Cloud Rest Inn, Private Courtyard
The night air was still, broken only by the soft plip of fish food hitting the water.
Shen Xuan stood by the pond, his silhouette framed by the twin moons. He tossed another pinch of grain, watching the koi swarm in a chaotic frenzy of gold and orange.
"Haha... Elder Xiao," Shen Xuan said, his voice distant. "Do you know what the true reality of the world is?"
Xiao Ding stood behind him, his brow furrowed. The question hung heavy in the air, weighted with implications he couldn't quite grasp.
"True... reality?" Xiao Ding asked, puzzled. "I don't understand what the Young Master means."
Shen Xuan turned. His usual frosty demeanor had softened into a calm, almost playful expression.
"Really? You don't know? Then tell me, what are you most afraid of?"
Xiao Ding paused. He looked at his own gnarled hands, hands that had killed, saved, and built for thousands of years.
"This... well," Xiao Ding took a deep breath. "Most people are afraid of death."
"Yes," Shen Xuan nodded, turning back to the stars. "Almost every being fears death. They fear the end of consciousness. They fear the void. Even this Heaven will die of old age. Even the Chaos itself has a lifespan. Who the hell are you in this vast cosmic ocean to think you matter?"
His voice was light, but the words struck Xiao Ding like physical blows.
Xiao Ding remained silent. He looked at the boy's back—slender, young, yet casting a shadow that seemed to stretch across eons.
"Do you have other questions in your heart?" Shen Xuan asked softly. "I see the turbulence in your soul. If something is bothering you, ask. If I know, I will answer."
Xiao Ding hesitated. Then, he asked the question that had haunted every cultivator since the dawn of time.
"Then... who is truly eternal?"
Shen Xuan didn't hesitate. "Obviously, the Supreme Creator of everything."
Xiao Ding's hands clenched into fists. A terrifying rage, suppressed for millennia, leaked into his voice.
"Then... don't you think we are just ants in his play?" Xiao Ding whispered. "Meant to entertain him? Does he enjoy watching us kill each other? Does he feast on our suffering? If he is Supreme... why does he allow this hell?"
Shen Xuan's expression cooled. He looked up at the indifferent constellations.
"How can we mortals," Shen Xuan said clearly, "or even his children, understand what he wants? We can never judge the Supreme Creator. To judge him is to assume we are his peers."
"Then..." Xiao Ding asked, his voice trembling, "do you think you could ever surpass him?"
Shen Xuan froze.
He looked at Xiao Ding. For the first time, he felt he had underestimated the depth of this old man's despair.
"Surpass him?" Shen Xuan repeated.
He shook his head slowly. "I can never."
It was a simple answer. Yet, coming from Shen Xuan—a being of boundless arrogance—it was terrifying.
"Even you can't?" Xiao Ding stared at him, shock written on his face.
"What the f*ck...?" Shen Xuan laughed, a genuine sound of incredulity. "Elder Xiao, where does this thought come from? If you can answer where the concept of 'Creator' comes from, then maybe... just maybe... there is a chance I could one day be equal to him."
He looked directly into Xiao Ding's eyes.
"But surpass? No."
Xiao Ding fell silent. The night breeze stirred the surface of the pond, ripples spreading outward as the fish scattered.
"Thoughts..." Xiao Ding murmured. "They come from existence itself. From being alive. From having a soul. Isn't that obvious?"
Shen Xuan shook his head. "No."
He picked up another pinch of fish food. It rested between his fingers like dust.
"Thoughts do not arise because you exist," Shen Xuan said calm. "You exist because thoughts are allowed to arise."
Xiao Ding squinted. "Allowed?"
"Yes." Shen Xuan released the food. It hit the water. "If there were truly a tyrannical Supreme Existence—one beyond Heaven, beyond Chaos, beyond Dao—then even the concept of thinking would not belong to us. The fact that you can question him... the fact that you can doubt him... the fact that you can even imagine surpassing him... proves that he has never interfered with that freedom."
Xiao Ding's heart trembled.
"If he truly wished to dominate," Shen Xuan continued, "you wouldn't be wondering whether he exists. You would know. Just as you know hunger, pain, or fear. Your thoughts themselves would carry his mark."
Silence stretched between them, vast and profound.
"So," Xiao Ding said slowly, "you mean... the fact that we can question him proves that he does not control us?"
Shen Xuan glanced at him. "No. It proves something far more terrifying."
Xiao Ding swallowed. "What?"
"That control is unnecessary."
The words struck like thunder.
"If every law, every Dao, every cause and effect already functions perfectly without his direct will... then whether he exists or not becomes irrelevant to us," Shen Xuan said gently. "An ant does not need to be watched for the mountain to remain unmoved. We are free because we are insignificant."
Xiao Ding felt a chill crawl up his spine. The cosmic indifference Shen Xuan described was colder than any tyranny.
"Then... what is your ambition?" Xiao Ding asked quietly. "If not revenge... if not surpassing him... then what?"
Shen Xuan looked at the reflection of the moon in the water.
"To walk to the end," he said. "Not to challenge anyone. Not to overthrow anything. Just to see what lies at the final boundary."
Xiao Ding's throat felt dry. He looked at Shen Xuan not as a junior, but as an enigma.
"Then tell me this, Young Master," Xiao Ding asked, his voice heavy with the weight of the dead. "If control is unnecessary... then why? Why is there so much bloodshed? Why are worlds destroyed? Why are lives treated like dust? If he is truly Supreme... why not stop it?"
The night grew quiet. Even the insects seemed to fall silent, waiting for the answer.
Shen Xuan shook his head. "I don't know. But I am sure that in the future, there will be someone who can answer. Until then... live. Or reincarnate. Until that time comes."
He yawned, stretching his arms. The philosophical weight lifted instantly.
"Uh... Elder Xiao, this is enough for today. Go. I have to sleep. Even gods need naps."
Xiao Ding blinked. He stood up, preparing to leave. At the gate, he turned back, a mischievous glint in his old eyes.
"Young Master. One request."
"Hm?"
"Smile more. It makes you much more attractive. With a cold face like a thousand-year ice cube, you will never find a wife."
With that, he slipped away into the night.
Shen Xuan stood there, dazed.
"Find a wife...?" he muttered. "Me?"
He shook his head, retreating to his room.
Deep in the Vast Cosmic Chaos
High-Plane Universe: The Moon-Palace Domain
Far beyond the reach of the Middle Plane, in a universe bathed in eternal moonlight, a palace floated in the void. It was built of white jade and starlight, surrounded by formations of unknown grade that rippled like liquid glass.
Inside the main hall, a woman sat upon a throne of condensed frost.
She wore a veil of woven moonlight that obscured her features, leaving only her eyes visible—eyes that held the cold, detached wisdom of an immortal.
Gu Yue Xuan. The Holy Master of the Moon-Palace.
"Holy Master," a maid knelt, holding a black-gold token that hovered in the air. "Someone from Headquarters has arrived."
The veiled woman frowned. The temperature in the hall dropped.
"Let them in."
Moments later, a young girl in a pink dress skipped into the hall. She was beautiful, with a face like a blooming lotus, radiating a charm that could melt glaciers.
Lin Xinxin.
"Senior!" Lin Xinxin chirped, bowing gracefully. "This junior is Lin Xinxin. As you know, the Lin Clan tests its heirs before the age of fifty. I have been assigned to the Azure Star Galaxy under your jurisdiction for my trial."
She pulled out a scroll made of thousand-year-old Spirit Wood and handed it over.
Gu Yue Xuan took the scroll. She broke the seal with a flick of her finger.
Miss Gu Yue Xuan,
Lin Xinxin is undergoing the Clan Test. Protect her from harm. There is no obligation to assist her further, as long as she survives.
Signed, Lin Wei.
Gu Yue Xuan stared at the signature. Lin Wei. A name that commanded respect even in the High Planes.
She stood up, her robes flowing like water.
"Miss Lin," Gu Yue Xuan said, her voice cool and melodious. "Since the order comes from above, this Saint will protect you. However, understand this: I am your guardian, not your servant. I will not take orders from a junior."
Lin Xinxin smiled sweetly. "Of course, Senior! I wouldn't dream of it."
Gu Yue Xuan turned to the maid. "Arrangements. Best courtyard. Now."
As Lin Xinxin was led away, Gu Yue Xuan sat back on her throne. She tapped the armrest, her eyes narrowing.
"Wait," she commanded.
Lin Xinxin paused. "Senior?"
"You will have to wait a few days before beginning your trial," Gu Yue Xuan said, her gaze shifting to a star chart floating in the center of the room. "I have matters to attend to."
"Matters?"
"Yes," Gu Yue Xuan said, zooming in on a small, insignificant Middle Plane sector. "Someone is tampering with the Heavenly Registry Formation in a Lower World. An intruder. If it is within my control... we may head there first."
She stood up, her eyes gleaming with cold curiosity.
"Let us see who dares to touch the scales of the Heavens."