“Why would I amused myself with them? Why let them believe they were buying time so you could get to my level and fight me for the fate of humanity, against Heaven’s Will? Why ask when you already know the truth, little brother?” Heavenly Sovereign sat down on a mahogany chair as it and a qi board appeared on a table out of thin air.

“With the final two paths fused through sheer luck. I came to see that I’ve forced my way into the Supreme Stage, while you have earned yours. There’s no doubt who is the strongest among us from this point alone. I could’ve started my plan by killing your friends and the sacred beasts, but we both know you’d just come out in time to stop me from doing any real harm.” Heavenly Sovereign continued, setting the first black piece.

“So, you have no intention of fighting, none whatsoever? I thought your grand design has only ever been to cleanse the world? Did you perhaps change your mind and give up?” Zhuo Fan sat on a materializing chair across from him and placed a white piece.

“Let’s be honest here. My goal won’t ever change, the only thing that did, however, is my mind, having found the calm I had before the sea of blackness.” Heavenly Sovereign spoke.

“So, knowing that you cannot defeat me, you won’t even try?” Zhuo Fan asked curiously.

“Being at the Supreme Stage made me realize the full extent of the power invested in Heaven’s Will. As I advanced, my senses sharpened to the entire Sacred Domain, with only the area around you completely dark. It’s like Heaven’s Will didn’t want me to see you. My senses would not have failed, unless you’ve grown above it. You found another stage beyond the Supreme Stage, haven’t you? Since you earned your way into it, then you must also know the next step.” Heavenly Sovereign avoided his question.

Zhuo Fan nodded, recalling as he sat there in meditation and contemplating his friends’ paths to complete his own.

Once he finished with Elder Song’s creation path, he only needed to complete the 10th. He had a few ideas where to start, but instead of letting logic think, he left it to his heart. It guided him, to new concepts and ideas that had never crossed his minds ever before.

He often wondered where they came from and why him, only to discover that they came from nowhere but within. Having trained in the True Self Art for so long, taking it to the point that his cultivation was down to the 1st layer of Foundation Establishment, all that remained was one single, yet monumental, step to reach its culmination.

Zhuo Fan knew that fully training the True Self Art would lift him beyond everything he knew, open a new world for him to discover, and maybe grow further still.

“You’ve overcome the limits of the Sacred Domain and Heaven’s Will, didn’t you? It’s not that Heaven’s Will hid you from my sight, just that you were beyond it as well.” Heavenly Sovereign gave him a long look of envy, finding it a truly cruel irony how the situation had turned out.

Wasn’t he the one who pushed his little brother into becoming a Sovereign just like him? Now it was his turn to be the one lagging behind.

“I have. I am now everywhere.” Zhuo Fan’s voice replied from all around Heavenly Sovereign. “And nowhere.” Only to continue sounding distant, despite him being right there across from him. Or was he?

“What will you do now?” Zhuo Fan asked after playing a little trick himself, grinning like a child.

“What would happen if I had succeeded? Will the Sacred Domain return to the times of old? Will it be back to the law of the jungle and not the wickedness of humanity twisting everything?” Heavenly Sovereign asked his most dying question, for he had waited too long to see it fulfilled. But since that was now utterly impossible, the least he could do was have closure – to know if it would be just like he had hoped.

“No. You fail to understand that Heaven’s Will is as much as our creator as we are it’s creator. It might be the source of everything and anything, but it, at the same time, it is affected by its creation. What you want was never possible, for it meant creating a whole new Heaven’s Will. That would mean an entirely new realm govern by another equal, yet different, power.” Zhuo Fan’s answer crushed Heavenly Sovereign’s hope, but the dream still did not fade.

To convince Heavenly Sovereign, the world around the two shifted to a white space with nothing in it, nothing at all.

“The cleansed Heaven’s Will!” Heavenly Sovereign gasped in joy, only to frown moments later. “Wait, its far too pure. There’s simply nothing, nothing at all!”

“Yes, for you see, you’d have to destroy everything Heaven’s Will created to reach your goal, even yourself, for it can never go back. But even so, our Heaven’s Will has already experienced the creation of humanity and all living things. It would be impossible to forget that, just how it’s impossible for you to forget who you are.” Zhuo Fan explained.

As they talked, their game continued, with neither of them the winner. When Zhuo Fan placed the final piece, the white world faded out to give way to reality.

“Why did you end it in a draw? You could’ve beaten me.” Heavenly Sovereign asked, finding himself lost as to what to do now that he knew cleansing would never have worked as he wished.

“Because none of us are really that different. Each of us has something the other lacks. Trying to steal it away will only make it lose its value. Only by learning can we grow. I never really wanted power for the sake of it. I only wanted to be strong enough so that no one would dictate how I lived my life. It took me this long to figure it out myself.” Zhuo Fan replied with a smile.

“What will you do now? Would you prefer an untainted Heaven’s Will, a new canvas for you to paint as you want, or to stay here to learn more about yourself?” Zhuo Fan asked in the end.

…

Zhuo Fan walked up Blackwind Mountain with no one even registering his presence. Only as he got in the main hall did they realize he had arrived.

“Zhuo Fan!” Luo Yunchang was the first to jump into his arms. “I’m so glad you’re alright?”

“What about Heavenly Sovereign? Is it over? Is the Sacred Domain safe?” Kunpeng asked the most pressing question.

Zhuo Fan had a cryptic smile. “Let’s just say we won’t be seeing him anytime soon, perhaps ever.”

“You didn’t kill him? After all he put you, us through?” Sea Ao was grave.

“I gave him what he needed.” Zhuo Fan replied.

“Now,” he turned to his girls crowding around him. “I think it’s time we go to our new home and leave everyone to their games of politics and power plays. What do you say?”

Touba Lian’er asked hesitantly, “Can we come visit sometimes? I’m going to miss my father and brother.”

“Of course, you all can.” Zhuo Fan reassured the girls and vanished along with them to who knew where, off to a new adventure, marriage.

Well, at least it ends on a happy note, with everyone together.

Do leave a comment on how you feel about this. Might change it or add more. Who knows? Either way, this is practically the end of the journey now. I thank all of you for your support.

Once again, these are novels you might be interested in: 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.

There is also an Epilogue next ????

The Steward Demonic Emperor >>