Inside the Jade Storm Planet, in the heart of the Fengyue Country, a small yet majestic hall stood solemnly amidst a vast mountain range. Despite its humble size, this hall was a place where decisions of immense consequence were made.
Seated within were five figures, their expressions grim and their gazes sharp. These were the High Elders of Fengyue, those who oversaw the affairs of their country and its cultivators.
One of them, an old man with a beard as white as snow, tapped his fingers on the table before speaking in a hoarse voice:
"We should not make the same mistake of underestimating Shen Yuan, again."
His words caused a ripple of silence.
Another elder, an old-aged man with a scholarly aura, took a sip of his tea before casually shaking his head.
"There's no need for concern. The Young Prince is participating in the competition. He has already reached the Early Stage of the Elysian Realm. Meanwhile, Shen Yuan has merely stepped into the First Layer of the Nirvana Realm. No matter how monstrous his talent may be, a difference in cultivation is a difference in power."
This was Elder Tian Xu, a man known for his composed nature. He set his tea down, a small smirk on his lips.
But then—
A different elder sneered, his voice filled with mockery and disdain.
"High Elder Tian Xu, have you forgotten? Three hundred years ago, when you were a peak Nirvana Realm cultivator, Shen Yuan was merely at the Sixth Stage of the Heaven Path Realm… and yet he nearly killed you. Had it not been for the forbidden skill of the Nirvana Realm and Bai Chen betraying Shen Yuan, you would be dead today."
CRACK!
The tea cup in Tian Xu's hand shattered into dust.
His face darkened, his veins bulging with suppressed fury.
The humiliation of that day… of being toyed with like an insect by someone so vastly beneath him in cultivation… still burned in his soul.
Another elder chuckled. "Oh? It seems you do remember. But there's no need to take out your anger on us. You should know better than anyone… Shen Yuan is an anomaly. True to his name."
Tian Xu clenched his fists beneath the table, his anger barely restrained.
And yet, even as they debated the threat of Shen Yuan—
They had no idea there were now two.
Meanwhile, in the dying universe where stars had long since died, Shen Yuan's clone continued his ruthless carnage.
Everywhere he passed, the vassal sects of the Fengyue Royal Family were left in ruin. Qi platforms frozen, the smell of blood stained the surroundings, and screams of despair echoed through the cosmic sky.
On one particular Qi platform, where the corpses of countless cultivators lay strewn about, only one man remained.
A trembling survivor.
The man staggered backward, his face pale, his robes drenched in blood—not of his own, but that of his fallen comrades.
Shen Yuan's clone slowly approached, his light-purple eyes flaring with power. He stopped just a step away, towering over the last survivor.
Then, unexpectedly, he smiled.
"I will let you go."
The words struck the survivor like a divine decree. His breath hitched, his heart pounded.
"I… You won't kill me?"
Shen Yuan nodded, his expression calm. "Mn. I wouldn't kill you. I'm being serious."
Without hesitation, the survivor tore open a spatial rift and vanished, fleeing as fast as he could.
The moment he disappeared—
Shen Yuan's clone let out a low chuckle.
"Yes, run… That is your role."
His voice was filled with amusement as he too disappeared, leaving behind only the stench of blood and devastation.
On a different side of the universe—
A spatial rift opened just a few kilometers away from where Shen Yuan and his companions rested.
The lone survivor stumbled out, his body battered and bruised, his breath ragged.
And then—
He saw Shen Yuan.
The very man who had spared him moments ago… was now sitting on a Qi platform as if he had never moved.
His mind reeled. Impossible.
'How…?'
He used a spatial rift. It should have been the fastest way to escape.
"How could Shen Yuan be here before me? It's not possible for a Nirvana Realm cultivator to cross more than 100,000 kilometers faster than a spatial rift… unless…"
And yet… the man before him was unmistakably Shen Yuan. The same Qi, the same aura.
The realization struck him. His face turned ashen.
'No… then… who…?'
He couldn't stay. Not now. Not when he still had no answers.
Another spatial rift tore open, and he vanished once again.
But just before he left—
He failed to notice the small smirk on Shen Yuan's lips.
"Everything was proceeding according to plan."
Then two days had passed.
Far away, in the much too far away part of the dying universe, Shen Yuan's clone stood before a ruined planet.
Everything about this place felt… wrong.
The planet was dead. No life, no movement. And yet… it pulsed with Qi. Not just any Qi, but something purer… deeper… different.
Drawn by this ancient energy, Shen Yuan's clone descended.
As he stepped onto the desolate soil, he saw the ruins of an ancient city just as he entered the ruined city, the world around him shifted.
The ruins before him came alive. The people seemed to either wear red or black robes.
A city, once grand and mighty, rose from the ashes of time.
People walked its streets. Children laughed and played. The city's cultivators stood tall and proud, their robes dark red and black.
But—
Shen Yuan frowned.
Something was wrong.
He reached out, attempting to sense their life force—
There was nothing.
Not a single trace of life.
And then—
The sky darkened suddenly.
A thousand Qi swords rained down upon the city, and in an instant, the cultivators of the city, some seemed to have fled, while others tried to protect their city but—everything vanished.
What remained was a trembling ruin, a world lost to time. The city returned to how it was, a ruin.
And then—
A massive projection appeared in the sky.
A man, garbed in flowing dark red robes, his long smooth hair billowing like shadows, stood with eyes as bright as emerald flames.
His voice rumbled through the void:
"If you hear my voice, it means I am long dead. And this is nothing but a projection of my memories."
"We were a great race, we were known as the Asura Race, once ruled this universe. Masters of the demonic path, wielders of a cultivation system far beyond the need of lower stages."
"If you have stumbled upon my message… then it is not by chance. Your will is that of true defiance and resonated with my memories."
"I, the last Asura King of this planet, hereby grant you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—to inherit the power of the Asura Race."
From within the projection, a single drop of blood and a black jade flew forth.
Shen Yuan's clone was stunned but not for too long and smirked.
This…
This was another path to power.
Not just for himself—but for his true self. This could also help him form a domain with dual comprehension, after all the comprehension would still go to both him and the real Shen Yuan for having the same consciousness.
And so, with a flick of his fingers, he absorbed the Asura Blood and crushed the black jade, his mind instantly flooded with ancient knowledge.
Soon before starting his cultivation, the clone opened a rift and sent all the flags he had gathered to where the real Shen Yuan was.
And in the far distance—
In the boundless cosmic sky of the dying universe, the survivor tore through space, bloodied and disoriented, until he finally emerged from a swirling spatial rift. Before him stood a colossal Qi platform brimming with royal Fengyue insignias. At its center sat Fengyue's Young Prince, draped in flowing azure robes embroidered with golden phoenixes. His sword, resting beside him, radiated a sharp, fiery aura.
The prince's piercing eyes flickered with mild curiosity as the battered man stumbled forward, falling to his knees. His chest heaved with exhaustion, and blood stained his tattered robes. The prince's guards, sensing weakness, instinctively reached for their blades—but the prince raised a hand, stopping them.
The survivor pressed his forehead to the qi platform, his voice trembling.
"Y-your Highness! I bring urgent news!"
The prince's expression remained impassive. He leisurely sipped from his crystal cup of qi nourishing tea, his gaze cold and condescending.
"Speak."
The survivor's body trembled violently as he relived the horror in his mind.
"I… I barely escaped! It was Shen Yuan… he slaughtered everyone! I—I was the only one left alive…"
The prince arched a brow, unamused.
"And you dare crawl here, bearing news of your own incompetence?" His voice dripped with disdain.
The survivor shook his head violently, clutching his chest as he gasped.
"No, your Highness, you don't understand! Shen Yuan… he let me go!"
The prince's eyes narrowed slightly.
"He let you go?" he repeated, his tone suddenly sharp with suspicion.
The survivor's voice turned frantic.
"Yes! But that's not all…" His eyes widened with panic, his hands trembling as he clawed at the marble floor.
"There were two of him!"
The prince's hand stilled. The tea cup in his grip remained perfectly still, yet his eyes turned icy cold. Slowly, he placed the cup down and rose to his feet. His once-indifferent gaze now burned with piercing sharpness.
"What did you say?"
The survivor's lips quivered.
"I swear it! There were two of him! The same face, the same Qi… it was impossible, but I saw it with my own eyes!"
A heavy silence fell over the platform. The nearby guards stiffened, exchanging uncertain glances. The prince's gaze darkened as he slowly turned toward Bai Chen, his second-in-command, who stood by his side.
Bai Chen, a man with hawk-like eyes, stared into the distance, his expression grim. Without meeting the prince's gaze, he spoke softly.
"Just as I suspected…"
The prince's eyes narrowed.
"You knew?"
Bai Chen's eyes remained fixed on the far horizon.
"No," he replied coldly, "but I suspected that Shen Yuan was playing a deeper game." He turned toward the prince, his voice low but unwavering.
"But two of him? That… I did not anticipate."
The prince clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palm. For the first time, a flicker of uncertainty flashed through his eyes.
"How is it possible?" he muttered under his breath.
The survivor, still groveling, clawed at the prince's boots, his voice cracking with desperation.
"I am not lying, your Highness! I saw it with my own eyes! There were two of him! Two!"
The prince's expression hardened. With a slow, deliberate motion, he drew his sword. Without a word, he drove it straight through the survivor's chest.
The man's eyes widened with shock. Blood spilled from his lips as he choked on his final breath.
"W-why…?" he gurgled.
The prince's voice was ice-cold.
"You've already outlived your usefulness."
With a casual flick, he pulled the sword free, letting the lifeless body collapse to the platform. Blood pooled beneath it.
Bai Chen stepped forward, his eyes still distant.
"So… there are two of Shen Yuan," he muttered, as if trying to convince himself.
The prince turned toward the vast, empty sky, his gaze stormy and unreadable.
"No matter," he said softly, though his knuckles turned white around his sword's hilt. "Even if there are two… or ten… I will kill them all."
His eyes narrowed, filled with a cruel, glacial resolve. The faint shimmer of a Qi storm sparked in the distance, as if the universe itself were responding to the rising tension.