Chapter 399: Fifth Run Starts, Black Flag!

When the butterfly gazed into Yu Xuan’s eyes, it did not find terror.

No instinct.

No desperate clinging to survival.

On the contrary.

There was an absence.

A hollow where fear of death should have been.

That was what made it hesitate.

Death was the most fundamental fear of mortal existence.

Even saints, immortals, gods and demons feared it in some form. It was the root impulse that shaped evolution, struggle and ambition.

And yet this human...

From the butterfly’s perspective, Yu Xuan did not merely endure death.

He lacked the instinct to fear it.

That was not courage.

It was abnormal.

If this continued, the butterfly realized, it might cause irreversible damage to his psyche.

Repeated immersion in the boundary of [Death and Mind] could sever something essential within him.

The arrangement of this realm may have been established by an Absolute.

But the butterfly itself was no minor existence.

It was ancient.

It stood on the threshold of Absoluteness.

And if it pushed too far, even the Absolute’s arrangement might not fully undo what was broken inside a mortal human’s mind and then the butterfly would need to manually treat it.

Still, it had to confirm one thing.

Its perception deepened, probing Yu Xuan’s fate.

It searched within Yu Xuan’s destiny for the forming seed of a [Black Star of Fate].

Those who possessed it were born calamities, destined to either overturn eras or collapse them into ruin.

If he carried such a seed, then his indifference to death would have an explanation.

The butterfly searched carefully but found nothing.

No forming seed.

Yu Xuan was not a [Black Star of Fate]

Just... strange anomalies with a foreign [Origin]

Unusual karmic entanglements.

"Consider me generous," it said calmly.

The surroundings collapsed.

The space between [Death and Mind] dissolved like mist under sunlight.

Reality rushed back.

Yu Xuan staggered and immediately realized something was wrong.

He could not see.

There was no greenery, no sky, no shifting light through leaves.

Just nothing.

An empty absence where vision should be.

Yu Xuan even felt his heart beating slowly.

"...What did you do?" he asked, trying to remain steady.

There was no immediate reply.

Only the faint flutter of wings somewhere nearby.

But the longer he stood there, the more abnormalities surfaced.

First, the loss of sight.

Then, he could not feel the air brushing his skin.

Could not sense the ground beneath his feet properly as if he were suffering from spatial disorientation.

And his right arm.

It felt distant.

As if it did not belong to him.

If someone had been observing from the outside, they would have seen it clearly.

The skin of Yu Xuan’s right arm had turned black.

As though something was devouring it from within.

His blood thickened, congealing.

Each moment, it decayed physically, life draining cell by cell as life itself was being drained from those golden cores.

He was dying.

And the nameless weapon reacted instantly.

Golden liquid surged inward, no longer forming blades or shapes.

It gathered Yu Xuan’s blood essence, sealing and isolating it.

The weapon was newly born, its instincts simple but absolute.

If the master died, it would disperse.

So it protected the most vital anchor it could identify.

The Life Core.

The only "Ball" worth protecting!

The core where Yu Xuan’s personas and foundation resided.

Golden fluid wrapped around it, reinforcing it desperately.

But the corruption did not slow.

The butterfly observing quietly as it sensed what was happening.

The butterfly calculated.

At this rate Yu Xuan would die in exactly 1732 seconds.

The weapon could delay collapse, but it could not reverse the underlying decay.

The countdown continued.

Yu Xuan swayed, his vision still empty, breath uneven.

Then to save some time, the butterfly did a motion and.

PLOP—!

His head burst apart without warning.

Death happened suddenly.

The golden liquid froze mid-protection.

And everything snapped.

The next instant.

The world reset.

The Fifth run began.

***

Yu Xuan found himself once again standing outside the Path Enlightening Tree.

The air was calm.

The sky unchanged.

As if nothing catastrophic had happened moments ago.

And then, the butterfly.

It drifted toward him again leaving patterns within air.

This time, Yu Xuan did not speak.

As suddenly, information flooded his mind.

Not from outside but from within.

From the two chrysalis attached to his soul.

The transmission was incomplete, more instinctive rather than, but the meaning was clear enough.

The black-orange butterfly before him...

Was, in their butterfly lineage, a kind of "Uncle."

Not direct progenitor.

Not parent.

But a senior of the same bloodline.

A higher metamorphosed existence.

Yu Xuan’s expression stiffened.

A distant uncle?

In a cultivation world?

That was practically a red flag burned black.

Distant uncles were notorious.

They either tested you to death.

Or kidnapped you for inheritance.

Or do suspicious activities.

He was not taking chances.

Golden liquid poured from his hand, forming a sword in an instant.

It deepened in color, turning crimson as his intent sharpened.

Without a word he attacked.

He did not shout. Did not call for help.

This matter was sensitive.

And he would not drag in a third party unless absolutely necessary.

The butterfly turned its head slightly.

There was no panic.

Only faint confusion.

Why was this human looking at it like that?

For no reason, it felt... offended.

The red intent halted mid-arc.

An invisible force pressed down upon Yu Xuan, freezing him in place.

His body refused to respond.

The butterfly fluttered lightly and landed atop his head once more.

This time, it did not release Mystical Death Energy.

It did not threaten.

Instead, it emitted an unfamiliar pulse.

A resonance.

Within its own consciousness, two projections appeared.

One shimmered with black starlight.

The other glowed blue-white.

Two chrysalis.

The butterfly’s wings slowed.

Its mind focused.

And Yu Xuan, immobilized beneath it, felt the faint stirring of the two within his soul.

As if responding to a call from an elder of their kind.

He felt betrayed!