Proofreader: Papatonks

Gu Santong said, “Didn’t you and heavenly…”

“Heavenly what?”

“What was I saying?” Gu Santong scratched his head, turning to Qiao’er and Sword Child, “What are we doing?”

They looked around, lost, their minds blank as they tried to come up with a name.

They forgot soon after, enjoying the other’s return. No one paid the empty sky any attention.

The sacred beasts were still on good terms with the Luo clan, the former Sword Kings with their Venerables, and they were now joking about how they were so mighty yet staying with the Luo clan.

They just laughed it out, oblivious to the void inside, the vanishing of one man.

The entire world was the same.

Zhuo Fan vanished from the world, and their memories…

“Heavenly Sovereign, let’s have another round of chess!”

In a white world, Zhuo Fan sat on a stone stool before a chessboard and smiled at the tense Heavenly Sovereign.

Heavenly Sovereign looked around, “Where is this place?”

“Your world.” Zhuo Fan made the introductions, “Didn’t you want to remake the world? This is how the world first started, with nothing in it. Feel free to let your creativity explode and doodle to your heart’s content.”

Heavenly Sovereign stared at Zhuo Fan, “This isn’t what I want. I want to go to Martial Emperor Continent. That’s my world!”

“You can’t go. I’ve erased all our traces from it. You never existed there. Not in records and neither in memories. There were only nine ancient Sovereigns. Of course, there was no Steward Zhuo either.” 

Heavenly Sovereign gasped, “You erased a person’s mark on the world? J-just what stage did you reach?”

“It doesn’t matter, let’s play!” Zhuo Fan gestured at the chessboard.

Heavenly Sovereign gave him a strange look, then sat down across from him. 

Zhuo Fan was calm this time, each piece landing casually, with no hidden intent. Heavenly Sovereign could never win regardless, but neither could Zhuo Fan, ending in a draw.  

This was what made it scary.

The highest skill in chess was not winning, but maintaining a balance with the adversary. 

Heavenly Sovereign’s brow shook, the piece in his hand falling as he shook his head, “You win.”

“It’s only a draw.”

“A draw means you win.”

Heavenly Sovereign said, “May I ask you something?” 

“Feel free.”

“What is your path?” Heavenly Sovereign looked on with hope, “Ever since you appeared, I felt your path was different from my younger brother. It’s emotional, but different. What is it?”

Zhuo Fan smiled, “His compassion was greater, that of the higher love, while mine was only of minor love.”

“Minor love could form a path and beat me?”

“Aren’t the emotions in the world split into minor and major?” Zhuo Fan smirked, causing Heavenly Sovereign to shudder.

Zhuo Fan stood, “Heavenly Sovereign, including the nine Sovereigns, you were all too stubborn. The world moved along its own rules. What major and minor love? Emotion is emotion, it comes from the human heart, simple as that. I recommend a cultivation method, made by mortals. It may not look like much to you, but this is exactly what you Sovereigns lack.” 

Zhuo Fan sent the information in his mind with a flick.

“True Self Art?”

Heavenly Sovereign muttered, “Return to self, merge with the world, human and heaven becoming one, reaching Dao. Zhuo Fan, you…”

Heavenly Sovereign cried out but Zhuo Fan was gone. He looked around the empty space, “Heaven, earth and man paths united, grasping the world. The World Stage, above Supreme…”

Heavenly Sovereign’s eyes shone with hope and looked at the white sky. He didn’t perceive Zhuo Fan beyond the white cover, holding a white sphere and flinging it into the darkness. 

Rustle~

He was surrounded by many spheres, flickering and roaming through the darkness.  Some were pure white, others were gray, and the last were black.

Zhuo Fan watched it all and pointed.

Pff~

Dozens of black spheres vanished.

“Sorry, it’s not that I destroyed you, but that your world is already at its end, turned into hell. I’m only doing heaven’s duty in removing it.”

Zhuo Fan turned to the endless spheres, focusing on a gray one, “Martial Emperor Continent has yet to reach its end, but it’s getting closer…”

Zhuo Fan roamed around the darkness, tracing the spheres filled with vitality and popping the black ones… 

A thousand years later, Martial Emperor Continent had gone through many changes. Heroes emerged, forming their own force. Even without Sacred Mountains monopolizing everything, now there was conflict among many parts.

The largest was the Luo clan. As it was the closest to sacred beasts and had the mysterious Sword Sovereign in their home, they were the ultimate force no one touched.

The Luo clan had the fortune of maintaining its honor and integrity through the ages, never throwing their weight around and looking out for the people.

Even so, in a world of strength, the weak always were persecuted.

“Stop right there! Hand over the spirit stones!”

“It’s our money to buy food! The hell I will!”

Among the verdant trees of a forest, two girls of nine and ten years old ran barefoot and with dirty faces. 

Pa!

The girls tripped to the ground and the six teenagers caught up, showing their depraved grins, “He-he-he, let’s see you run now.”

“Don’t come any closer or you’ll be sorry!” The older girl stood up before her sister, “I’m at the 8th layer of Qi Condensation Stage. Any closer and you’re dead!”

The guys mocked, “Ha-ha-ha, I’m so scared. What was our cultivation again?”

“Boss, we’re in the Bone Tempering Stage, the weakest being in the 3rd layer.”

The girls shuddered and the guys laughed harder, “Grab them and sell them to a brothel to earn us some dozen spirit stones, ha-ha-ha…” 

“Right!”

“No!”

The sisters huddled in fear.

Pa!

The guys found themselves frozen, unable to move. Their creepy smiles stuck on their faces.

Soft footsteps were heard as Zhuo Fan appeared before the shivering sisters with a smile, “Don’t be scared. They won’t hurt you anymore…” 

The girls looked at Zhuo Fan’s kind face and bowed in thanks.

“What are your names?” Zhuo Fan asked despite knowing.

The older of the two replied, “I’m Xiao Yu, and this is my younger sister, Xiao Shuang!”

“Yuyu, Shuang’er…”

Zhuo Fan muttered and reached out, “Will you come with me, as my disciples?”

[Disciple?]

Xiao Yu asked, “Do we get to eat?”

“Sure, and no one will pick on you ever again.”

“Great, we greet master!” The two girls were so simple, immediately bowing to Zhuo Fan.

Zhuo Fan smiled and took their hands, vanishing.

The guys could move again and plopped on the ground in confusion.

[Where are they? Strange…]

Elsewhere, Chu Qingcheng stood before a rundown house with a sweet smile.

Two girls nearby whispered nearby, “Why does senior sister like to stay here at her age? She must have some weird hobby. Isn’t it better to cultivate in nature?” 

“Who knows. Maybe she’s waiting.”

“For who?” ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novel•fire.net

“That would be me.” The girls jumped at the man’s voice. They stared back at Zhuo Fan standing behind them.

“W-who are you? When did you get here?”

“Don’t be rude and step back.” 

Chu Qingcheng shouted. The two flinched and noticed her icy stare. They wanted to complain but they saw the tears and excitement in her eyes.

They were sensible to leave.

Zhuo Fan sighed, stepping forward, “After a thousand years, even with erasing everyone’s memories, only you remember me.”

“I knew that was your trick back then.”

“Yeah, since I can no longer stay with them. It’s best to be forgotten.”

“But I didn’t forget.”

“Maybe it was your tears that I have within my heart.” Zhuo Fan nodded, “Maybe it’s Heaven’s Will. Everyone believed Heavenly Sovereign’s younger brother reincarnated to find his Sovereign path and to stop Heavenly Sovereign, when the truth is he was searching to restore his emotion center. You are my emotional center.”

“Then will you take me along?”

“Of course!”

Chu Qingcheng hugged Zhuo Fan tightly, moved to tears, “Where will you take me?”

“Through a life of toil and hardships in the master’s home.”

“Master?” Qingcheng asked, “What did you do?”

Zhuo Fan showed a mysterious smile, “Same old same old, stewarding, the entire world…”

The End.

Evolution Begins With A Big Tree – Starts out as a tree, enemy of mankind. I believe this and Fated Villain is the closest to SDE in terms of feel and build up.

I Am The Fated Villain –MC is also a Villain. Schemes a ton. Power Fantasy.

Martial Peak – I think everyone who reads from DDL knows about this

What a bittersweet feeling :/