Standing before the stone demon, forged by Mo Fan through a pact of blood and rock, I knew this was the end.
My Healing Starlight Galaxy was completely dry. It was a shame I never managed to break through to the Super Level in that element, but what was done was done. My Light Starlight Cosmos was equally spent, and while my Spirit Starlight Cosmos still retained about a tenth of its energy, it was useless against a stone golem. The remnants of my Space and Time Starlight Universes could easily obliterate the creature, but what would be the point? I couldn't kill Mo Fan anyway, not with Mu Bai and Azalea-those damned crows-standing right behind him. No, I would channel every last drop of my remaining magic into my own insane idea. What did I have left to lose? Humanity was nearly wiped out. The cycle had repeated itself once more.
How on earth had I ended up in this state? Thinking back over my present life, my earliest memory was awakening in the body of a six-year-old orphan named Su Yutao in Bo City. I had quickly realized I was reincarnated into the world of Versatile Mage, a popular Chinese web novel I had read only once-a lapse in thoroughness I had regretted thousands of times in this life.
After trying a thousand and one ways to summon a system, I came to the grim realization that my cheats were either severely delayed or simply non-existent. To be safe, I decided to become best friends with the protagonist. In a world where a total slaughterhouse of sea monsters-and occasionally undead-would erupt in twenty-one years, leaving China, the second most populous nation on Earth, with only five heavily besieged cities, flying solo was simply not an option. By tagging along with the protagonist, even if I failed to become a mage, I stood a decent chance of securing a relatively safe haven in one of those surviving strongholds.
So, I constantly ran out from the orphanage to play with Mo Fan, who turned out to be the exact same age as me. Every spare moment away from our games was spent buried in the library. By sixteen, I passed the entrance exams for Tian Lan Magic High School, placing second overall. Even back then, Mu Bai was already showing the early sparks of his genius. Everything unfolded strictly according to canon: Mo Fan received his Dragon Amulet from the middle school guard, failed his initial exam due to his soul fusion, and his father sold their house just to secure him a spot through the back door. During the Awakening Ceremony, I was second in line for our class and awakened the Light element. Naturally, Mu Bai and his little lapdog immediately mocked me, suggesting I go jump off the roof. What a total jerk he had been in his youth.
For three years, I cultivated diligently. Unsurprisingly, with the Light element, my combat capabilities were practically non-existent. During the Bo City disaster, I stayed by Xinxia's side and carried her in my arms all the way to the safe zone. In return, Mo Fan shared the energy of the Underground Holy Spring from his amulet, helping me break through to the Intermediate Level. Upon awakening my second element, I gained the Spirit element and realized I could finally attack. Later, I obtained my Light Spirit Seed from old Zhao as a reward for my contribution during the scaled demon crisis.
I broke through to the High Level during the National College Magic Competition while serving on the defensive team, which was when my true cheat finally activated-the Time element.
I advanced to the Super Level alongside Mu Bai after the ordeal at the Tomb of Cheops, unlocking the Space element. Later, I reached the Forbidden Curse level in Time, and subsequently Space, after the Battle of Shanghai, which also unlocked my Healing element. After surviving all those relentless battles against monsters, undead, demons, titans, archangels, mages, and every other imaginable enemy, I thought I could finally catch my breath and study my heavenly gifts in Time and Space Forbidden Curses. But then the unexpected happened-something absent from the original novel, yet terrifyingly logical, something I had completely overlooked: Mo Fan was taken over by the Dark King.
In hindsight, it made perfect sense. Mo Fan's body harbored dark elements, dark substances, the Demon Element, the blessing of the Dark King, a soul bond with Azalea-a twelve-winged fallen angel-and a contract with Alpasa, a direct descendant of the very first Cursed Beast created by the Dark King. To top it all off, one of his spiritual incarnations, a literal piece of his soul, was sealed right inside the Dark Plane. You couldn't hit a bigger jackpot of doom if you tried.
Ultimately, Mo Fan became one of the Four Rulers of the Dark Plane, though in truth he was merely a puppet for the Dark King. Through him, the Dark King seized control over fifty percent of the Dark Plane, multiplying his power exponentially after merging with Mo Fan. Even if it wasn't guaranteed he could crush his rivals-who would surely unite against him-the fallout was catastrophic. Before the war of dark deities could even fully erupt, the mortal world entered the cycle. What cycle? A harvest cycle, strikingly similar to the plot of Mass Effect. But instead of targeting all advanced spacefaring species, this one wiped out humanity through the relentless force of monster empires, aided by the burgeoning power of the demigod Mo Fan.
As I later learned, this cycle was far from the first. In the previous cycle, the Totem Beasts had been created to help humanity regain its footing faster in the next era. They were essentially a fusion of Necromancy, Spirit, Summoning, and various other elements depending on the specific Totem. I didn't know what had triggered human extinction in the earlier cycles, but in both the previous one and this current one, the catalyst was Fusion Magic.
In the last cycle, Fusion Magic was used to seal the Naxi Emperor, one of the supreme beings of that era. In this cycle, it was used to push back one of the main Ocean Emperors, albeit with the crucial aid of the ancient Totems.
A sudden movement caught my eye: the stone demon was swinging its massive fist toward me, rudely interrupting my inner deathbed monologue. Well then, it was time to execute my plan; a moment later would be too late.
The gloves that aided my Fusion Magic began to glow on my hands. I channeled the remaining energies of Time, Space, and Spirit, burning my very soul to push my still largely unresearched heavenly gifts to their absolute limits.
A split second after the spell completed, the colossal stone hand crushed Su Yutao's body into dust, bringing his journey in this world to an abrupt end.
Or did it?