Chapter 136: Memories After the Zenith (Finale)

Yes, Shen Duo was experiencing an epiphany!

When the halo surrounding her faded and the space returned to normal, Shen Duo had reverted to her usual self. Only the brilliant, irrepressible light in her dark eyes betrayed the fact that she had successfully advanced through this sudden enlightenment.

"Xiao Duo, congratulations!" Wei Dong offered his sincere congratulations.

Shen Duo sensed the surging sword energy within her; this epiphany had elevated her to a high-level Sword Saint, leaving her only a single step away from becoming a Sword Sovereign!

Although Feng Jun was an icy character and did not express his joy directly in words, his eyes, fixed intently on Shen Duo, betrayed his inner turmoil.

Shen Duo had not expected that simply coming to watch the sunrise with her close friends would yield such a harvest. The three of them immediately decided to go and have a good drink to celebrate.

Time passed like a white horse galloping past a crack in a wall; in the blink of an eye, thousands of years had vanished. By now, Shen Duo stood at the absolute pinnacle of several planes. Recalling that day, she still felt deeply moved and nostalgic, though she now had new companions and new comrades by her side; the events that had occurred in that low-level plane felt incredibly distant.

In the brilliant sea of stars, Shen Duo sat cross-legged in the void, resting her chin on her hand. Her dark eyes, watching the vast, empty starry sky, flickered. For her, a few thousand years were now like a fleeting moment, but for her former self, this had not been the case.

The experiences of the past replayed in her mind like a series of films. By this point, Shen Duo, who could almost be called a true god, possessed a memory so perfect that she could recall everything she had ever seen; even if she wished to forget certain things, she could not.

After entering the Alchemy Division of the Jocelyn Academy, she had successfully apprenticed under Master Luo Hui, becoming his most outstanding student. Later, conflict erupted between the Yuan Division and the Zhoulin Division, eventually escalating into a civil war that even implicated the Swordsman Division. When Wei Dong publicly clashed with the Zhoulin Division to defend the honor of his own, he was plotted against and killed by those from the Zhoulin Division.

His mentor, Fu Bin’en, consumed by grief and rage, sought vengeance for his student and brought the matter to the Dean. In truth, the Dean could do little about the conflict between the two schools, given the interference of the Four Great Families. Both she and Feng Jun were filled with unbearable indignation at the time, even considering throwing caution to the wind to charge into the Zhoulin Academy and slaughter those who had instigated the tragedy.

Just as she was about to lose her patience, Lord Wei Lan arrived. He used forceful measures to suppress the strife between the two factions within the academy.

Only at that moment did Shen Duo truly realize the power wielded by the world’s top-tier experts, which further solidified her determination to become stronger.

Although the turmoil at the academy had subsided, her dead friend could never return, and Lei Hang had since rejoined his mercenary group.

In the blink of an eye, she graduated from Jocelyn Academy. By then, she was already a high-level Sword Sovereign. Her cultivation method was unique, and with resources from another plane, she found her progress doubled with half the effort. She had originally planned to go to the depths of the Nascent Gorge with Feng Jun for her graduation training, but before they could depart, the Shen family sent men to her doorstep.

They claimed to be acting under the order of the Clan Head to bring Shen Duo home.

Shen Duo had hidden her true strength from the outside world, so at that time, apart from a few close friends and mentors, no one knew she had reached the rank of Sword Sovereign.

The men sent by the Shen family were very aggressive. Hearing Shen Duo’s refusal, they immediately moved to forcibly bind her.

Shen Duo detested those who tried to use force against her. Before she could even issue an order, Benyi and Yusha lunged forward. As it happened, these two beasts had been feeling stifled for days, and since they grew stronger along with Shen Duo’s own advancement, she did not even need to draw her sword; the men sent by the Shen family were thoroughly subdued by Yusha and Benyi.

Embarking on their journey with Feng Jun, they ventured deep into the Nascent Gorge and obtained many rare and exotic beasts. Lou Zheng happened to use the captured magical beasts to train herself in long-neglected taming skills, which naturally added several powerful phantom beasts to Feng Jun and Lei Hang’s arsenals.

Although their journey was dangerous—with both of them coming close to death several times—the rewards were bountiful. Needless to say, Shen Duo gained much, and even Feng Jun, that domestic simpleton, profited handsomely.

During this graduation training, the two of them also accidentally made two new friends from the Zhou and Wei families—both of whom were outstanding juniors of their generation. It was a rather ironic situation; with the few of them standing together, all Four Great Families were represented.

Upon leaving the Nascent Gorge, Shen Duo sold the trained phantom beasts. During this period, she would occasionally travel between two planes, earning an unlimited bank card in each.

This left even the usually stoic-faced Feng Jun dumbfounded.

Money was simply too easy to earn in her hands!

Afterward came the Continental Ranking Tournament. Since Shen Duo’s identity had been exposed, she had to return to her clan to participate.

Thus, she parted ways with Feng Jun.

She expected to be treated coldly upon arriving at the family’s main city, but to her surprise, her grandfather, the Clan Head, suddenly held her in high regard. Later, when she revealed her true strength to him, he valued her even more.

At the Continental Ranking Tournament, Shen Duo took first place among the younger generation, her fame resounding across the continent. Soon after, her reputation in artifact crafting and beast taming spread like wildfire.

Lord Wei Lan, who served as a judge for the tournament, saw Shen Duo’s talent and decided to mentor her personally.

After another arduous hundred years, Shen Duo became the continent’s premier sword cultivator.

She also became the highest-ranking elder of the Shen family. Utilizing her position, she was finally able to investigate the tragic death of her parents without restraint. After dragging out the original executioners from within the family, she discovered that the matter involved not only people within the clan but also figures from the previous plane.

After punishing those scoundrels, Shen Duo went into seclusion for five years, by which time she was not far from becoming a Sword Emperor.

If she successfully advanced to Sword Emperor, Yusha and Benyi could benefit from the breakthrough, taking on human form as humanoid phantom beasts.

Influenced by Shen Duo, the continent saw a sudden increase in the number of swordsmen. It was hard to say whether this was a good or bad thing.

Finally, Shen Duo decided to leave this plane to journey to a higher-level plane, find the true mastermind, and execute her vengeance.

Upon arriving in the new plane, Shen Duo immediately advanced to become a Sword Emperor, and both Yusha and Benyi successfully took on human form. After spending over a hundred years in this higher-level plane, she eventually discovered that this entire ordeal had been orchestrated by the True God of this plane. The True God had merely sought to steal the Holy Radiance energy within her body. No one had expected that her parents would have hidden this supreme treasure—for which every plane would fight—inside her, and it was rumored that this treasure possessed the power to recreate planes!

This meant that the possessor could become a True God in a plane of their own creation!

Shen Duo did not hesitate to avenge her parents. What did it matter if he was a True God? If his strength was not as formidable as hers, he would be slaughtered just the same. That was the iron rule of this world: the strong are everything!

After killing the True God, Shen Duo became the new True God. She then used the Holy Radiance energy within her to create her own world.

She had become the supreme existence.

Shen Duo snapped back to reality and looked at the tall, slender man standing beside her. He had flowing, fiery red hair. Shen Duo smiled faintly, "Yusha, these days are too boring. Let us go and welcome new challenges!"

Indeed, being a Supreme God was quite dull, and there were even higher planes waiting for her to conquer.

The handsome red-haired man pulled Shen Duo up, draped his arm around her slender shoulders, and without a word, merely curled his lips into a smile as they walked toward the void.

Before long, their figures vanished into the emptiness.