Zhou Huai snapped his eyes open, and the wonderful sensation of his Soul being cleansed and shackles being broken came to a screeching halt!

Piercingly cold winds surged from all directions.

The pure white firmament overhead was covered in dense, black cracks.

The sound of shattering echoed through the mental dimension.

"Mom! What's happening?!"

Zhou Huai bolted upright, sweat seeping from his palms as he watched the cracks spreading across the sky.

Beside him, his mother's illusory figure was trembling violently.

The soft white light radiating from her body was surging rapidly, and her brow was furrowed on a face that bore a striking resemblance to Zhou Huai's.

"He's back!"

His mother's voice shook slightly. "Duan discovered the anomaly! He sensed that I was transferring Origin power to you!"

"It's no use! Child, you can't stay here any longer. You must leave immediately!"

"What?!" Zhou Huai's eyes turned red.

He had finally reunited with his mother and touched the threshold of a higher ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) dimension, and now he was being told to run?

Zhou Huai stepped forward, grabbing his mother's trembling wrist. "What happens to you if I leave?!"

Glistening tears welled up in his mother's eyes.

"Don't worry, child. He won't kill me, and he cannot kill me."

"I am the Source, the core of the origin sacred tree. As long as he wants to completely devour all the life force in this world, as long as he wants to survive the Heavenly Dao Great Cleansing, he must keep my natal core!"

"At most, he can only imprison me; he cannot make me dissipate completely!"

His mother panted urgently. The giant white tree behind her began to sway frantically, its thousands of branches curling upward as it gathered destructive power.

"What a pity... such a pity..."

His mother looked at Zhou Huai with eyes full of reluctance, reaching out with a trembling hand to gently caress his cheek. "The time was simply too short. I could only forcibly unlock a portion of the Heavenly Dao Shackles within you."

"Your current body is no longer under the absolute suppression of this world's class system, but it is still far from enough to contend with him!"

"Remember my words! You must find a way to avoid Duan's spearhead!"

"Go find the other seven ruins! Seize the power he craves! Once you become strong enough, come back for me!"

"Mom—"

Zhou Huai wanted to say more, but it was already too late.

Crack—Boom!

Accompanied by an earth-shattering roar, the sky of the mental world completely collapsed!

Violent spatial turbulence turned into a black waterfall that poured in, grinding the surrounding pure white clouds into dust.

Immediately after.

From within that bottomless spatial rift, an eye slowly peered in.

An unimaginably massive eye!

Deep within the pupil of that eye, blood-colored flames burned.

With just a single glance, Zhou Huai felt a heavy pressure weigh down on his shoulders.

Pfft!

Zhou Huai sprayed a mouthful of blood. His knees buckled, and he nearly collapsed directly to the ground. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

If he hadn't just unlocked a portion of the high-dimensional shackles within him, this single gaze would have been enough to completely annihilate his Soul!

The giant eye shifted.

It locked onto the giant tree radiating white light below.

Then, its gaze shifted slightly, falling upon Zhou Huai's stubborn and unyielding face.

The air stopped flowing.

After a brief pause.

A grand voice rang out directly in the depths of Zhou Huai's mind!

"You... are actually not dead yet?!"

In Mr. Duan's voice, that high-and-mighty, composed elegance could no longer be maintained.

Faking death!

Back then in the East Sea City villa, the Zhou Huai who had self-detonated in front of him until not even ash remained was actually just a Puppet!

And the true original body had not only survived but had even reached his innermost cage and stolen the power of the origin sacred tree!

"Good! Very good!"

Mr. Duan's voice distorted due to extreme rage. "It seems I have truly underestimated you time and time again!"

"However, since you've delivered yourself to my door, then stay here forever, along with your lowly Soul!"

The moment he finished speaking.

The rift in the sky was violently torn even wider!

A giant black hand that blotted out the sun, carrying high-dimensional Laws that crushed everything, turned into an immovable Primordial Divine Mountain and slammed down toward Zhou Huai below!

Before the giant hand even landed, the power of annihilation that transcended the rules of the world caused the space around Zhou Huai to collapse inch by inch.

No escape!

He couldn't move at all!

Zhou Huai could only watch helplessly as the giant hand rapidly enlarged in his pupils. Even though he had unlocked a portion of his power, he was still minuscule in the face of this absolute gap in strength.

Just at this critical moment.

"Go!!!"

A shrill scream to the extreme came from the side.

The pure white giant tree his mother had transformed into erupted with a light ten million times more dazzling than the sun!

She burned all her remaining Origin power. Thousands of thick branches rose into the sky, weaving into an immense web of life to meet the descending giant black hand!

Boom—!!!

Two terrifying forces that transcended the physical world collided!

Under this strike, the entire mental dimension let out an overburdened wail and began to collapse on a large scale!

"Overestimating yourself!" Mr. Duan's cold snort pierced through the storm.

The web of life held for less than half a second before it was ruthlessly shattered by the giant black hand, turning into a rain of white light drifting through the sky.

But, in that half-second.

His mother's one remaining branch turned into a whip and lashed fiercely against Zhou Huai's waist.

A gentle yet irresistible force of propulsion sent Zhou Huai's Soul flying outward!

"Live on! You must live on!"

Accompanied by his mother's final cry, Zhou Huai's vision was swallowed by endless darkness.

The giant black hand completely crushed the white giant tree, and the violent energy storm pushed Zhou Huai into an extremely narrow spatial rift.

...

"No—!!!"

Accompanied by a wild roar.

In the real world, deep within the Simon City Ruins.

That green lake, which had been as calm as a mirror and radiated a dense aura of life, suddenly surged with waves!

Water shot into the sky, creating huge waves dozens of meters high.

A figure bolted out from the depths of the lake and fell heavily onto the grass on the shore.

Huff—huff—huff—

Zhou Huai clawed his hands into the soil, panting heavily.

His chest heaved violently, every breath carrying a heavy scent of blood.

His entire body had long been soaked with sweat and lake water.

The lingering fear of his Soul being crushed made his body sway uncontrollably.

He looked up and surveyed his surroundings.

Ancient, dilapidated boulders, strange fluorescent vegetation, the Clone of Great Sage Li Er standing quietly nearby...

And, not far away, Chun, who was looking at him.

He was back.