Memories Before the Window, a Heart Returning to the Moon

The night deepened, and the entire Shrek dormitory building fell completely silent.

Sparse stars hung outside the window. The evening breeze slipped through the gaps in the leaves with a soft rustle, making the room feel all the more lonely and peaceful.

Tang Wulin shed the sharp battle intent around him. Rather than immediately rising to prepare for departure, he walked slowly to the window and quietly sat down.

The newly forged three-word battle armor, Dragon Moon Whisper, had already withdrawn all its radiance, becoming a faint glow that clung close to his body and sank into the texture of his clothes. Ultimate power lay dormant within him, while his vast soul power and immense Spirit Domain spiritual power remained as steady as water.

With a great battle imminent, the road ahead was a net cast by the Sun Moon Empire, the lives and safety of countless hostages, and a clash of forces across the continent. Yet now that all his cultivation, forging, and preparations had settled into place, the heartstrings stretched taut for years suddenly slackened for a moment. What rose within him was not the bloodshed of the coming battle, but the rises and falls and melancholy that had crossed the years and spanned two lifetimes.

The mottled shadows of the window fell across his tranquil eyes, reflecting boundless memories.

He closed his eyes and let his thoughts surge, sinking into that unforgettable old dream.

The first thing that surfaced in his mind was the life before he crossed over.

It was the era where he had once belonged, the Shrek that had stood at the peak of the continent in its glorious prime. There had been companions who walked beside him and shared life and death with him; days filled with laughter, play, and constant companionship; sweat shed on the training grounds; glory won in the arena; and the purest passion and openness of youth.

They had once believed that Shrek's glory would never fade, that they would remain side by side year after year, and that all their perseverance and protection would ultimately be rewarded by a land in full bloom.

But the world was unpredictable, and calamity descended without warning.

He would never forget that day. The sky suddenly darkened, wild winds howled, and heaven and earth changed color.

A twelfth-rank Fixed-Mounted Soul Guidance Shell, carrying terrifying might capable of destroying heaven and earth, came crashing down.

It was an ultimate killing blow capable of erasing Titled Douluo and toppling cities. There was no warning, no time to react. It landed precisely upon the ground where they stood.

A deafening boom shook heaven and earth, and blinding light devoured his vision.

The once lively companions, the dear friends who had weathered storms with him and faced life and death at his side, those warm and living lives, were reduced to ash in an instant beneath that shell of ultimate destruction, scattering into the dust of heaven and earth.

In a single instant, glory shattered, and old friends were gone forever.

The familiar city, familiar academy, and everything familiar all collapsed and vanished in that earth-shattering explosion. Every bond, every warmth, every memory from his previous life disappeared with that catastrophe, leaving him alone with shattered memories and endless regret as he crossed time and space into this brand-new era of the Peerless Tang Clan.

Whenever he recalled that scene, a dull ache still pulsed in his chest.

It was a regret carved into his soul, a farewell that could never be remedied in his lifetime.

His thoughts shifted from the ruined world of his previous life back to the path of cultivation in this one.

He remembered his forging master, the kind and patient mentor who had led him onto the great path of forging and taught him everything without reservation. His master had taught him, hand in hand, how to hammer iron, temper it, fuse-forge it, and spirit-forge it. His master had opened the path for him, telling him that the heart of forging lay in craftsmanship, and the root of craftsmanship lay in one's true heart. His master had protected him when he was weak and ignorant, awakened him when he was lost and troubled, entrusted all of his learning to him, and hoped that he would one day become a top-tier Saint Craftsman.

But as landscapes changed and the years drifted by, the bond between master and disciple proved too brief. They had merely passed each other in haste, never to return.

Then Zhenhua, his martial granduncle, appeared in his mind.

That senior had been frank by nature, righteous at heart, and extraordinarily gifted in forging. Proud-boned and upright, Zhenhua had treated him like his own junior relative. He had carefully guided Tang Wulin through the shortcomings in his forging, answered his questions and dispelled his doubts, given him recognition and hope when he had been young and insignificant, and witnessed him grow step by step from an ignorant apprentice into a top-tier forger capable of standing on his own and forging god-level battle armor.

But amid the chaos of troubled times, no one could control their own fate.

His master had gone far away, his martial granduncle had been scattered from him, and old acquaintances were difficult to find.

Across the rises and falls of two lifetimes, he had seen glory destroyed, endured separations of life and death, borne the wandering loneliness of having no one by his side, and walked alone through an unfamiliar era under the weight of endless longing and regret.

The long solitude, heavy past, and heart-wrenching farewells had piled up within him, becoming a tenderness and weathered sorrow that no one else could see.

Along the way, he seemed resilient and powerful, rising against the tide and climbing step by step to the summit. Yet only he knew that on countless late nights, memories of the past had swept him away, leaving him alone to confront his regrets.

If the road ahead was all suffering, if the rest of his life was all parting, then what could sustain such a long path of cultivation and perseverance?

Countless feelings of melancholy surged through his heart, pressing down until he could barely breathe.

Yet at the end of those endless, oppressive memories, an incomparably gentle, clear, and luminous silver figure suddenly broke through all the darkness.

All regret, all farewells, all loneliness gently settled the instant that figure appeared.

It was Gu Yue Na.

She was the bond destined for him across the years, the beam of light he had finally found after walking alone for thousands upon thousands of miles.

He had drifted through two lifetimes. Old friends had all scattered, seas had turned to fields, and everything had come to nothing.

But thankfully, thankfully, heaven had not treated him too cruelly.

In his previous life, he had possessed nothing. His life had been filled with regret, and everyone he cherished had vanished into the wind.

In this life, after weathering countless trials and hardships, he had at least found her.

The one who had spent every day with him in the Star Dou Great Forest and silently protected him for three years.

The one who had quietly nourished his soul, refined his foundation, and shielded all his vulnerabilities during those years when no one knew.

The silver-haired girl who was aloof and proud, looking down upon the world, yet gave him alone endless tenderness and devoted all her strength to protecting him.

His companions were gone, his master was difficult to find, and every old scene had shattered.

But he had Gu Yue Na.

He had the one and only tenderness and attachment in this world that belonged to him.

At that thought, all the somber melancholy dispersed. The heavy regret in his chest turned into warm comfort and slowly flowed through every limb and bone.

The evening breeze still blew outside the window. The weariness in the young man's eyes gradually faded, replaced once more by clarity and resolve.

Two lifetimes of loneliness in exchange for one reunion.

That was enough.

Precisely because he had experienced utter destruction and witnessed farewells he had been powerless to stop, he understood all the more deeply what it meant to protect.

Back then, he had been unable to protect his companions or his homeland. He could only watch helplessly as everything turned to dust.

But now, he had broken through to the Spirit Domain, forged three-word divine armor, and grasped peak combat power. He was no longer that helpless youth from back then.

This time, he would never allow tragedy to repeat itself.

The Sun Moon Empire had taken sect hostages and bullied the weak with force, recreating the same face of invasion and slaughter from the past.

Having endured the pain of destruction, he would never allow this land to suffer calamity again. He would not allow more youths to meet the same fate as his companions from his previous life, nor would he allow more families to suffer the pain of separation.

For the old friends who had passed away, for the scattered mentors he could no longer find, for the flourishing age before his eyes, and even more so for the one attachment in his heart.

He had to fight this battle.

He would win this battle.

Tang Wulin slowly raised his eyes. The tenderness within them faded, replaced by a clear, sharp, and unyielding edge.

Sitting alone before the window, he recalled all that had come before, saw through the turmoil of life, and found a place for his heart to return to. Thus, he feared no road ahead.

He slowly rose. He stood straight as a pine, the hidden radiance of Dragon Moon Whisper stirring faintly around him. His blood and qi surged like a dragon, and his divine sense was as deep as an abyss.

The past was full of regrets. But she was in the rest of his life.

Everything was ready. It was time to set out.