The sky shattered.
Not cracked.
Not split.
It shattered like glass.
Fragments of darkness floated across the First Ruin while an unbearable pressure descended from beyond the broken heavens.
Everyone stopped.
Even the white-haired man.
His face had lost all trace of arrogance.
Su Chen stared upward.
Something was coming.
The First Master slowly raised his head.
"What are they?"
The white-haired man didn't answer.
The Sea Sovereign looked at him.
"You said there was nothing you couldn't control."
The white-haired man's expression darkened.
"I was wrong."
Those three words made everyone uneasy.
The darkness above them twisted.
Then a hand reached through.
It was pale.
Almost human.
But the moment its fingers touched the sky, countless laws collapsed.
The First Ruin trembled.
The white-haired man immediately stepped backward.
"Everyone, get away from Su Chen."
Su Chen frowned.
"Why?"
"They're not here for me."
The man's eyes remained fixed on Su Chen.
"They're here for you."
The hand slowly pushed through the broken sky.
A figure followed.
Then another.
Then another.
Three beings descended from the shattered heavens.
They didn't possess overwhelming auras.
They didn't release killing intent.
They simply existed.
And that was enough.
The first wore a long gray robe and had completely silver eyes.
The second was covered in black armor, with no visible face.
The third looked like an ordinary young woman.
She had long white hair and wore a simple dress.
Su Chen's expression changed.
The woman looked exactly like the mysterious white-haired woman who had been guiding him.
The woman beside him inside his consciousness suddenly disappeared.
"Where did you go?"
No answer.
Su Chen's eyes narrowed.
The young woman looked directly at him.
"You finally found him."
Su Chen stared.
"Who?"
She smiled.
"The one who remembers everything."
Her gaze shifted toward the white-haired man.
The creator's expression became cold.
"You shouldn't have come."
The silver-eyed man laughed.
"You've been hiding for too long."
The black-armored figure remained silent.
The young woman looked around the First Ruin.
"So this is what remains of the First Dynasty."
The First Master raised his weapon.
"Who are you?"
The silver-eyed man looked at him.
"You don't have the authority to ask."
A single glance.
That was all.
The First Master suddenly staggered backward.
Blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Su Chen's eyes widened.
The First Master was one of the strongest beings he had encountered.
Yet the silver-eyed man had injured him without moving.
The creator stepped forward.
"Leave."
The silver-eyed man smiled.
"You still think you're in control."
The creator's expression hardened.
"I created the cultivation system."
"And we created the cage around you."
Silence.
The creator's eyes narrowed.
"You."
The silver-eyed man raised his hand.
A strange symbol appeared.
The Fourth Imperial Seal inside Su Chen's soul suddenly reacted.
Pain exploded through his body.
"Ah!"
Lin Yanyan immediately grabbed him.
"Su Chen!"
The golden seal appeared above him.
The silver-eyed man's eyes brightened.
"There it is."
The creator suddenly attacked.
BOOM!
A massive wave of power swept across the ruins.
The silver-eyed man raised one finger.
The attack stopped.
The creator's face became pale.
"Impossible."
The silver-eyed man smiled.
"You created the system."
"We created the rules."
He snapped his fingers.
The creator was blasted backward.
His body crashed through several ancient buildings.
The merged creature immediately attacked.
The black-armored being moved.
One punch.
BOOM!
The creature disappeared.
Its three authorities separated instantly.
Fear.
Desire.
Erasure.
All three were forced out of the merged body.
The crimson eye flew toward one direction.
The blue eye toward another.
The darkness attempted to escape.
The black-armored figure simply raised its hand.
The darkness stopped.
Su Chen stared.
These beings were on another level.
The white-haired young woman suddenly appeared before him.
"Don't resist."
Su Chen looked at her.
"You're the one who was speaking to me?"
She smiled.
"Not exactly."
"Then who are you?"
"A fragment."
"A fragment of what?"
She touched his forehead.
The world disappeared.
Su Chen found himself standing in an endless white space.
The white-haired woman stood before him.
"This is the memory the creator tried to erase."
Su Chen looked around.
"What memory?"
She pointed ahead.
A young man stood there.
Su Chen recognized him.
It was himself.
But not the Su Chen he knew.
This version of him wore ancient golden armor.
He stood before an enormous gate.
Behind him were countless people.
Lin Yanyan.
Mu Xue.
The Sea Sovereign.
The Pavilion Master.
Even the Primordial Emperor.
But they looked different.
Older.
Stronger.
And they were all standing behind Su Chen.
Su Chen stared.
"What is this?"
The woman whispered.
"Your first life."
His heart stopped.
"My first life?"
"You weren't born eighteen years ago."
Su Chen looked at the figure.
The ancient version of himself raised his hand.
The Fourth Authority appeared.
Then a fifth symbol.
Then a sixth.
Su Chen's eyes widened.
"I had more than four authorities?"
"You had all of them."
The woman looked sad.
"Until you sacrificed yourself."
"For what?"
"To seal the beings beyond the creator."
The memory changed.
Su Chen saw an ancient battlefield.
The same three beings from the sky.
The creator.
The First Master.
The Primordial Emperor.
Everyone was fighting.
The universe was collapsing.
Su Chen stood in the middle.
His body was covered in blood.
He turned toward the people behind him.
"Run."
The ancient Lin Yanyan shook her head.
"No."
Su Chen smiled.
"Yanyan."
"I won't leave you."
He walked toward the enemy.
"You already stayed long enough."
The scene blurred.
A gigantic explosion followed.
Su Chen's ancient body disappeared.
The woman beside him whispered.
"You died."
Su Chen stared at the memory.
"And everyone forgot me."
"Not everyone."
She touched his chest.
"The Fourth Authority remembered."
Su Chen suddenly understood.
The seal wasn't simply power.
It was his memory.
His identity.
His existence.
Someone had deliberately erased his first life.
Su Chen looked at her.
"Who erased it?"
The woman became silent.
Then she answered.
"You did."
Su Chen froze.
"I erased my own memory?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because you knew they would come looking for you."
The white-haired woman looked toward the distant battlefield.
"And now they have found you."
The vision shattered.
Su Chen returned to the First Ruin.
Lin Yanyan was holding his shoulders.
"Su Chen!"
He blinked.
"I'm here."
She looked relieved.
"You disappeared for a moment."
Su Chen looked toward the three beings.
Then toward the creator.
Then toward the sky.
Everything suddenly made sense.
His rebirth.
The Fourth Authority.
The First Ruin.
The mysterious organization he had created in his previous life.
The strange familiarity he sometimes felt around Lin Yanyan.
None of it was coincidence.
He had already lived once.
And he had already fought these beings.
The creator slowly stood from the ruins.
Blood covered his robe.
He looked toward Su Chen.
"You remembered."
Su Chen stared at him.
"Yes."
The creator's expression became complicated.
"Then you know what happens next."
Su Chen nodded.
"They're going to erase this universe."
The silver-eyed man smiled.
"Now you understand."
Su Chen raised the Heaven Slaughter Sword.
"No."
The Fifth Authority began awakening.
Golden light spread across the ruins.
"I understand something else."
The silver-eyed man's smile disappeared.
Su Chen looked at Lin Yanyan.
Then at everyone standing beside him.
"I already died once protecting this universe."
His eyes became calm.
"I won't do it the same way again."
Lin Yanyan stepped beside him.
"Then what will you do?"
Su Chen smiled.
"Make sure everyone fights with me."
Mu Xue raised her spear.
The Sea Sovereign summoned the ocean.
The Pavilion Master gathered moonlight.
The First Master stood again.
Even the creator slowly raised his hand.
The silver-eyed man's expression changed.
"You think all of you can oppose us?"
Su Chen's Fifth Authority fully awakened.
The entire First Ruin lit up.
A massive golden symbol appeared behind him.
The silver-eyed man stared at it.
For the first time—
He looked afraid.
"No…"
The black-armored being turned toward Su Chen.
The white-haired woman stopped smiling.
The creator whispered:
"The Fifth Authority…"
Su Chen raised his sword.
"Let's finish what I started."
The three beings from beyond the creator moved simultaneously.
And this time
Su Chen was ready.