"The gate... it's with you?"
Han Fengxue stared blankly at the ring on Wan Lei's hand, muttering in disbelief,
"Is that... the Gate of Transcendence?"
Wan Lei nodded calmly.
Han Fengxue almost vomited blood.
After all his hard work and efforts, he had finally obtained the key to the Gate of Transcendence, but...
Wan Lei had taken the gate away!
How was anyone supposed to transcend now?!
Was there no sense of fairness at all?
"No wonder you could contend with a Demon Emperor in the Tai Heng Realm without defeat. No wonder you could kill three Demon Emperors in the Golden Immortal realm. No wonder you were invincible below the Immortal Venerable realm as soon as you became a Saint, crushing and killing all my Demon Emperors. No wonder you could survive my attack and not die.
It turns out...
It turns out it was all thanks to the Gate of Transcendence?!"
"Yes, the Gate of Transcendence, it's in my hand."
"But why don't I know!"
"Because, only I and the Immortal Venerable know about this matter. Because the Gate of Transcendence is in my hand,
That's why we made so many contingency plans.
That's why we dared to boldly... let you become a half-transcendent.
Otherwise, the Immortal Venerable would have come to fight you long ago."
"Scheming... This is all your scheme. No, this is Wan Yi's doing, isn't it? Only the foremost sage of the Prime Plane could scheme to this extent."
Wan Lei nodded,
"Indeed, Senior Wan Yi's wisdom is beyond your comprehension."
"Wan Lei!"
Han Fengxue raised his head, his disheveled hair obscuring his sinister gaze.
"Give me the Gate of Transcendence. You don't want to be the only transcendent in this world, do you? It would be so lonely and boring. What's the point of living without opponents? Give it to me, let me transcend too. Anything you want, I'll give you..."
"Then, what do you think can be exchanged for transcendence in this world?
Moreover, the meaning of living is not for your enemies, but for your family, for your loved ones, for everything you care about.
Han Fengxue, not everyone uses hatred as motivation like you do."
Wan Lei's gaze was indifferent as he said word by word,
"Han Fengxue! You... go die."
His hand, adorned with the Demon Ring, gently struck out.
"No!!! I am not convinced!!!"
Han Fengxue roared to the sky. He did not flee, but reached out to snatch the ring on Wan Lei's hand.
But he was destined not to succeed.
Han Fengxue was gone.
Truly gone, his will, his true spirit, all traces of him vanished.
Not even ashes remained.
Han Fengxue was dead. Wan Lei's expression remained calm, neither happy nor sad.
Han Fengxue was born in the Han family of the Southern Frontier in the Prime Plane's Immortal Realm.
In his youth, he displayed unparalleled talent, but his family suffered a calamity and was wiped out by the Bai family and Xia Dayu working together.
Han Fengxue narrowly escaped and, in a hidden place, found residual demonic energy. With supreme enlightenment, he comprehended the demonic path.
Afterward, he formed alliances, uniting several families that were at odds with the Bai family to jointly attack them.
He alone intercepted Xia Dayu and four others, causing the Immortal Venerables' only defeat in their peer competition during their lifetime.
Later, in the Maze Realm, he was killed by Xia Dayu, his soul merging with the Qiong Dian Demon God, and he arrived in the Negative Plane.
He led the Qiong family in battle, rising unstoppably, and eventually became a Demon Emperor.
With the help of the Arrogant Demon Venerable, he became the Jealous Demon Venerable.
Then, he led the charge in the invasion of the Prime Plane.
For the sake of transcendence, for his grand ambition, he extended his demonic claws to his companions.
The first companion he devoured was the Arrogant Demon Venerable, who had helped him the most.
Afterward, he successively devoured the other Demon Venerables, becoming the sole deity of the Negative Plane and achieving a half-step transcendence.
He defeated his old rival, the Five Great Immortal Venerables. He destroyed the entire Prime Plane. He waited for tens of millions of years.
He had almost succeeded.
He possessed perseverance, wisdom, magnanimity, and great ambition and goals. He was a genius, a true favored child of heaven, the protagonist of an era.
But he was not worthy of respect.
Because he lacked morality, conscience, and bottom lines. To achieve his goals, he resorted to any means necessary, sparing no expense.
Such people, no matter how great their achievements, if they are attained by harming others without any bottom line, are not worthy of respect.
Having eliminated his most powerful enemy, Wan Lei stood in the void, lost.
In the distance was the Sea of Suffering.
Beside him, there was nothing.
He was the only one left in the world.
He had won, the war was won, but the Prime Plane was also gone.
Everything was gone.
In the endless void, his figure appeared so lonely.
A moment later, Wan Lei waved his hand, and a river of time appeared from the end of the void, coming before him.
The river of time recorded everything that had happened in every year, in every universe, to every person.
Wan Lei remembered that when the Immortal Venerables revived others, they seemed to pull true spirits from the river of time to revive them.
So... perhaps he could do it too.
He traced the river of time upstream, arriving tens of millions of years ago, on the eve of the Demon Invasion War, and found the Prime Plane of that time.
Then, he reached out and pulled it out.
The phantom of the Prime Plane appeared in the void.
Wan Lei stepped into the Prime Plane, arriving at the Immortal Realm. He saw his small courtyard, where his Thunder Rain team members were eating hot pot and singing, making a lively scene.
Seeing everyone happy, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.
He saw Xiao Yu, covering her mouth and secretly smiling.
He saw Wan Qianxin lecturing Xia Yubing.
He saw Tian Suanzi singing, and it sounded terrible.
He saw Wan Liuchuan secretly giving Xin'er the tripe she disliked.
He saw Xin'er, her smile blooming like a flower, with not a trace of hatred for him in her eyes anymore.
He saw... everyone, very happy.
He arrived at the Holy Hall and saw Xi Sha pouting in boredom, while Li Yan chattered beside her.
He saw Xiao Jin, the principled Qi Heng, and the disciples of the Water Palace who had once challenged him.
He arrived at the Thunder Wind Realm and saw Wan Hongxin, and Old Fang.
He arrived at the Sea of Suffering and saw Ling Xin, and Qi Manyao, wearing armor and commanding troops, looking heroic and spirited.
Time accelerated, and he saw his son, Lin'er, being born.
He walked over, wanting to pick up Lin'er, but his hand passed through the phantom.
All of this was fake, merely projections from the river of time.
Wan Lei's tears began to fall.
In his eyes, everyone was happy, but only he was grieving.
"Immortal Venerable... Xiao Yu... Lin'er... everyone...
I promised you all that I would revive you.
Lin'er, Dad wasn't a good father, I couldn't grow up with you.
Xiao Yu, I'm sorry, please raise Lin'er... and teach him to be a good person."
"Reviving people, reviving universes, is to pull projections from the river of time and then revive them with energy and matter.
So...
The energy and matter to revive an entire Prime Plane, this transcendent body of mine should be enough.
With my life, I will exchange for your return!"