402: Death is the only freedom.

No matter how Shen Wuya urged the self-detonation, the energy was completely absorbed and converted by the giant starry hand, failing to even stir a ripple!

Lu Chen's consciousness roared with laughter inside the Cave Heaven: "Shen Wuya, you truly are too arrogant! You actually dared to sneak inside my Physical Body to detonate? Don't you know this is a hundred times harder than killing me outside? My Cave Heaven is my Divine Kingdom, my Domain, my absolute home turf!"

Shen Wuya's voice was not panicked; instead, it revealed a trace of sorrowful clarity: "Of course I know... but I also know that you definitely possess some life-saving, Rebirth Divine Artifact! The last time the Five Great Heavenly Venerables clearly killed you, yet you were Reborn. Therefore, even if I kill you outside, you will surely undergo Rebirth! Only by detonating your Cave Heaven from within, destroying all your Divine Power Foundation, Magic Treasure Origin, and Reincarnation imprint, can I truly end you!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen couldn't help but gasp—the implications were terrifying!

If he hadn't decisively devoured the Ghost Emperor's demon core just now, forcefully achieving a Breakthrough to Territory Suppression Peak, stabilizing his Cave Heaven like the Universe, he truly might have been caught by Shen Wuya's mutual annihilation move!

Once the Cave Heaven collapsed, even the authority of the Heavenly Dao would be damaged, and resurrection would become a pipe dream!

Lu Chen fell silent for a moment, displaying a rare trace of appreciation: "Seeing as you are one of the people I admire from the Civilization I created... I will give you a chance for a final testament. Speak!"

Deep within the Cave Heaven, the Martial Soul bamboo flute trembled slightly, and Shen Wuya's unrestrained voice leisurely rang out:

"Half a lifetime upholding the Martial Soul, questioning the heavens; A single flute disperses ten thousand layers of smoke. Seeking not eternal life upon the Divine Throne, But fighting fate to shatter the Abyss. If there is a next life without the Heavenly Dao, I shall be a youth in the mortal world."

After the recitation was complete, the bamboo flute's light gradually dimmed, finally turning into specks of stardust, dissipating with the wind among the hundred thousand stars.

The Lord of the Martial Soul Generation thus perished, without regret or resentment.

Listening to Shen Wuya's farewell poem, Lu Chen couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy. Unlike the creators of other Civilizations who pursued power, wealth, and beauty, Shen Wuya was wholeheartedly dedicated to developing the martial soul civilization, sacrificing himself selflessly and without reserve.

It was a pity that he was ultimately destined to be cannon fodder; he could not become that free youth.

The Destiny Fragments flew out of Shen Wuya's body, and the Fragments of Bai Jingjing, whom he had killed, were also directly caught by Lu Chen.

Ding!

[Congratulations, Master, you have collected ten Destiny Fragments in total. The trial duration has been reduced from 500 years to 400 years. You can also explore other hidden easter eggs to further reduce the trial duration.]

Utterly useless!!

Only the weak fear time. Now that Lu Chen was invincible, let alone 500 years, even 5,000 years made no difference to him!!

Emperor Qin looked at the Divine Blood that had not yet dispersed after Ling Tian's explosion, and listened to the last wisp of flute music as Shen Wuya's Martial Soul turned to ash. His heart felt as if it had plummeted into an abyss of ice.

He knew the momentum was lost, and there was no power left to reverse the situation.

The mighty lord who once swept across the heavens and suppressed myriad worlds now sighed toward the sky, his voice hoarse and desolate: "Have I, in the end, still failed to achieve it... Pitiful, lamentable! I ruled the Great Qin, burned books and buried scholars to establish the orthodox Dao, cast twelve golden men to suppress the mountains and rivers, and pioneered a path to seize Destiny... Such grand strategy and great vision, yet I was repeatedly tricked by a junior like you, like a stinking dog! I am tired... Kill me, format me. I no longer want to play this cat-and-mouse game with you."

Lu Chen chuckled lightly, his tone carrying a hint of provocation: "How can you surrender already? Didn't you always say, 'My fate is up to me, not Heaven'? How can the dignified Emperor Qin, the Ninth Five Supreme, beg for death today? Come on! Fight me to the death!!"

However, Emperor Qin did not respond.

His eyes were hollow, as if he had returned to the morning of his initial enthronement at Xianyang Palace. Back then, he was high-spirited, vowing for a dynasty of ten thousand generations; back then, he trusted neither gods nor Buddhas, only the authority in his hands; back then, he thought he was Destiny itself... But now, Ling Tian was dead, Shen Wuya was annihilated, and even the heaven opening axe he prided himself on was shattered into scrap iron.

He suddenly understood—so-called Destiny was merely a cage woven by the Heavenly Dao; so-called resistance was just a performance within a script.

At this moment, Emperor Qin seemed to age tens of thousands of years.

He was no longer the Territory Suppression Great Emperor, no longer the Lord of Civilization, but merely an old man broken by fate.

He slowly took out the already severely damaged Qin Dynasty Imperial Seal from his embrace—the corner of the seal was chipped, the Dragon pattern was dim, yet a trace of Great Qin Luck still lingered.

With his withered fingers, he gently stroked the surface of the seal one last time, as if stroking his departed Empire, dreams, and pride.

Then, he sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and folded his hands upon his knees, his posture serene like an old monk in meditation.

Time passed minute by minute.

There was no self-detonation, no burning, no struggle.

He just sat there quietly, his breathing weakening, his heartbeat slowing, and the light of his Divine Soul silently extinguishing—

He actually... died of natural causes just like that!

Even Lu Chen was stunned, finding it hard to believe: "This... How is this possible?!"

One must know that Emperor Qin was a Territory Suppression Peak expert! His Physical Body was immortal, his Divine Soul indestructible; even living for another hundred thousand years would be more than enough.

Yet he chose to pass away peacefully, like a frail old man in the mortal world, his mental strength exhausted, his life force spent!

This was not death in battle, nor being murdered, but death of the heart.

When a person completely extinguishes the thought of "living," even with heaven-defying cultivation, they are nothing more than an empty shell.

Lu Chen remained silent for a long time before finally whispering, "Emperor Qin, this counts as the best ending for you... You died a peaceful death."

Before his voice faded, Lu Chen casually flicked a beam of cyan flame from his fingertip, gently enveloping Emperor Qin's remains.

The flames burned silently, neither incinerating the robes nor harming the Imperial Seal, but only transforming the flesh and blood into pure stardust, scattering with the wind across the Divine Void of the Upper Realm.

Just as the remains dissipated, dozens of brilliant light spots ascended from the ashes—those were Destiny Fragments!

Lu Chen's scalp went numb.

Many among them were famous and powerful individuals from previous Civilizations, such as the Heaven Burning Battle Venerable Zhu Yan of the primordial desolation civilization, the Chief Heavenly Punisher Xuan Ming of the kunlun civilization, and even the Eternal Night Emperor Night Mare of the Transmigrator Civilization.

Most outrageously, there were even people from the great qin civilization like Snow White, Li Bing, Meng Yi, and Master Craftsman Ban.

Lin Fei had previously begged Emperor Qin to help him find the whereabouts of his past life wife, Snow White, but he never expected that Emperor Qin had long ago killed Snow White and absorbed her Fragments simply to gather more Destiny Fragments!!

To Emperor Qin, anyone who could help him rise and achieve imperial dominance could become his sacrifice!!

In his life, Emperor Qin traversed myriad worlds, dominated the heavens, and stepped upon countless remains to reach the Territory Suppression Peak.

For thousands of years, he sought and collected Destiny Fragments, believing that this would allow him to seize the authority of the Heavenly Dao and end the Heavenly Dao Reincarnation.

But only at the final moment of his life did he suddenly achieve complete enlightenment—

It turned out that all of this was merely an easter egg in a trial script designed by the Heavenly Dao for itself.

Those stunningly talented heroic Souls, those Civilizations that met a tragic end, those Destiny Fragments he treasured... were nothing more than System-preset plot embellishments, background footnotes added to give depth to the protagonist, and meticulously arranged NPCs in the growth of the Heavenly Dao!

Even his rise, his resistance, his schemes... were only intended to make this Heavenly Dao trial seem more real, more moving, and possess greater dramatic tension.

At that moment, his belief shattered like colored glass, and his will dried up like a galaxy.

Thus, this Emperor who once forced myriad worlds to submit closed his eyes and allowed his Soul to extinguish in silence—

Like a player who had seen through the ending, he voluntarily quit this game with no chance of victory.

He chose to die in the most ordinary way,

Because in the face of this grand fate,

death became his only freedom.