.

One month later...

Within the secret realm, somewhere in the vast forest that once lay at the base of the mountain now gone, a massive piece of land floated silently in the air.

It had no visible support, no explanation for how it remained suspended, and yet, it floated.

From beneath, a tangled mass of soil, rock, and roots could be seen, as though the entire section had been torn from the earth in a single, overwhelming motion.

But on the surface of this big floating land, a small forest thrived, shrouded in an otherworldly calm.

Between the trees lay a circular clearing, as if nature itself had chosen to protect and separate it from the rest.

At its center rested a tranquil pond, mirroring the faint light that filtered through the canopy. The water was clear, and along its banks grew rare herbs and flowers of unusual colors, plants that could scarcely be found anywhere else.

From time to time, slender silver scaled fish rose to the surface, tracing gentle ripples before vanishing again into the calm depths below.

Yet none of this drew the eye as much as the figure seated at the center.

He appeared to be sitting directly on the water, and yet he did not sink.

Cross legged, still as a statue, he breathed slowly and evenly, eyes closed, expression serene. Each breath seemed to blend into the silent rhythm of the place, as though he had become one with its stillness.

However, that stillness did not last long.

As his consciousness drifted deeper, a faint tremor rippled across the lake's surface. The water shivered slightly, as if disturbed by an invisible breath.

Zhu Rong then sank into a series of memories that were not his, yet felt achingly familiar, shattered fragments of a past he did not remember living.

The first image was blurred, hazy.

A newborn's cry, a shadowy figure lifting him toward the sunlight, and then, nothing.

The memory dispersed like smoke in the wind, replaced by another, clearer one.

A boy, no older than ten, stood before a grave.

His face was expressionless, his gaze empty, yet his clenched fists told of anger and sorrow deeper than words could hold.

Before him, two nameless tombstones.

Then, another leap.

A young man walking aimlessly across human territory. His eyes calm, yet beneath that calm, something unresolved stirred.

It was then he saw them, two figures in danger, surrounded by many beasts. One was an elf, delicate features, pale golden hair, sharp eyes.

The other, a girl with unusual features, neither human nor elf, surrounded by a wild, untamed aura.

After helping them, he learned from them who they were,

One was an elf girl from a nearby forest tribe, and the other girl belonged to the dragon race.

The visions moved again swiftly, like pages turned by a rushing wind.

He saw them traveling together, laughing around a campfire, fighting side by side.

A year passed in the blink of an eye.

During that time, he had reached the peak of the Core Formation stage, while the two companions had reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment.

Then came the separation.

The young man departed to settle his debts with those who had destroyed his family, leaving the two girls to walk their own paths.

Years passed.

Then the memories grew darker.

He had changed, nineteen years old now, his gaze hard, known as a solitary adventurer who never failed a mission.

Around him, the continent was falling into chaos. The beast tides grew fiercer, and alliances between races had become fragile, temporary truces.

It was at the borders of what is currently the Human Empire that he saw her again.

The dragon girl, she had grown, taller, stronger, and her wild beauty now radiated a tempered, commanding power.

They met during a hunt, and nearly killed each other over the same prey.

Only then did they realize who the other was.

From that day on, they decided to travel together again, just like old times, fighting side by side as they once had.

He learned from her that the elf girl who had traveled with them was now busy handling important affairs within elven territory.

As for the dragon girl, after reaching the fourth stage, she had returned to her tribe for a time, only to plan another escape.

According to what she said, her parents were choosing her future mate, someone she despised.

By then, she had already reached the fifth stage at only eighteen years old, a rare talent even among dragons.

It was astonishing even by human standards, but for dragons, it was even more remarkable, given their different sense of age.

A dragon of twenty would barely be considered an adolescent; at thirty they were only just entering adulthood, and only after a hundred years could they truly be regarded as full adults.

The memories warmed, almost alive.

He saw them fighting together, laughing together, and he noticed how the distance between them grew smaller with each passing year, until at last, they decided to marry.

The boy, now a man, had already ascended into the Spirit Realm, and the dragon girl was soon to follow.

But as that memory reached the height of its peace, a dark radiance crept between the images, like a shadow staining the sun.

The lake's surface rippled once more, and a chill spread through his chest.

Many of the memories that followed were blurred and indistinct, but within that darkness, one remained painfully vivid, so vivid it felt real.

The sky was a still, cold gray, heavy with dense clouds. On the frozen ground, blood pooled dark and thick, refusing to freeze, as if even the frost feared to touch it.

Bodies lay scattered across the field, human, elven, beastkin...

some mutilated, others torn into shreds of flesh and armor.

The air was heavy with the metallic scent of blood and the lingering force of fading spiritual energy, flickering and dying like embers.

Shards of power glimmered here and there, remnants of techniques, shattered seals, and lives extinguished in battle.

And at the center of that lifeless expanse, two figures stood.

For a moment, it seemed as if they were embracing, an almost tender image, a fragment of humanity amidst the ruin, but it only took a blink for the scene to reveal the truth.

The woman clung to him with her last strength, while from her pierced abdomen, the man's arm still protruded, soaked in her own blood.

Her fingers trembled, clutching his clothes, her breath breaking into a faint rasp.

"P-please… take care of her…" she murmured, her voice a thread that dissolved into the snow.

The man, however, remained motionless.

No emotion crossed his face, no pain, no remorse, no anger.

Only a deep, icy void, as if none of what was happening truly concerned him.

His eyes, however, burned with a dark, crimson red, a glow that seemed to devour every light around him, as if in that instant something ancient, dark, and uncontrollable had taken hold.

The woman's body slowly gave way, slipping from his arms. Blood pooled onto the ground, mixing with the snow, and the silence that followed weighed heavier than any scream.

Then, from afar, a cry tore through the air.

A voice, perhaps human, perhaps only an echo, called his name. But the words were distorted, twisted, as if coming from a dream too distant to be understood.

The wind rose, carrying fragments of light.

And before him, suspended high in the sky, a figure appeared.

It was her.

The elf girl.

The traveling companion who had once walked beside him.

She hovered there, her body wrapped in a spectral glow, hiding the faint traces of battle that marked it.

Her long golden hair floated like flames, and in her eyes shone a profound, almost divine light that tore through the darkness of the stormy sky.

Above her, the clouds had parted, letting through a golden light that did not belong to this plane of existence.

And behind her figure loomed an immense shadow, a titanic female form, with three pairs of outstretched wings and a halo burning like the sun.

The ground trembled, and the sky roared.

The elf fixed her gaze on him, and in her eyes there was no trace of gentleness, only pure, devastating wrath, fueled by a pain impossible to contain.

With a scream that seemed to shatter the very air, she launched herself from the heights of the sky, a comet of light and fury aimed at him.

And the moment their eyes met, the world shattered.

Everything, the sky, the snow, the blood, dissolved into a tide of light.

Then, everything began to dissolve.

The landscape fragmented into shards of light, the figures vanished, and in the end, only the distant echo of his own breath remained.

Zhu Rong opened his eyes.

The lake had returned to calm, the secret realm serene, but the emptiness that had appeared within him remained.

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