At the final moment, Yu Lian seemed to see a total solar eclipse sped up hundreds of times. Then, silent, blinding light began to spread. Before the heat could melt matter, physical reality itself had already begun to be erased.
The core of the solar system, the cradle of human civilization on Earth, and the capital of the great Second Galactic Empire received no extra mercy or delay in the face of this impartial light of destruction.
Planets, sky and land, fleets, palaces and people, once-vibrant life and the creations of a glorious civilization—all of it, including the palace atop the roof of the world, vanished in the silent, colorless radiance.
In the final instant before his consciousness was utterly swallowed by the annihilation of pure energy,
Yu Lian seemed to sense countless fragments of information: the collapse of the Empire, the rekindling of war, the division of civilization, the overthrow of order. All of it ultimately became the stars' sighs and weeping.
And yet, new paradises still emerged.
...Perhaps from some distant timeline, there came a faint, almost inaudible chuckle of relief.
"Maybe I just wasn't cut out for it. Why force the issue?" After Yu Lian let out that sigh, all his confusion and bewilderment disappeared.
His will seemed to rise again from the depths of his consciousness, slowly piecing itself back together.
He regained his clarity.
In his mental realm, the Silver Imaginary Dragon sang out to him in jubilation.
His spirit had never been so powerful.
Then his shattered body began to recover. Every cell had been torn apart by the most overwhelming destructive force, but now, under the searing heat of his spiritual power, they were forcibly condensed anew.
Every one of his cells had undergone the most thorough tempering.
Last of all, his senses