Regret

After the Mysterious Old Man entered the illusion.

In an instant, the scene before his eyes surged over him like raging, billowing tides.

Sweeping him into the long river of bygone years.

It was as though he had passed through a tunnel of time and space, returning to the prime of his youth.

Back then, there had been a woman he loved dearly in his life.

She was like a flower blooming in spring, gentle and beautiful. Her smile was like brilliant stars, illuminating his world.

Beneath flowers and moonlight, they had gazed deeply into each other's eyes and sworn oaths as vast as the seas and firm as the mountains.

Those vows were like petals in the wind, drifting into the river of time and leaving behind marks carved into the bone.

Yet the wheel of fate had begun to turn.

The thirst for power in his heart burned like flame, driving him to resolutely set foot upon a path of cultivation strewn with thorns, hardship, and danger.

That decision was like merciless scissors, severing the red thread that bound them together. He had no choice but to part from her in pain.

Throughout those long and lonely years of cultivation, he had always carried his longing for her within his heart.

That longing was like fine rain, nourishing his heart, yet accompanied by endless bitterness.

During one perilous mission, he had accidentally learned that the sect she belonged to had suffered a catastrophe that had toppled everything.

At that moment, it was as if a heavy hammer had struck his heart, plunging him at once into endless panic and worry.

He had rushed back without regard for anything else.

Yet when he arrived, all he saw was a field of ruins.

The place once filled with life and