Fang Yuan’s consciousness slowly sank deeper and deeper into the Tianxun Realm.

And the moment when the partial control obtained by the system settled into his soul, the entire world changed before his eyes.

No... perhaps it had always been this way.

He simply lacked the ability to perceive it before.

Countless threads filled his vision.

Thin, faint and transparent.

They connected mountains to rivers, rivers to beasts, beasts to mortals, mortals to fate itself.

Every living thing possessed them.

Even the wind carried strands invisible to ordinary eyes.

Fang Yuan silently watched as millions upon millions of threads intertwined across the realm like an endless heavenly web.

A deer drinking water beside a river.

A cultivator meditating within a cave.

A falling leaf drifting toward the ground.

All of them connected, all of them moving toward something.

Toward outcomes.

Toward inevitable endings.

Yet the threads themselves were fragile.

Too fragile.

Fang Yuan’s gaze landed upon a tiny fly trapped within a spider web deep inside a forest.

A thin thread connected the fly to the spider.

It was death, that was the fly’s fate.

As the spider slowly approached closing in, the thread tightening around the flies neck.

A passing human casually swept away the web while clearing branches from the forest path.

The web shattered instantly and the thread snapped.

The fly managed to escaped and for a brief moment, Fang Yuan watched the thread disappear completely.

Its fate had changed, the fly had went against its fate and lived.

Or so it seemed.

The fly buzzed through the forest wildly.

Then, only moments later, the broken thread twisted.

It rapidly rewove itself in another direction.

This time toward a frog hidden beneath the grass.

The frog’s tongue shot outward and the fly vanished into its mouth.

The thread stabilized once more.

Fang Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

But it did not end there as another thread emerged.

The frog became prey as a snake slithered silently through the underbrush before swallowing the frog whole.

Then came another change, another thread.

The same human from before noticed the snake and instinctively struck it dead with a farming tool.

Yet fate continued moving, it wasn’t done yet.

The spider whose web had been destroyed earlier finally found the culprit who destroyed it’s house and jumped down on the man and aimed to bit at his neck.

The human quickly brushed the spider away but the spider had managed bit him.

Several minutes later and the man collapsed within the forest, venom spreading through his body.

Fang Yuan watched the countless threads continue moving endlessly across the world.

Breaking, reforming, redirecting, like rivers splitting apart before inevitably flowing back toward the sea.

Nothing truly disappeared, it merely changed paths.

A strange realization slowly surfaced within Fang Yuan’s mind.

Fate was not absolute but it was terrifyingly persistent.

The Tianxun Realm itself seemed to whisper that truth directly into his soul.

Every action created ripples and every ripple altered countless threads.

Yet the world would continuously attempt to restore balance through new outcomes.

Fang Yuan slowly exhaled.

The deeper Fang Yuan’s consciousness merged with the Tianxun Realm, the more horrifying the sight became.

The threads were no longer limited to living beings.

Entire sects possessed them.

Kingdoms possessed them.

Even mountains and spiritual veins were connected by enormous streams of fate stretching across the heavens.

Some burned brilliantly like miniature suns.

Others were dim and brittle, as though they could collapse at any moment.

Fang Yuan silently observed them all.

The Tianxun Realm no longer resembled a world.

It resembled a living organism who was breathing, changing, evolving every single second, trying it’s very best to adapt.

It was like an endless network of interconnected destiny.

And at the very center of it all, he suddenly felt something staring at him.

Fang Yuan’s eyes narrowed instantly.

The sensation was not hostility nor killing intent, it was simply a silent observation.

As though the realm itself had become aware of him.

"Father."

A soft voice echoed through the endless sea of threads.

Fang Yuan immediately turned toward it.

"Qingyue?"

Yet he could not see her.

No matter how far his divine sense spread, he could not locate the little girl anywhere within this boundless consciousness.

"I’m fine," the voice said again softly. "It doesn’t hurt me."

Fang Yuan’s expression changed slightly as he realised something was wrong.

Then suddenly a thought surfaced within his mind.

[ Kill the girl and refine the world essense and become a star master. ]

[ Reward: Control over the Tianxun realm ]

His pupils contracted.

If the realm could truly be refined without harming her...

Then the system would never have presented killing her as an option in the first place.

The moment that thought appeared, Fang Yuan suddenly felt his connection to the Tianxun Realm deepen explosively.

His control strengthened at a terrifying speed.

Countless threads began converging toward him.

The resistance within the realm rapidly vanished, too rapidly.

As though the world was willingly stepping aside for him.

Fang Yuan’s face darkened instantly.

"Qingyue."

Genuine anger appeared in his voice.

"Stop it this instant!"

Silence answered him yet the strengthening connection itself became the answer.

The little girl was sacrificing herself.

Sacrificing her position as the Realm Spirit so he could fully control the Tianxun Realm without resistance.

Fang Yuan instantly became furious.

"Who allowed you to decide that yourself?!"

His voice thundered across the endless sea of fate.

"You were only just born today!"

The surrounding threads trembled violently and Fang Yuan could feel his connection with the world more clearly now.

The little girl did not even understand the meaning of self-preservation.

To her, helping him was natural.

Giving everything to him was natural.

Because he had called himself Father.

That was all.

And somehow, that simple relationship had become more important to her than her own existence.

Fang Yuan clenched his teeth.

The realm’s authority continued flooding into him.

If this continued, her consciousness might completely dissolve into the Tianxun Realm itself.

"Stop it!"

Fang Yuan forcefully resisted the merging process.

Instantly, the countless threads binding him to the world tightened like chains.

Pain exploded through his soul.

The Tianxun Realm itself seemed unwilling to let him leave now that the refinement had begun.

His consciousness shook violently.

Mountains trembled.

Rivers surged.

Even the endless web of fate began fluctuating chaotically.

Yet Fang Yuan ignored everything.

He forcefully tore his consciousness backward.

The pressure was immense.

It felt like ripping himself free from an entire world.

His soul groaned under the strain.

Blood began leaking from the corners of his mouth in the outside world.

Still, Fang Yuan continued struggling.

Because no matter how valuable the Tianxun Realm was, he refused to obtain it by allowing a child to quietly erase herself for his sake.