At the highest nine heavens, on the edge of the galaxy, lay the Soul Devouring Abyss.
Ten thousand miles of wilderness, covered in scattered bones, beneath a blood-red river of stars stretching across the sky.
To enter the Soul Devouring Abyss was to leave one's life and death entirely to fate.
For a thousand years, the entire Soul Devouring Abyss had remained desolate and silent.
Yet today, atop Sky-Splitting Cliff, the atmosphere was far from tranquil.
Nine peerless beauties floated above the firmament, unleashing successive waves of violent, Nine-Star Great Emperor power to bombard the cliff top.
Upon the cliff stood a lone figure.
Though battered by the nine formidable forces, he kept his body upright, shielding a formation behind him.
"Master Qin Ze is in such a miserable state. Back in the day, when he swept across the galaxy, how magnificent he was, yet now he is betrayed by the women he loved."
"I heard that a century ago, he took the blame for several of these nine empresses, which is why the Galaxy Overlord imprisoned him in the Soul Devouring Abyss with a hundred-year sentence."
"What on earth has happened? Why are the nine empresses joining forces to stop Master Qin Ze from leaving the Soul Devouring Abyss?"
Across the major star domains, numerous powerful figures gazed at the scene from afar, sighing successively.
Qin Ze, the Indestructible God of War.
He had started from an obscure One-Heaven continent, defying the heavens and earth to walk a path of invincibility.
He campaigned across the galaxy, carving out new territories and rising to become a supreme emperor who dominated his domain.
Later, when one of the nine empresses committed a grave crime, everyone else steered clear to avoid association.
Only Qin Ze stepped forward, shoulder-to-shoulder with the blame for all nine women, ultimately receiving a hundred-year sentence in the Soul Devouring Abyss.
Now, a century had passed, yet the nine empresses appeared together at this very moment.
They had not come to welcome Qin Ze back; instead, they united to destroy the formation and strip him of his freedom forever.
Qin Ze raised his head to the sky.
Above the firmament were figures of breathtaking beauty.
These were once the people closest to him, the ones he had yearned for day and night throughout the past century.
His childhood sweetheart, Fairy Jingyu, Ye Pianyu, possessed a face of peerless beauty capable of toppling cities and kingdoms.
His master, the Galaxy Empress Li Canglan, was matchlessly elegant, cold, and peerless.
His handmaiden, the Jade Pool Empress Song Wanqing, possessed ice-like skin, jade bones, and a graceful bearing.
There was also his eccentric younger sister, his gentle and charming senior sister, and his bold, uninhibited confidante.
Qin Ze could not fathom why they had chosen to betray him together.
"Why..." Qin Ze demanded angrily.
His roar was like thunder, echoing across the heavens, yet it still failed to conceal his rage.
From high in the sky, a voice slowly spoke.
It was Ye Pianyu's icy voice.
"Qin Ze, keeping you trapped in the Soul Devouring Abyss forever is a decision we all agreed upon; there is nothing to question. Step aside, we do not wish to hurt you."
Just a few short sentences, cold and merciless!
Across the major star domains, crowds of powerful figures let out sighs of astonishment.
"Aren't these nine empresses a bit too shameless? The Indestructible Great One treated them so well, and yet they backstab him?"
"If they no longer loved him, they could have just broken up. Why destroy the teleportation formation and trap him for life?"
"The Indestructible Great One was so righteous and loyal, only to encounter these ungrateful wolves. Such a pity."
Another silence fell over the horizon, followed by an angry voice ringing out.
"Righteous and loyal?"
That voice was clearly one that had been suppressed for a very long time.
Like a tiny spark, it ignited a raging inferno.
"Qin Ze bullied the weak, slaughtered the innocent, and forcefully occupied everything through tyranny—is that what you call righteous and loyal?"
"You people don't know his true nature. We walked this path alongside him and witnessed far too many of his ugly sides."
"He was relentlessly strict with others and never once considered anyone else's feelings."
One after another, they spoke up, mercilessly accusing Qin Ze.
Qin Ze's gaze trembled as he looked toward the horizon.
He never imagined that these people, his closest companions, held so much resentment and hatred toward him.
So much hatred, in fact, that they wanted him imprisoned for all eternity in this endlessly desolate Soul Devouring Abyss.
"Fine, go ahead and tell me: what monstrous, unforgivable deeds have I actually committed?" Qin Ze asked, looking up at the sky.
Ye Pianyu stepped forward, taking the lead.
"Qin Ze, you and I were childhood sweethearts, but back then, you despised me and stole the fortuitous encounter that belonged to me."
"I was supposed to be the stellar prodigy, I was supposed to be the Indestructible God of War, and all the glory belonged to me."
"Don't think I didn't know; you pretended to help me cultivate every day, but your real goal was to possess me and control my life."
...
"Brother Ze... do you remember Zhou Mo? Back then, you knew very well that I loved him, yet you killed him simply to possess me."
...
"Young Master, if you ever return, I will forever remain nothing more than a handmaiden."
"I have already stepped into the Nine-Star Great Emperor Realm and have long been capable of standing on my own."
"And furthermore, back then you wiped out my entire family just to forcibly claim me. Did you really think I didn't know?"
...
"Qin Ze, forcing us to cultivate every day was sheer torture. The hundred years you were gone, we truly lived happily. I beg you, please don't come back, all right?"
As the nine empresses recounted these things, their expressions grew somewhat distorted.
They dropped the act entirely, revealing their true inner thoughts.
Qin Ze's gaze grew cold, chillingly so.
So, this was how they viewed him.
So, the things he had done were seen by them in such a light?
Ye Pianyu, do you have any idea that the fortuitous encounter back then nearly cost me my life?
Zhou Mo? That brute deserved to die by everyone's hand.
Song Wanqing, I wiped out your family? Do you have any idea what your clan intended to do to you?
I never told you the truth because I was afraid you would feel indebted to me.
I never imagined this was how you viewed me.
Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.
His heart ached intensely, a pain as though devoured by ten thousand venomous insects.
Qin Ze took a deep breath and looked toward the final person.
"Master, why do you hate me too?"
Qin Ze asked slowly.
Several centuries of trials and hardships; from the moment they first met, the two of them had shared life-and-death experiences countless times.
He could not understand when he had ever wronged Li Canglan.
"Qin Ze, if not for you, this entire star domain would have been mine."
The icy voice slowly drifted down.
"Heh..."
"Ha, ha, ha, ha..."
Qin Ze laughed, laughing completely and utterly.
"If not for me, could you have become empresses of an era?"
"Now that you've all reached the Nine-Star Great Emperor Realm, you're starting to come settle scores with me?" Qin Ze demanded loudly.
Yet the only response he received was a barrage of angry curses.
"Qin Ze, who do you think you are? We became empresses because our natural talent was peerless."
"If not for you, we could have attained the empress realm with even greater ease."
"In short, we don't want you to come out—never, ever."
Qin Ze closed his eyes, his face filled with utter disappointment.
When he opened them again, a flash of resolute decision lay deep within his eyes.
At that moment, the brilliant starlight above the nine heavens began to churn.
The starlight shifted, transforming into a massive vortex as a beam of light descended from the heavens, echoing and resonating with the formation on Sky-Splitting Cliff.
"The formation has appeared, everyone give it your all!"
At Ye Pianyu's command, white light gathered in her right hand.
The others quickly acted as well, combining their forces to strike toward Qin Ze.
Yet this time, Qin Ze did not offer any resistance.
He watched with his own eyes as the formation was bombarded and shattered.
The stellar vortex above the nine heavens slowly dissipated, and the entire Soul Devouring Abyss plunged once more into silence.
"Qin Ze? Why aren't you moving?" Ye Pianyu asked coldly.
She had expected Qin Ze to put up a desperate fight; she never imagined things would proceed so smoothly.
Qin Ze remained silent, raising his head to glance at the blood-red river of stars while a bitter smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Back then, he had willingly suffered a century of imprisonment for the sake of the nine women.
Now, looking back, that century seemed like a joke.
No, his entire life had been a joke.
That being the case, what difference did it make whether he left the abyss or remained trapped within it?
This vast galaxy was nothing more than a larger Soul Devouring Abyss.
His Dao heart shattered, and a thread of profound vicissitude swept through his mind.
In an instant, a firm resolve entered Qin Ze's gaze, as though he had made a momentous decision.
"Everyone, since you hate me this much, I shall grant you your wish..."
As Qin Ze's words fell, he waved his hand, and his form transformed into a brilliant source of light, beginning its ascension.
The nine women were shaken, their wide eyes filled with horror.
Far away in the star domains, the onlookers grew restless and uneasy.
"This is... self-detonation?"
"The Indestructible Great One has broken through to the Ten-Star Great Emperor Realm?"
"Incredible! When did he break through? The Ten-Star Great Emperor Realm is already comparable to the Galaxy Overlord."
The Great Dao of heaven and earth resonated, and the entire star domain began to collapse.
"Qin Ze, you... you broke through to the Ten-Star Realm?"
"Brother, let's talk this over. Don't do anything foolish."
"Young Master, stop at once..."
The nine empresses panicked at that moment, crying out one after another.
"Brother Ze, we didn't want to kill you, we just wanted to punish you a little."
"Young Master, this servant knows her mistake, I beg you, do not self-detonate!"
"Qin Ze, stop! Stop right now."
Cries echoed one after another.
Yet how could the self-destruction of a Ten-Star Great Emperor be something they could possibly stop?
Qin Ze's gaze was cold, like a chilling machine devoid of emotion.
"Didn't you say I stole your fortuitous encounters?"
"Didn't you say I killed your lovers?"
"Didn't you say I controlled your lives?"
"Very well, in the next life, I will return every single thing to you."
The self-detonation of a Ten-Star Great Emperor could open the River of Time. Entering the River of Time allowed one to initiate reincarnation and rebirth.
Only by entering reincarnation could one qualify to become the Galaxy Overlord.
Qin Ze had not intended to enter reincarnation; he had simply wanted to leave the Soul Devouring Abyss and live a carefree life with the nine empresses.
But... it was all too late.
"Kid, you've finally decided to enter reincarnation?"
At that moment, the voice of the Galaxy Overlord rang in Qin Ze's ear.
"In this lifetime, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?"
Qin Ze glanced at the nine women in the sky and said, "Overlord, please let their memories be reborn alongside mine. When they cross paths with me again, their memories will slowly awaken."
"Very well..."
As the voice faded, a burst of white light erupted from within Qin Ze's body.
In a mere fraction of a second, everything in the Soul Devouring Abyss turned to dust, along with the nine empresses in the sky.
The self-detonation of a Ten-Star Great Emperor was irreversible and unstoppable.
Everything was sucked into a black vortex, and afterward, all fell into stillness.
…………
…………
"Qin Ze, the young master of the Qin Family, lacks ambition and drive; his cultivation has stagnated for three years. Strip him of his position as young master."
"Qin Hao of the Qin Family is young and promising. After discussions among the family elders, it has been decided to appoint Qin Hao as the young master of the Qin Family in his stead."
Thousands of shimmering lights shifted and intertwined.
When Qin Ze opened his eyes once more, he found himself in another world.
The Qin Family main hall? Stripped of the young master's position?
The year he turned eighteen?
Qin Ze stood in place, looking at the surrounding crowd.
Qin Hao stepped forward, lowering his voice to speak coldly to Qin Ze: "Worthless trash, I told you long ago that the Qin Family belongs to me."
"Just wait and see how I toy with you and destroy you."
Qin Ze remained standing without moving, his expression completely blank.
Before him was the One-Heaven world, the Bahuang Domain, and the Qin Family in Yuelong City.
Reincarnation was real; the Overlord had not deceived him.
Qin Ze stood there calmly.
The crowd assumed he was unable to accept the loss of his young master's position, each of them wearing sneers in their eyes.
Just at that moment, several figures hurried in from outside the doorway.
Qin Ze's gaze flickered slightly.
The young woman leading the group was unmistakably an eighteen-year-old Ye Pianyu.