310: Some choices are not about right or wrong.

The power of time caused the scenes of that day to replay continuously before Lin Yuan's eyes. Lin Yuan's Divine Thought 'saw' waves of energy—some strong, some weak, carrying complex emotions of terror, reluctance, guilt, and resolve—surging from every corner of the globe toward the Kunlun Mountains like a hundred rivers returning to the sea!

The projection of the heaven-reaching pagoda glowed with a brilliant clear light, forming a massive vortex that swallowed every life form possessing a Martial Dao Foundation—whether they were Spirit Refining Realm experts or Martial Artists who had just reached the Body Tempering Realm!

And those left behind... were billions of ordinary citizens completely abandoned in a doomsday Hell! They watched as the Martial Artists among their relatives and friends disappeared into the pillars of light in the sky, while they themselves could only remain where they were, facing the surging darkness and death... The despair and resentment of that moment were enough to dye the sky black!

Lin Yuan gazed at the Blue Planet submerged in despair within his Divine Thought. His fingertips sank deep into his palms, yet he didn't feel the slightest bit of pain.

Ji Fengyun's blood-weeping voice still echoed on the screen. That figure who once symbolized hope had now lost all filters of love and hate in his eyes, leaving behind only a complexity so heavy it was suffocating.

He saw that when Ji Fengyun said it 'can only carry Martial Artists,' the tears rolling from the corners of his eyes were not faked. When he heard that phrase 'a decision of heart-wrenching pain,' the tearing tremble in his voice could not hide the despair—that was a struggler standing before the dead end of world destruction who, after having all illusions crushed, had no choice but to pick up the 'kindling' from the ruins.

The clear light of the Kunlun heaven-reaching pagoda flowed through his Divine Thought like a cold boundary line, separating billions of ordinary citizens and Martial Artists into two paths of life and death. Lin Yuan watched those abandoned figures reach out their hands in the darkness, watching the transformation in their eyes from pleading to malice. What surged in his chest was not rage, but an even heavier sense of powerlessness.

"So... you also reached this point," he whispered to himself, his voice devoid of hate but carrying a hint of exhaustion that spanned across time and space.

Ji Fengyun might have been wrong—wrong to use the Martial Dao Foundation as the sole metric for the survival of civilization, and wrong to let billions of lives become abandoned pieces. But Lin Yuan knew even better that in the face of the despair of the Burial God Abyss swallowing everything, this choice might have had no right answer from the very beginning.

"Kindling... is it?"

Lin Yuan looked up toward the Void Realm. In the images, the torrent of Martial Artists surging toward Kunlun no longer appeared as 'chosen lucky ones' in his eyes, but rather a slim chance of survival that Ji Fengyun had forcibly wedged into the cracks using the despair of billions.

He did not roar, nor did he release any pressure; he simply slowly clenched his fists. Within the strength that turned his knuckles white was something more resolute than rage! This matter was partly caused by him severely wounding the projected will of the Lord of the Dark Abyss. Once he settled the issues of the Blue Planet, he would surely make the Dark Abyss Plane endure his heaven-toppling wrath in the future!

His parents felt the sudden withdrawal of the ferocity from their son, which transformed into a nearly stagnant heaviness. Following his gaze toward that scorched earth, they sighed silently. Some choices have never been about right or wrong, only about the price that must be carried.

Ji Fengyun's blood-weeping face and the cold clear light of the heaven-reaching pagoda intertwined and replayed in Lin Yuan's Divine Thought. Those billions of pairs of eyes extinguished in the darkness, that half of a planet completely abandoned and sunk into the abyss, weighed heavily on his Dao Heart like a cold lead weight.

Was he angry? Yes. But more than that, there was a sense of exhaustion and understanding spanning across time and space. Standing in Ji Fengyun's position, before the world-destroying maw of the Burial God Abyss, and when the heaven-reaching pagoda gave those cruel 'protection rules,' wasn't that heart-wrenching decision another form of bearing despair?

Ji Fengyun bore the shackles of the 'abandoner' for the sake of that sliver of kindling he forcibly wedged into the crack. This kindling was a path paved with the despair of billions.

"Kindling..." Lin Yuan repeated in a low voice, his gaze as deep as the Universe. "Ji Fengyun, what you left behind are also seeds, hope, and shackles. These shackles should not imprison them forever."

He slowly raised his hand, and the ancient primal divine seal emerged in his palm, emitting a faint light that connected to the Primal Plane. He glanced at his parents huddling together, then at this battered mother planet that had carried too much pain and parting. After confirming there was no longer any danger on the Blue Planet's side, his gaze became incomparably resolute.

"Dad, Mom, wait here peacefully for now. Your son is going to find a new home for you and the remaining people of the Blue Planet."

Buzz!

Space ripples shimmered, and Lin Yuan's figure instantly disappeared from the Blue Planet!

Xuanxiao Great World, Spirit Martial Hall branch.

The light of the teleportation array lit up. Feng Tianxiu, who was still waiting by the array, spoke with a voice full of surprise and concern: "Brother Lin? Back so soon? How is it over on the Blue Planet..." Before he could finish, he saw Lin Yuan's current state clearly.

Exhaustion! A massive sense of exhaustion that went deep into the marrow and originated from the Soul level enveloped Lin Yuan. His aura, which was originally as unfathomable as one walking through Chaos, now appeared somewhat unstable, and his face carried an unnatural paleness.

What made Feng Tianxiu's heart skip a beat even more was Lin Yuan's gaze—it was no longer the sharpness that looked down upon myriad Daos, but was settled with an indescribable heaviness, as if he had just taken the weight of an entire galaxy onto his shoulders.

"Brother Feng," Lin Yuan's voice was somewhat raspy, carrying a faint, imperceptible weariness. After conveying the current situation of the Blue Planet to Feng Tianxiu via Divine Thought, he cut straight to the point without any pleasantries.

"I need a Small World. Three-star, the top-tier kind. Requirements: stable environment, abundant and gentle Spiritual Qi, a complete ecosystem, preferably ownerless or with extremely few indigenous inhabitants, easy to manage, and located... near the Xuanxiao Great World, to make it convenient for the Spirit Martial Hall to look after it."

Feng Tianxiu's pupils constricted. A three-star Small World? With Lin Yuan's current status as a Myriad Dao Realm Dao Lord and his unfathomable wealth, he could easily afford a six-star Middle Thousand Worlds! Why choose a three-star one?

"Brother, a three-star Small World? This..." Feng Tianxiu couldn't help but speak, his tone filled with confusion. "The Origin of a three-star world is limited, its growth potential isn't great, and the Spiritual Qi concentration and completeness of Laws are far inferior to a Middle Thousand Worlds. With your strength and the... well, the scale of the population you need to settle, wouldn't a stable Middle Thousand Worlds be better? The resources are richer, and it's safer."

Lin Yuan shook his head, his gaze deep. "No need, a three-star Small World is enough."

He looked at Feng Tianxiu and explained, "First, I cannot act as a babysitter for a billion people at all times. While a Middle Thousand Worlds has rich resources, its Laws are powerful, the environment is complex, Vicious Beasts run rampant, and there are established powers of local experts. Suddenly throwing a group of Blue Planet survivors who have no Foundation—and of whom the vast majority are ordinary people—into such a place would be no different from throwing lambs into a pack of tigers and wolves; they would face a catastrophe in an instant. That wouldn't be protection; it would be a death warrant."

"Second, a three-star Small World has gentle Laws. Although the Spiritual Qi concentration isn't as high as a Middle Thousand Worlds, it is enough to nourish ordinary people and low-level Martial Artists, even far surpassing the Blue Planet of old. Limited Origin means the 'ceiling' within the world isn't high, and there are fewer powerful local threats."

"Being ownerless or having few indigenous inhabitants makes it easy to manage and reduces conflict. This small patch of land is enough for them to rest, recover, learn, and adapt, laying down a good Foundation. Like seedlings, they must first stabilize their roots in a greenhouse before they can be transplanted to the fertile wild to face the wind and rain and grow toward the heavens."

"Third," a cold flash of decisiveness crossed Lin Yuan's eyes, "and most importantly. The kindling of the Blue Planet's civilization cannot forever rely on the protection of others to survive. Ji Fengyun took a portion of the kindling into the heaven-reaching pagoda, but he also turned the remaining people into rootless duckweed. Giving them a three-star world provides them with a Foundation, a springboard, and a trial ground!"

"Brother Feng, please help me open temporary, large-scale teleportation permissions between the Spirit Martial Hall branch on the Blue Planet and this Small World. I want to migrate all the remaining people of the Blue Planet to that three-star Small World! At the same time, I hope the selection channels of the Spirit Martial Hall will be completely opened to this new home!"