Inside Han Chen's mind
Yue Ming's death hadn't just ended an enemy. It had shattered the last lingering anchor to previous life. That betrayal, that fall of his previous self—it was no longer his weight to bear. The echoes of the heart demon he had once refined, fused, and then nearly been consumed by had nothing left to feed on or haunt. The chains that felt heavy dissipated and the one bind in center who always gave him a feeling of guilt slowly dissipated. Now, finally… he was healing. His consciousness assimilated the origin which was lost.
He stood alone within the boundless expanse of his soul sea, a place both silent and luminous. The original system fragment had fully merged—he was wholly himself now. At the heart of this inner world is a vast golden tree, the radiant projection of his Heaven-Defying Wisdom Root. Its leaves shimmered with threads of knowledge, and its roots wove through his soul.
From those roots, rivers of light poured outward, washing out the memories and as if centuries of hardened experiences dissolved into clarity, no longer filtered only through cold reasoning. Now, emotion colored his understanding—compassion, sorrow, joy, even longing. He saw differently now. Felt differently.
At the center of it all, the core of his astral soul beat with quiet strength—still human, yet touched by something greater. He had expected resistance, a remnant of his past self clawing to reclaim control. But there was none. No fight. No fracture.
Just peace.
Slowly, unknowingly, the core of his being transmuted—refined not by technique, but by the weight of memory, the experience of a lifetime. The jade soul took shape.
He saw Hye Won—frail, paralyzed, yet her eyes never left him. The way she wept at movies, frowned when worried, or smiled weakly when he wheeled her through sunlit streets. He had bathed her, stretched her limbs, taught her to speak again. Her voice, once groans, became syllables. Hope. Love.
And then, her death. Quiet. Unfair. But he had stayed until the end.
Then came the centuries. Lives compressed into seconds. Betrayals. Slaughter. Friends lost, companions broken. He remembered leaving his beast companion behind—only to return later, powerful, and find it turned against him as a mindless beast by others who he trusted. The anguish he felt. He gave it mercy—a pseudo memory—but it never felt whole again.The emptiness
He had slept with women who loved him, some who pretended, yet he felt lost. None reached him.
Until Xelhua Mor'Ling Yue, a demoness with same last name as 'her'. He didn't care about her race. They had children—who became kings, and then murderers. One survived. Han Chen let him live. He left with her, built a quiet life. But when she was exposed and her cultivation stripped by others, he burned cities. Rebuilt her. But no matter the cultivation advancement she gained, life span eventually caught up.
When Han Chen said he would share his life-essence, she refused saying she lived enough, but instead asked him for her wish. It wasn't any loss for him to share his life essence, she knew yet... but still, she gave him the unexpected request.
She is the only one who knows about Yue Lan his first love, but even she didn't know about his rebirth. She asked him to treat her as if he loved Yue Lan. He stayed mortal with her until she died, smiling, at peace, content. He felt no sadness—only the truth of impermanence, death, and the power of mind and joyful memories.
He wished she be reborn. And after a period of time, still… Yue Lan's memory returned. The regret, but this time he tamed it into refining for his own strength. Each tribulation, he fed it and refined again, torturing that version of him.
Eons passed. He played mortal. Lived among them. Loved some, taught others, watched dynasties rise and fall, saw how humans developed themselves and then fall again, while he cultivated quietly in the background.
He saw their cruelty. Their pain. Their loyalty. Their brilliance. Their greed. Their faith. Their happiness. He wandered forbidden zones. Amassed knowledge. Rose. Fell. Nearly died. Killed. Taught. Wandered. Assimilated knowledge across realms. Became strong. Became emperor. Was betrayed. Laughed. Died.
And then— Reborn.
Hye Won. Each memory of her struck with piercing clarity, filled with a sense of belonging that shook him. This new life—free from karmic burdens, stripped of ancient weight—made everything feel unbearably present far from the emotions of previous ones.How must she have felt, time after time, when he coldly turned away her affections? When he manipulated her, selfishly took her to adapt to killing others giving her a trauma. When he trained her with no nonsense never softening his tone or regimen? She never once complained. And yet he'd been selfish. Letting her soul-bond with him, knowing the risks. Knowing what she deserved—and how far short he'd fallen. What kind of man was I, really? Insufferable bastard.
And Yue Lan.No longer just the woman he failed in another lifetime. She stood now beside Hye Won—not as a ghost of tragedy, but as herself. Real. Present.There was a beauty in her the world would miss. Not the obvious kind.It was the way she held back her fire until it seared through in a glance. The discipline, the pride, the moments she cared without admitting it aloud. Yet he felt a stranger to her. Well he couldn't exactly complain yet, again he also put her into a soul connection to preserve his past self, without her acknowledgement ?
Now that the tide of memories had passed, Han Chen became aware of something deeper—his soul had begun to brighten overall now reached at its very root from crown. He had felt it midway through the emotional onslaught, the shift as instinctive as breathing. It required no conscious intent.
The karmic threads within him—once red and white to his ladies—had shifted to a soft red and pink hue. He saw faint strands connecting him to his parents, one of the few karmic ties he still held in this life.
When the Trinity Refinement Sutra circulated through him—almost unconsciously—his awareness caught up. The transformation was complete. His soul sea stilled. He had crossed the threshold.
Jade Soul.That was what he had now.
No Nascent Soul cultivator or Void Transformation expert could impose soul pressure upon his spirit again. Alchemists and soul-focused cultivators often pursued this refinement. Most others would only achieve it after reaching the Tribulation Realm—if at all.
But a million years of hard-earned experience had refined his essence beyond theory or technique. Even from here, within his soul space, he could feel his domain of law outside accelerating toward completion. His laws layer comprehension deepened further. His spirit sense unfirled. Clearer than before, colourful than before in emotional and various other senses.
But then, a message rang out in his mind.
Hye Won's voice followed a breath later.
Han Chen opened his eyes—and the sight hit him harder than any battle. Hye Won stood there, eyes red and puffy, tear stains lining her cheeks. At the same time, his senses snapped into full awareness.
His spiritual pressure had been fully unleashed.
The moment his aura withdrew, the city around them slowly began to breathe again. But the damage had been done.
In the one-mile radius around them, dozens of traffic accidents had occurred. Outside that, people had only felt brief waves of nausea, panic, or dread—but nothing lethal.
Still, chaos had rippled outward.
Han Chen groaned and smacked his forehead. Then, his gaze drifted to Hye Won.Her eyes were red too. But he was sure that the soul corridor with them doesn't make them feel his aura without his assigning,
"You cried?...Why?"
She scoffed, arms crossed. "I was peacefully sleeping by your side. Then I got hit by a nightmare. And when I woke up, it was another damn roller coaster. I was crying and being depressed and even laughing for no reason. Well, when I can't control myself, I know it was you as, if its weird for no reason, its source is most probably you .....I was about to wake you up.. " She softened her tone in the end. " What happened?"
"Hah. Emotions flared, my intent flared…." He understood when he saw her response, sighed again, rubbing his temples. "Ugh. Sorry."
"Come here." He guided her with a gentle pull of spiritual force—and gave her a sweet kiss. It was usual for them, so she didn't resist. But she felt somewhat different as if she could sense more emotions from their connection. While they were beginning to enter into their love bubble, Yue Lan huffed mentally upon seeing it through shared spirit sense:
With a sigh, He gently left her gasping air as he, Han Chen rose into the sky, invisible to mortal eyes, and surveyed the damage. He stretched out his hands.
His domain unfurled—vast, silent this time. No one screamed or collapsed. But the effects were immediate.
Wounded civilians blinked in shock as their injuries vanished miraculously. Crashed vehicles bent back into their original shape under subtle material reconstruction. Screeching tires and shattered glass reversed like time rewinding itself. Vehicles went back in lane and just stopped.
The chaos quieted.
He didn't focus near Yue Lan's building, not wanting to alert supernatural investigations surveillance. Instead, he focused on the densest clusters of disruption. Those who'd lost consciousness stirred awake, stabilized by his calm spiritual field. For others he healed them in-case of injuries.
His core influence only spanned a mile—but even ten miles out, people had paused mid-stride, as if catching their breath from a forgotten fear.
To avoid pinpointing his presence, Han Chen subtly randomized the event patterns—masking the flow of effects, ensuring any monitoring agency would find only confusion, not coordinates. Then, satisfied, he descended—back to the Hye Won.
"You don't seem nearly as concerned as you used to," she said, looking up at him.
Han Chen gave a small laugh, glancing out at the horizon. "I'm pretty sure they won't find anything. No deaths, no permanent damage. My conscience can rest—for now. That's said, I have been making too much public news recently..." Then he set his sight on the girl.
He stepped closer, voice quiet."Hye Won."
She looked up.
"I'm sorry. For not being the perfect partner. For dragging Yue Lan into this—for selfish reasons at first. For how harsh I was during your training. For forcing you to take lives… I'm sorry it took me this long to say it."
A beat passed. Then she huffed a quiet laugh."You really have changed, haven't you?"
Her voice softened."It's alright. You made me who I am now. If you hadn't pushed me, I might've stayed soft. I wouldn't have met the version of you, I love. You gave me purpose—conviction for life and cultivation. I'm… grateful."
There was a small silence before he added "I heard what you said. While I was asleep." Her eyes turning away awkwardly. He watched her closely."Is that what you really think?"
"I don't know what to think," she muttered. "You've lived for… lifetimes. I've only lived this one. I had a crush on you before even you broke up with our old classmate Xue Qing. I loved you, before I even understood what it meant."
Her voice lowered."And now I'm here—closer to you than anyone. But Yue Lan has history with you. Karma. You had unresolved debts with her. And yet… I'm the one you chose to soul-bond with at first. It feels like… I skipped the line. Like I just screamed louder and got picked."
Han Chen leaned forward, elbows on his knees, gaze steady. "You want to talk about karma?" he said quietly. "In some lives, I died alone. In some, I couldn't protect anyone. But in this life… I got a second chance ."
He reached out, brushing a thumb across her cheek. "And you—you were the first person who stayed when I was still just me. You didn't care about what I could do, or what titles I held. You didn't worship me, try to use me, or fear me or fix me. You just… stayed."
Moving his lips closer to hers, " And even when I had nothing to offer, you saw me. Truly saw something in me worth investing, that you even switched your career interest and join me in college. And your feelings—" he gave a soft, almost bitter laugh, "they were real… not performative, like that bitch of a woman you mentioned."
He paused, voice quieter now—steady and sincere."I didn't bind myself to you because you were persistent. I chose to be your partner because when you were hurting, I felt it. Like a knot in my own throat. It wasn't sympathy, my own mind ached. You reminded me I wasn't just here to repay karmic debts… but to live. To feel. To choose."
Her breath caught."…So I didn't trick fate?"
He shook his head slowly."No. You earned my attention."