The world faded into silence.
No blood, no light, no shadow — only an endless void.
Lu Fan hovered in the emptiness, his body weightless, his soul flickering like a candle. The crimson lotus mark on his back dimmed, and the faint hum of the Universal Library became distant — like an echo submerged beneath infinity.
Then, a whisper.
> "Welcome, inheritor… to the Realm of Souls."
A faint glow appeared before him — at first a speck, then a form — a man cloaked in white robes embroidered with black and gold. His face was serene, ageless, and his eyes reflected galaxies.
> "I am the first Sovereign of Soul — Shen Xi, the one who heard every whisper of the dead and bore the memory of creation itself."
Lu Fan's heartbeat steadied. The calm in Shen Xi's voice wasn't mortal; it was the calm of eternity — the stillness that came after understanding everything.
> "To inherit the Soul Path," Shen Xi said, "you must endure what even gods refused — Eternal Reflection. You must face the truth of your soul… every lifetime you have lived, forgotten, or destroyed."
Before Lu Fan could answer, light erupted around him.
And then — he was no longer himself.
---
He saw a young boy on Earth — wearing torn clothes, hands clutching his dying father.
Then another — a scholar burned alive for discovering cultivation texts.
Then another — a swordmaster whose rage destroyed an empire.
Then another — a god who sacrificed his divine heart to rebuild the heavens.
Thousands of lives — all him.
Every rebirth.
Every failure.
Every death.
They flooded his mind like a storm.
> "No one truly reincarnates without reason," Shen Xi's voice echoed. "Every soul fragments upon death — but yours… never did. You are the convergence of all your past selves, Lu Fan. The question is — can you bear them?"
Lu Fan's hands trembled as memories collided. He saw himself smiling, killing, crying, saving. The faces of friends, enemies, lovers, and strangers merged into one endless whirlpool of emotion.
> "STOP!"
He screamed, clutching his head as light burst from his body — golden, crimson, and silver threads spilling from his soul like torn silk.
Each thread held a life.
Each life screamed to be heard.
He fell to his knees. "If these are all me… then who am I now?"
Shen Xi appeared before him, gaze unwavering.
> "The one who chooses."
Lu Fan's breath steadied.
And in that silence — he understood.
He didn't need to deny his past.
He didn't need to carry them.
He only needed to become whole.
He reached out, and one by one, the threads returned — not as screams, but as light. His body glowed, every reincarnation fusing back into him. The scholar's wisdom, the swordmaster's fury, the god's compassion — all merged into balance.
A brilliant radiance engulfed him.
> [Soul Integration: 100%]
[Ancestral Memory Unlocked.]
[New Technique: Eternal Soul Mirror — Reflects truth, destroys illusion.]
When the light faded, Lu Fan stood reborn. His white hair shimmered faintly gold, his eyes glowing like twin universes.
The Soul Sovereign smiled faintly.
> "You've done what even I could not. You didn't ascend by separation… but by unity."
Lu Fan bowed deeply. "Every life deserved meaning. I only gave them peace."
Shen Xi raised his hand, summoning a vast crystal of light — the Soul Core of the realm.
> "Then take my gift — the Soul of Eternity. With it, you can traverse realms of death, pierce false reincarnations, and awaken the true essence of being."
The crystal dissolved into Lu Fan's chest.
> [Sovereign Soul System Unlocked.]
[Ability: Soul Dominion — Command all soul forces within infinite range.]
[New Title: Eternal Reclaimer.]
The void trembled. Every lost soul bowed, whispering his name.
Lu Fan turned, gazing at the endless emptiness — and for a brief moment, he saw it:
A fragment of the Universal Library, drifting beyond the edges of the void.
It pulsed like a living heart — watching him.
> "So," Lu Fan murmured softly, "you've been waiting here all along."
The Library's voice echoed faintly, like a whisper from eternity:
> "And soon, you will learn… why you were chosen."
The void shattered into light — and Lu Fan stepped into the next realm.
---