There had been no hesitation in Sirius's voice, the bright smile on his face hadn't faded by even a shade. He was happy, he was thankful, the thought of being of use made his heart thump like a giddy child. Yao Jun understood this, he read it on his companion's face. And so, he bit down on his lips even harder.

That smile was perhaps the hardest thing for him to face, the gratitude in the face of this horrible thing. It would have been easier for him if Sirius was angry, if he was annoyed or slightly against it. At least then Yao Jun could hate himself, he could feel like he was doing something horrible and properly hate himself. But Sirius's bright smile wouldn't even let him do that, it practically screamed that he was doing the right thing. It gnawed at him, ate at his mind and heart. He hated it, yet he was thankful for it.

"When next we meet... At that time I will be worthy."

His voice was low, barely even a whisper as it reached Sirius. But it was heavy. It struck Sirius like a mountain, a solemn vow that was quietly engraved on the world, an oath to chain reality. But he just smiled, to him, this was already reality.

"To us, you have always been worthy, My Lord."

Yes, that was the simple truth, at least to them. They followed him, they fought for him, they bled for him, and they died for him. It wasn't because he once held their lives in his hand, it wasn't because he had beat them in a battle or been given them as a gift. No, it was so much simpler than that. To them, he was worthy. To them, he was the god they sought. But that was the difference between people, the way they saw each other was rarely the same.

"No, I have never been. But next time... Next time I'll make sure that I am someone worthy enough to be called lord."

Once again, low and heavy, each word like a mountain. Yao Jun was generally a rather serious person, he had too much to lose to not be serious. But when had he last been this serious, this solemn? He couldn't remember, and neither could Sirius, that was especially true since this wasn't a solemnity born from grief or desperation. No, it was solemnity born from determination, from an oath. But once again, Sirius simply smiled, casting a sideways glance at Zhuan Yi.

"Well then. I will see you in my next life, My Lord. In the meanwhile, please trust those who have chosen to follow you."

Those were the final words of the Sky Wolf Sirius. He ignited all the energy in his body, dredged up every inch of his existence and life force and allowed it all to burn. The two Supreme Law fragments that had merged into him were no exception, he used the now rampaging energy of a powerful Divine Beast to completely tear them apart and converted them to pure energy.

Flesh shrivelled and faded away, blood evaporated into mist and organs turned to dust, everything was converted into energy. And he directed all that energy towards a single point, towards a single man. And Yao Jun accepted it all, turning his gaze towards Zhuan Yi as he showed a second of hesitation.

"...Can you protect me for a bit?"

"You're gonna just toss your life into my hands like that?"

The planet may be lifeless right now, but there was no telling who might approach while Yao Jun focused on his cultivation, having a Godking guard him during that time would be very helpful. Obviously, though, this meant that he was basically leaving his life in her hand. To someone like Yao Jun, it wasn't something done terribly easily. But he had made his determination, he had sworn his oath, he would have to grow into it.

"He told me to trust those around me so I will do just that."

"...Alright, just focus on what you got to do, I at least owe you a bit of protection."

Yao Jun gave Zhuan Yi a short nod after she gave her answer, hesitating slightly as she did so since she was caught off guard. There was something about his gaze that made her throat roll. His eyes were different, heavier. Was he really starting his change so quickly, was his determination to become worthy really so great? But at the same time, she had a thought. If his eyes are like that... then yes, he may just become worthy before long.

Yao Jun closed his eyes since he had nothing else to say, it was time to focus. His consciousness sank into his universe, focused on those black fragments that revolved around him.

His gaze landed on the fragment he was going to crack open, the fragment that lost a thread of faith. He started to direct Sirius's energy towards the fragment, forcing himself to ignore the thread of faith and presence that vanished from in front of him.

Something wet landed on his head as he focused, melting into his body as it turned into pure energy that flooded his universe. He didn't need to open his eyes to know that it was Yama dropping off the dewdrops of energy he had gathered. The energy that supported the planet, the lifeforce of practically all the living beings on this planet, the little bit of energy he managed to scrounge up from the Sebettu Godking they had just killed. All of it was handed to Yao Jun, all of it was gathered for the sake of the companions that were still trapped.

He gathered all the energy and clumped it together, the sheer immensity of the energy causing his universe to tremble quietly. It was still just an infant universe after all, one that had taken a beating just now, it was finding it a bit hard to bear this sudden conglomeration of energy. But Yao Jun wasn't done just yet. He gathered up every drop of energy that remained in his body and poured it into the mass of energy, mixed it all together into a horrific mess that made his existence quiver.

And then he controlled it all. Samsara, all things started as one and all things ended as one, everything just fed into each other in an endless cycle. That was his law, and that was what he used to control this mass of energy, that was what he fed into it to empower it. It was what he had gleaned from the birth of his universe, and it was what he would use to expand it further now.

In the end, the mass of energy spun quietly, tainted by the taste of Samsara. Things were born and things died to feed life, fire became water and water became fire, wood became earth and earth became wood, a myriad of existences constantly changed within the orb. And then, then Yao Jun launched the orb towards the fragment.

The collision was silent, far quieter than he expected. There was barely a soft sizzle as the energy crashed into the fragment, pushing against it as it tried to crack it. If it had been a whole Origin Heart then this mass of energy wouldn't be able to do a thing, but this small fragment was just a cracked portion of an already fragmented Origin Heart. Slowly but surely, the energy started to seep into the fragment, slowly but surely it made cracks that allowed it to sneak in.

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Light started to seep out from within the cracks, leaking out from the small gaps left behind as the energy tunnelled into the fragment. And then came more energy. Sometimes it was fiery, sometimes it was icy, sometimes it crackled and sometimes it was as solid as a mountain. But the one thread of similarity between these different sensations was their sheer ferocity, they were like violent beasts snarling at the sky.

How many Supreme Law fragments had Yao Jun acquired over time? Was it just Sirius's two Supreme Law of Defence fragments? No, he had acquired far more than just that. Not counting those two fragments, he also had one fragment of the Supreme Law of Life, as well as its core, the Human God's Gate, both of which were currently with Little Gray in the major universe. Then he also had one fragment and the core of the Supreme Law of Attack, the Sword God's Gate, which had merged with his own God Gate after Yun Yantian handed it over. And finally, he had the Element God's gate, which he had handed over to his Nine-Tailed Fox, Xuhuan Huo.

So, what would happen if he used the energy of two Supreme Law fragments to crack open one of the God Gate fragments that happened to contain some of the Sword God's Gate or the Element God's Gate? The answer was exactly the scene in front of him, the fragment he was trying to crack open was leaking energy that was almost on par with what he was trying to pour in.

As a result, the myriad of cracks covering the small black fragment quickly grew larger even without Yao Jun pouring in more energy. The energy spilt out like a violent tidal wave, it roared for freedom as it joined up with Yao Jun's energy to tear down its prison.

Yao Jun's gaze was cold and calm as he looked at the scene. The outpouring of energy caught him off-guard at first, but his mind quickly spun and realized that this was beneficial. He needed far less energy to crack the fragment thanks to this leaking energy, it was even returning some of the energy he had used. As such, what was preventing him from just cracking another fragment right away?

Nothing, that was the answer he reached. So he immediately acted. He had hesitated once, and it cost him a thread of faith, maybe even two. He would not hesitate again, could not. So he strode forward without looking back, he tore away most of the energy he used on the first fragment and immediately assaulted a second one, slowly but surely forming cracks in that one as well.

His universe was groaning, the two cracks were creaking and crumbling. There was too much energy for the three things to bear, it was just too much strain for them all. But Yao Jun preserved and kept going, he ignored everything else and focused on destroying those two fragments, he would crush them so that he could free them.

And in the end, both fragments exploded with a blinding light, a pure white colour washing over his universe as energy poured forth like an unstoppable wave. His universe groaned and cried because of the energy, but he could feel that it was growing a bit larger at the same time, growing denser and sturdier. This universe was formed using a fragment of his God Gate, these other fragments came from the same source so as they cracked open they returned to where they belonged, they latched onto each other since that was all they knew.

He felt it right away since this universe was his actual body, but when the white light faded away he also got to see it. The universe itself was mainly unchanged, it had lost a fair bit of its planets and galaxies thanks to the accumulated damage and strain, but he could feel that the edges had expanded greatly. And then there was the greatest change, the two small planets that orbited around the edges of his universe. He could feel it, could feel them.

They were planets now, but they would grow, and they would multiply. And then they would crumble and die before being reborn again. They had latched onto the universe that was his main body, but they were universes in their own right, little infants waiting to grow through his Samsara. One universe had become three, two orbiting around the third, all of them part of the being that was Yao Jun.

But Yao Jun's focus was barely on the two new universes, or rather, the fact that he had grown two new ones. No, his attention was on the two small planets, on the lifeforms that existed there, on the golden threads that came from there, as well as the black threads that quietly stretched out.

The first planet was one that allowed him to heave a quiet breath, the thumping of his heart quieting slightly. There were two beings on this planet, one lived within a large ocean and had the body of a shark with a long neck ending in a dragon-like head. Yong Bo, the hydra he had offered his hand. The second one moved across the entire planet with the wind, more elemental than corporeal. But occasionally it took the form of a small wolf with two tails, flickering in and out of the wind. He gave his existence to crack open the fragments, and in turn, Yao Jun gave him a second life.

"Thank you... Thank you for living..."

He couldn't help but mutter to himself. Yumao had set a precedent, but there was really no guarantee that Sirius would be able to merge with the fragments and be reborn alongside them, there really was a chance that he would fade into death. But he hadn't, and Yao Jun was so relieved that he felt like he was about to cry.

But he couldn't cry, and the reason was the second planet, which should be the one created using the fragment that had lost a thread of faith. This planet was far more... lively than the other one, it was also this one that contained some black threads that connected to Yao Jun, threads of fearful faith.

There were actually people on this planet, humans. He could just barely remember a few of their faces, they looked to be the members of Demon's Gate that his companions had gathered up while they were separated. It was these people that birthed the black threads, their expressions revealing their anxiety and uncertainty as they observed their surroundings, clutching weapons that dripped a little blood.

But they weren't the only beings on this planet, there were two golden threads present on this planet as well. One came from a small crimson lizard with two sets of leathery wings on its back. Yao Jun only had one companion that could be considered somewhat similar to this, Zhuyin the Crimson Dragon. The second thread came from a small fox with burnt orange fur, a stripe of pale yellowish-white fur running down her back, ending in two fluffy tails that swayed in the wind. Xuhuan Huo, the holder of the Element God's Gate, she was the reason for the sudden outpouring of energy.

But the situation was strange. Zhuyin had been reborn since she was in the fragment, but she was clearly wounded and weak, both of her hind legs looked broken, bent and crooked. Blood also poured from a gash in her back, just where her wings connected to her body. Meanwhile, Xuhuan was clearly standing guard over something, protecting it with her own body. She also seemed to be desperately pouring energy into something, spilling what little energy she had after her rebirth.

It wasn't hard for Yao Jun to see what she was guarding, what she was trying to sustain. It was a dark crystal, one he couldn't be more familiar with. once upon a time, this crystal had been embedded inside his first companion, the first friend he brought along. That friend had died for his parents and left behind only this crystal, flickering with a faint azure light that assured others of the minute traces of life left within.

It was that faint light that had been Yao Jun's hope, it was this faint light that assured Yao Jun that he could still bring Little Thunder back to life. He had even found a source of lightning strong enough to possibly facilitate this revival, the gargantuan planet of living lightning within the major universe he visited.

But why was it dark? Why had the crystal gone completely silent and dim? Where was that little flicker of azure, that hopeful light that allowed his heart to rest easy? His chest felt cold. His throat felt clogged and dry, just trying to swallow produced a sensation akin to sheets of sandpaper scraping against each other.

A replica of his body formed within the universe and descended on the planet, the ground quivering and whimpering in response to his arrival. The veins in his eyes had started to fill with blood so his gaze was bloodshot as it roamed across the people on the planet, the black threads extending from the humans growing a deeper shade as his gaze landed on them.

"Just what... is going on here?"