll never allow.]

“So, the divine lord he wanted to kill was me.”

Yun Yao gave a bitter smile, turning her wrist. “Origin and the End, like the stars Shen and Shang, never to meet. When both appear, a cosmic calamity follows… Is it truly as Calamity foresaw, our fate?”

“Master’s saying things Little Wheel doesn’t understand again,” the spirit whined, its burly face comically aggrieved. “But Master, the urgent task is to kill the great demon outside—and you’re in trouble! There are two! One from the present, one from the future. Can Master handle them alone?”

Yun Yao was about to speak.

Before she could, the Wheel continued, “No, wait, who’s Master? The first saint of creation, outranking Calamity and Transcendence. And Little Wheel’s nose is sharp—hasn’t your soul and spirit, sealed in the Wheel, returned?”

Yun Yao nodded helplessly.

“At Brahma Temple, when I awoke from past-life memories, my soul and spirit followed my divine essence back. The Wheel used my soul’s power to suppress the End’s spark, sealing it in the golden lotus, but…” She smiled bitterly. “It still couldn’t stop it from returning to him.”

“The Wheel said you couldn’t save him, Master—”

“I didn’t believe it, I just didn’t—”

“—!”

The Wheel’s spirit paled, ducking behind Yun Yao as if expecting heavenly thunder. When none came, it crept out cautiously.

Yun Yao glanced at it. “?”

The Wheel grinned sheepishly. “I thought saying such rebellious things would make heaven fight you… I didn’t want to ruin Master’s mood.”

Yun Yao: “That’s why I sent the Wheel to the mortal realm, to keep you from the immortal court.”

The Wheel: “…”

“And did you leave your brain in the immortal court too?” Yun Yao’s lips curved, a mocking chill glancing upward. “Thanks to a certain divine lord’s meddling, this is now the Forsaken Land. Unless there’s a sign of breaking the realm, heaven’s thunder can’t reach here.”

The Wheel stayed silent. Its master’s mood seemed off.

…Divine matters were beyond a mere artifact’s control.

At that moment—

Her mind’s sea shook violently, like an earthquake. Yun Yao’s expression changed. “What’s happening?”

“Aaah, Master! The demon!”

Something happened outside, and the Wheel’s spirit manifested three shadows—young, adult, elder—all crying in fear:

“Both demons are awake!!”

At the same moment, within the giant three-petaled golden Wheel beneath Tianyun Abyss—

Sun-devouring demonic flames clashed, erupting in a deafening roar that shook the divine artifact.

In the void, Mu Hanyuan, with long black hair, faced a mirrored soul shadow, identical in features and form. The only difference was the shadow’s snow-white hair and blood-red demonic mark.

The soul shadow, manifested through the artifact’s power, was ferocious, eyes weeping blood, like a vengeful ghost—

“No! She’s not Origin! Origin wants to seize her soul as a sacrifice! I must destroy their soul here. Only if they don’t return can she live!” “You can’t stop me—”

Before he finished—

Between the black-and-white figures, a red-robed form slowly emerged.

The air between the three seemed to freeze.

“…Master?” “Master.”

Two voices, one from the left, wrathful and heart-wrenching, one from the right, tender and wistful— Same timbre, different tones, falling into Yun Yao’s ears.

Her heart trembled.

After a long silence, she looked at the benevolent shadow. “You’ve merged his memories, seen it all?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve guessed it, haven’t you,” she paused, closing her eyes, almost unable to look at the other side, “…I am Origin.”

“—”

Heaven and earth fell silent.

Blood-red demonic flames rose from the malevolent shadow, spreading silently across all directions, consuming with world-devouring force.

Mu Hanyuan lowered his eyes, as if he hadn’t heard her. His ferocious expression faded, leaving only his trembling soul shadow in the void.

The Wheel popped up from a corner, voice shaking. “Master, urgent matter. The temporal power…”

“I am Origin.” Ignoring it, Yun Yao stepped toward the malevolent shadow. Behind her, the benevolent shadow looked up, almost following, but restrained itself.

“No…” The malevolent shadow’s voice was hoarse, half-crying, half-laughing, mad and demonic. “You’re not, you can’t be.”

“Yun Yao was a strand of my consciousness sent to endure tribulation. Every ten thousand years, I pass through here to witness rise and fall, to know the suffering of beings.”

“No…”

“But this time is different. I didn’t come for tribulation,” Yun Yao said softly. “I came to kill you.”

“—”

Both Mu Hanyuan’s shadows trembled, looking at the red-robed figure between them.

“Qianyuan is the origin of the three thousand worlds, the birthplace of Saint Origin. You shouldn’t have been born here, but Calamity convinced me to send you to Qianyuan to be destroyed.” Yun Yao stepped closer. “The Wheel of Reincarnation arrived a millennium before you, waiting for your awakening. I could only descend as consciousness, so I sealed a soul and spirit in the tower, sent to Qianyuan, my means to slay the End.”

The malevolent shadow’s eyes blazed red, flames like a blood sea, eroding the ground into a bottomless void.

“Why?”

Yun Yao looked at the darkness, smiling with faint sorrow.

“Because the End is destined to replace Origin as saint, wielding destruction. Per Calamity’s prophecy, your emergence heralds the end of the three thousand worlds. Only a saint can slay a saint, at the cost of a realm.”

“…I see.” The malevolent shadow laughed hoarsely, voice laden with endless grief. “So it’s as you say.”

He waved a hand, and in the blood-red flames and darkness, the Fate Palace’s window view appeared. Cold moon, stark mountains, sky in water. The three golden lines glowed vividly.

[I wandered the mortal realm and glimpsed an immortal scene.] [This view alone consoles a lifetime.] [Calamity’s prophecy, if true, will destroy the three thousand star lamps in an instant. To protect the Three Realms’ rivers and mountains, the End must be eradicated, even at the cost of nine deaths, without regret.]

Mu Hanyuan’s gaze left the words, his ashen eyes meeting Yun Yao’s. “To kill me, you’d truly face nine deaths without regret, Master?”

“…”

Her lashes trembled. She wanted to say something, but her throat felt choked with sour cotton, unable to speak.

“Come back, come back…” He laughed loudly, blood and tears falling. “The one I love, hate, must kill—it’s all you! My master!!”

Demonic flames surged skyward.

Simultaneously, a hidden black hole in the flames, carrying terrifying temporal power to shred everything, emerged.

Yun Yao’s face paled.

“Master! I said it’s urgent! We can’t wait!” The Wheel’s spirit flushed, the golden Wheel trembling like a kite in a storm. Its three shadows flickered, struggling. “Master, one demon must be slain! Only his saint-tier soul, sacrificed to the Wheel, can stabilize time and return to the immortal realm!”

Yun Yao stood frozen beneath the engulfing black hole.

Both shadows looked at her.

“Master, what are you waiting for?” The malevolent Mu Hanyuan laughed, demonic and beguiling. “Hesitate longer, and Qianyuan, your beloved beings, will be sucked into this black hole.”

Yun Yao trembled, tears in her eyes. “Why do you always force me… Mu Hanyuan!”

Her anguished cry rang out. She turned, casting a spell to pull back the benevolent shadow rising silently. “Are you mad?!”

“He’s right. Without sacrificing the last saint-tier soul, this black hole will consume all.” Mu Hanyuan smiled faintly, his gaze fixed on Yun Yao, longing buried deep. “Master, this life was luckier than his by a millionfold. If this is the end he prepared for me, for you and Qianyuan’s beings, I’ll go willingly.”

“Willing or not?!” Yun Yao’s voice shook. “Have you asked if I’m willing?!”

“—”

Her saint-tier immortal power swept out, and before he could resist, the Wheel enveloped him in a petal.

Turning, she met the malevolent shadow’s blood-red eyes.

He smiled, opening his arms, baring his defenseless chest. “Finally going to kill me, Saint Origin, or Your Highness Origin?”

She closed her eyes tightly, holding back tears. “Swear to me, you’ll kill no more.”

“…No. I’m a demon, without kindness. If you’re gone, I’ll make the Fate Palace’s three thousand lamps bury you.” He smiled cruelly, speaking slowly. “I won’t give you a reason to die alone before me.”

Her lashes trembled, stunned that in his madness, he still saw through her thoughts. The pain was unbearable. “Why do you always force me…”

He always forced her to kill him.

“Because I want you to remember. Even if you kill me, in your endless divine life, you’ll never forget me. But…” He lowered his head, smiling. “I know you can’t do it… I just don’t know if you love me, or the beings you pity as a god.”

“…”

Her lips trembled, as if saying something.

But the next moment, the Wheel could no longer hold, soaring toward the black hole above Tianyun Abyss.

The world flipped, up becoming down. Qian became Kun, Kun became Qian.

Tianyun Abyss collapsed into the black hole, like falling into a bottomless chasm.

Beyond the Three Realms, a place of true oblivion, where even the netherworld couldn’t reach.

Qianyuan trembled and quaked.

“Master—” The Wheel’s spirit squeezed out a final trembling plea.

Mu Hanyuan’s soul shadow surged forward. In an instant, he stood before Yun Yao.

“Let’s die together, alright, let’s die together…” The snow-haired, black-robed figure leaned in, gripping her wrist, embracing her waist, pulling her close. Burying his face in her neck, he laughed through tears. “Master.”

The immortal power in her sleeve slowly dissipated.

She lowered her eyes, trembling. “…Alright.”

“…”

They plummeted toward the black hole.

He held her tightly, as if fearing she’d leave him behind.

Knowing oblivion awaited, Yun Yao smiled through tears, struggling to free her wrist from his grip, finally intertwining their fingers.

“Mu Hanyuan.” She hugged him back, sobbing softly. “This time, I won’t leave you behind.”

“—”

His figure froze before her.

The black hole’s shredding force was inches below them.

“…I was wrong. He was right.” Mu Hanyuan closed his eyes, smiling, the blood-red mark fading like melting snow. “Those who trust fate are played by it. Regret comes only at death… too late.”

In that instant—

He conjured a demonic flame. Stepping through it, he flipped their positions—

He below, she above.

The endless oblivion below eroded his trailing white hair, like snow melting into spring.

Yun Yao choked, desperately trying to hold him. “Mu Hanyuan, don’t—”

But she forgot—his saint-tier demonic body had been sacrificed to the Wheel in the immortal realm, leaving only a wisp of soul. Like breeze, rain, snow, untouchable fading clouds.

In the final moment, he pushed her away.

“My sins are unforgivable.”

Smiling, he closed his eyes, sinking into the black hole.

“Master’s immortal soul shall live as long as heaven, eternal through eons.”