[Explaining everything, a sudden upheaval]

[But... why had this happened? You recalled the first and second simulations. Though your lives had been Fan, you had at least died of old age.]

[Why, starting with the Third Simulation, had the whole world seemed to bare its savage fangs at you?]

[Could it be that, as your strength grew and you reached higher circles, the horrors hidden beneath the surface had only then begun to reveal themselves?]

[Before you could unravel this chilling possibility, the Puppet "Chen Ming" split his mouth into a grin and spoke in a strangely mocking tone:]

["To think the illustrious [Supreme Wuji Dao Venerable] could be schemed against to this extent..." His voice brimmed with delight at another's misfortune.]

[Confronted with this absolute death trap and ridicule, Chen Qingyan merely offered a smile bitter beyond measure.]

["Heaven envies me, men despise me, and my lineage was destroyed because of me..."]

["What did I even seek with this sliver of a chance at survival?" He seemed to be asking both the puppet and himself, his voice steeped in endless desolation.]

["Has the [Devil Master] abandoned me?!" he murmured, then confirmed it with self-mocking bitterness. "Yes, that's the only explanation.]

[Otherwise, under normal circumstances, my [Fate Pattern] should have been [Hidden Dragon in the Abyss]..."]

[For a moment, only your heavy, labored breathing remained in the room. The atmosphere was terrifyingly deathly still.]

[Ultimately, Chen Qingyan broke the silence, his tone turning more solemn than ever before:]

["Spare him! Spare this... last surviving bloodline of the [Chen Family]!"]

[The "Chen Ming" puppet neither refused nor agreed immediately. He simply asked in return, his voice utterly flat, "Why should I agree?"]

[As your consciousness grew increasingly hazy, poised on the brink of being swallowed entirely by darkness, their conversation burned clearly into the last vestiges of your awareness.]

[The Chen Family's last surviving bloodline... So the Chen Family had long existed in name only. Perhaps... it had already been slaughtered!]

[Then why had he pleaded with a [Golden Core Powerhouse] on your behalf at the very last moment? A sense of belonging to his lineage?]

[In a contest at this level, that reason seemed so feeble it was laughable.]

[Then only one possibility remained!]

[That line in the [Eye of Illusion] assessment—"Having now accepted his fate, he has come only to repay [Karma]"—was true!]

[But wasn't your [Hidden Dragon in the Abyss] [Fate Pattern] a fake? It was part of this deception!]

[Chen Qingyan's next words unveiled the final, cruelest layer of truth for you—and for this bizarre death trap:]

["I am already a dead man, powerless to turn back the heavens. But in my early years, I once used a secret art...]

[to obtain everything belonging to a direct descendant of the Chen Family in the [Future], one who possessed the [Hidden Dragon in the Abyss] [Fate Pattern]!]

[(Perhaps he had once believed it would be the turning point in his own Future, or the hope of his lineage's Future.)]

["You and I both understand that this is an established [effect]!" His voice carried a trace of trembling,]

["Therefore, in the 'present,' we must create the corresponding [cause]!"]

["Otherwise, even you, a [Golden Core Powerhouse], could never withstand this violation of causality. The power of [world correction] would... annihilate you completely!"]

[So that was it!]

[Your [Hidden Dragon in the Abyss] [Fate Pattern] was not entirely false.]

[Perhaps it was originally meant to belong to a Future direct descendant of the Chen Family, but Chen Qingyan—or the force behind him—had, at an earlier point in time,]

[used some heaven-defying means to "draw upon it in advance" or "lock it in."]

[And now, as cause and effect came full circle, filling in this "effect" required a corresponding "cause" to be created in the present]

[—namely, making you, a collateral descendant, at a specific time, in a specific place, and in a specific manner]

[(deceived, given hope, then personally snuffed out), to “bear” and ultimately “terminate” this Fate Pattern!]

[Chen Ming fell silent for a long while. His numb face seemed devoid of any flicker of emotion, but finally, he nodded slowly and uttered a single word:]

["Agreed."]

[He had actually conceded outright.]

[It seemed to be an acknowledgment of Chen Qingyan's final gambit, or perhaps merely an attempt to complete the Karma and avoid its backlash,]

[Chen Ming spoke in his stiff voice, with a trace of inhuman admiration:]

["As expected of the [Supreme Wuji Dao Venerable], once hailed as a leading figure even among [Nascent Soul True Lords]..."]

[“Your [Life Exchange] scheme was truly exquisite beyond compare. You placed its crux in the [Future]]

[—a domain that even I can scarcely touch, and that even the [True Lord] behind me cannot lightly interfere with..."]

[At that moment, Chen Ming's gaze seemed to pierce through the Puppet's shell,]

[revealing an extraordinarily complex emotion: wariness, admiration, and even... a hint of genuine regret.]

["What a pity. What a pity. Though your brilliance astounds the world and your schemes encompass all living beings... this world ultimately has no room for you!"]

[His voice sank lower. In the silent night, that regret sounded especially clear—and especially ironic.]

[Chen Ming's voice carried a barely perceptible trace of weariness and understanding as he slowly revealed the final truth:]

["I once tried to take the [Hidden Dragon in the Abyss] fate pattern and, through the supreme means of [turning illusion into reality],]

[forcibly place it upon this Chen Family disciple (meaning Chen Fan), while also distorting the space and time here,]

[accelerating the flow of time within the Chen Family's territory so that, relative to the outside world, it seemed to have reached the 'Future' ahead of time...”]

[“In this way, I would indirectly fulfill the established fact that 'the [Hidden Dragon in the Abyss] Fate Pattern would arise in the [Future],' perfectly carrying forward the [effect] I had obtained in my early years.”]

[He sighed, his voice filled with the helplessness of seeing success slip away at the final hurdle:]

[“But every undertaking has its flaws. You (Chen Qingyan), with this dying body, dragged your remnant soul back to the Chen Family, determined to return,]

[and opened his eyes, making him stop blindly believing that he possessed the [Hidden Dragon in the Abyss] Fate Pattern...”]

["Thus, the foundation of [turning illusion into reality]]

[—'believing it to be true'—was broken, and the Spellcraft failed.]

[Both the [Nascent Soul True Lord] behind me and I, who carried out this task, became bound to this failed act of 'fate creation' through an inextricable [causal entanglement]."]

[His tone turned coldly certain:]

["Then we can only settle for the next best thing and help this fact truly come to pass in the [Future], according to your wishes]

["Am I right?" Though phrased as a question, it carried an unquestionable certainty.]

[He then voiced another note of admiration, this time complex and inscrutable:]

[“And after we 'help' you fulfill this fact (meaning killing Chen Fan to complete the ritual), although you will have died, because your undying [Fruit Position]]

[—[Supreme]—still remains, you will still be able to use it to reincarnate and begin anew...”]

["What a dazzling, utterly exquisite scheme! Using yourself as bait and your remnant soul as the lure, you forced us to complete this final ritual for you with our own hands, helping you achieve Liberation by Violence and reincarnate!"]

[Faced with this thorough dissection, Chen Qingyan denied nothing. He merely nodded calmly, tacitly admitting everything.]

[Seeing this, "Chen Ming" could only smile helplessly, his smile carrying the resignation of being outplayed by a single move and the bitterness of having been used:]

["It seems that, from the moment you decided to 'return,' I was caught in your schemes all along..."]

["Then I shall..."]

[However, before he could finish speaking—]

[A sudden upheaval erupted!]