"Hahaha... you should have killed me when you had the chance."

Yu Xuan’s laughter echoed across the void.

"But now?"

He spread his hands mockingly.

"Can you even kill me?"

The Ancient Demon fell silent.

For all his rage, the words struck uncomfortably close to truth.

Even at full strength.

Even using forbidden techniques.

Even burning its lifespan.

He was no longer certain he could end Yu Xuan.

That uncertainty was precisely why he had agreed to this alliance.

The Phoenix.

The anomalous existence.

Three peak Immortal Ascension beings.

Against one.

Though Immortal Ascension was lower than Half-Immortal, these three each had their own secrets which they used to suppress entire Lower Realms.

They needed to discard needless pride to keep their lives.

Though in his heart, the Ancient Demon despised standing alongside that third entity, the one rejected by the Heavens themselves.

He and the Phoenix had already prepared a second plan.

Kill Yu Xuan first.

Then eliminate the anomaly.

But first.

The greater threat.

"Tsk. Why are you hesitating?" Yu Xuan taunted lightly.

"I really admire this camaraderie of yours."

The Phoenix’s eyes burned brighter.

Rage.

Humiliation.

And something else too.

Fear.

Yu Xuan was merely a Low-Stage Immortal Ascension cultivator.

They were peak Immortal Ascension.

They controlled this entire Lower Realm.

And yet.

They hesitated.

"Do it," the Phoenix growled.

The anomalous being smiled.

Its form flickered unnaturally as it brought its hands together.

Clap.

In an instant.

Three of the Nine Heavenly Worlds began to radiate an eerie, unnatural aura.

Their skies darkened.

Their lands trembled.

Everything within them began dissolving.

Not into ash.

Not into void.

But into purest essence.

"WHY?! WE FOLLOWED YOU!"

"WHAT SIN DID WE COMMIT?!"

"HEAVENS HAVE FORSAKEN US—!"

Desperate cries echoed across the three worlds.

Entire civilizations.

Cities.

Clans.

Cultivators.

Mortals.

Their souls, destiny, fate and their very existence was extracted.

Refined.

Consumed.

The sacrifice was enormous.

Within moments, the three Heavenly Worlds dimmed.

Then collapsed inward, reduced to condensed spheres of terrifying energy.

The anomalous being absorbed one essence followed by the Demon and Phoenix.

The Phoenix’s flames intensified fourfold.

The Ancient Demon’s aura surged violently, cracking space around him.

The combined pressure quadrupled.

And the entire Lower Realm shook.

The living darkness churned restlessly.

Yu Xuan watched them and sighed.

"...You really are desperate."

But his eyes were no longer amused.

Only disappointment lingered in them.

"What a nasty Emperor you are," he continued, looking at the Phoenix.

"Willing to sacrifice your own worlds for power and for others too. If I had known you were this generous, I might have befriended you earlier."

His voice suddenly rose, echoing across the trembling Lower Realm.

"I will show you what it means to be an Emperor!"

To Yu Xuan, an Emperor who sacrificed his people without necessity, without calculation, without inevitability was unworthy of the title.

Strategy demanded sacrifice at times.

Cowardice disguised as decisiveness did not.

He flexed his fingers slightly.

And the realm responded.

An all-suppressing pressure exploded outward from his body.

The suns and moons across the entire Lower Realm dimmed simultaneously.

Diviners.

Seers.

Fate cultivators.

Every being who had ever touched the thread of destiny, suddenly felt primordial dread.

The fate of the entire realm began to darken.

Destiny itself wavered.

It did not bend.

It began to disappear.

Within Yu Xuan’s body, every Immortal Cell ignited.

Each cell contained a star.

Each star now burned as fuel.

Brilliance surged through him as the void distorted under sheer presence alone.

The ongoing wars across the realm halted.

Because everyone felt it.

Something vast had awakened.

The Phoenix narrowed its blazing eyes ready for their inevitable clash.

The Ancient Demon clenched his fists as his Demonic Energy began to run rampant.

The anomalous being’s smile thinned.

Then.

"Eh?"

Yu Xuan blinked.

His overwhelming aura flickered for a fraction of a second.

He frowned.

Then casually smacked his own chest.

A ripple passed through his body.

And from him stepped out...

A early version of Yu Xuan.

This one looked confused.

Wrapped in a strange, hazy aura that did not align with the current battlefield.

The three enemies saw nothing unusual.

To them, Yu Xuan had merely tapped himself lightly.

’What is he planning now?’ they each thought warily.

But Yu Xuan wasn’t looking at them.

He was staring at the smaller version of himself.

"...Is it already time?" he murmured, closing his eyes as his expression turned contemplative.

Inside.

A silent connection formed.

’Hello, hello... can you hear me properly?’ Yu Xuan transmitted calmly.

Yu Xuan Version 1.0 blinked.

For him, everything was absurd.

One second he had been in the Land of Mortality where there were everything except mortals, undergoing the Future Blessing Ceremony.

The next.

He was standing in what was clearly the future.

And not just any future.

Three monsters.

And... himself?

’What kind of new scam is this?’ Younger Yu Xuan thought.

No, scam wasn’t even the right word.

’I’ll call you Xuan 1.0,’ the older Yu Xuan said casually.

’Since you are literally my past version.’

Xuan 1.0 frowned.

Though he could not see the face properly, the hazy-faced man in front of him looked slightly like him, and he could see the Emperor robes had ’Yu’ engraved on them.

But this man carried an unfathomable weight.

’I see... you still can’t hear me,’ the future Yu Xuan muttered internally.

He tested the anchor again.

This connection was not meant to last long.

The Future Blessing Ceremony had locked onto a single trajectory.

But it was never designed for active interference from the endpoint.

He could sense resistance.

The Origin of Time pushing back.

The sealed arrangement constraining the overlap.

’The anchor is too unstable,’ he assessed calmly.

Outside, the Phoenix and the others were still gathering power, unaware that two versions of the same existence were overlapping facing each other.

’They say experience is the greatest teacher so I won’t lecture you,’ the future Yu Xuan thought.

He reached out and pulled Xuan 1.0 back toward himself.

The smaller version dissolved into him like mist returning to the ocean.

For a moment, their memories brushed past each other.

And the future Yu Xuan understood exactly what his past self lacked in this moment.

Not power.

Not talent.

But.

Perspective.

’You don’t need my strength except for that one time,’ he concluded silently.

’You need my certainty.’

And with that.

He prepared to give his past self the one thing he once lacked most.