Julia stood still for a moment, then she closed her eyes.
"The Almighty, Angel Goddess,"
"The one who has gazed upon this place from beyond."
"The ruler above chaos and the wanderer of the endless void."
"The one who masters dreams and memories."
"Please accept… this offering."
The sunlight filtering through the canopy above began to distort.
The golden rays bent unnaturally, as if refracted through an invisible prism. Colors that did not belong to this world seeped into the space—faint hues of rainbow, and something indescribable.
The boundary between reality and illusion blurred. For a single second, it felt as though dreams and reality had overlapped.
Julia opened her eyes and looked at the altar.
The head… was gone.
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"Well… at least you were useful in the end."
Her tone was calm, almost indifferent, yet there was a trace of something deeper beneath it.
"The martial soul of an Azure Dragon… a mythical existence symbolizing auspiciousness…"
Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
"…now touched by divinity, because you were chosen as an inheritor."
"I wonder…"
Her voice softened.
"…what SHE intends to do with you."
----
Divine Realm, Angel Temple
After an unknown amount of time, Yu Ming slowly regained consciousness.
At first, there was only light—soft, warm, and all-encompassing. It wrapped around him like a gentle tide, numbing his senses and dulling the sharp edges of pain. However, as his awareness returned, so did confusion. It seemed that he has forgotten something important. He tried to move, only to realize once again the absurdity of his condition.
'…Right. I'm just a head.'
The thought came calmly, almost too calmly. It was as if something inside him had been smoothed over, his usual panic and arrogance muted by the strange serenity of this place.
His eyes rolled slightly, attempting to take in his surroundings.
The world around him was bathed in a sacred glow, so pure that it made even the air seem luminous. For a fleeting moment, a ridiculous thought surfaced in his mind.
'Did I… actually make it to heaven?'
He let out a silent scoff in his heart.
'If this is heaven, it's not what I imagined.'
There were no floating clouds, no endless white plains stretching into eternity. Instead, above him hung a gigantic sun—vast and radiant,
'Strange…'
Yu Ming narrowed his eyes slightly.
'And why would I be here of all places?'
Then, as if recalling something distant, a name surfaced in his thoughts.
'Qian Renxue…'
The moment that name formed clearly in his mind, the world trembled.
It was subtle at first—a ripple, like a stone dropped into still water. Then, cracks began to spread across the very fabric of his surroundings. The radiant environment fractured like glass, and with a soft, almost melodic sound, it shattered.
Fragments of illusion broke apart into countless colorful bubbles, drifting away and dissolving into nothingness.
What remained was… ruin.
The light was still there. The gigantic sun still hung above, unwavering and eternal. But everything else had changed.
The pristine "heaven" was gone.
In its place stood a desolate, broken expanse. Crumbling walls leaned at unnatural angles, their surfaces scarred. Shattered columns lay scattered across the ground, some reduced to mere fragments, others barely standing. It looked less like a divine sanctuary and more like the aftermath of a catastrophic storm.
Yet Yu Ming paid none of that any attention.
His gaze had already locked onto someone.
At the centre of the ruins stood a throne.
It was not ostentatious, nor was it adorned with excessive decoration. However, its very presence carried an indescribable weight, as if it was the center upon which this entire broken world revolved.
And upon that throne—sat a woman.
Her eyes were closed, as if she were in a deep slumber, untouched by the destruction around her. Her long golden hair cascaded down like flowing sunlight, each strand shimmering under the radiance of the massive sun above.
Behind her head floated five divine golden rings, perfectly formed and exuding an ancient, sacred authority.
And just beyond them…an illusory sixth ring flickered faintly.It was incomplete—unstable—yet it gave off a terrifying sense of inevitability, as though it would solidify into reality at any given moment.
Yu Ming's thoughts… stopped.
For the first time since his reincarnation, since obtaining power,—his mind went completely blank.
Only one thing remained-Her.
It was not merely beauty.
It was something far beyond a normal charm—an existence that seemed to stand above all definitions, above all mortal comprehension. Even the charm of Eros God felt shallow and crude in comparison.
Yu Ming's pupils trembled slightly.
His lips parted unconsciously, and before he could even realize it, words escaped from him in a dazed whisper.
"Those portraits on Douluo Contient… didn't do you justice…"
His voice was soft, almost reverent, as if he were afraid that speaking too loudly would shatter the moment.
Yu Ming's dazed gaze lingered on her, unwilling—perhaps unable—to move away.
Something almost imperceptible, stirred upon her lap. His attention was drawn downward, his thoughts sluggish, as if wading through a dream.
It was slender… elegant… was lifting into the air.
'…A quill?'
It floated upward with a will of its own.
The object was delicate, almost fragile in appearance. Its surface shimmered faintly, as though inked with fragments of dreams themselves. The tip glowed with a dim, shifting light, like thoughts not yet written.
Before Yu Ming could think further, instinctually—forced his gaze back up and that was when he saw it her eyes… were open.