Writer: StarReader

Proofreader: Silavin

“I don’t see your goons around to do your bidding. Have you grown tired of them, or you just like being alone as usual, big brother?” Zhuo Fan smirked.

Heavenly Sovereign’s eyebrow twitched at the appellation, soon regaining his calm, yet strained, smile. “Well, well, look who decided to wake up. I’m curious though, how did you regain your past lives’ memories when you had no Heavenly Rebirth Lake to aid in the process? Though I must say, adversity has always suited you, little brother. Just look at you, a full-fledged Sovereign. Granted, it did take you millions of years, give or take a couple thousand years, and for all other Sovereigns to die beside me. Still, you pulled it off in the end. But only to always end up in the wrong path. As for the garbage, I had to do some spring cleaning since they were useless against your growing little posse, not that it would change anything.”

“Regarding your question, that’s for me to know and you to find out.” Zhuo Fan gave a cryptic and insufferable reply, further irking the strongest being in the world with that cocky grin.

“Enough hokum! We’ll talk more important matters over a game of go, like we used to, away from the buzzing crowd.” Heavenly Sovereign lost his patience, flying away.

“Don’t, Zhuo Fan!” Chu Qingchang begged. “He must be here to finish what he started last time.” Her voice quivered from recalling his tortured body barely holding on.

Zhuo Fan kissed her forehead, making her grip on him tighten. “It’s fine. He could’ve done that from the start if he wanted to.” His gaze turned grave as he looked at the sacred beasts. “Besides, we have bigger things to worry about now, don’t we? Heavenly Sovereign knows of the expanding sea of blackness and that it would only be a matter of time before even we would fall prey to it and Sacred Domain would be no more. It would do no one any good if our conflict end in both of us losing.

“It’s why he is here, risking the bewitching’s corruption of his path by walking out of his domain. If we don’t get someone to reach the Supreme Stage before the sea of blackness swallows up the Sacred Domain, then all will be for nothing. Now, he just wants to talk, hoping to deal with this before we resume old hostilities.”

“Just be careful.” Luo Yunchang hugged him with warm eyes, followed by the other girls.

“Have you forgotten who I am?” Zhuo Fan smirked as he flew away.

“It’s because we know that we worry.” Qingcheng whispered to herself.

Zhuo Fan spotted the same Mirror Moon Cottage mirage Heavenly Sovereign was so fond of and took a seat opposite from him, the go board set for their match.

“Careful, big bro-, ugh, I can’t do this, I’m not your little brother, but Zhuo Fan.” He began, only to shed all pretense and be back to his old self. “I might have lived that life, but that’s not who I am, not anymore.”

“We’re finally being our true selves.” Heavenly Sovereign said with a smile.

“Funny you should say that.” Zhuo Fan followed with a smirk.

Heavenly Sovereign frowned as he placed a white piece on the board. “You know why I’m here and you also know I won’t be leaving here without it. The world is now at stake, not just your humanity but the Heavenly Will and myself. We need to a Supreme Stage expert to deal with the mess you caused!”

“That was my bad, but you can’t blame me for trying to survive. That’s what happens when you push someone into a corner. And let’s not forget your part in it.” Zhuo Fan smirk.

“Which is why I risked venturing out of my domain, letting that accursed Emotion Sovereign’s bewitching corrupt further.” Heavenly Sovereign was finding it hard to regain his calm ever since he lost his arm.

“Things won’t go as you’d want them to. You must clearly see that what you’re doing will be your own undoing. But, I know simple words won’t ever change your mind, or we wouldn’t be here talking about it again after millions of years.” Zhuo Fan said.

“We both know why I’m here, and I see,” Heavenly Sovereign glanced at the board and saw them both matched, “that you begin to understand what I’m after too. So, give me what I’ve come for so we can save the Sacred Domain.”

Zhuo Fan sighed. “Here.” And passed a prismatic glow from his hand to Heavenly Sovereign like he was passing salt, dropping his cultivation to half Sovereign.

“I know—“ Heavenly Sovereign froze with a white piece in hand. He was still in mid speech, to convince Zhuo Fan about the greater good and all that spiel in attempt to get him to play his game. This move took him by complete surprise, to say the least.

“You’re giving it to me, just like that?” Heavenly Sovereign was skeptical.

“You don’t want it?” Zhuo Fan smirked, but the other snatched it on the spot. “Figured as much.”

“You see,” Began Zhuo Fan, “we both know what we need to do. It’s because there’s no way around it and that it works in both groups’ favor. So why bother wasting time with pointless speeches and appeal to reason. Why bother with such convoluted and equally idiotic attempts at getting me to agree? I for one don’t want to sit for a lecture. Just accepting the truth is so much easier and freeing.”

“I will also need your Demon Transformation Art—” Zhuo fan grunted and coughed blood as he asked, offering the art he’d been training for centuries like it was some useless object gathering dust in a basement somewhere.

[This isn’t right. Why did he give up so easily? He never gives up, ever. In all his lives, he struggled till the end. The only times he is calm about it is when death is a certainty, or he has everyone playing in the palm of his hand. But what could he possibly do when he has no power, when he gave it up willingly?]

Having got what he wanted, Heavenly Sovereign finished the game, with both sides looking even still. He was going to go back to his domain and think this through, as well as fuse the four, nay, five paths. Maybe insight towards the Supreme Stage will help him skip the other five and reach it faster.

“Before you go, know that cleansing the world is nothing similar to what you’re envisioning.” Zhuo Fan wheezed, blood leaking from his mouth.

“We shall see. Until the next phenomenon.” Heavenly Sovereign flew away and the Mirror Moon Cottage twisted to reveal a simple shack in the woods.

“Yes, we shall.” Zhuo Fan smiled, placing one last black piece, and turning the tide of the game to his side in crushing victory.