When a world turns to dust, it means even its remnants cease to exist—everything becomes soot and disperses completely. If any living beings remain when a world turns to dust, they perish with it; there's no chance of survival. And even if someone somehow survived the dusting, where they would end up is unknown. According to the Hongmeng Gem, no one has ever lived through a world's turn-to-dust.
Right before a world turns to dust, a spacetime channel appears—its final lifeline—through which intruders can return. Because Lin Moyu bears the Chaos Wasteland's world mark, he'll be sent back to the Chaos Wasteland. As for the spacetime channels Little Tree rebuilt, they'd already been erased by Kill Rays at the very start.
Urged on by the Hongmeng Gem, Lin Moyu entered the spacetime channel, with the Worldburn Flame returning at the same time. In the instant he stepped into the channel, he glanced back at the world: the little that remained—the final scraps—was dissolving into dust. Beyond the dust was endless void, an abyssal emptiness that made his soul feel like it was being pulled in. From that single look, cracks suddenly veined across his soul.
"Don't look— you'll die!" the Hongmeng Gem shouted.
Lin Moyu meant to shut his eyes, but suddenly he saw something—and instead of closing them, he widened them, straining to see. It lasted less than a tenth of a second. His soul detonated with a bang. The spacetime channel sealed, carrying Lin Moyu's shattered soul through time and space. Violet light flickered as the broken soul reassembled—but very slowly, as if an unseen force resisted its rebirth. On the Calamity Scepter, the Soul Gem flared; an earthen-yellow power flowed into Lin Moyu's soul, helping it be reborn. With the Soul Gem's aid, he finally completed regeneration.
The Hongmeng Gem scolded, "Master, you didn't listen! I told you not to look—yet you looked."
Lin Moyu ignored him, replaying what he had seen: a silhouette he knew well—the long-vanished System. Years had passed, yet the scene of the System departing his soul-void was branded into him; he would never forget it. Later, in the Great World, the System had appeared again and saved him once—clearly a contingency it had prepared, as if it knew he would face danger then. Since then, no trace. Still, Lin Moyu was sure his move from that world to this small world, and the awakening of his god-tier talent, were tied to the System. He hadn't expected to see it here again.
"It can't be wrong—it was him. He actually appeared here… in a zone where nothing can live, a Life-Forbidden Zone. The System showed up there." The System's level exceeded what he'd imagined.
The Hongmeng Gem's voice, a bit angry: "Are you even listening? That's a Life-Forbidden Zone! Even a Supreme cannot survive there; anyone else dies from a single glance. Master, do you think your rebirth talent lets you do whatever you want? What if it fails? You'd be truly dead!"
Lin Moyu seized on the key point: even Supremes cannot live there—yet the System can. That would place the System above Supremes. What is the System, and why is it tied to him? And what is he?
He cut off the Hongmeng Gem's grumbling. "What exactly is the Life-Forbidden Zone?"
The Hongmeng Gem stared, wide-eyed. "A Life-Forbidden Zone is… a Life-Forbidden Zone."
"Every region has an origin. 'Life-Forbidden Zone' is just a name—what is its origin?"
"How would I know?"
But from the Gem's reaction, Lin Moyu sensed something more—familiarity. He was ninety percent sure the Hongmeng Gem had been there and drifted within it for a long time. Pressed, the Gem fell silent—confirming Lin Moyu's guess.
"Tell me—what did you see in there?"
Hesitating under Lin Moyu's gaze, the Hongmeng Gem finally bit down and said, "Since Master is sincerely asking…"
"Speak. Whatever karma there is, I'll bear it." In the past, he might have let it go; now that he had seen the System, he needed to know. Whatever karmic weight, it wasn't from the Chaos Wasteland—so long as he didn't return, it couldn't touch him. And when he did have the strength to step into that so-called Life-Forbidden Zone, he wouldn't fear karma.
The Hongmeng Gem recounted: long ago, he really had drifted into the Life-Forbidden Zone; he didn't know why. Inside, he could only float, unable to control his course, through unknowable ages without time or space—no direction. He witnessed worlds turning to dust, the extinction of beings, the fall of mighty ones. A Supreme once spotted him and tried to seize him; the moment that Supreme stepped out of his world toward the Gem, the Life-Forbidden Zone erased him outright. The Gem himself coined the name "Life-Forbidden Zone"—a place where even Supremes cannot live.
"At that time there were still some worlds inside the Zone, but later—for unknown reasons—they all perished. Some turned directly to dust; others became remnants. None survived. Some Supremes, and even lesser beings, tried to flee their worlds—yet the instant they entered the Zone, all died, ash to ash, without even a corpse left. You can't enter the Life-Forbidden Zone; you can't even look at it. If Master were a Supreme, you might barely be able to glance."
Most of what the Gem knew came from drifting there: like a Di-Ting beast, he could see and hear what happened in worlds but could not interfere.
Lin Moyu asked, "Besides you, is there nothing else in the Life-Forbidden Zone?"
"Worlds. Nothing else. Though the World Wall should also be in the Zone—but I've no proof. Master, did you just see something?"
"I saw… an acquaintance." He did not say "the System." That was his deepest secret; he would tell no one.
"Impossible!" The Hongmeng Gem practically exploded. "Impossible! No living being can exist there." His reaction showed how deeply that belief was carved by what he had witnessed.
"I never said it was a living being. If you can 'live' there, why can't something else? The Zone is vast. You drifted for ages—can you swear you saw every corner? And you don't even know how you got in. Couldn't someone else have entered after you left?"
The Gem froze—true, Lin Moyu had only said he saw an acquaintance, not that it was a lifeform. He calmed. "Master may be right—perhaps something else, like me, can persist there." Even so, he clearly wasn't convinced.
Lin Moyu didn't press. The Gem had his fixed notions, but Lin Moyu knew what he'd seen: the System. Whatever it was, perhaps not a lifeform, it was at least on the Hongmeng Gem's level—or higher. As for "Life-Forbidden Zone," Lin Moyu didn't fully accept the label. In his view, "forbidden" is only a measure of strength. Places that once would have killed him outright now felt like strolling a back garden. Former perils had become as gentle as spring rain. So the so-called Life-Forbidden Zone was "forbidden" only because he was not yet strong enough.
"One day I'll step into it, find the System, and get answers."
The spacetime channel carried him onward. Gradually, a familiar aura rose ahead—the Chaos Wasteland's breath. Since he was returning, Little Tree and the others—who had hidden in the soul-world for a long time—grew lively again. In the world-remnant they had been nearly powerless; that helplessness and constant threat forced them to stay put. Overreliance on laws is the flaw of many powerful beings: dominant in their own world, they lose nine-tenths of their strength outside it. The teams Supremes once trained to explore world-remnants pursued only body and soul power, not laws. To Lin Moyu, that is the true foundation—the path to tread across all worlds.
The channel neared its end. Lin Moyu stowed the Calamity Scepter; better to lie low in the Chaos Wasteland. Xiaopeng sprang out again, settled under Lin Moyu's feet, and resumed his role as mount.
"Father, what was that place?" Xiaopeng asked. Lin Moyu had sealed the soul-world earlier; their time in the world-remnant and his talk with the Hongmeng Gem were unknown to the three.
"We got some benefits there—my power grew a bit," Lin Moyu said with a smile.
"Oh." Xiaopeng didn't pry.
"Finally back. That place was too dangerous."
Lin Moyu nodded. "Dangerous, yes—yet a good place. We'll go again if we can."
Little Tree spoke up: "Master, there's still another world-remnant—the one with overt dangers."
"We'll visit later," Lin Moyu decided. Not that he didn't want to go, but the gems on the Calamity Scepter were still digesting what they'd consumed; short-term, they couldn't take more. Going now would waste things. Unlike before, there were only these two remnants to find; best to ration them. He had the World Wall imprint anyway and could return anytime. The Gem had said the imprint was single-use—he could always wheedle a new one out of him later, or study and replicate it himself.
The spacetime channel reached its end. Lin Moyu suddenly frowned. "Careful."
The instant they burst out of the channel, a vast pressure swept over them and a dense volley of attacks flashed past. Without even seeing clearly, Xiaopeng turned into a streak of gold and shot away, instantly leaving the attack zone. Many blows struck along the way but shattered against him. The golden light was not only speed—it was also Xiaopeng's protective glow. The attacks were dense but weak, barely at Chaos-realm minor attainment—no more than a scratch for Xiaopeng.
Sight cleared. Xiaopeng startled. "This isn't the Arctic."
Indeed, the environment wasn't frigid—so this wasn't the Arctic. "This should be the Antarctic," Lin Moyu said. He had been to East, West, and North, but never South. The air felt unfamiliar, different from the other three poles—so it had to be the Antarctic. And before he'd left, only the Antarctic had erupted into open war with the Central Domain. From that world-remnant they hadn't just entered the Antarctic—they'd dropped straight into a battlefield.
"What should we do?" Xiaopeng asked.
Lin Moyu swept the field, then chuckled. "Well now, what a coincidence."
"Father, you see an acquaintance?"
"I do. It's been a while. Let's go say hello."
His gaze fixed on the melee below: Candle Dragon was wreaking havoc, fighting several opponents. After years apart, Candle Dragon had reached Chaos-realm minor attainment and already taken a large stride within it—close to major attainment, in Lin Moyu's view. That pace likely had much to do with the Green-Robe Elder; after transcending, Candle Dragon had become the elder's subordinate, and servants of a Great Venerable enjoy certain favors.
But Candle Dragon's situation wasn't great: seven peers of Chaos-realm minor attainment were besieging him. Individually they were weaker, but together they held him. He had tried to break out several times and failed. He wouldn't fall immediately, but if it dragged on, who knew. Lin Moyu believed Candle Dragon surely had trump cards—he was, after all, a Great Venerable's man—but still…
A streak of gold flashed past. Of the seven besiegers, three were beheaded on the spot—dead in an instant.