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Shan Liang POV
Twenty years.
It was hard to believe that twenty years had passed since Xie E and I first stepped beyond Heartspring Settlement and left its walls behind.
At that time, we were pioneersâguides holding the hands of a civilization that had just learned to walk. Now, the world no longer needed us to correct every step.
The wind brushed past my face as I stood atop a rocky ridge, looking down at the land below.
Cities.
Not one. Not two.
More than fifteen.
Each one different, yet unmistakably familiar.
Wide central roads. Residential rings. Inner academies. Storage districts. Watchtowers. Healing halls. Every city carried the unmistakable blueprint of Heartspringâthe first true town humanity had ever built.
What once had been scattered tribes struggling to survive had become something⊠enduring.
Human civilization.
Beside me stood Xie E, his arms crossed, his aura calm yet heavy like a drawn blade resting in its sheath.
We had both reached the same place.
Peak of the Ninth Tier.
There was nowhere higher to go as mortals.
My spirit power was vast, refined to its absolute limit. Every breath resonated with the world itself. I could feel the pulse of the land beneath my feet, the flow of life in the forests, the distant heartbeats of cities miles away.
And yetâ
I felt stuck.
"Do you feel it too?" I asked quietly.
Xie E nodded. "Like standing before a door without knowing which key fits."
That door had revealed itself years ago.
During our travels, deep within a mountain range where the air grew thin and ancient, we encountered a being that was neither beast nor human.
A Dragon Officer.
He had descended in silence, scales shimmering like molten gold, eyes carrying the indifference of eternity.
"You have reached the limit of mortality," he had said calmly. "Beyond this lies godhood."
Godhood.
The word had shaken me more than any battle ever had.
We asked him about the upper realm. About gods. About what awaited us beyond the boundary of life.
"There is only one human god," the Dragon Officer told us. "He ascended long ago. His godhood is not bound to an element or weaponâbut to Humanity itself."
I still remembered my heart skipping a beat when he said that.
"One god?" I had asked carefully. "Only one?"
He nodded. "If you succeed, you will be the second and third human gods."
I asked the question that had haunted me ever since.
"Is there⊠a God of Wisdom?"
The Dragon Officer frowned slightly, then shook his head.
"No. There is no such god. The human god's authority grows as humans grow. As they advance, so does he."
That answer had confused me at the time.
Now, it troubled me.
The Dragon Officer had departed soon after, clearly eager to leave what he called a "backward planet." His final words still echoed in my mind.
"Find your path. Mortality ends where purpose becomes absolute."
And so, we returned.
Returned not because we were weakâbut because we were lost.
Heartspring City welcomed us like old friends.
Children ran through streets that had once been dirt paths. Scholars debated in academies that had not existed when I was born. Farmers stored surplus grain measured not in desperation, but in planning.
The world had learned to live without us.
And that scared me more than any monster ever could.
The system sensed my unrest.
It issued one final task.
[Final Path Determination Initiated]
[Objective: Define Desired Godhood]
[Status: Required for Ascension Beyond Mortality]
I argued with it endlessly.
"What kind of god am I supposed to be?" I demanded. "A healer? An elemental god? A protector? A judge?"
The system never answered directly.
Only once did it respond with a hint.
[Host and Node Xie E are polar opposites]
[Resolution for one will reveal the path for the other]
That answer frustrated me to no end.
Days turned into weeks.
Weeks into a month.
Still no answer.
Until I returned to the garden.
The garden was quiet, bathed in afternoon sunlight. I sat beneath a flowering tree, staring at my reflection in the pond.
Who am I?
The question felt heavier than godhood itself.
Am I a teacher?
A guide?
A warrior?
If I became a god, what would I represent?
Lost in thought, I didn't notice the footsteps until a shadow fell across the grass.
"Why does a person who carries so much warmth look so troubled?"
I looked up.
An old man stood there, leaning on a wooden staff.
At first, I didn't recognize him.
Thenâ
My breath caught.
"YouâŠ" I whispered.
It was him.
The first person I had healed.
The old man whose life I had saved on the day the system chose me.
"You've grown," he said with a smile. "But you still sit the same way when you're worried."
I laughed softly and invited him to sit.
I told him everything.
My doubts.
My fear of choosing wrong.
My terror of becoming something unrecognizable.
"What am I?" I asked him quietly. "What do I represent?"
The old man listened patiently.
Then he smiled.
"Kindness," he said simply.
I froze.
"In this harsh world," he continued, "you were kindness given form. You healed without asking for reward. You guided without seeking power. You stayed when others ruled through fear."
His voice trembled slightly.
"You are the kindness gods offer mortals when the world becomes too cruel."
Something shattered inside me.
Kindness.
Not weakness.
Not mercy alone.
But the courage to careâeven when it hurts.
It had always been there.
I didn't choose it.
It was who I was.
I ran.
For the first time in decades, I ran like a child through the streets.
I found Xie E standing near the watchtower.
"I know," I said breathlessly. "I know who I am."
He listened.
Then he laughedâdeep and unrestrained.
"If you are kindness," he said, eyes sharp and fierce, "then I will be the evil that protects it."
The realization struck us both at the same time.
Poles.
Opposites.
Balance.
The system chimed.
[Path Determination Complete]
[Candidate Shan Liang: Kindness Authority Identified]
[Candidate Xie E: Evil Authority Identified]
[Divine Pathways Unlocked]
Knowledge flooded my mind.
Faith manipulation.
Divine condensation.
Authority stabilization.
Then, one final message.
[Mission Complete]
[System Unbinding Initiated]
[Awaiting Next Worthy Host]
I felt the connection loosen.
Not sadness.
Peace.
The system had done its job.
And nowâ
So would we.
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