1. Echo of Dread
The sky over the Timelocked Zone rippled with fractures, as if the very fabric of existence were being peeled open from the outside. Where once stillness reigned, now came sound—not from within, but from something pressing against the universe.
The girls surrounded Li Wei, their expressions grim. His body still radiated with the unstable light of the Godsoul Lotus Tree.
"He sees us," Shen Ruo said softly, eyes wide. "The Null King."
Above them, the fracture deepened. It wasn't a crack of thunder, but of broken logic. It defied sound. It deleted silence.
SYSTEM ALERT: NULL ENTITY INVASION POTENTIAL 43%... 51%... 66%
Meiyu clutched Li Wei's hand. "He isn't stabilizing. We need to get him out."
Lotus raised her arm, forming a lotus-shaped barrier overhead. "No. We hold the line. If the Null King breaches now, the system collapses."
Yue stepped forward, blades glowing. Lana summoned twin spirals of fire in each palm. Scarlet tossed her dagger into the air and caught it without looking.
Li Wei's eyes fluttered open, glowing faintly.
"Not... yet..." he whispered. "Let him speak."
And then, they heard it.
A voice not bound by time.
Not heard. Felt.
"You... are not the First... and you will not be the Last..."
Reality distorted. Time began to unravel.
2. The Shattered Memory Realm
They were no longer in the Timelocked Zone. The world shifted around them without motion.
Li Wei and the girls stood inside a realm made entirely of fractured memory. Glass panels floated through a gray void, each showing scenes:
A young Jin Ren, screaming as he activated the first system.
A war between divine beings and monstrous echoes.
Systems shattering.
Universes dying in silence.
The girls moved cautiously through the shards.
"Is this his world?" Lana asked.
"No," Lotus answered. "This is the Null King's reflection. He doesn't create. He undoes."
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: WELCOME TO NULLSPACE — HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT DETECTED
Suddenly, a figure stepped out of the mirror-glass.
It was Li Wei.
But... hollow.
Gray eyes. No expression. Dressed in decaying martial robes. System windows flickered around him, filled with errors and red text.
"Delete protocol active. False god detected," Hollow Li Wei spoke.
He lunged.
3. Battle Against the Null Reflection
The clash was immediate. Hollow Li Wei fought like a corrupted echo of the real one—using broken versions of his skills.
NULL TECHNIQUE: FRACTURED LOTUS PALM
He struck Lana, sending her flying into a glass memory wall.
NULL TECHNIQUE: BACKWARD TIME STRIKE
Scarlet blocked with her daggers, but her movements reversed for a moment, disorienting her.
Li Wei stood up fully, steady now. His eyes flared.
SKILL ACTIVATED: LOTUS ASCENSION TECHNIQUE
He flashed forward in a blur of violet petals, clashing with his Null-self mid-air. The force exploded in a shockwave that bent the memory realm.
Yue and Meiyu worked together to cast stabilizing barriers while Shen Ruo etched temporal anchors to keep their location from collapsing.
Scarlet, grinning despite the cuts, lunged again. "That hollow version of you fights worse than you did in Chapter 1!"
Li Wei smirked. "Then let's end him like I should have ended that dojo punk."
Together, they fought.
And the Hollow shattered into a thousand fading fragments.
4. The Null King Manifests
From the shards of the Hollow, black roots spread across the realm. They spiraled and twisted until they formed a throne made of inverted system fragments.
And on it... sat a man.
Not a god. Not a demon.
A presence.
Skin like blank parchment. No eyes. A mouth that never moved.
"You carry his burden," the Null King said.
"You inherited the broken seed. I was the gardener."
Li Wei stepped forward, unshaken. "You created the first system?"
"No. I unmade it. My gift is freedom from purpose. My offer is this: Let go of the system. Be truly free."
Lotus trembled. "Don't listen."
Li Wei hesitated.
SYSTEM WARNING: ROOT-LEVEL CORRUPTION ATTEMPTED. USER CONVICTION TEST INITIATED.
The Null King extended a hand.
"No more quests. No more burdens. Just peace. One word, and I unchain your soul."
Li Wei looked back at his girls. The journey. The pain. The growth.
He clenched his fist.
"No."
SYSTEM STABILITY REINFORCED. NULL INFLUENCE REJECTED.
The Null King paused. For the first time, he showed emotion.
Disappointment.
5. Escape Through Collapse
The Null King stood.
The realm began to collapse. Entire memories fell into void. Logic twisted. Time staggered.
Lotus summoned the cosmic lotus gate again. "Get out! Now!"
The girls leapt through.
Li Wei turned one last time.
"I won't stop. Not for you. Not for your nothingness."
The Null King whispered:
"Then you shall be watched. Until the bloom rots."
Li Wei dove through the portal.
6. Return and Revelation
They landed back on the Sky Terrace. The moment they touched down, time resumed. Stars pulsed above. The world had changed—slightly.
Everyone stood breathing hard.
SYSTEM UPDATE COMPLETE CURRENT LEVEL: 928 PASSIVE GAIN: NULL IMMUNITY LEVEL 1
Lotus placed a hand on Li Wei's shoulder.
"You didn't just reject a god. You rejected an end."
Meiyu sat on the steps, panting. "That guy was creepy. Like, existential horror creepy."
Yue nodded. "But now we know. This isn't just about power. It's about meaning."
Li Wei looked at the sky.
"Then we'll give it meaning. Step by step."