Chapter 1603 - 825: One More Step

When she appeared, the world suddenly halted.

The silver hair reflected the light of the heavens, and when she smiled, it tugged at the wrinkles of time.

In that instant of dead silence, she replaced the Heavenly Furnace, took control of everything, and once again encompassed all on the verge of eruption.

It was not blockage and suppression, but sorting and guidance, separating the tangled mess of Superior and Great Evil without prejudice, showing no favoritism nor repression, embracing everything with tranquility and normalcy.

She opened her arms and embraced all.

Above her head, the stars revealed themselves from the vault, rotating, dragging resplendent trails, covering the earth, witnessing everything, just like the constancy of heavenly calculations and the height of destiny.

Transformation of Good and Evil, reinitiated here!

Even more splendid than before!

Even the thoroughly shattered logic of Bei Gong was included in the scope of transformation...

To the greatest extent, eliminate future troubles, meanwhile, increase Ember, stabilize the present world!

Yet, such enormous transformation, such heavy burden, with one person's body, one person's strength... what disastrous consequences and terrifying cost must be borne?!

"I won't let it come to this; I have solutions!"

The Heavenly Furnace's hand twitched for a moment as he rose, trying to stop her: "Leave it to me, old lady, I can solve this!"

"This is your problem, Heavenly Furnace, your biggest flaw—you are always arrogant, believing you are above everyone."

Corpse Eater turned back and questioned, "Why do you always have to find a solution?"

Why can't others have solutions?

Why can't you hope others will take action?

In this world, are you the only one allowed to make an impact?

At this moment, the Heavenly Furnace's hand was but a thread's width away from her, but this thread, under such gaze, seemed like an abyss, impossible to cross.

Is it that you want me to do nothing?

He remained silent, stationary in place.

Allowing Corpse Eater to gently take the last piece of weight from his hand.

Turning and heading towards the erupting abyss.

Step by step.

Pull the stars, rotate the earth, ignite the Melting Furnace's fire, and once again commence the work of creation!

The final refinement belonging solely to Grandmaster · Corpse Eater begins here!

The only obstruction ahead was the phantom of the past.

Elder Anvil.

The aged shadow of the craftsman sighed silently.

"Long time no see, teacher," he said, "you've aged so much."

"Yes, all the same."

Corpse Eater nodded with regret, "You've aged too, fallen to this state, leaving me, the teacher, helpless."

"What's wrong with renewing through Corpse Eater?"

Elder Anvil retorted, "Isn't this the principle you taught me?"

"Yes, indeed, for all these years I've worried whether I taught you well, but now seeing you again, I feel relieved."

The old lady smiled gently, seemingly proud: "You've learned well, it seems my teachings were quite good."

"..."

Elder Anvil's eyes slightly moved, unable to comprehend: "Even now, do you still hope I can achieve something?"

"How could a teacher not wish for their student to achieve something?"

Corpse Eater looked at him as if staring at a student stuck in a dead end, "But what you seek—decay or renewal?"

Your greatest skill is patience, your favorite is waiting, so much so that you have become greedy, fallen to this state...

To what extent must you endure, and how long must you wait?"

How much endurance is required to be almost certain of success, and how much confidence does it take to be utterly secure?

Not enough, still not, can wait longer, can look further... just a little more, a bit more, much more...

Until unconsciously, you stagnate in waiting, lost in wandering.

If truly possessing the courage for a decisive battle and risking everything, how could one single misstep lead to total failure? But without this resilience and patience, he would have turned to dust long ago, bones nowhere to be found.

The so-called Elder Anvil, for this reason, was formed, yet also for this reason, he fell.

Because he saw too clearly, he wouldn't admit, and because he understood too well, he was stubbornly alone... perhaps, when he placed all evaluation standards on success and failure, everything was already predestined.

"All these years I've been thinking, always saying renewal, renewal, but in the end, always chasing after something endless, walking, and after unable to move forward, what then?"

"Embers of Cruelty, fond of the new and bored with the old, isn't Zhi Fu formed precisely from this?"

Corpse Eater advanced again, crossing past the phantom beside him, strolling through the abyss, reaching out, planting strands of light.

Seeing countless lights, strands of radiance surged, some formed or extinguished, some rose to the sky, others vanished in darkness.

"Everyone exhausts their energy and suffers their entire life, barely breaking through, but in the end, the new will also become old; there is nothing unchanging in this world, we are all merely threads in the transformation, embers flying in the furnace."

Too many, too many people and results like this have been.

A continuous stream of people forging ahead.

Some people are tired, stopping in their tracks, some fall, plunging into the abyss, others struggle their entire lives, singing and advancing, never seeing the end.

Pitiful, lamentable, regretful, pitiable.

"But none of this matters...

I didn't set foot on this path to chase those things, and I've never regretted it because of that."

In the depths of darkness, she smiled, sighed contently:

"Just feeling it's great to take one more step."