So finally, I have returned to my place. I am here to challenge all of you Bodhisattvas. Right now, I will destroy Heaven and reform it in my own way. You can't do anything to me, Jade Emperor—it's useless.
Jade Emperor said, "You really think you can beat us Bodhisattvas? You're not even a Bodhisattva."
He smiled and said, "I don't need that role, since my role is above the Heavens. Right now, all of you should care about your lives, because this god is here to defeat you. And Jade… I like that title: the Strongest Clay Void Emperor. Call me by any of my titles—I have many."
Sun Wukong leapt forward and attacked. He jumped and easily dodged.
"You're good… but that won't be enough to beat me," he said.
Wukong smirked. "Tell me, even by enslaving these gods who can't save themselves from me, what can you do?" He attacked with multiple clones.
He dodged every strike and swung his clay sword, destroying every clone. Then he clashed swords with Wukong—the heavens shook.
"You're strong… but that still won't be enough," he said calmly.
Wukong unleashed his full potential. "What happened?" he shouted.
"You don't even attack me at all," he said. "You're standing in my hand." Wukong looked up in shock. He closed his hand—and Wukong fell.
Both of them continued fighting. He raised his hand.
"Enough!" he said. He unleashed his power, binding Wukong tightly with clay. Wukong was defeated—back to his normal size.
He looked down at him coldly.
"Only this much power…?"
The battle raged across the Heavens. Clouds tore apart, lightning split the skies, and the golden palaces quaked under the weight of his presence.
The Jade Emperor, along with the other gods of Tian, unleashed their full might, launching attacks that should have shaken mountains.
He raised a single hand.
In an instant, their assault was shredded, broken apart by living clay constructs that surged and wrapped around them, crushing their attacks before they could reach him.
Quan Yin's aura flared next. A hundred ethereal hands erupted around her, each one reaching with divine power—but he didn't flinch. With a wave of his clay, the hands were immobilized, frozen midair, then shattered like brittle stone.
Another god, Mansuri, stepped forward, summoning titanic energy to challenge him.
"Titanic Clay Manifestation!" he roared, and the Heavens themselves twisted. Rivers of black clay erupted in massive waves, engulfing the gods. Their screams echoed as some were torn apart completely, while a few barely survived, battered and broken.
He stood amidst the devastation, calm, untouchable. His voice echoed across the shattered skies:
"As I told you… I am something you cannot earn. I am not something you can handle. I do not see anyone here capable of defeating me."
The Heavens shuddered at his words. Even the surviving gods, battered and broken, dared not move. Every attack they had tried was meaningless. Every power they commanded was nothing before him.
He was above the Heavens. He was the Strongest Clay Void Emperor. And no one here could challenge him.
The skies that had just trembled under his power grew eerily silent. The Heavens were shattered, smoke and fragments of clay drifting across endless clouds.
And then… he was stopped.
A figure emerged, white hair flowing like silver light, radiating an aura that could pierce even the chaos. The Clay Void Emperor's eyes narrowed as the newcomer stepped forward.
A battle unlike any before erupted. Clay constructs clashed with blinding energy, the heavens shook, but gradually, blow by blow, the white-haired figure gained the upper hand.
Finally… it was over. The Clay Void Emperor fell, defeated, his immense power finally contained.
The white-haired god stood tall, voice cutting through the wreckage:
"Finally… you are done. Clay Void Emperor. The Clay God. The Strongest God."
He looked at him, unshaken, though his voice trembled with restrained shock:
"I… am shocked… that you defeated me."
And then his voice grew louder, echoing like a storm across the shattered Heavens:
"I will come again… another reincarnation… and another… until I achieve my perfect incarnation. You may have defeated me this time!"
The white-haired god's eyes narrowed.
"We'll see about that," he said calmly, unwavering.
A sudden change. A figure opened his eyes, disoriented, surrounded by fragments of shattered Heavens.
"Where… am I?" he whispered. His voice small, uncertain.
"What… is my name?"
The winds carried the echoes of past battles. The world had changed, and a new story was about to begin.
Shin Jiang's eyes fluttered open. The world felt… strange. The remnants of shattered Heavens drifted like whispers in his vision.
"I… I don't remember… who am I?" he whispered, his voice trembling with confusion.
A gentle voice reached him, soft yet firm.
"Shin Jiang… hey, are you okay?"
Shin Jiang blinked, trying to focus. "Shin Jiang? Who… who is this?"
The woman stepped closer, her eyes filled with a mixture of relief and sorrow.
"It's you… I am your mother. Xinyi Jiang. Do you still not remember me?"
Shin Jiang's mind raced. Faces, voices, memories—everything felt distant, like fragments of a dream slipping through his fingers.
The air hung heavy with emotion, the quiet after chaos pressing down on them. The world had changed, and yet, this simple connection—mother and son—was a tether to something real, something human… something worth fighting for.