"A Nine-Star Heir's guide... are you?"
The distant entity froze as two he could now look at Long Chen's soul emanating surreal and primal aura as well as his voice filled with profundities.
The oppressive force that now radiated from Long Chen was something familiar. Yet, it was impossibly ancient, far beyond anything that should have existed in a mere youth.
"Let the kid rest," the voice within Long Chen continued, deeper, weightier, infused with authority. "He has been too tired for the time being."
A silence stretched between them. The Guide's voice, for the first time, wavered as a power unlike anything he had sensed in countless years of his billions of years of life. It was dark, strong, yet not malevolent, revered yet not memorable. It was overwhelming, yet restrained. He had witnessed countless anomalies across the flow of time, but this... this was something else.
"Who are you?", Guide demanded, his voice betraying the rarest hint of unease.
The profound soul from Long Chen chuckled, low and knowing, "You know me. You remember me."
The Guide's soul, unseen yet ever-present, shuddered. He had buried away such knowledge long ago, refusing to create temples, shrines, or even the slightest references to what once was. Yet, here it was, staring at him through the vessel of a mere child.
His mind raced. It couldn't be. It shouldn't be.
His lips parted, ready to utter a name, but before he could, the presence inside Long Chen spoke once more, its voice carrying a weight that crushed all doubts.
"No need to doubt. Just tell me... what has happened since the past?"
"Two traitors." The words came out like a whisper, "Those two who not only turned against you but also—"
The voice inside Long Chen did not let him finish interrupting saying, "They killed her."
The weight of that single statement froze even Guide's intangible form. It was not spoken with rage or sorrow, but with something far worse—absolute certainty.
"Not only did they kill her," the Guide said, voice low, restrained, "but they shattered everything she stood for. Betrayal, treachery... but it was not enough for them."
Long Chen rose his eyes in query, "What the heck did those bastards, traitors do???"
With a bit of sigh and a bit of fear the Guide's voice sighed as he said, "She was hunted."
Long Chen more curious and anxious asked, "State all things clearly!!!"
The Guide Continued: "Those two traitors and their followers never let her go. Every time she was reborn, every time she took her first breath in a new life, they found her. And they killed her. Again, and again… for more than 900 lifetimes."
Guide's voice grew even darker, carrying the weight of unspoken horrors.
"They did not stop at merely hunting her."
Lon Chen remained silent, but his body trembled slightly.
"They chased her through countless mortal realms where she had reincarnated. No matter where she was reborn, no matter what life she lived, they came. They sought her out again and again, ensuring that she would never escape their grasp."
His voice wavered for the first time, as if saying the next words would unravel something buried deep within him.
"And in her 982nd reincarnation..."
Guide hesitated. But he could not stop now.
"She was almost violated."
Long Chen's pupils contracted.
"Before they could defile her, before they could stain her existence, she chose to end her own life. She chose self-destruction rather than allowing herself to be tainted by them."
A crack split through the void.
BOOM!
Long Chen's rage erupted like a cataclysm. The very fabric of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths shuddered, the world itself crying out under his wrath. The ancient towers that had stood since the dawn of time trembled once more, some even fracturing under the unbearable pressure.
It was not a battle. It was not an attack.
It was simply anger—raw, unrestrained, and all-consuming.
The land quaked. The sky wept. The stars flickered.
For a moment, it felt as if existence itself would collapse.
But then—
Long Chen gritted his teeth and forcibly restrained himself.
The trembling stopped. The air stilled. The shattered fragments of the void pieced themselves back together.
Long Chen's expression returned unreadable, but his voice carried an edge of doubt and rage.
"Are you lying?"
Guide voice remained steady, unshaken. "I do not lie."
Long Chen narrowed his eyes, as if trying to pierce through the entity's very existence. "Then tell me—how did you find her? In 999 lifetimes, how did you know?"
Guide was silent for a moment before responding, his voice heavy.
"Because one of the Elders met her."
Long Chen's breath caught.
"In her 983rd reincarnation," Guide continued, "she had reached the level of a half-stepped Divine Emperor. At that time, she was powerful, standing on the edge of ascension... but it was already too late."
A dark, suffocating pressure filled the air, but this time, it was not coming from Long Chen. It came from Guide himself.
"She had already been poisoned." His voice, though calm, carried a weight of unspoken fury. "She was dying from Brahma's faith energy, a poison that gnawed away at her very essence. Those two traitors had done more than just hunt her down—they shattered her cultivation, ensuring she would never stand against them again. Even with her strength, she was on the verge of death when she found me."
A silence followed, as if the universe itself grieved.
"She knew the elder was powerless to fight against all those and will not be able to either protect her and may die protecting himself… so she gave a task to elder before dying right in front of his." Guide murmured. "And when asked why she had been going through all these sufferings, she stated that she was only doing this all for one person her love as her final words were: 'I still am unable to find you dear' as tears flowed down her eyes."
Long Chen felt something tighten in his chest. "And what did that elder do?"
Guide's voice darkened. "The elder couldn't do anything else but watch her die and turn into dust before he created a grave for her and completed the task she had given."
The words were simple, yet they carried a grief so profound that it shook the very void, "The Elder even cursed himself for countless years, cursing himself for not being able to protect her, Our Goddess, Our God's Beloved, you-"
Long Chen clenched his fists emotions swirling in him, interrupting Guide, as he said with tears flowing down his eyes, "I can only rage for time being. I curse my own powerlessness. But in the end, all I was able to was bear to hear all the sufferings she had gone through while she herself has faded away for countless eons just for a pathetic person like me who couldn't even awaken early."
Long Chen clenched his fists.
The past was merciless.
For a moment, in Endless Darkness in a Corner of Starry Sky filled with immense Primal Chaos Essence, two eyes opened with the surrounded by countless stars that burned with endless wrath as being consumed one by one.
Then, just as quickly, the eyes dimmed. A deep sigh followed.
"I guess it was just an illusion." His voice wavered, no longer filled with the unshakable force it once carried. "Perhaps... the heart demon has shaken me off too much."
For now, the presence withdrew into itself, as if unwilling to be consumed by past thoughts. Slowly, the eyes that had surfaced closed again, and the oppressive force receded but before that a small murmuring went through as he said, "All the followers have to be active and hunt for the evils, those who oppose us."
The command went flow of divine light flowing to all lands across the entire World of Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.
Meanwhile Long Chen's voice was eerily calm as he said, "Continue."
Guide did as he was told and started talking about the History about the Entirety of Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, especially major events.
The suffering of countless ages.
The endless cycles of destruction and rebirth.
Of things beyond time.
Of truths that had long been buried in history.
As the weight of their conversation hung heavy in the void, the connection between them began to waver. The presence of Guide flickered slightly, as if something was pulling him elsewhere.
Sensing this, Guide moved to speak, but before he could, the voice within Long Chen—low and knowing—cut him off -- "It's okay."
Guide hesitated.
"I know," Long Chen continued. "You are busy. Continue on."
A brief silence followed before Guide exhaled lightly, his voice carrying a rare trace of something almost intense emotion—regret and sadness, perhaps.
He looked at Long Chen's physical body. No—he looked at the kid before him. The one who, despite all odds, carried the weight of a fate unknown.
"Kiddo," he said, his tone firm yet distant. "Work hard. You must surpass me... surpass everything."
His voice seemed to stretch across time itself, an echo of something that once was and something that had yet to be.
"Do not repeat the mistakes I did."
The air around them shifted as the final words lingered, as if branding themselves into Long Chen's soul.
"We have to find out."
And then—silence.
To Be Continued...