Darkness was the eternal, unchanging backdrop of the universe.
Yet at the very depths of the universe lay the source of the Primal Universe.
A towering figure stood beneath the radiance of countless laws, looking somewhat forlorn.
"Noah, I... lost!"
"sigh!"
In the Human Territory of the Primal Universe, atop a tower on a dazzling planet,
Lu Tong let out a soft sigh. "Yuan, in the end, you still..."
Three million eras!
From the moment he had crossed into this vast Primal Universe, awakened the Noah template, met Original Ancestor, and joined him in leading humanity as it struggled to rise from the cracks between warring races,
to establishing the Land of Light and building the Space Garrison, elevating the Human Race into the ranks of the peak races... a full three million cosmic eras had passed.
By his reckoning now, that was no more than a drop in the ocean of a long life.
But converted into the calendar of his previous life, it amounted to over thirty billion years!
One had to remember that even a planet that had given rise to life was only a little over four billion years old.
That gave some idea of just how many years he and Yuan had spent together.
And now...
"Teacher!"
A steady voice came from behind him.
A silver figure walked slowly toward him.
King of Ultra Peak, Peak, was a disciple Lu Tong had taken after becoming Noah, and the guardian deity of the Land of Light.
He was also one of the oldest Universe Masters in the Human Race.
At that moment, a rare look of gravity appeared on his already weathered face.
It was an expression he had not shown in nearly ten thousand eras.
"The Origin Will's suppression is irreversible!" Peak's voice was steady, but as Noah, Lu Tong still heard the tremor in it.
"Chaos sent word. Even the imprints of Original Ancestor's consciousness that he left in the Virtual Universe have vanished.
"He's trying to contact him through a Virtual Universe terminal now, but..."
"He's been cut off, hasn't he?" Noah didn't turn around. He continued gazing at the dark expanse of the universe.
"...Yes!" Peak made no attempt to deny it.
"Spies within the territories of the three races report that their legions have carried out over a hundred emergency deployments in the past century!
"The races affiliated with them have also begun to mobilize. Even the affiliated races within the Hong Alliance..."
Peak left the sentence unfinished. They both knew that war was unavoidable.
"We saw this coming long ago, didn't we?
"What about the others? How are they responding?"
"The Star Beast Alliance doesn't seem to be making any moves. The Crystal Race has set up defensive formations along its borders.
"Only the Prison Race... You know they were born in prison, but they've always wanted to seize a portion of the universe's core territories. And the Demon Ancestor himself also..."
Peak stopped there, and Noah slowly turned around.
His face was obscured by the light, making it impossible to see clearly. Only his eyes were visible, reflecting the brilliance of the Spark Tower.
"Teacher?" Peak asked, puzzled.
"Peak!" Noah suddenly called out.
"Here, Teacher!" Peak answered instinctively.
"Do you think Yuan was wrong?"
The question came so abruptly that Peak froze. In the end, all he could manage was a sigh.
"Original Ancestor... he was simply too impatient. Taking over the Primal Universe was an act that defied the natural order.
"Giant Axe, Chaos, and the others tried to talk him out of it. He should at least have waited until the Human Race's second publicly known True God had risen, then..."
"No!" Noah cut him off. "I'm not asking whether he chose the right time. I'm asking whether he chose the right path!"
"..."
Peak froze, the words dying on his lips.
To be honest, he didn't think Original Ancestor had done anything wrong. After all, his intentions had been to ensure the Human Race's survival.
It was only the timing... If Original Ancestor had waited a little longer, until the Human Race's second publicly known True God had risen,
until Noah had finished comprehending the inheritance from the ancient civilization, until...
But it was too late to say any of that now!
Original Ancestor had already been sealed away, and Peak knew his teacher was at a critical juncture.
The odds that he would intervene were slim to none, so...
Seeing the shifting emotions on his disciple's face, Noah smiled faintly and spoke slowly.
"Yuan always kept the race close to his heart. He led from the front, fighting and charging ahead for the sake of his people.
"He paid no heed to the advice of you younger ones, nor even to mine.
"But I still respected him. The Human Race's current standing would not have been possible without his immeasurable contributions!"
Noah's tone was strangely calm, as if he were stating something utterly ordinary.
"But you and Original Ancestor were both acting for the sake of the race..."
"That's why I never objected to most of his decisions.
"Otherwise, I wouldn't have willingly faked my death, withdrawn from the world, and hidden away here to pursue a higher path.
"Throughout humanity's long history, he stood and fought alongside me.
"He founded the Virtual Universe Company to pool the Human Race's resources and nurture strong warriors for generations to come.
"He founded the Hong Alliance and reached out to those races so that humanity would no longer stand alone in the universe.
"Even now, I still understand him. I've never thought there was anything wrong with the path he chose.
"But this time, he truly went too far. Or rather, because he cared too much about the race, he lost the judgment a leader needed!"
Noah disagreed with Peak. To him, Yuan was more than a comrade who had fought by his side.
Their relationship was closer to that of teacher and friend.
"I understand, Teacher..."
A brief silence fell inside the tower.
Only the light energy from this replica of the Plasma Spark Tower continued to spread through the universe.
It served as a constant reminder that time was passing—the soul imprint Original Ancestor had left in the universe was being stripped away at a rate of one-millionth per second.
At this rate, in three months at most, Original Ancestor would be completely sealed, his consciousness sinking into the depths of the Primal Universe's origin.
Three months was no different from an instant on the scale of the universe!
"Peak, I'm ordering you as your teacher!" Noah suddenly said.
"Please give your orders, Teacher!"
"First, activate the Space Garrison's 'Light of Garrison' plan. All members of the Guard Team are to enter the highest alert status!"
"Yes!"
"Second, immediately summon every Universe Master belonging to the Human Race back. No matter where they are, they must return to the Human Territory as quickly as possible!"
Peak's pupils contracted.
Return?
Every Universe Master!
As Noah's disciple, he understood better than anyone what that meant.
"I understand!"
Peak bowed solemnly and turned to leave.
"Wait!"
Peak stopped.
Noah looked at his disciple's back in silence for a few seconds before speaking slowly.
"Peak, if... I mean, if one day I fall too, I hope you'll be able to stand on your own, just like Chaos!"
"Teacher!" Peak spun around, his voice wavering for the first time. "How could you..."
"It's only a possibility!" Noah waved a hand, signaling him not to say more. "Go! There isn't much time left."
Peak gave his teacher a deep look, then bowed once more before dissolving into a streak of light within the tower.
The Star Observatory fell silent again.
Noah stood alone in the radiance, his gaze once more turning toward the depths of the universe.
His consciousness followed the Spark Tower's connection, reaching toward the fluctuations of the Primal Universe's origin as he tried to catch the last message from the soul imprint that was fading away.
He saw it.
At the level of laws, in the cracks between space and time, Original Ancestor was being wrapped in countless Origin Chains and dragged away.
Each chain contained the most fundamental rules of the Primal Universe. They pierced Original Ancestor's divine body and soul, pinning him fast in the prison of the origin.
And Original Ancestor—the Human Race's strongest warrior, who had once been invincible throughout the Primal Universe and had practically built the Human Race by himself—was doing one last thing.
He was smiling.
Noah "saw" Original Ancestor's smile.
There was no regret or fear in it, only a kind of almost mad serenity.
Original Ancestor's lips moved. Though they were separated by endless stretches of space and time, and though the Origin Will had cut them off from each other, Noah still read the words on his lips:
"Noah... from here on... it's up to you..."
Then the light went out completely.
Original Ancestor's soul imprint had been sealed deep within the Primal Universe's origin.
"Don't worry! The Human Race still has me!"
Before you continue