"Senior Feng Yan."
Lin Qingyue's voice shattered the dead silence of the place.
"Do you truly believe mortals will always need the protection of gods?"
Her gaze was clear and sharp.
It pierced straight through the deepest-rooted conviction Feng Yan had held for ten million years.
"Have you ever considered that mortals also grow and progress?"
"They might stumble along, and they might make countless mistakes."
"But one day, they will finally be able to govern their own nations and face their own crises."
Feng Yan slowly raised her head.
Within those gray pupils, a violent storm surged.
Confusion.
Doubt.
And...
The violent tremor when a truth rooted in the soul is arrogantly challenged.
"I have witnessed the rise and fall of countless civilizations..."
Her voice was no longer pure silence; every syllable carried a struggle.
"Each time, when I woke from Nirvana, all I saw was a field of ruins."
"They... cannot do it."
"That's because you've never truly let go!"
Lin Qingyue's voice suddenly rose, each word striking Feng Yan's heart like a nail.
"A god's duty is to guide, not to keep them like livestock!"
"You've taken the entire burden of protection upon yourself, never letting it go for ten million years, so of course you'll be crushed!"
"You are like an overindulgent mother, always thinking her child cannot survive without her."
"So you arrange everything for them, clearing all obstacles in their path."
"And the result?"
"You have robbed them of the chance to grow, and left yourself physically and mentally exhausted!"
These words exploded like thunder in the depths of Feng Yan's withered soul.
Livestock...
The word was unbearably harsh.
Yet it was also unbearably accurate.
She recalled that nauseating cycle.
Each time, she had done everything in her power to shelter and guide them.
She bestowed fire upon mortals, helping them resist the cold.
She taught mortals to farm, so they would no longer go hungry.
She healed their ailments, keeping them away from pain.
She thought she had fulfilled her duties as a Guardian Deity, but never considered that this meticulous "protection" was itself the heaviest of all shackles.
"Your exhaustion and sorrow stem from this very point."
Lin Qingyue watched the struggle in Feng Yan's eyes grow more violent as she pressed her advantage.
"You gave them everything, yet you found them still fragile, still walking toward destruction."
"The massive gap between your sacrifice and their reward has left you disappointed, pained, and finally, with a dead heart!"
"You feel your protection is meaningless, and your immortality is worthless!"
"But have you ever wondered if, perhaps, your methods were wrong from the start?"
Feng Yan's body trembled uncontrollably.
The tremor was extremely slight, yet it was an irrepressible reality.
The Ash World around her shook violently in response.
Countless ashes surged skyward, forming a chaotic black vortex that mirrored the collapse of her inner world.
"Wrong...?"
This thought terrified her more than admitting defeat.
If the Path she had steadfastly followed for ten million years was itself a fallacy.
Then what would become of the endless pain and despair she had endured?
A joke?
"You must have been in this state for quite some time, yet the mortal races still live and work in peace and contentment."
"Perhaps they are not as prosperous as they were during your time, but they are certainly not doing poorly!"
"Since you long for liberation, since you are weary of this endless cycle..."
Lin Qingyue held her teacup, walked up to Feng Yan, and gazed directly into those eyes where a storm was gathering.
"Why not try another kind of 'Nirvana'?"
"A 'Nirvana'... that belongs to you alone."
She enunciated each word, her voice calm yet carrying a power that could shatter the cognition of gods.
"Just like Zhongli, let go."
"Become a mortal and immerse yourself in the mortal world you once guarded."
"No longer looking down from on high, but truly feeling the warmth of human life."
"Go eat a bowl of hot soup noodles by the roadside."
"Go listen to a crude folk tune in a teahouse."
"Make a friend of a mortal who will age, sicken, and die."
"Go pursue a 'desire' you have never had, one that belongs only to you!"
"When you are no longer 'Feng Yan the Guardian Deity,' but simply an ordinary individual, 'Feng Yan,' perhaps you will finally find the answer you truly seek."
"That is not death."
"It is... rebirth."
Lin Qingyue had finished speaking.
The entire Ash World once again fell into a profound, deathly silence.
The storm subsided.
The vortex dissipated.
Feng Yan stared blankly at Lin Qingyue.
Deep within those gray pupils, for the first time in ages, the reflection of a person appeared clearly.
A human girl with pink hair.
Eyes brighter than the stars.
In those eyes, there was no pity, no consolation.
Only an equal, heartfelt respect.
She was not preaching to a god.
She was guiding a lost and suffering soul toward a brand new Path.
After a long, long time.
Feng Yan's lips, covered in dead ash, parted slightly.
"I..."
With just a single word, she could no longer make a sound.
But Lin Qingyue knew.
The ten-thousand-year-old ice sealing Feng Yan's heart had already quietly cracked open.
A single ray of sunlight finally found its way in.
At that very moment, outside the Illusion, Lin Xiyue, Su Wan, and Xia Lian, who had already escaped their own Illusions, simultaneously sensed the change.
The suffocatingly hot aura that had filled the ruins, stirring unrest in their hearts, was rapidly fading.
The air carried a hint of gentle, nourishing life.
"Sis..."
Lin Xiyue tightened her grip on her shield and gazed at the black arched gateway, her eyes a mixture of worry and trust.
Su Wan and Xia Lian also looked into the depths.
They knew that Lin Qingyue was definitely solving the problem everyone else was helpless against in her own unique and always unexpected way.
Within the Ash World.
On the massive, charred Parasol Tree, new, emerald-green leaves were gently swaying in a breeze from an unknown source.
Beside the leaves, a fuller, emerald-green bud stubbornly broke through the charred bark.
A rebirth belonging to a God was about to arrive.
Lin Qingyue watched this scene and finally breathed a sigh of relief, the corners of her lips curving back into that familiar, slightly lazy smile.
It seemed this special "psychological treatment" had been remarkably effective.
The Class Panel timely popped up a notification.
[ Trial of the Heavenly Gods quest progress has been updated! ]
[ Soothing the endless wrath of the Remnant Soul of the Vermilion Bird is complete. The Vermilion Bird is about to be reborn. ]
[ Current Trial Progress: 1/4 ]
The System also joined in on the fun.
[ Ding! Congratulations to the Host for successfully soothing the endless wrath of the Remnant Soul of the Vermilion Bird through talk therapy. You used a story to successfully bamboozle a Heavenly God. ]
[ Elation Value +6666! ]
Seeing the System's frivolous evaluation, Lin Qingyue rolled her eyes in annoyance.
What do you mean, bamboozle?
This was called prescribing the right medicine for the symptoms, a precise strategy!
Wait...
Heavenly God?
Lin Qingyue's gaze fell upon the Class Panel.
Dungeon Name: "Shadow of the Ancient God."
The Vermilion Bird was a "Heavenly God."
But the Dungeon was the shadow of an "Ancient God."
Did this mean...
The one who had polluted this land and turned the World Fragment into a Dungeon was not a "God" like Feng Yan?
The former Guardian Deity of this land was still not "Ancient" enough?
Then what exactly was the true "Ancient God"?