Yu Mu, the chief prodigy of the Yunhe Sect, was brought before the Law Enforcement Hall accused of stealing the earth vein energy and murdering thirteen disciples. His junior sister Liu He testified against him. Instead of defending himself, Yu Mu admitted to the guilt, knowing from his past life that arguing served no purpose. In that previous existence, he had fought the Child of Destiny Ye Tian for centuries, rising to become the Demon Emperor. At the very moment of victory, the person he loved and respected most stabbed him from behind, allowing Ye Tian to prevail and blood sacrifice the entire world for ascension. The Heavenly Dao, in a desperate act of self-preservation, rewound time and sent Yu Mu back, granting him a seed of destiny in his sea of consciousness, half of the luck that had belonged to Ye Tian.Upon returning, Yu Mu no longer cared to prove his innocence. He was sentenced to one month in the Cold Prison, his cultivation sealed. While he lay there reflecting, the sect’s higher-ups, including his master Zili Fairy, used a rare Mystic Sky Mirror to investigate the incident. The mirror revealed the truth: a figure shrouded in a faint pink aura had killed the disciples and stolen the energy, and Liu He had been influenced by that aura when she witnessed it. Yu Mu was completely innocent. The true culprit was Ye Tian, who had framed Yu Mu to seize resources and glory. The sect immediately announced Yu Mu’s vindication and punished Liu He symbolically, but Zili and the sect leader did not personally visit Yu Mu in the Cold Prison; Zili instead went to attend to Ye Tian’s cultivatuion issues.Only Supreme Elder Yun Buqi, who had always believed in Yu Mu, came to the Cold Prison himself. He wrapped Yu Mu in a cloak and brought him out, having sacrificed his own precious ring to compensate Zili for the damaged Mystic Sky Mirror. Moved by this loyalty and seeing the warmth still present in Yun Buqi, Yu Mu decided he could not simply lie down and live a mortal life. He now had a new purpose: to protect those who truly believed in him, such as Yun Buqi, and to ascend from this world, taking them to a broader path. He resolved to leave the Yunhe Sect behind, no longer involving himself in its politics or its false attachments to his master, senior sister, or junior sister. He asked to stay in Xingyun Hall under Yun Buqi’s guidance, and Yun Buqi agreed happily, noting that Yu Mu’s cultivation was still sealed.Inside the sect, Ye Tian watched nervously. He knew the Mystic Sky Mirror could lock onto his aura, forcing him to delay refining the stolen earth vein energy. He was at early Nascent Soul and planned to break through rapidly to surpass Yu Mu in the upcoming Northwest Sect Competition, then take everything Yu Mu had: resources, reputation, and the women he desired—Zili, the senior martial sister Xiao Yu, and Liu He. But with Yu Mu now vindicated and no longer confined, Ye Tian had to be cautious.Yu Mu, for his part, let go of all resentment. His heart, which had been dulled by betrayal, still ached when he thought of those who had died for him in the past life: Yun Buqi, who had been framed and beheaded; the demonic path Holy Maiden Su Qiyuan, who held his broken body in the void until they both perished; and Sword Prodigy Lu Xinghe, who had worn Yu Mu’s Demon Emperor robe and questioned the world before being slain and hung at the Holy Mountain. These memories cemented his decision. He would no longer fight for the sect or for a destiny imposed by the Heavenly Dao. He would cultivate for himself and for the few who had proven their faith. As he followed Yun Buqi out of the Cold Prison, the ice and snow still clinging to his hair, a faint warmth returned to his chest. This time, he would live not as a tool, but as his own master, and he would ascend beyond this dying world with those who deserved to be saved.
