The wind howled across the testing grounds of the Lotus Sect. Sharp and cold, it swept through the mountain basin like a living beast, curling around the stone statues of warriors long dead. A faint tension vibrated through the earth itself as if the world knew something pivotal was unfolding.
The trial of strength was about to begin.
But for Fareed, it wasn't the duel that caused the chill in his chest.
It was the system prompt that had just burned across his vision.
> [SYSTEM NOTICE: Destiny Variable Detected — Meo Ran]
[Definition: Destiny Variables are beings selected by the Will of Fragments, blessed by the consciousness of their universe. Marked for greatness, destined to shift fate.]
Fareed's breath froze.
The Will of the World had chosen her. The fragment's consciousness the sentient force guarding this world's balance had deemed Meo Ran one of its champions.
> [System Warning: This Destiny Variable is under fragment protection. Removal will incur world backlash.]
He stared at the words, the disgust rising from his soul like acid.
"So she was chosen again…" he muttered under his breath, almost a growl.
Because he knew her. In other lives. In other deaths.
He had saved her. Loved her. Married her. Had children with her.
He had trusted her… again and again.
And each time, he died.
Sometimes poisoned. Sometimes stabbed in his sleep. Other times sold out by his disciples or even his own blood.
He had died every possible way a man could.
Sliced. Beheaded. Crushed. Burned alive. Buried breathing.
Over 1.6 million times.
Every time, ripped back into the void screaming as his soul shattered and reformed. Every death burned into his mind. No forgetting. No release.
Now, he stood again, in the same world that had killed him over and over, in the same body with the same black hair, the same void-like eyes, the same fate...
But he was no longer the same man.
This Fareed was broken beyond repair.
No warmth. No hope. No love.
Only cold silence and bloodstained memory.
He no longer looked at people as people. Only as obstacles.
Only as keys to the Mythic Fragments.
If he wanted to restore his original universe… if he wanted to see his family again, to undo their deaths… then every other world, every person, every so-called Destiny Variable… had to die.
The Lotus Sect's favored daughter? It didn't matter.
He had learned a brutal truth through lifetimes of betrayal:
> "These worlds are not mine. I was born alone, and I will die alone. If I want something done, I trust only myself."
He glanced again at Meo Ran.
She smiled warmly, as if fate itself had brought them together.
To her, he was the heroic boy who saved her.
To him, she was just another corpse waiting to happen.
"Step forward for the Duel of Rising Will!" the instructor barked.
A name was called: "Fareed of No Clan."
He stepped into the circle, face unreadable.
Another name: "Yi Kang of Red River Sect."
The teen wielded a training spear, cocky and strong.
"You look half-dead already," Kang sneered.
Fareed didn't reply. His expression was empty, his stance relaxed.
The gong sounded.
Yi Kang lunged.
-------- ------- -----
It ended in one movement.
Fareed ducked under the thrust, twisted the spear, and slammed his elbow into Kang's chin. The boy dropped instantly, blood spraying across the stone.
The crowd gasped.
Fareed turned away without looking down.
His eyes flicked up to the mountain sky, the wind whispering a cruel truth.
This was just the beginning.