After a long pause, Zhang Yu added softly, "Worrying over what we cannot change is a waste of strength. And right now... we need every bit we have."
Nantian Fengyu exhaled slowly, her fingers brushing the phoenix sigil on her forehead.
The Divine Phoenix’s duty was clear—to ignite the final spark when the time came. To ensure Yun Lintian’s transcendence, no matter the cost.
Her death was already written.
But whether it would be worthwhile...
That was the question that haunted her.
Yet Zhang Yu’s words rang true.
She couldn’t control the end.
Only her own actions.
Nantian Fengyu’s fingers lingered on her phoenix sigil as Zhang Yu’s words echoed in her mind. The weight of her inherited memories pressed down on her, and for a moment, she was no longer standing by the Misty Lake—she was back in the Southern Divine Phoenix Palace in the Azure World, facing the proud woman who had shaped her destiny.
The Divine Phoenix stood before her in human form, a breathtaking woman with fiery crimson hair cascading down her back like liquid flame. Her golden eyes burned with ancient wisdom, and a hint of pride curved her lips as she regarded Nantian Fengyu.
"You’ve grown stronger," the Divine Phoenix remarked, her voice carrying the weight of eons.
Nantian Fengyu, still young and brash at the time, grinned. "Of course! Did you expect anything less from your successor?"
The Divine Phoenix’s expression didn’t change. "You misunderstand. You are not my successor."
Nantian Fengyu blinked. "What?"
The Divine Phoenix raised a hand, and a vision unfolded between them—a glimpse of a future where the heavens burned, where gods fell like stars from the sky.
"You were born from half of my soul," the Divine Phoenix said calmly. "A vessel crafted for a single purpose—to face the coming calamity."
Nantian Fengyu’s playful demeanor shattered. "A calamity? What calamity?"
The Divine Phoenix’s eyes darkened. "A threat even the Primordial Gods cannot escape. A force that will unravel existence itself."
She stepped closer, her voice lowering. "Through our bloodline, fragments of memories pass between timelines. Other Divine Phoenixes have seen it—flickers of destruction, whispers of a being who defies fate."
Nantian Fengyu’s fists clenched. "And you made me just to fight this thing?"
The Divine Phoenix didn’t flinch. "Yes."
For the first time in her life, Nantian Fengyu felt the weight of her existence—not as a proud inheritor of the phoenix lineage, but as a tool. A weapon.
Her voice trembled. "Then what am I supposed to do?"
The Divine Phoenix’s gaze softened slightly. "When the time comes, you will know. Your duty is to protect the one who will stand against the storm."
Nantian Fengyu scoffed. "And who is that?"
The Divine Phoenix’s lips curved. "You’ll recognize him when you meet him."
Nantian Fengyu exhaled sharply, the memory fading.
She had met Yun Lintian not long after—her mischievous junior brother, the man who would become the center of her world. At first, she had teased him, tormented him, played the role of the unruly senior sister.
But deep down, she had known.
And she had accepted her fate willingly—not because she was forced to, but because fate had bound them together in a way even the Divine Phoenix hadn’t anticipated.
She had grown to care for him.
But now, standing by the Misty Lake, the truth settled heavily in her chest.
She had no control over the outcome.
Her duty was to ignite the final spark—to burn brightly so Yun Lintian could transcend. Whether that would be enough... that was beyond her.
And for the first time, she realized—
Because even if her death was meaningless in the grand scheme of things, even if the world ended despite her sacrifice...
She would still do it.
Nantian Fengyu smirked, her usual playful arrogance resurfacing. "Fine. If I’m just a pawn in this game, then I’ll be the most annoying pawn ever."
Zhang Yu blinked. "Lady Fengyu?"
Nantian Fengyu flicked her hair. "What? Did you think I’d start crying or something? Please. I’m the Divine Phoenix’s half-soul. If I’m going to die, I’m doing it with style."
Zhang Yu chuckled. "That’s the Lady Fengyu I know."
Nantian Fengyu turned back to the lake, her crimson eyes reflecting the glowing Buddha Lotuses.
"My good junior brother... you better make my death worth it."
Yun Lintian stepped through the spatial rift, emerging into a void darker than any he had encountered before. The stars hung like dying embers in the sky, their light feeble and flickering. The very air tasted of decay—a bitter tang of desperation and death.
This timeline was wrong.
His divine sense expanded instantly, covering millions of stars in a single breath. What he saw made his expression darken.
Cities lay in ruins, their streets littered with corpses. Cultivators slaughtered each other for scraps of divine stones. Children with hollow eyes dug through garbage for food.
In all his travels across countless timelines, he had never seen one so thoroughly broken.
"This isn’t natural."
Even in the most war-torn worlds, there were pockets of prosperity. But here? Everywhere he looked was suffering.
Something—or someone—had poisoned this reality to its core.
Yun Lintian’s gaze sharpened as he focused on the celestial palaces floating in the higher realms.
The Primordial Gods should have maintained balance.
Instead, they were the source of the rot.
Through his divine sense, he saw them—gorging themselves on the suffering below, their divine auras bloated with stolen lifeforce. The God of Plague spread disease for amusement. The Goddess of Famine starved entire worlds to feed her own power.
Worst of all was the God of Despair—a twisted figure who bathed in the misery of mortals, his very existence warping reality around him into nightmares.
Yun Lintian furrowed his brow. Throughout his journey, he had never met such a bunch of "strange" Primordial Gods before. How could the Primordial Gods in this... No, how could this timeline become ?