After being reborn, the villain comes with a spoiler tag.

As early as when Long Yucheng discovered the basket of Ascension Tokens in Lingxiaozi's cave, Huo Yu's Heavenly Dao Value had already quietly risen to light gold, but the notes next to it did not change with the increase in Heavenly Dao Value.

At that time, the situation inside the cave was turbulent and unpredictable, leaving Huo Yu with no time to think about anything else. It wasn't until he and Long Yucheng were safely hidden in the spatial rift that he had time to calm down and think.

In this pitch-black, utterly silent spatial rift, the pale golden light above Huo Yu's head appeared particularly dazzling, yet it was like a castle in the air, bringing no substantial change to his fate, forming a stark contrast to the scene in Huo Yu's memory.

During the initiation ceremony of the Qiongshan Sect, he witnessed Guan Fengyue's inscription change from "No hope of ascension" to "Scarce hope".

At that time, Guan Fengyue's Heavenly Dao value was not as high as Huo Yu's now.

Logically, even if the annotation above his head didn't directly leap to "Ascension is Possible," it should at least show "Scarce Hope," but reality slapped him in the face.

The pale golden Heavenly Dao prism above Huo Yu's head contrasted sharply with the solidified annotation beside it: "[Abandoned by Heaven, no hope of ascension]", these eight short words were like a silent mockery from Heaven.

Huo Yu had a vague premonition that perhaps these eight characters would not change with the Heavenly Dao Value.

He once believed that the Way of Heaven could be observed and that fate could be changed. He thought that as long as he could use all available resources and see through the flaws in the rules of the Way of Heaven, he could defy fate and even confront the lofty Way of Heaven.

However, at this moment, he couldn't help but wonder if he had never truly grasped the essence of this game. Perhaps, from the moment of his rebirth, he had been manipulated by the mastermind behind the game.

If the eight-character annotation imprinted in his soul by the Heavenly Dao is truly like an iron law, unshakable, then all his resistance and struggle will be in vain.

This leads to another question: Does Long Yucheng still have any value to him?

He initially played this game of fellow disciples with Long Yucheng because he valued Long Yucheng's status as a favorite of Heaven. He wanted to use the identity of "senior brother" to control him and use him to reverse his fate of having no hope of ascension.

Now that this path seems to be blocked, is there any need to continue this game between the two brothers?

Thinking of this, Huo Yu's gaze inadvertently met Long Yucheng's eyes.

The young man in black, who had been intently staring at him in thought, was startled when Huo Yu suddenly looked up and met his gaze. He then looked away in a fluster.

Not long after, Long Yucheng's gaze returned to Huo Yu's face, and his expression returned to the one Huo Yu was most familiar with. He asked with concern:

"Did you find the information you were looking for, senior brother?"

"..."

Huo Yu looked into those eyes, remained silent for a moment, and finally just nodded slightly.

"That's good."

Long Yucheng first smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly wiped the smile off his face, his expression hesitant.

Huo Yu had seen this expression many times—whenever Long Yucheng needed something from him but was too embarrassed to ask, he would unconsciously show this look.

He should have remained silent and waited for Long Yucheng to speak as usual, or simply ignored him—after all, Long Yucheng had lost his usefulness to him.

But he inexplicably broke the silence:

"What's the matter?"

Long Yucheng hesitated for a moment before speaking:

“Since just now, I’ve had a very strange feeling, like… something is calling to me.”

Long Yucheng looked up at Huo Yu with some confusion, his brows furrowed slightly, as if trying to grasp that indescribable feeling.

Huo Yu could see the unreserved trust and unconscious dependence in the other person's eyes, like a mirror clearly reflecting his image.

Long Yucheng's eyes were always bright, as if they held stars, or as if they burned with an inextinguishable flame, pure and intense. Even Huo Yu, reflected in those eyes, seemed to be tinged with a warmth that did not belong to him.

He's become somewhat unlike himself.

Huo Yu lowered his eyes slightly, his gaze fixed on the bead in his palm, as if trying to find the self that was single-mindedly pursuing its goal within it.

The beads gleamed with a faint, ethereal light, reflecting Huo Yu's complex thoughts. Past memories and present reality intertwined and became inseparable at this moment.

Huo Yu suddenly realized that many things unrelated to his goal had appeared deep within his heart at some point—these things, like countless fine threads, had silently wrapped around his heart, layer upon layer covering his eyes, making him see many things he had never noticed before, and making him less and less like himself.

He heard himself ask in an unusually calm voice:

"where?"

Long Yucheng was completely unaware of what Huo Yu was thinking. Upon hearing this, his eyes lit up, but were quickly replaced by hesitation, and his gaze towards Huo Yu held a hint of uncertainty.

"It's in that direction to our left and slightly ahead, but could it be a trap?"

Huo Yu looked in the direction Long Yucheng pointed, only to see endless darkness spreading before him, as if foreshadowing some kind of fate.

However, in that instant, Huo Yu found his answer.

The myriad thoughts that had been swirling around his heart could no longer disturb his mind; only an unprecedented tranquility remained.

He spoke calmly, his voice steady:

"It doesn't matter."

In this boundless, pitch-black abyss, the only light was in Huo Yu's hands, like the last solitary lamp in the night, stubbornly burning.

Now that this light has fallen into his grasp, he will not easily let go. Whether it brings opportunity or calamity, he will hold onto this light tightly until the very last moment.

He will continue along the path that Heaven's favored child has already been laid out for him, to see if he can eventually reach the Heavenly Dao, which is high above and controls everything, even if the end of this path is not necessarily ascension to immortality.

Huo Yu and the Heavenly Dao have accumulated too many old and new grudges, and these grudges will eventually be settled one by one by him someday in the future.

……

The direction Long Yucheng pointed to was not far from where the two were, and in a short while, they found the thing that was calling to Long Yucheng.

Even Huo Yu, upon seeing what was before him, showed a hint of surprise in his eyes.

What they faced was an enormous beast carcass, its body as majestic as a mountain, blocking their way like an ancient ruin forgotten by time.