The Worldburning Flame given by the mysterious master couldn't be wielded even by Almighties. Lin Moyu had guessed at the master's identity; if he was right, it should be the Calamity Sovereign. The Calamity Sovereign had obtained the Worldburning Flame from somewhere, couldn't control it, but knew it was extraordinary—so he folded it into his grand design and handed it to Lin.
Now that the Calamity Sovereign has taken that next step—even if not fully successful—he has at least surpassed the Almighty realm. And he took that step in the deepest part of the Ancient Wilds; he might well still be nearby. If someone conjures his illusion, under the world's rules it's very likely the Calamity Sovereign will sense it.
Soon Lin felt a thread of will descend. The castle before him seemed to bear an unimaginable force, cracking all over.
"As expected—the mysterious master really is the Calamity Sovereign. I wasn't wrong," Lin said with a slight smile. He suppressed his aura and pushed the Concealing Spirit Pearl to its limit.
The Primordial Chaos Gem shook its head. "Not enough." It tapped with a tiny hand; the Balance Gem glimmered, and Lin Moyu's aura vanished. The gem used the Balance Gem to balance Lin with the surrounding void, blending their qi until they were one—achieving a near-invisibility.
After that wisp of will descended, the illusion before them collapsed. The will then spread, rippling outward in all directions. It swept over Lin without discovering him. The Calamity Sovereign was constrained here as well; only a sliver of will could arrive, unable to truly see what was happening. Otherwise, with the Concealing Spirit Pearl nearly nullified, the Balance Gem alone could never have fooled him. Even so, the fact that he appeared instantly proved that, within the Ancient Wilds, the Calamity Sovereign's power already exceeds that of the Dao.
This experience confirmed Lin's suspicion: the mysterious master in the Great World was the Calamity Sovereign. However he got the Worldburning Flame, he ultimately placed it in Lin's hands—perhaps for reasons only he himself knows.
When the illusion shattered, a mirror appeared. It didn't look illusory, but real. Lin recognized it as void at the extreme, turned real. Its power had reached such an extremity that even the Calamity Sovereign's will could only destroy its illusions, not harm the mirror itself.
Lin was about to act when his body suddenly locked up—he couldn't move. The mirror was glittering, swelling vast, reflecting his figure. The scene shifted strangely: distant stars pricked the void, and each point of light felt dangerous. The mirror still hung far off. Starlight fell upon it; the surface flashed and its power surged. The Lin inside the mirror began to change.
Lin sensed the breath of time—time's aura existed within the mirror. It was using the power of time to search Lin's past. His reflection kept changing, growing younger and smaller—adult to child—then back to adult, but into another form: the self from before he crossed over, somewhere in this world's myriad domains. That figure grew younger again—into his childhood in that previous life.
Lin didn't realize his real body was changing along with the mirror, nor that his power was fluctuating—now strong, now weak. He couldn't move; the mirror had him locked, even his soul and memory shifting with it. When the prior lifetime appeared in the mirror, Lin's memories also slid back to that life. If the mirror ended the illusion then, his memory might be fixed at that moment. But the mirror had limits; it couldn't end whenever it wished.
Lin's soul struggled, resisting the mirror. Deep within, a voice shouted: "You want to kill me? Not that easy!"
In reality, the Primordial Chaos Gem watched quietly. Inside the Calamity Scepter, the Soul Gem was already shining—he could act at any time. But he didn't. He murmured to himself: "This is both disaster and chance. Master, I hope you withstand it." It was a tempering of the dao-heart; if Lin endured, the benefits would be beyond imagining. So he held back, ready to save Lin only if he truly couldn't bear it.
The mirror kept digging. Since one lifetime wasn't enough, it reached further back. The farther it searched, the hazier Lin's memories became, until the present life would be erased.
Life after life, Lin's forms flickered by. Long-buried memories washed up from within the cycle of samsara. Who knew how many lives it combed through—then, suddenly, another figure appeared in the mirror: a person whose features were indistinct.
"How is that possible!" the Primordial Chaos Gem yelped, eyes full of disbelief. The instant that person appeared, the mirror exploded with a bang.
Lin grunted, consciousness snapping back. His will returned; the memories that had flooded in evaporated in that moment—almost nothing remained.
"What happened!" Lin hadn't realized what he'd just gone through. To him, the mirror had started by searching past lives and stirring up memories, then inexplicably poured in memories he didn't recognize, using them to suppress his soul. He resisted, trying to take back control but failing—until now, when those strange memories all dispersed and he could no longer recall them. The mirror before him had already shattered. He frowned, baffled.
"Primordial Chaos Gem, what just happened?"
No answer—the gem seemed dazed, as if dozing off again. Lin tapped the Calamity Scepter. "Speak. What just happened?"
The gem started, a bit flustered. "Nothing— it just broke."
"I know it broke. I'm asking why."
"It wasn't fully gestated," the gem said. "Though it turned from void to real, it had flaws. Someone's will shattered its illusion earlier, magnifying those flaws. Then it fired at full strength, and Master, you opposed it for a long while. It couldn't hold and broke. Anyway, it's good that it broke—Master's fine. You should collect it; it's good stuff."
"Is that really so?" Lin asked softly.
"Of course," the gem said. "I wouldn't get that wrong. Refine it quickly, or it'll drift off."
The mirror's fragments were already flying away. Lin waved; the Worldburning Flame surged out to refine them, and he gathered every shard.
Inside, the gem thought: "Good thing I reacted fast. Hope I can cover this up. But how could it be him? Impossible… it can't be him!"
Lin, busy refining the fragments, knew nothing of the gem's thoughts. He even muttered, "That shattered too easily. For something of extreme void and extreme yin, even turned real—such a thing should wield both void and real. It should have become a killer artifact. Yet because of some tiny defects it broke on its own? Hard to believe."
Lin had no idea how shaken the gem was. What the mirror had shown was already a blur in Lin's mind, hard to recall. Vaguely, an unseen force seemed to be affecting him. Lin didn't feel it; the gem felt it keenly and dared not reveal a word—he even fabricated a cover story to fool Lin.
"How could it be him!" the gem repeated inwardly, over and over. Even having seen it with his own eyes, he could hardly believe it. Whatever his shock, his face stayed coolly proud; a veteran actor, he fooled Lin completely. He could deceive Lin, but not himself. The shock persisted, unending.
In all the worlds, only he knew how terrifying that being was—someone not of this world at all. Wandering the Forbidden Zone of Life, the gem had witnessed the other's power firsthand. For one of Lin's past lives to have been that existence—thinking of it, the gem suddenly grew excited. If Lin once was that being, and now is the gem's master with a second world of his own, perhaps he could reach that height again.
"No— not just that height. He should surpass it. Entering the Forbidden Zone of Life might really be possible. But why do I feel like some memory was erased? Impossible… must be my imagination. Whatever—maybe I'll witness a miracle this time."
From shock to excitement, his mood flipped—when Lin said, "Tell me, how did it just shatter? That's too bizarre. A moment ago it felt harder to deal with than an Almighty."
The gem snorted lightly, keeping up his proud air. "What's hard to understand? In this world, every sip and bite has its destined cause. Strength and weakness, perfection and flaw—often separated by a hair's breadth. Small issues from the past can become fatal at the right moment. That's why foundations must be solid; only with an utterly solid base can you climb higher. Otherwise, you fall at any time."
Like an elder lecturing a junior.
Lin understood the principles, but it wasn't the answer he wanted. The gem continued, "Let me tell you a story."
"Go on," Lin said, smiling. The gem had seen too much and rarely spoke of the past; if he volunteered, Lin would listen.
The gem cleared his throat, voice lower, as if coloring the tale. "In the Forbidden Zone of Life lie worlds beyond counting. New worlds are constantly conceived, most failing their first calamity, never becoming living worlds.
"Once there was a world called Pocang. It was born strong—enduring six calamities wouldn't be a problem, and with luck it could even weather seven."
"You know worlds that endure seven calamities exist," he added, "but such worlds' rules are too strong; no Almighties have ever been born from them.
"That world was already extreme—yet it produced an Almighty. That's not unusual; other high-tier worlds have produced Almighties too. The absurd part is this: during its first calamity, Pocang produced an Almighty.
"The first calamity—the life-or-death trial deciding living or dead world—before life had even begun to be nurtured. Yet Pocang produced an Almighty."
"An outsider?" Lin raised an eyebrow.
"Exactly—an outsider," said the gem. "Sometimes worlds form connections—hidden, and brief, often just an instant. By chance, during Pocang's first calamity, it linked to another world. That link was strange—it lasted a long time. A being came over from that other world.
"After entering Pocang, he absorbed vast Primordial Dawn Qi and refined world-origin materials from the World's Wall. He seized more than half of Pocang's Primordial Dawn Qi for himself, and just as the first calamity was ending, he became an Almighty—and refined the world in one stroke."
Lin was shaken. "Such a thing could happen?"
"Only this once," the gem said. "But it proves that nothing is impossible. Only our imagination fails; means do not.
"What then?" Lin asked.
"What followed was even more outrageous," the gem went on. "Having refined Pocang and become its master, he refused to let it continue evolving life. He spent half a calamity gathering the world's entire power into himself. Pocang was a seven-round-limit world—imagine how strong that power was. Then he entered the World's Wall, used it as a hub to reach other worlds, and refined one world remnant after another, growing ever stronger. He clashed with many Almighties and fought them all—and without exception, they were defeated. Not only that—he struck back into their worlds and refined their worlds as well."
The gem's voice sank further, conveying a lesson: true strength need not be reasonable; it does as it pleases. Fists are the hard truth—everywhere.
"His behavior was mad," Lin said, "but he must have had a reason. A purpose."
"Of course," said the gem. "He surely had his reasons—no one knew them. All the Almighties avoided him; some even joined forces to kill him, and were instead slain. He stood alone, cause and effect dared not draw near. Under his feet: world remnants, and the lives of uncounted beings. He kept refining—nine hundred and ninety-nine worlds. At that point, he seemed to reach a limit. And then, he leapt."