192: Chapter 192 Memories Retraced, Tragic Past Events

9 seconds.

Lin Ye and Su Qingyue floated in the center of the interior space of the Void Realm rift.

Around them were 1,700 pale blue data clusters, each pulsating at a different frequency—some fast, some slow, some almost still, some flashing wildly.

They were like a sea of stars made of memories, silently recounting the forgotten past.

Lin Ye held three absorbed fragments in his hand.

After they merged into his palm, they left three extremely faint, almost invisible blue patterns.

The patterns pulsed at a frequency of 1.7 seconds per beat.

Synchronized with his own heartbeat.

—

Su Qingyue drifted to his side.

Her health was still dropping: 77% → 74% → 71%.

Data turbulence was eroding her Soul.

But she did not retreat.

She only looked at him.

—

"Lin Ye," she said softly.

"Those memories..."

—

Lin Ye did not speak.

He only looked ahead.

There, a golden light shone.

It was larger than all the light clusters around it.

Brighter than all of them.

More... ancient than all of them.

—

[Data Fragment · No. 4]

[Location: Rift Core Area · Dead Center]

[Integrity: 31%]

[Content: Ancient War · Ruins of the Immortal Realm · Residual Soul Capture]

[Acquisition Difficulty: Extremely High (Must pass through Data Storm Layer)]

—

10 seconds.

Lin Ye drifted forward.

Su Qingyue followed closely behind.

—

11 seconds.

They passed through the relatively calm area and entered the Data Storm Layer.

The concentration of turbulence here was 3 times higher than in the outer perimeter.

[Data Turbulence · Core Layer]

[Damage per second: 15,000 points (Soul damage)]

[Energy Shield: Broken]

[Must endure physically]

—

Lin Ye's health: 90% → 75% → 60% → 45%.

15,000 points per second.

He could hold on for at most 3 seconds.

—

He did not stop.

He rushed forward.

1st second.

2nd second.

3rd second.

—

14 seconds.

He rushed out of the storm layer.

Health: 45% → 30% → 15% → 0%.

[Forced retention of 1 health point]

[Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body · Passive triggered]

[Cooldown: 72 hours]

—

He stood before the golden light cluster.

Su Qingyue was 3 meters behind him.

Her health: 71% → 56% → 41% → 26% → 11%.

She also rushed out.

—

She looked at him.

There was pain in those ice-blue eyes.

But she did not fall.

—

Lin Ye reached out his hand.

He touched the golden light cluster.

—

[Data Fragment · No. 4 · Acquiring]

[Integrity: 31%]

[Content Loading...]

—

His consciousness was dragged into an endless Void Realm.

It was not darkness.

It was "shattered."

Countless fractured stars floated all around.

Each one was rotating slowly.

The surface of each one had countless fine cracks.

Each one was—bleeding.

—

[Ancient Memory Afterimage · Part 1]

[Time: Approximately 470,000 years ago]

[Location: Immortal Realm · Central Heavenly Palace]

—

He saw a palace.

That palace was larger than any building he had ever seen.

The diameter exceeded 1,700 kilometers.

The height was immeasurable.

It floated in the Void Realm, surrounded by 7 burning stars.

Each star pulsed at a frequency of 1.7 seconds per beat.

Synchronized with his heartbeat.

—

In front of the palace stood a person.

That person wore a white robe.

Long hair draped over his shoulders.

His face was gaunt.

His eyes—Lin Ye recognized those eyes.

Li Ruoyu.

—

But this was not the Elder who guarded Chaos Valley.

This was another him.

A him in his prime.

A—Saint.

—

[Li Ruoyu · Ancient Era]

[Identity: Immortal Realm · Central Heavenly Palace · Seventh Sequence Guardian]

[Realm: Peak Saint King]

[Age: 17,000 years old]

[Status: In battle]

—

Behind him stood thousands of people.

There were men and women.

There were old and young.

There were members of the Human Race.

There were members of the Yao Race.

There were members of the Dragon Clan.

There were members of the God Race.

There were Saint Demons.

There were countless races Lin Ye had never seen before.

They stood together.

Looking in the same direction.

—

In that direction, the sky was splitting.

Not tearing.

It was "melting."

A huge, dark purple rift was spreading downward from the dome.

At the edge of the rift, countless fine tentacles, like living creatures, were wriggling.

Every time a tentacle touched anything—a building, a star, or even the air—it "erased" it within 0.1 seconds.

—

[Above the Heavens · Reapers]

[First Invasion]

—

Li Ruoyu raised his right hand.

A ball of golden light condensed in his palm.

That light was brighter than the sun.

Older than time.

And more—pure than Chaos.

—

"Gentlemen of the Immortal Realm," he said.

His voice was not loud.

But everyone heard it.

"Today."

"We stand here."

"Behind us is our homeland."

"Before us is the enemy."

—

He paused.

"There is no retreat."

—

Thousands of people raised their right hands simultaneously.

Thousands of balls of light lit up at the same time.

Thousands of figures charged toward the rift simultaneously.

—

[Ancient Memory Afterimage · Part 2]

[Time: 470,000 years ago · Day 3]

[Location: Immortal Realm · Central Heavenly Palace · Battlefield]

—

Lin Ye did not know how long the battle lasted.

In memory, time had no meaning.

He only saw countless scenes flash before his eyes.

Some were pierced by tentacles.

Some were swallowed by purple light.

Some were still smiling before they died.

Some were still shouting before they died.

—

Li Ruoyu was still there.

His white robe was already dyed blood-red.

Half of his long hair had been cut off.

His left arm—was gone.

But his right hand was still glowing.

—

He stood directly below the rift.

Looking up.

Watching that dark purple rift that was constantly expanding.

3 seconds.

He smiled.

That smile was exactly the same as the Elder who guarded Chaos Valley.

Very faint.

Very light.

Carrying a hint of... exhaustion.

—

"So that's how it is," he said.

"You are not here to destroy us."

"You are here to—harvest us."

—

A voice came from deep within the rift.

The voice had no language.

But Lin Ye "understood."

—

[Your Souls are delicious.]

[Your civilization is magnificent.]

[Your memories are valuable.]

[So—]

[I have come.]

—

Li Ruoyu did not answer.

He simply raised his right hand.

That ball of golden light expanded in his palm.

Getting larger and larger.

Getting brighter and brighter.

—

[Li Ruoyu · Forbidden Technique · Soul Burning]

[Cost: All remaining Lifespan (approximately 3,000 years)]

[Effect: Detonate one's own Soul to create a "Purification Domain" with a radius of 1,700 kilometers]

[Target: Perish together with the Reapers]

—

The light exploded.

Lin Ye's vision was swallowed by white.

—

[Ancient Memory Afterimage · Part 3]

[Time: 470,000 years ago · Day 7]

[Location: Ruins of the Immortal Realm]

—

When he opened his eyes again, he saw ruins.

The Central Heavenly Palace was gone.

The 7 stars had been extinguished.

Thousands of people—had all disappeared.

Only one person was still lying in the Void Realm.

Li Ruoyu.

—

He was not dead.

But only a wisp of his Residual Soul remained.

That wisp of Residual Soul was extremely weak.

So weak that it could dissipate at any moment.

—

He drifted in the Void Realm.

Surrounded by countless equally weak Residual Souls.

Those Residual Souls were the—last remains of those thousands of people.

—

He looked at them.

3 seconds.

He smiled.

That smile was the same as when he was fighting earlier.

But this time, there was a hint of—despair.

—

"They are all dead," he said softly.

"Only these are left."

—

In the Void Realm, a light suddenly lit up.

It was not the purple light of the Reapers.

It was another kind.

Silver-white.

Cold.

Without any temperature.

—

[Heavenly Dao Light Brain · First Appearance]

[Source: Unknown]

[Purpose: Collect Residual Souls]

—

That silver-white light enveloped all the Residual Souls.

Including Li Ruoyu.

—

[Detected 1,743 wisps of Residual Soul]

[Integrity: Varies from 3% to 17%]

[Can be reshaped into "Consciousness Entities"]

[Execute?]

—

Li Ruoyu looked at that light.

3 seconds.

He smiled.

That smile was different from the one filled with despair just now.

This time, there was a hint of—hope.

—

"Reshape them," he said.

"Let them live."

"Even if... it's not truly living."

—

[Command Confirmed]

[Reshaping Begins]

—

The silver-white light exploded.

Lin Ye's vision was swallowed again.

—

[Ancient Memory Afterimage · Part 4]

[Time: 470,000 years later]

[Location: Big Dipper Star Field · Yan State · Chaos Valley]

—

He saw Chaos Valley.

But not the one he was familiar with.

It was a newly built, empty Chaos Valley.

The main hall was still there.

The Spirit Gathering Array was still there.

The Mecha Workshop—was not yet there.

—

A person stood at the entrance of the main hall.

Li Ruoyu.

Wearing that gray robe.

His hair was graying.

His face was aged.

—

He looked at the sky.

Looking at that strange sky without any traces of the Immortal Realm.

3 seconds.

He smiled.

That smile was exactly the same as 470,000 years ago.

Very faint.

Very light.

Carrying a hint of... exhaustion.

—

"470,000 years," he said softly.

"You have slept for 470,000 years."

"I have guarded for 470,000 years."

"Now—"

He paused.

"It's time to wake up."

—

[Memory Ended]

—

Lin Ye opened his eyes.

He found himself kneeling on the ground.

Not kneeling.

It was "floating."

In the 0G environment, his body was unconsciously curled into a ball.

His hands were trembling.

His eyes—those pure gray Chaos pupils—had a ring of pale golden light flashing wildly at the edges at this moment.

That was the Dragon Clan essence blood reacting.

It was all the power within his body resonating.

—

Su Qingyue drifted to his side.

Her health: 11%.

Her face was as pale as paper.

But she looked at him.

There were tears in those ice-blue eyes.

—

"Lin Ye," she said softly.

"What did you see?"

—

Lin Ye did not answer immediately.

He only looked at his own hands.

On those hands were three blue patterns.

Those were the marks left by the first three fragments.

At this moment, the 4th fragment was merging into the palm of his right hand.

[Data Fragment · No. 4 · Absorption Complete]

[Integrity: 31%]

[Content: Ancient War · Ruins of the Immortal Realm · Residual Soul Capture]

[Current Fragment Quantity: 4/7]

—

He raised his head.

Looking at Su Qingyue.

3 seconds.

He spoke.

"Li Ruoyu," he said.

"Was an ancient Saint."

"470,000 years ago, the Immortal Realm was invaded by 'Above the Heavens'."

"Everyone died."

"Only Residual Souls remained."

"The Heavenly Dao Light Brain... collected those Residual Souls."

"Reshaped them into NPCs."

—

Su Qingyue's pupils contracted slightly.

—

"Those NPCs," Lin Ye continued.

"Are not data."

"Are not programs."

"They are... real Souls."

—

Su Qingyue did not speak.

But her hand holding the green lotus staff was trembling.

—

Lin Ye looked at her.

"Do you understand what this means?" he asked.

—

Su Qingyue was silent.

3 seconds.

She spoke.

"The game world," she said.

"Is a cage."

—

Lin Ye nodded.

—

[System Prompt: You have unlocked the worldview "Immortal Realm · Truth"]

[Current Integrity: 31%]

[Next Stage: Continue collecting Data Fragments]

[Remaining Fragments: 3]

—

Lin Ye closed that prompt.

He looked at the 1,700 light clusters around him.

Each light cluster was a person who had once been alive.

Each light cluster had a memory from 470,000 years ago.

Each light cluster was waiting to be "seen."

—

He spoke.

His voice was very soft.

But in this silent Void Realm, every word was as clear as if carved into metal.

"Continue," he said.

"There are 3 left."

—

He drifted forward.

Deeper into the rift.

—

Behind him.

Su Qingyue followed him.

Her health: 11%.

Her face was pale.

But she did not retreat.

—

[Chapter 192 · End]