A storm brewed far beyond the sky, not of thunder or lightning, but of fate.

  The moment a mortal is seen by a True God, the heavens can no longer look away.

  Li Fan stood alone in the hollow of the Ashen Lotus.

  The sigil upon his chest — ?? — pulsed with a rhythm that was not his heartbeat. It was something older. Something greater.

  Yanxu, his robe stained with soot and blood, kept watch from afar.

  Yue Xian stood by the shattered pillar of the old Nameless Gate, arms folded, sensing the change in air. “He’s crossing.”

  “No,” Yanxu replied softly. “He’s becoming.”

  A deep hum rolled through the valley.

  From below the surface of the world, golden roots burst upward — not of wood, but of refined qi woven with divine marrow. They coiled, encircling Li Fan like serpents of fate.

  In most paths, to ascend to the God Realm required ritual, legacy, and sacrifice.

  Li Fan had none.

  He bore no lineage.

  He had no celestial technique, no divine patron.

  What he had was Will — honed sharper than immortal steel, forged in battle, cooled in memory.

  The Ashen Lotus bloomed fully, revealing its heart: a small mirror, fogged and fractured.

  To step into it was to confront all versions of the self that could have been.

  Li Fan stepped forward.

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  Inside the mirror was no reflection.

  There was only choice.

  A world where he had accepted the Crown of the Azure Sect.

  A life where he had become a tyrant cloaked in gold.

  A version of him who had never left the village — happy, safe, forgettable.

  A version who died saving no one.

  They stared at him.

  Not with malice.

  With pity.

  “Why walk a road with no crown?” one asked.

  Li Fan answered not with words — but with a flame conjured from memory.

  The faces of those he had saved.

  The names of the dead etched into his soul.

  The warmth of Yue Xian’s unspoken trust.

  The silence of Yanxu’s mourning.

  “Because I choose to,” he whispered.

  “And because I can.”

  The mirror shattered, and from its ruins, the Flame of Sovereign Memory burst forth — the reward of the Witnessed.

  The heavens screamed.

  The earth bowed.

  The Ashen Lotus cracked open, and Li Fan rose — no longer mortal, no longer tethered.

  His body now radiated a low, golden aura — not blinding like other gods, but warm, enduring.

  He had entered the Genuine Realm of the Celestial King Stage, the first step of the God Realms.

  No celestial decree welcomed him.

  No choir sang.

  Only the wind spoke.

  “Crownless… and now divine.”

  Ullatar watched, and for the first time in eternity, he smiled.

  “He will not rule. He will not kneel.”

  “He will be.”

  Far across the skies, other gods stirred.

  Some with curiosity.

  Others with terror.

  But all now whispered one name.

  Li Fan.