Location: Hall of Forgotten Memories — Deep Memory Layer
The Silence After the Memory
The final words of the First Void Emperor faded into the darkness.
The Hall of Forgotten Memories became completely silent.
Qin Huaian stood alone beneath the endless sea of crystal spheres.
Thousands of memories floated around him.
Yet none of them moved.
For the first time since entering the ruins, Huaian did not immediately move forward.
He simply stood there.
Thinking.
The First Void Emperor had reached the peak of the known cultivation system.
He had controlled space.
Erased existence.
Broken countless restrictions.
Yet when he stood before the boundary beyond the Twelfth Realm—
He failed.
Not because he lacked power.
But because he approached the Void as something that needed to be conquered.
Huaian slowly opened his eyes.
"So that's where you went wrong."
His voice was quiet.
"You tried to become the master of something that has no master."
The darkness remained silent.
Then—
A single crystal sphere began glowing.
The Memory That Was Never Recorded
The sphere slowly drifted toward Huaian.
But unlike the previous memories—
This one had no image inside.
Only darkness.
Huaian reached toward it.
The moment his finger touched the surface—
CRACK.
The sphere shattered.
But no memory appeared.
Instead—
A voice emerged.
Not the voice of the First Void Emperor.
Something else.
Something much older.
"Why do you seek the Void?"
Huaian's eyes narrowed.
He did not answer immediately.
The voice continued.
"Power?"
The darkness shifted.
"Immortality?"
Another shift.
"Revenge?"
Huaian's expression remained unchanged.
The voice became quieter.
"Or fear?"
Silence.
Huaian finally answered.
"None of them."
The entire Hall trembled.
The Answer
The mysterious voice asked again.
"Then why?"
Huaian looked around the endless Hall.
His gaze passed over the countless memories of the First Void Emperor.
"I want to understand it."
The darkness became still.
Huaian continued.
"But not for myself alone."
The voice remained silent.
"My children are walking this path."
He looked toward the crystal spheres containing ancient memories.
"If I don't understand what lies ahead…"
"They will eventually face the same danger."
His expression became colder.
"And I won't allow that."
For the first time—
The Hall reacted violently.
BOOM!
Every crystal sphere began glowing simultaneously.
Fenglan.
Meiyue.
Xiaoxiao.
Their images appeared across thousands of memories.
The Void was responding to Huaian's answer.
Not because it was powerful.
Because it was genuine.
The Twins' Trial
Suddenly—
Two enormous crystal spheres separated from the others.
One moved toward the left side of the Hall.
The other toward the right.
Inside the first sphere—
Fenglan appeared.
Inside the second—
Meiyue.
Huaian immediately understood.
"This place is testing them again."
The Emperor's Will appeared beside him.
"No."
Its voice was unusually serious.
"This is different."
Huaian looked toward it.
The Will continued.
"The previous trials tested whether they understood existence."
"These memories will test whether they understand themselves."
Huaian's eyes became slightly colder.
"Then they will face it."
He turned toward the two spheres.
"But I will be here when they return."
Fenglan's Memory
Inside the first sphere—
Fenglan opened his eyes.
He was standing in the Qin family estate.
Everything looked normal.
The courtyard.
The training grounds.
The familiar buildings.
Then he heard voices.
"Fenglan!"
He turned.
His father stood in the distance.
Qin Huaian.
Fenglan immediately smiled.
"Father!"
He ran toward him.
But Huaian didn't move.
Instead, he looked at Fenglan coldly.
"You are weak."
Fenglan froze.
"What?"
"You rely on me."
The scene changed.
Qin family soldiers fell around him.
Enemies surrounded the estate.
Fenglan tried to summon Void energy.
Nothing happened.
His father disappeared.
His mother disappeared.
Meiyue disappeared.
Everyone he cared about vanished one after another.
Fenglan dropped to his knees.
"No…"
A voice echoed.
"You wanted to become strong."
"Then why are you still afraid of losing them?"
Fenglan clenched his fists.
The illusion waited for him to break.
But slowly—
He stood.
His eyes became determined.
"I am afraid."
The world froze.
"But being afraid doesn't make me weak."
His Void Mark began glowing.
"I will protect them."
"But I won't become someone who needs their existence to prove my own."
The illusion cracked.
Meiyue's Memory
At the same time—
Meiyue opened her eyes inside another memory.
She stood in an endless white world.
No sound.
No people.
No Void.
Nothing.
Then she heard her own voice.
"You understand everything."
Another voice answered.
"Then why do you still feel incomplete?"
Images appeared around her.
Fenglan.
Xiaoxiao.
Huaian.
The Qin family.
Every person she cared about.
Then—
One by one—
They disappeared.
Meiyue remained alone.
The voice whispered:
"You can see what doesn't exist."
"So why can't you see what you are?"
Meiyue closed her eyes.
For a long time—
She said nothing.
Then she smiled faintly.
"I don't need to know everything."
The world trembled.
"I only need to know what matters."
The white world cracked.
Void spread through it.
And Meiyue opened her eyes.
The Father Who Waits
Back inside the Hall—
Qin Huaian stood before the two crystal spheres.
He could sense everything happening inside them.
He could intervene.
He could destroy the illusion instantly.
But he didn't.
Because he understood something.
A true protector didn't remove every obstacle.
Sometimes—
The greatest protection was allowing someone to overcome their own weakness.
The Emperor's Will looked at him.
"You could save them."
Huaian nodded.
"I could."
"Then why don't you?"
Huaian's eyes remained on the spheres.
"Because one day…"
His voice became quiet.
"I won't be there."
The Will fell silent.
Huaian continued.
"If they are going to walk the Void Path…"
"They must learn to stand even when I am not beside them."
For a moment—
The ancient Will seemed to see something beyond Huaian's power.
A father.
Not merely a Void Sovereign.
The Door Beyond the Memories
The two crystal spheres suddenly shattered.
Fenglan and Meiyue emerged.
Both were breathing heavily.
But neither looked afraid.
Fenglan looked at his father.
"I understand now."
Huaian nodded.
Meiyue stepped beside him.
"So do I."
The Hall began changing.
Thousands of memories disappeared.
The floating spheres merged into a single enormous crystal door.
Ancient symbols appeared across it.
At its center was a single phrase:
BEYOND THE CROWN, THE VOID BECOMES SOMETHING ELSE.
Everyone stared at it.
Even Qin Huaian's expression changed slightly.
The Emperor's Will looked toward the door.
Its voice trembled.
"That…"
"It shouldn't exist."
Qin Xiaoxiao frowned.
"What is it?"
The Will slowly answered.
"The beginning of the Void Immortal Path."
The crystal door opened.
Beyond it—
There was no darkness.
There was no light.
There was something entirely different.
Something that none of them had ever sensed before.
Qin Huaian stepped forward.
And for the first time—
Even he could not immediately determine what waited on the other side.