Tracing the Origin, Secrets of the Eternal Ages

"You are a wisp of my origin soul, lost for countless ages."

The offhand remark struck Lin Chen's mind like thunder from the heavens.

The surging energy around them, the two supreme beings locked in confrontation, and the people barely clinging to life amid the distant ruins all seemed to fade into blurry shadows. Lin Chen stood frozen, his blood nearly congealing. A numb chill spread through every limb, and even the Dragon Soul Origin imprisoned within him began to stir violently.

He instinctively lowered his gaze to his hands. The seven-colored light of the Dragon Ball in his palm flickered on and off. The origin power that had always been gentle and docile now throbbed with the yearning of a wanderer returning home, along with a bone-deep resistance and dread.

An origin soul lost for countless ages?

That conclusion overturned everything he had believed throughout his journey.

Ever since he had awakened his Dragon Soul and learned that he was the reincarnation of the Dragon Ball, he had thought he had been reborn with the memories and opportunities of his past life. He had relied on the Dragon Ball's origin to travel across the Heavens, searching for fragments and uncovering his past. But now the Mysterious Shadow had revealed the truth with a single sentence: he had never been an independent reincarnated being at all. He was merely a wisp of its origin, scattered beyond its reach.

Then what were the life, memories, and feelings he had built in this lifetime?

Countless tangled thoughts spun wildly through his mind. Then the strange fragments of memory that had surfaced earlier erupted once more.

Broken images flashed through his sea of consciousness like scenes from a lantern show. He saw a world more desolate and ancient than even the Primordial Era. There were no sun, moon, or stars, no myriad worlds across the Heavens—only roiling streams of Chaos and endless darkness all around. A colossal figure that blotted out the sky stood deep within the Chaos, surrounded by countless strands of origin light in myriad shapes. Every strand contained the power to split heaven and earth.

Then, for some unknown reason, a cataclysmic upheaval tore the Chaos apart and divided heaven and earth. The supreme figure was gravely wounded, its body disintegrating as countless strands of origin light scattered and drifted away, falling into the myriad newborn worlds and sinking beneath the currents of time.

One strand was more extraordinary than the rest. It carried the core intelligence, and by chance it attached itself to an ancient Dragon Ball. After passing through several generations, it was eventually reborn as the person Lin Chen was now.

The images were so real they were terrifying, nothing like illusions conjured by someone else. Lin Chen felt a throbbing ache in his skull, as if his sea of consciousness were about to burst from the weight of these ancient memories. The Mysterious Shadow's cold words rang in his ears, leaving him overwhelmed by conflicting emotions.

Resentment, confusion, shock, and an indescribable bewilderment.

"Impossible..." Lin Chen clenched his teeth and forced down the pain in his sea of consciousness. He looked up at the Mysterious Shadow in the void, his voice hoarse with disbelief. "I have a past of my own and a will of my own. I'm not someone else's remnant soul!"

He had journeyed from an innocent boy to the person he was now. He had endured life-and-death battles and found companions who fought by his side. He had convictions, principles, and things he wanted to protect. If he was merely a wisp of origin soul, then had the decades he lived been nothing but an illusory dream?

The Mysterious Shadow shifted slightly within the darkness, its black silhouette unfurling in the void. The Desolation Power that towered over the ages flowed slowly around it. The force binding Lin Chen did not weaken; it only grew tighter.

"Your will? Your past?" The ancient, weathered voice rang out once more. It held no discernible emotion, only a detachment that seemed to look down upon all living things. "Your origin has yet to return, and your intelligence has developed on its own. That is an unexpected blessing. Of the countless scattered strands of origin, only you have given rise to an independent mind. No wonder you could stir the Dragon Ball's fortune and undo the seal from ages past."

It seemed unsurprised by Lin Chen's protest, as if it had long understood everything that had changed.

"When the calamity struck, I perished and my origin shattered. To preserve a sliver of hope, I attached my core intelligence to the Dragon Ball and used the cycles of reincarnation among the living beings of the Heavens to recover. I thought I would find you again after tens of thousands of years and fuse our origins anew. But the Primordial Era was consumed by war. The great powers made their moves and laid seal upon seal, suppressing the Dragon Ball—and you, that wisp of my origin—with it in this place."

Its words slowly revealed the tip of a secret buried beneath the passage of ages.

Lin Chen listened intently, his heart sinking further with each word.

So the seal from ages past had never been intended to suppress the Ancient Supreme Remnant. From the very beginning, it had been meant to trap him—the one attached to the Dragon Ball, that wisp of origin belonging to a supreme being. The Supreme who had been sealed was merely a prisoner caught in this secret realm after the battle. By a twist of fate, it had become the barrier protecting the seal.

And the Shadow that had followed him all this time was the supreme being that had disintegrated in the calamity of Chaos. It had endured through the ages, laying plans one step at a time. It had led him into the secret realm, used the Dragon Ball's origin to break the seal, and had the Supreme Remnant continually force him to release his power. From beginning to end, it had only wanted one thing—to reclaim its lost origin and reunite the two.

Every coincidence had been deliberate.

From the moment he stepped into the secret realm, he had already fallen into a web woven by his enemy over countless ages.

"Hmph! What utter nonsense!"

A furious roar abruptly cut off their conversation.

The Ancient Supreme Remnant, which had been gathering its strength nearby, could hold back no longer. Black baleful energy and golden runes intertwined and surged around it. Its colossal body trembled in the void, and killing intent churned in the blood-red eyes that stretched across the sky. The Mysterious Shadow had suppressed it twice already, leaving it full of resentment. Now, after hearing their exchange, it instantly understood what had happened.

So it had been sealed for countless ages and made a pawn in someone else's game—and the one before it, the reincarnation of the Dragon Ball, was the other party's lost origin!

If the two fused into one, this mysterious being would surely recover its peak strength. Then no one across the myriad worlds of the Heavens would be able to stand against it, and the surviving Supreme Remnant would meet an even more miserable fate.

It could never let that happen!

"You want to reunite your origin and return to your peak? You'll have to get past me first!"

The Ancient Supreme Remnant held nothing back. It unleashed all the Supreme Dao Laws it had left. The space throughout the secret realm groaned under the strain, cracks spread across the earth, and rolling black mist surged from the abyss below, all of it swallowed by the Remnant.

It raised its massive palm, its center covered in divine runes and brimming with baleful energy accumulated over countless ages and the murderous power of the Primordial Era. A colossal Supreme palm strike swept across heaven and earth. Space collapsed into a vast black void wherever its force passed, and an overwhelming aura of destruction surged toward the Mysterious Shadow and the imprisoned Lin Chen.

It would kill them both in one strike and sever the connection that had lasted through the ages.

Faced with the incoming Supreme palm, the Mysterious Shadow remained in the darkness, calm and unruffled. It raised its free hand, which it had not used before. There was no dazzling light or astonishing spectacle. It simply circulated its Desolation Origin and gently raised its palm to block the attack.

The two supreme forces, one black and one gold, collided in the center of the void.

There was no earth-shattering crash as one might have expected. Instead, a dull thud rang out, like two ancient divine metals striking each other. The Ancient Supreme's full-strength attack was stopped dead in midair by the Shadow's seemingly casual block. It could not advance even an inch.

Golden runes and black baleful energy clashed and annihilated each other. Violent shock waves spread in every direction, flattening another layer of the already ruined secret realm. On the distant ground, Sun Goku and Vegeta, who had barely recovered a little strength, exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with shock.

They had fought with all their might and still couldn't withstand even a casual strike from the Supreme Remnant. Yet the Mysterious Shadow had effortlessly blocked its full-force attack. The gap between their strength was so vast it was despairing.

"What kind of monster is that..." Sun Goku struggled to raise himself halfway, then groaned as the movement tugged at his chest wound. "Even the Ancient Supreme can't beat it, and Lin Chen's trapped by it now. This is bad."

Vegeta slowly sat up against the broken wall. His deep-blue eyes remained fixed on the battle in the void. His aura was still feeble, and blood remained at the corner of his mouth. He was proud by nature, but even he had to admit that the situation had become extremely dangerous.

"That Shadow's after Lin Chen's origin, and the Supreme Remnant wants to eliminate them both. The three sides are at a standoff, with Lin Chen trapped between them and unable to advance or retreat," Vegeta said gravely. "We're too badly injured to get involved. We can only watch and wait."

They were both consumed by anxiety, but they understood the situation. If they tried to force their way in, they would only get themselves killed without helping anyone.

Above them, the stalemate continued.

Seeing its full-strength strike blocked, the Ancient Supreme Remnant's blood-red eyes burned with even greater fury. The countless cracks across its body seemed to widen. It was clearly wearing down its already shattered soul by forcing its power into action. But it had gone berserk, its resentment from being imprisoned for ages and its fear of death twisting together until it no longer cared about anything.

"I was sealed for countless ages and made to suffer a fate worse than death! You want to reclaim your origin and rule over all creation? Dream on!"

It spat out a ball of soulfire as black as ink. This was the core of its remnant soul, the foundation that had kept it alive to this day. As soon as the soulfire rose into the air, it split into thousands of strands of Netherfire, forming a poisonous net across the sky. Some strands coiled toward the Mysterious Shadow, while the rest swept around it and shot straight toward Lin Chen below.

If it couldn't defeat its powerful enemy head-on, it would destroy the origin the other wanted! If Lin Chen died and his origin dispersed, the other's plans would come to nothing.

"Futile."

The Shadow's tone remained calm. It turned its wrist slightly, and the Desolation Power around it spread into an invisible barrier. The moment the countless strands of Netherfire touched it, they melted away one after another like snow in boiling water, unable to bring even a spark close.

But in the instant the barrier stopped the soulfire, the force binding Lin Chen loosened for the briefest moment.

Lin Chen, whose mind had been taut with tension, caught the fleeting opening at once.

Now!

A flash of determination crossed Lin Chen's eyes. He didn't dare hesitate. He forced aside the chaotic memories in his mind and the confusion in his heart, setting all distracting thoughts aside for the moment. No matter whose origin soul he was, no matter what secrets his past held, the most important thing now was to break free and escape this death trap.

He immediately drew on the last of the Dragon Ball's origin and the power of his Dragon Soul. Seven-colored light erupted from his body, and the power that had been suppressed surged in reverse against the restraints. At the same time, the Dragon Ball Fragments floating before him trembled in unison, releasing a gentle but steadfast origin power that coursed through his meridians and began repairing his damaged body.

"Hmm?"

The Shadow noticed the disturbance and let out a soft sound of surprise. It was about to tighten its hold again.

But Lin Chen had already used the force to spring backward. His feet moved through the Void Steps, and he transformed into a streak of seven-colored light, instantly escaping the Shadow's reach. In only a few breaths, he had darted to Sun Goku and Vegeta and taken up a position in front of his two badly wounded companions.

He had escaped for the moment, but Lin Chen felt no relief.

He could clearly sense that the wisp of Desolation Power of the same origin had not vanished. It still lay hidden deep in his meridians like a bone-deep parasite, constantly tugging at his Dragon Soul Origin. The other party had never used its full strength to bind him. That moment of weakness had seemed intentional, as if a cat had toyed with a mouse and let it escape for a little while.

That air of mockery sent a deeper chill through him than outright domination.

"I didn't expect you to break free, even if only for a moment." The Shadow began walking slowly, emerging from the darkness one step at a time. Its outline gradually became clearer, revealing a body covered in ancient markings, though its face remained hidden behind thick black mist. "An independent mind and a resilient origin. You're more interesting than I expected."

It didn't pursue Lin Chen immediately. Instead, it turned toward the Ancient Supreme Remnant, which was still attacking it with relentless fury, and its tone grew colder. "You noisy pest. I imprisoned you for countless ages, but never intended to take your life. Since you insist on courting death, I'll grant your wish."

As soon as the words fell, the Shadow stopped holding back.

It raised one hand and clenched it in midair. Every trace of baleful energy, every bit of energy, and even the power of space that filled the secret realm fell under its control. Countless invisible threads of power stretched out from the depths of the void and wound around the Ancient Supreme Remnant's massive body, layer upon layer.

"No! You dare!"

The Supreme Remnant let out a terrified howl and struggled desperately, but those threads of power were unbreakable, carrying a suppression that reached the level of its origin. Its Supreme Dao Laws were continuously undone and devoured. Its colossal body slowly shrank, the golden runes around it rapidly dimmed, and its once overwhelming aura weakened at a visible rate.

The Supreme who had once dominated the Primordial Era could barely resist in the face of an absolute difference in strength.

In a matter of moments, its ten-thousand-zhang body had been compressed to just a few zhang tall. Its black soulfire flickered precariously, on the verge of being extinguished for good.

Watching from a distance, Lin Chen was shaken to the core.

A Supreme Remnant that had survived for countless ages and once commanded the Heavens had been completely suppressed in only a few breaths. The difference in their realms was beyond his comprehension.

Once the Supreme Remnant was dealt with, Lin Chen would surely be next.

Lin Chen took a deep breath and drew all the Dragon Ball Fragments into his body. At the same time, he brought his full strength to bear, shielding Sun Goku and Vegeta more securely. His companions were gravely wounded and could no longer fight. He would have to bear all the pressure alone.

"Lin Chen, watch out!" Sun Goku struggled to warn him, his fists clenching instinctively. His heart was full of worry, but he was powerless to help.

Vegeta's expression was solemn as he said in a low voice, "That thing's strength is unfathomable. We can't win in a direct fight. Look for a chance to escape."

Lin Chen nodded slightly. He turned his gaze back to the approaching Mysterious Shadow, his expression becoming unusually calm. He might have been confused, and he might have had doubts, but his own will and his bottom line would never waver so easily.

"You want to reclaim your origin. I understand," Lin Chen said, his voice clear and every word ringing with conviction. "But I've lived a life of my own. I have my own convictions and people to protect. I won't let you control me. If you want to forcibly fuse with my origin, then come and try."

He was ready to fight to the death.

The Shadow stopped and faced Lin Chen from a distance. Desolation Power slowly rose around it, and the pull from deep within their shared origin strengthened again, stirring Lin Chen's Dragon Soul.

"Convictions? People to protect?" the Shadow murmured softly, then changed the subject. "You think this is over? Do you know that the shattering of my origin wasn't caused solely by the calamity of Chaos?"

As it spoke, its aura suddenly turned dark and uncanny. The light throughout the world seemed to dim.

"The one who gravely wounded me and scattered my countless origins was someone else, lurking behind the scenes. Your core origin has now appeared, and the Dragon Ball's seal has been broken. The commotion has already spread across the Heavens. I'm not the only one who came looking for you. The enemy from that time has followed your aura and arrived outside this secret realm."

Boom!

The words struck like a second bolt of thunder, echoing in everyone's ears.

Lin Chen's pupils contracted, and his heart sank.

There was a third faction? The enemy who had gravely wounded the Shadow had come too?

As he stood in shock and turned instinctively toward the secret realm's entrance, the sky above the Ancient Secret Realm suddenly began to shake violently. On the distant horizon, countless dark figures blotted out the sunlight. Countless frigid auras crossed the void and bore down on the secret realm like a tidal wave.

Ruthless killing intent surged in like a tide, enveloping the entire secret realm.

The Shadow watched the countless uninvited guests descending from the horizon. Beneath the black mist covering its face, it seemed to wear a strange smile.

"Now the game is truly beginning."