The gate was open.
Not just to a realm, but to a truth that had been sealed for eternity.
Behind Xuantian, the world was aflame with defiance. Sects that once stood divided were now shoulder to shoulder. Warriors, cultivators, beasts of legend, and even former enemies had gathered. The Gate to the Origin Realm pulsed like a living heart, pouring raw divine qi into the world like a flood unchained.
"This realm… it sings," whispered Ruyue, her hand trembling as Origin essence flowed around her. "It sings to those who remember who they once were."
For it was in this place—the source of all existence—that the first cultivators had glimpsed immortality. Where gods were born, where oaths were made, and where destiny was first written in light.
And now, that light was bleeding.
Muragan, Guardian of the End Gate, staggered back for the first time. Cracks formed in his armor—not from brute force, but from will. For the first time in eons, he saw a force greater than divine law: unity.
"Impossible…" his voice echoed with collapsing divinity. "You mortals cannot… rewrite the scrolls of fate."
But they could.
And they were.
---
Within the Origin Realm
As the first wave passed through the gate, the warriors found themselves standing in an infinite expanse. The ground was woven from stardust and crystal veins, the sky an ocean of memory flowing backward and forward at once.
Here, time folded like paper.
Reality breathed.
And in its very breath was resistance.
"This realm resists us," muttered Fenglie, his eyes scanning shifting paths of gravity and illusion. "Only those with a firm heart can walk it."
Xuantian stepped forward. His aura illuminated the road ahead, and with him came clarity—one path forged through conviction. Behind him followed the rest, guided not by logic, but by belief.
They walked not toward battle… but toward reckoning.
---
Meanwhile: The Pantheon Stirs
Back in the 33rd Heaven, the gods watched through the celestial mirrors—shards of divine glass bound to the threads of mortal fate.
"Muragan has failed," said the Eternal Law Deity, her voice lined with disbelief.
"Failed?" spat the Storm King. "He was supposed to be the end!"
"No," came the voice of the Time Deity. "This is not the end. This is the beginning of the era we feared most."
"The Age of Reclamation."
In the shadows, the one known only as Nameless, the god of Forbidden Lore, smiled coldly.
"They seek to reclaim what we stole. The Origin Realm… was never ours to guard. We just locked it away."
A silence deeper than space filled the hall.
"Then shall we unleash the Primordial Seal?" asked one.
"No," said another. "Doing so will unravel even us."
And yet they knew: the longer they hesitated, the stronger the mortals became.
---
Back in the Origin Realm: First Confrontation
The explorers had not gone far when they encountered it—a massive obelisk of obsidian and fire, floating in the center of a spiraling void. Around it coiled massive chains of living flame, forged from the oaths of countless fallen gods.
Fenglie squinted. "That's not just an artifact…"
"It's a lock," Xuantian finished. "And something inside is waiting."
As if answering their recognition, the obelisk pulsed once—and shattered.
From within it emerged a being not of flesh or bone, but pure consciousness. Eyes like twin galaxies. Voice like a river of dead stars.
"I am Karathul, The Will of Suppression. I am the gatekeeper of truths too cruel to remember."
He was the first seal.
And he would not allow them to pass.
---
The Second Battle: Will vs Will
Karathul unleashed a storm of thought—memories turned into blades, ancient truths turned into shackles.
Warriors screamed as their minds were forced open. Forgotten regrets, lies they told themselves, failures they never admitted—all weaponized.
Even Ruyue staggered. "This… isn't a fight of body. It's a battle of self."
But Xuantian—his spirit forged through lifetimes of reincarnation—did not flinch.
He stepped into Karathul's mindscape willingly.
"You think guilt is stronger than purpose?" he growled. "Then let me show you… what purpose can do."
His sword, Lightpiercer, ignited with scripture not seen since the birth of stars.
And he slashed.
Once. Twice. A thousand times in one moment.
Each strike not a cut—but a choice. A rejection of false paths. A refusal to forget. A defiance of despair.
And Karathul screamed as he fragmented into divine dust.
---
Aftermath and Revelation
Silence followed.
But then, the Origin Realm itself shifted. The path ahead became clear.
Fenglie knelt beside a stone tablet revealed beneath Karathul's remains.
On it was inscribed:
"He who claims the Throne of Origin must offer one of three tributes:
Memory. Flesh. Or Eternity."
They looked at each other.
No words were needed.
This war was not only against gods.
It was a war of sacrifice.
---
Above Them, in the 33rd Heaven
The Supreme Throne, still empty, pulsed faintly. A breath of a being that was not dead… only sleeping.
The gods, now anxious, knew the signs.
"The Throne is reacting… to him."
If Xuantian reached it, if he sat upon it—not only would the balance shatter, but the very definition of divinity would be rewritten.
And so, they made their final move.
The sky over the Origin Realm split open once more.
Descending through it was the Primordial Child—a being born from the Source Flame before even the gods existed. A creature with no allegiance, no name, only one command etched into its existence:
"Erase the Unwritten."
---
Back in the Realm
Ruyue sensed it first.
A ripple. A distortion. Then the entire dimension tilted unnaturally.
"Something ancient is coming," she said, gripping her fan tight. "Older than the gods."
Xuantian's gaze darkened.
He could feel the Primordial Flame in its approach. Not anger. Not hatred.
Just erasure.
He turned to the army that followed him, ragged but unbroken.
"We've come too far to turn back now."
He raised his blade, not just to fight—but to challenge the very definition of reality.
"We fight not to win… but to change what victory means."
And the world around them answered.
The sky flared.
The Origin Realm trembled.
And the final war began.
---