Yun Lintian watched silently as Fan Shen's golden essence dissipated into the void. The last remnants of the fallen god's power scattered like embers in the wind, returning to the cosmos from which they came.
He let out a long breath, his grip on the God Slaying Sword loosening slightly.
"In the end... he was still human."
Fan Shen, for all his arrogance and ambition, had been just like everyone else—flawed, emotional, desperate. At the final moment, he had realized his mistakes. Realized he had lost himself.
Yun Lintian's mismatched eyes darkened as he reflected.
Ren Yuan. Fan Shen...
Neither had been evil at their core. But the world was cruel. To survive, to protect what mattered, one had to become strong. Strong enough to control their own fate.
"Am I any different?"
He clenched his fist.
No. He wasn't.
He, too, had walked a path paved with blood and stolen power. He, too, had become something greater than human to protect those he cared about.
