After the delicate roots fully embedded themselves into the cracked earth, a deep tremor spread across the entire world, causing the barren land to shudder as if something ancient had been awakened from its endless slumber. The ground quaked for a brief yet profound moment, and then, just as suddenly, everything fell silent once more, returning to a stillness that felt heavier than before.
At first glance, it seemed as though nothing had changed.
The sky remained dim and oppressive, and the vast land still stretched endlessly in lifeless desolation.
Yet that was only an illusion.
At the very centre of this world, where the withered tree had once stood as a symbol of decay and emptiness, it was now gone.
In its place rested a single golden seed.
Around it, several soft and delicate roots extended into the earth, glowing faintly with hues of gold, crimson, azure, and emerald, their colours gentle yet undeniably alive. Unlike the dead and barren ground surrounding them, these roots carried a quiet vitality, as if they were breathing, as if they were drawing something unseen from the depths of the world itself.
Lestes stood in silence, his gaze fixed upon the seed.
Although the world still appeared desolate, the area surrounding the seed was no longer empty.
A subtle transformation had taken place.
The cracked earth near the roots had begun to soften, its rigid and lifeless texture slowly giving way to something more fertile, and a faint warmth spread outward from the seed, pushing back against the oppressive stillness that once dominated everything.
Barely noticeable.
Yet undeniable.
Lestes stood in silence, his gaze fixed upon the seed.
"After planning for so long…" Lestes spoke softly, and a faint smile carrying a rare trace of warmth appeared on his face as his gaze remained fixed upon the golden seed before him.
He had been born with a special physique that made cultivation impossible, a flaw so absolute that even the most powerful techniques and inheritances could not change it, while his origins were far from ordinary, as his parents stood among the strong, figures whose influence reached across worlds. With their support and the aid of countless heaven and earth treasures, he had prolonged his life far beyond that of ordinary mortals, and over the years, he had gathered vast knowledge, travelling through both small worlds and great realms while meeting countless individuals, each encounter adding another piece to the understanding he sought.
"I searched every path that could exist," he murmured, his voice calm yet heavy with the weight of time.
After countless years of planning and calculation, he had finally discovered a method to step onto the path of cultivation, and one of the prices of that method had damaged his own colourful roots, the very foundation that once connected him to the flow of existence. From that moment onward, he had walked a far more difficult road, searching tirelessly for a way to restore what he had sacrificed, exploring forbidden techniques, ancient ruins, and long-lost inheritances, yet every attempt was a failure.
Again and again… all dead ends. But he planned and calculated quietly, without frustration, a steady resolve that had never wavered.
He had continued to plan, to calculate, and to wait, refining every possibility across the passage of years until every step aligned with the next, until even fate itself seemed to bend along the path he had carved.
And now—
The result stood before him.
The golden seed pulsed softly, its gentle radiance illuminating the barren world, and the colourful roots embedded in the ground shimmered with life, no longer broken or incomplete, but reborn in a form that transcended what they once were.
Lestes watched in silence, and the faint smile on his face deepened ever so slightly.
"My colourful roots… have undergone nirvana," he said, his voice steady and certain.
This was no simple restoration.
It was a transformation.
What had once been damaged beyond repair had now been reborn through destruction and convergence, shaped by countless lifetimes, nourished by memories, and tempered by sacrifice.
"It was worth it," he added softly.
For the first time in countless years, there was no calculation in his eyes, no distant detachment, but a quiet certainty that everything had led to this moment.
Lestes had not come to this world by accident, nor had his arrival been the result of chance, because every step he had taken was guided by careful planning and deliberate intent. For countless years, he had searched for a place that met his exact requirements, a world hidden well enough to escape the gaze of those who stood far above ordinary existence.
That place was the Martial Heavenly Continent.
This continent was not merely another land among countless worlds, a world situated within a uniquely isolated and unstable cosmic environment, where the laws of heaven and earth were incomplete, and the flow of fate itself was fragmented. To most, this made the world flawed and undesirable, yet to Lestes, it was precisely these irregularities that made it perfect.
"I did not choose this place without reason," Lestes said quietly, his gaze calm as he observed the faintly pulsing seed within his inner world.
There were three reasons behind his decision.
The first…
In the worlds he had once traversed, the truly powerful could observe the fluctuations of fate, sense disturbances across realms, and trace even the slightest anomaly back to its origin. Any significant transformation, especially one as drastic as the rebirth of his foundation, would have immediately drawn their attention.
But this world was different.
The Martial Heavenly Continent existed in isolation, where the threads of causality were blurred, and the connection with higher realms was broken, making it impossible for even the most powerful beings to clearly observe or interfere with what transpired within it. A perfect blind spot.
A place where destiny could not be easily read.
A place where even heaven's gaze grew dim.
For Lestes, who had spent countless years evading forces far beyond ordinary comprehension, such a world was not merely suitable—it was necessary.
Only in a place like this could he proceed with his plan without interruption.
Only here… could he truly begin again.
Second was the mysterious fog,
The mysterious fog present in Secret Realm was special, containing a temporal aura, a power that interferes with time itself.
For others, that mist was a forbidden zone, a place of certain death that devoured both body and soul, yet for Lestes, it was something far more valuable, something that would help Lestes recall his memories. What should have been lost. Memories across lives,
it became the key to awakening what had long been buried
Third was the incomplete heaven laws. An incomplete heaven law would allow Lestes to change the world according to his requirements. which would further increase his safety.
After all, he was going to do something no one had ever tried, something that stood in direct opposition to the natural order defined by heaven itself. It was extremely dangerous.
Under normal circumstances, such an act would have instantly drawn the attention of heaven and earth, triggering a heavenly tribulation meant to erase him.
The incomplete laws weakened everything, including the authority of heaven itself, and although backlash would still occur, it would be far less destructive than it should have been.
Lestes remained suspended within the unknown plane, his body adrift in a space where direction no longer held meaning, as the mysterious fog continued to surge relentlessly toward him, flowing like an endless tide and invading deeper into his soul with every passing moment.
He did not resist.
This invasion connected him to the river of time, A vast and immeasurable river.
It flowed silently, yet its presence drowned out all else.
Past.
Present.
Future.
All of it existed within that endless current.
As his consciousness touched it, his senses expanded uncontrollably, stretching across countless years, reaching into moments that had already passed and those that had yet to occur.
Fragments of existence brushed against him.
Scenes.
Lives.
Possibilities
All fleeting, yet all real.
He heard a few whispers, echoes travelling across the space and time.
"Keys..."
The voice was distant, fragmented, yet it resonated deeply within his soul.
"blood...."
Another followed, heavier, carrying a sense of inheritance and sacrifice.
"soul....."
A whisper that seemed to originate from within him rather than outside.
"Seven emotions and six desires...."
A whisper that echoed from the deepest depths of his heart.
"star"
A cold and distant echo, vast and boundless.
"Fire"
Fierce and burning, filled with destruction and rebirth.
"yin-yang"
Balanced.
Eternal.
Absolute.
The whispers overlapped, intertwining as they echoed across time and space, forming a chaotic yet meaningful resonance that surrounded Lestes.
His consciousness trembled slightly.
Just as the whispers continued to echo across the endless flow of time, a sudden and overwhelming presence descended.
From beyond the veil—
From behind the unseen curtain—
A voice roared.
"Silent."
The single word carried an authority that did not belong to any ordinary existence, and the moment it resounded, the entire River of Time trembled violently as if struck by an invisible force.
The endless current faltered.
The flowing fragments of past and future froze mid-motion.
The mysterious fog, which had been surging relentlessly into Lestes' soul, halted abruptly, as though bound by an absolute command that could not be defied.
Everything stopped.
Completely.
Silence fell.
Not the absence of sound—
But the suppression of existence itself.
Lestes felt it clearly.
The connection that had just been established between his consciousness and the River of Time was severed without warning, as if an unseen hand had cut through it with absolute precision.
There was no resistance.
No struggle.
Only a clean and undeniable disconnection.
The mysterious fog, which had been surging relentlessly into Lestes' soul, halted abruptly, as though bound by an absolute command that could not be defied.
Everything stopped.
Completely.
Silence fell.
Lestes slowly opened his eyes, and the endless silence of the unknown plane returned to him as his consciousness stabilised.
He was still floating in that boundless void.
Nothing had changed—
And yet, everything had.
He straightened his posture, no longer drifting aimlessly, as he regained control over his body. then his gaze lifted, steady and unwavering, focusing on a point directly ahead of him where nothing seemed to exist.
For a brief moment, he said nothing.
Then—
"Thanks," Lestes spoke calmly.
The space before him remained empty.
Yet—
It was not empty.
Far beyond the limits of ordinary perception, across a distance measured not in space but in time itself, another figure stood.
Amit—his former self, an existence that had long ago transcended time itself.
Separated by countless years.
Separated by different lives.
Separated by the irreversible flow of time.
And yet—
They perceived each other.
There were no words exchanged.
No movement.
No crossing of the distance that divided them.
But both stood there, facing one another across the unseen river that had just been severed.
Amit's figure was faint, like a reflection seen through flowing water, yet his presence was undeniable, steady and real in a way that transcended illusion.
Lestes' eyes did not waver.
A faint understanding passed between them, something deeper than language, something that could not be expressed through words alone.
They were not strangers.
They were not merely connected.
They were the same—
Separated by time.
Two points on the same path.
This was part of his calculation and planning. Amit was standing in the river of time, countless years apart from Lestes. He changed Lestes ' trajectory right after he entered, and commanded Mysterious fog to penetrate Lestes.
For a brief moment, the distance between them seemed to blur, as if the boundary of years had lost its meaning.
Then—
The connection faded.
Amit's figure grew indistinct, dissolving slowly into the endless void as time reclaimed its separation.