Yun Lintian tried to sit up, but a sharp pain lanced through his chest. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself upright, his hands pressing against the cold surface beneath him. His divine sense surged outward—only to rebound as if hitting an invisible wall.
Blocked.
His brows furrowed. This wasn't right. Even in the most secure prisons, his divine sense could extend at least a few ters. Here, it was like his perception had been severed entirely.
A prison designed specifically for him?
No.
Gu Tianyi had said this was the will of "the one who bound him." Soone even the Overseer couldn't defy.
Yun Lintian's jaw tightened.
He needed answers.
Summoning the Seed of Ti, he willed ti to reverse around him, undoing his injuries. But nothing happened. The Seed pulsed weakly in his Divine Core, its power muted.
Suppressed.
A low chuckle echoed through the darkness.
"Struggling is pointless."
The voice was deep, ancient, carrying the weight of epochs.
Yun Lintian's head snapped toward the sound. "Who's there?"
No answer.
Only the faint sound of footsteps—slow, deliberate—approaching from the dark.
Yun Lintian's muscles coiled, ready to fight even without his full power.
Then—
A figure erged.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Cloaked in shadows that clung to him like a second skin. His face was obscured, but his eyes…
His eyes were voids.
Not like Gu Tianyi's. Not like the Chasm's.
These were voids that watched.
"You're awake," the figure said, his tone almost amused. "Good. I was beginning to think you'd sleep through the end."
Yun Lintian's fists clenched. "Who are you?"
The figure tilted his head. "A warden. A guide. A remnant." He stepped closer, the darkness parting for him. "Call what you will. It makes no difference."
Yun Lintian's instincts scread. This man—if he could even be called that—was dangerous. More dangerous than Nian Shi. More dangerous than the Chasm.
Because he was unknown.
"Why am I here?" Yun Lintian demanded.
The figure chuckled again. "Because you're not ready."
"Ready for what?"
"The final battle."
Yun Lintian's blood ran cold.
The figure continued, his voice dropping to a whisper. "You think you understand your enemies. Nian Shi. The Chasm. But you've only seen fragnts. Shadows." He leaned in. "There is a third player. One who has moved in the dark since the beginning."
A third player?
Gu Tianyi's warning flashed in Yun Lintian's mind. "The hidden enemy you are not yet aware of."
Was this that person?
No.
This man didn't feel like an enemy.
He felt like…
A ssenger.
A harbinger.
The figure straightened. "You will remain here until you awaken the final power within you. The power that even the Creator feared."
Yun Lintian's breath caught. "What power?"
The figure didn't answer. Instead, he raised a hand—
And the darkness moved.
It coiled around Yun Lintian like a serpent, seeping into his pores, his ridians, his soul.
Agony.
White-hot, all-consuming agony.
Yun Lintian's back arched as he scread, his voice swallowed by the void.
The figure watched, unmoved. "The Seed of Ti was never yours to begin with. It was always a key. A key to this."
The pain intensified.
Yun Lintian's vision blurred. His bones cracked. His blood boiled.
And then—
A voice.
Not the figure's.
Not his mother's.
But his own.
From deep within his soul.
"You are more."
The pain vanished.
Silence.
Yun Lintian collapsed to his knees, gasping. His body trembled, but his mind…
His mind was clearer than ever.
The figure nodded, satisfied. "Good. You've heard it."
"Heard what?" Yun Lintian rasped.
"Your truth... What you truly are."
With that, the figure stepped back, rging with the darkness once more.
"But the trial is just beginning."
His voice faded.
"Survive, and you will understand everything."
Then—
He was gone.
Leaving Yun Lintian alone in the dark.
With nothing but his thoughts.
And the echo of that voice.
"You are more."
"More what?" Yun Lintian was puzzled.
...
Ti lost aning.
Minutes. Hours. Days.
Yun Lintian couldn't tell.
The darkness was endless. The silence, absolute.
But he didn't despair.
Because now, he knew.
This wasn't a prison.
It was a trial.
A trial to awaken sothing more.
Yun Lintian sat motionless in the endless darkness, his brows furrowed in deep concentration.
"Gate of Beyond Heaven!"
Nothing.
The ancient artifact that had always answered his call remained silent. His connection to it—severed.
He tried again.
"Gate!"
Still nothing.
A cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Without the Gate, without his divine sense, he couldn't locate Linlin, Qingqing, or Long Qingxuan. Were they safe? Had they escaped the Temporal Palace's collapse?
He clenched his fists.
No. Focus.
If this was truly a trial, then panicking wouldn't help. He needed to understand the rules.
Closing his eyes, Yun Lintian turned his attention inward, to his Divine Core.
There, floating in the center of his core, was the Seed of Ti—its usual golden radiance dimd to a faint glow. Beneath it, the Tree of Life stood tall, its branches stretching endlessly. Surrounding them were the manifestations of his powers
The blazing Sun. The tranquil Moon. The raging Storm. The crackling Thunder. The unyielding Golden Mountain. The fertile Earth. The spinning Spatial Wheel. The radiant Light Pole. And the devouring Dark Pearl.
Yet none seed connected to the Seed of Ti. They existed as separate entities, orbiting but never interacting.
One by one, he tried activating his other relics—all useless.
Nothing responded to his command. It was as if he'd been reduced to a mortal.
A cold realization dawned on him.
This wasn't just a suppression of power.
This was a separation.
Yun Lintian frowned deeply… What he was supposed to do?
Ti passed as he tried to figure out. It was because he was also worried about Linlin and the others that made him lose focus from ti to ti.
Yun Lintian had no idea how long it had passed.
It was at that mont did he rember the shadowy figure's words.
"The Seed of Ti was never yours to begin with."
"Not mine?" Yun Lintian repeated the word to himself.
If it wasn't his… then who was it? Who did it belong to?
Frustration bubbled up, but Yun Lintian forced it down.
Think.
What was ti?
Not just the flow of monts. Not just the manipulation of past and future.
Ti was...
"Connection."
The realization struck him like lightning.
Ti connected all things. The past to the present. Cause to effect. Seed to fruit.
And right now, his powers weren't connected.
They were separate.
Isolated.
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