606 Ashes of the Final Emperor

[POV: Da Wei]

“Athena, give me time,” I said calmly. “I need to speak with the rest of my champions.”

The Supreme Heart looked delighted by my actions. Why wouldn’t he be? After all, he had just pulled this vile strategy on me, somehow using my own person against me. If it had been against the rules, Athena would have voiced it out. If not, perhaps there were simply no rules I could rely on, and this entire thing could be rigged. I had done as much as I could to tilt the odds in my favor. I could only trust in the preparations I had made to see this through.

“Granted,” said Athena. “I apologize, Lord Bearer, for how this turned out. However, Lord Heart did not violate the rules. Please know that I have come here to arbitrate with fairness in mind. This lowly one cannot risk earning the ire of a Supreme Being such as yourself. Please, take your time. It is not against the rules.”

I sent a Qi Speech to my people, ordering them to gather in the Workshop. Once they had assembled, I cast Divine Phantasm of Dreams and projected myself across the distance to stand before them.

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[POV: Mai Duyi]

Mai Duyi rested his sniper rifle across his lap, slowly polishing the barrel until its metallic surface reflected the workshop's countless lights. The familiar routine steadied his breathing, but it did little to ease the tension lingering in the air.

Not long ago, Tian Mei and Anna had arrived after receiving the Holy Emperor's summons. Neither woman spoke much after entering, sensing that whatever required their presence was far from ordinary. Near the center of the Workshop, Zai Ai stood with folded arms, her expression clouded by worry as her gaze repeatedly drifted toward the entrance.

Sikao Biaoji scratched his weathered beard before speaking with complete sincerity.

"Lady Zai Ai, I believe we aren't actually needed here. Can't we just... I don't know... fuck off?"

"You may fuck off whenever you please," Zai Ai snapped. "Nongmin has been acting strangely these past few days, and now he's disappeared altogether. I'm staying until I know what's going on. Otherwise, I won't be able to calm myself."

A gentle voice drifted through the Workshop before the atmosphere could sour any further.

"Would anyone like some tea?"

Lady Xin Yune smiled as though she hadn't noticed the oppressive silence surrounding everyone. Carrying a wooden tray, she moved gracefully from person to person, offering warm tea and freshly prepared snacks.

"I-I'm fine, thank you," Zai Ai replied awkwardly.

Xin Yune laughed softly, her eyes curving into crescents.

"Don't be so shy now, daughter-in-law."

Fatty Ke Zhen accepted a cup without hesitation before biting into one of the pastries.

"Delicious."

Mai Duyi shot his closest friend a withering glare.

"Couldn't you read the room, you dolt?" he transmitted through Qi Speech.

Across the workbench, Ke Zhen merely shrugged while continuing to adjust a complicated apparatus alongside Sikao Biaoji. Judging by his expression, he genuinely failed to understand what he had done wrong.

Before Mai Duyi could scold him further, a ripple spread across the Workshop.

The Holy Emperor appeared without warning.

Every conversation ceased instantly.

Even the humming machinery seemed quieter in his presence.

"Thank you all for gathering here today," Da Wei said calmly, his expression betraying none of the burden weighing upon him. "The reason I've called my champions is because it's time for you to learn exactly who you'll be facing."

He snapped his fingers.

Dozens of neatly organized documents floated through the air before separating into three identical stacks. One landed before Mai Duyi, another before Tian Mei, while the final stack drifted into Anna's waiting hands.

Mai Duyi picked up the first page.

His eyes narrowed.

Each sheet contained the complete profile of one enemy. Their cultivation, abilities, accomplishments, known weaknesses, preferred battle styles, and every scrap of intelligence the Holy Emperor had managed to collect over countless years.

The title shared by every single file made his heart sink.

Children of the Supreme Heart.

He continued flipping through the pages, each opponent sounding more absurd than the last. Some had ruled entire worlds before abandoning their thrones. Others had slaughtered civilizations in pursuit of enlightenment. Several possessed mastery over powers that most immortals would never comprehend in a lifetime.

Then Da Wei calmly dropped the final piece of information.

"The three of you will be fighting all of them simultaneously."

Silence swallowed the Workshop.

No one questioned whether he was joking, since no one believed he was. Mai Duyi slowly turned another page. His movements stopped. His pupils contracted. The final document depicted a familiar man dressed in imperial robes.

It was the Final Emperor, Nongmin, the former ruler of the Grand Ascension Empire.

Before Mai Duyi could fully process what he was seeing, the paper was snatched from his hands.

Zai Ai stared at the portrait, her fingers trembling.

"What is the meaning of this, Da Wei?"

"I wish I knew," Da Wei answered quietly. "If I did, I would tell you everything. Unfortunately, I don't know anything."

Xin Yune gently accepted the document from Zai Ai. Her fingertips brushed over the illustration of her son as though she could somehow reach him through ink alone. The warmth that usually accompanied her smile disappeared, leaving behind only a mother desperately hoping reality would prove kinder than the page before her.

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"Please..." she whispered. "Don't tell me he's fighting for the other side, Da Wei."

Zai Ai's head snapped toward the Holy Emperor.

"What did you do?"

Mai Duyi's chest tightened.

He had spent enough time inside the Workshop to know Nongmin beyond his title. The Final Emperor had never carried himself like a ruler among family. He laughed, argued over inventions, worked alongside everyone else, and treated even apprentices with respect. Mai Duyi could still remember discussing weapon designs with him late into the night. The thought of pointing a rifle at that same man made his stomach churn.

If he felt this conflicted, then he couldn't begin to imagine what Xin Yune and Zai Ai were enduring.

The Workshop trembled.

Tools rattled violently across nearby tables as invisible pressure leaked from Zai Ai's body.

"You took my disciple from me," she growled, every word laced with grief that had long since transformed into rage. "And now you're going to take Nongmin too? I knew we should have severed our ties with you long ago, but that fool refused to listen."

Mai Duyi had always known Zai Ai disliked the Holy Emperor. Even so, he had never imagined the resentment ran this deep.

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[POV: Tian Mei]

Tian Mei knew very little about the Final Emperor beyond the stories that had circulated throughout the ages. Most of what she knew came from her grandmother, who had always regarded Nongmin as both a rival and someone worthy of respect.

Even then, those stories never truly captured the man himself. They only described his achievements, his impossible inventions, and the empire he had once ruled. Standing inside the Workshop, surrounded by people who had lived beside him for millennia, she realized how insignificant that knowledge truly was.

She had only seen the Final Emperor once.

It had been little more than a passing glance during the Summit of the Four Powers, yet the memory had remained etched into her mind. What she remembered most was not his appearance, but his soul. It had possessed a brilliance unlike anything she had witnessed before, as though countless possibilities coexisted within a single existence.

Even her grandfather, a figure who seldom acknowledged another's strength, had admitted that Nongmin wielded powers capable of making even him wary.

That alone told Tian Mei everything she needed to know.

If someone like Nongmin had truly become their enemy, then this contest had long since escalated beyond a simple clash between champions.

"You know that's not what happened," Xin Yune said gently, stepping beside Zai Ai. "Nongmin would never abandon us."

The anger draining from Zai Ai's face left only exhaustion behind.

"I apologize," she said quietly. "I misspoke. My emotions got the better of me. I shouldn't blame you for something that has already been resolved. My relationship with my disciple has never been stronger than it is now."

Xin Yune smiled with her usual warmth before giving Zai Ai a playful slap across the back.

"Now, now. It's your disciple's fault for not visiting you often enough. On top of everything else, he's become an unfilial son."

The lighthearted remark earned a reluctant snort from several people nearby, easing the suffocating atmosphere ever so slightly.

Then Xin Yune turned toward the Holy Emperor.

Her smile softened into something more solemn.

"I apologize for Lady Zai Ai's outburst, Your Holy Majesty. I believe you already have an idea, but she doesn't."

Zai Ai frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Xin Yune's eyes curved into crescents once more.

"Congratulations."

The single word left everyone confused.

"I'm going to become a grandmother."

Silence spread through the Workshop.

Zai Ai blinked several times before pointing at herself.

"...What?"

Xin Yune covered her lips with a giggle.

"Your carrying, dear. That's what."

For several long seconds, Zai Ai simply stood there, unable to process what she had just heard.

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[POV: Anna]

Anna clasped both hands together before her chest and lowered her head.

"May the Great Guard bless this joyous miracle. In the midst of a crisis, we were granted hope. Such a child carries an auspicious destiny. I pray they are born into a world where peace still awaits them."

The sincerity of her prayer brought smiles to weary faces.

Although uncertainty still loomed over the Workshop, the revelation had rekindled a small flame that refused to be extinguished.

Anna had already committed every page the Holy Emperor had given her to memory.

So had Mai Duyi and Tian Mei.

For immortals of their realm, memorizing entire libraries required no effort whatsoever. Every detail, every weakness, every battle record had already become engraved within their minds after a single glance.

Unfortunately, remembering them only made reality more daunting.

They were immortals, godlike existences capable of shaking worlds, yet the enemies awaiting them stood among the very few beings who could surpass them.

Anna carefully returned the documents to the table before looking toward Xin Yune and Zai Ai.

"If any of you have words you wish to convey to the Final Emperor," she said softly, "please entrust them to us. Should we meet him upon the battlefield, I swear I will deliver every single one."

Mai Duyi nodded.

"I'll do the same."

Tian Mei folded her arms across her chest.

"If Lord Nongmin still remembers us, then we'll make sure your voices reach him."

The conversation continued for quite some time afterward. Xin Yune shared stories she wished her son to hear once more. Zai Ai hid her concern behind harsh words, though no one failed to hear the affection beneath them. Sikao Biaoji grumbled that Nongmin still owed him several drinking sessions. Ke Zhen complained that countless unfinished inventions remained scattered throughout the Workshop because their creator had vanished without cleaning up after himself.

By the time everyone had spoken, the Workshop had already begun making its final preparations.

Ancient armaments emerged from hidden vaults. Fresh ammunition filled Mai Duyi's pocket dimension. Formation plates, talismans, medicinal pills, and experimental devices were handed to the three champions without reservation.

No expense was spared.

If this battle determined the fate of countless worlds, then the Workshop would send them forth carrying every masterpiece it had ever forged.

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[POV: Da Wei]

Once I declared their names to Athena, she raised her hand and transported my three champions directly into the arena. I remained behind, the dream projection staring down at the people I could call my own.

Looking around at everyone gathered there, I took a slow breath.

"Did any of you notice something unusual about Nongmin before all of this? Anything at all that suggested he had begun acting differently?"

Sikao Biaoji scratched his head, sounding sarcastic. "You mean signs that His Majesty was planning to betray us?"

"I mean anything," I remarked.

Zai Ai frowned as she thought back over the past few millennia.

"There... was one thing."

Everyone turned toward her.

"A number of components and completed devices kept disappearing from the Workshop. Nothing catastrophic, but enough for me to notice. Whenever I questioned Nongmin, he'd always say he needed them for a personal project."

"How long ago did that begin?"

She closed her eyes briefly.

"...Around two thousand years ago."

My heart sank.

That was exactly when my contest with the Supreme Heart had been finalized.

"Hah..."

A helpless laugh escaped my lips.

"I was outmaneuvered in a way I couldn't even defend myself."

None of them interrupted.

They all understood exactly what I meant.

Xin Yune lowered her gaze toward her hands.

"There is... something else."

I nodded for her to continue.

"Lately, I've been dreaming."

Her voice trembled ever so slightly.

"At first I thought they were ordinary dreams, but they were too vivid. They felt... real. Memories I have never experienced keep surfacing. It's as though fragments from previous reincarnations were carved into my soul and are only now revealing themselves."

The Workshop fell silent.

"I believe those memories may contain clues about my connection to the Supreme Heart," she continued. "Because of that, I wish to seek out Shouquan. His mastery over souls may help uncover the truth."

I remained quiet for a long moment.

"I advise against it," I admitted. "Tampering with memories rooted within the soul carries dangers even Shouquan cannot fully predict."

She smiled faintly.

"I understand."

I returned her smile.

"But whether you proceed or not is your choice. Your will has always mattered more than my opinion."

Finally, I looked toward the man who had remained unusually quiet throughout the meeting.

"Anything to add, my old friend?"

Ke Zhen hesitated before reaching into his storage ring. He withdrew a small crystal vial. Gray ash rested quietly inside. "I... don't know what this is supposed to mean," he admitted. "Lord Nongmin gave this to me a long time ago. He told me to hand it over when the time came."

He extended the vial toward me.

"I think... that time is now. I hope it proves useful to you, Da Wei."

I accepted the vial with both hands, carefully examining the strange ashes swirling within the glass. Whatever Nongmin had entrusted to me, he had done so thousands of years in advance.

A small smile found its way onto my face.

"Thanks."

I closed my fingers around the vial.

"I appreciate it."