# Chapter 4: All is Emptiness (3)
Once a valley of towering trees and lush greenery, it was now a scene of devastation under the wrath of Black Snow. Trees lay hewn into dozens of tiny sections, mingling with messy branches and the shattered flesh of Fallen Species, creating a gruesome sight that resembled the end of the world.
At this moment, while Black Snow had temporarily ceased its assault, the dark clouds loomed ominously over the valley, refusing to disperse.
The bone-chilling cold wind of June shrieked across the land, sounding like the world had finally revealed its true form.
Dozens of red-edged black flags flapped in the wind, each held aloft by soldiers who seemed to have rehearsed for this very day; no matter how fierce the wind blew, the flagpoles stood still, as if they had been rooted on the edge of a cliff.
The real Demon-Slaying Formation spread throughout the valley like a massive net, binding its prey with no hope of escape.
Under the pressure of this formation, Lin Nan felt as if a thick steel plate had been added to her head, making her feel leaden all over. If she weren’t injured, she might have been able to hold on a little longer. But alas, with a sword wound in her abdomen that kept oozing bl**d due to the dagger’s “continuous bleeding” trait, she found herself utterly helpless to seal the wound, let alone bear the sudden weight pressing down on her.
Strangely enough, the more dire the situation grew, the clearer her mind became. Since arriving in this dimension, many previously confounding questions had received crystal-clear answers in this life-and-d*ath moment.
For instance, why her targets, Little Shiyuan and Good Shiyuan, shared one body, while Evil Shiyuan and Diamond Shiyuan were two distinct entities. Initially, she thought it was just a prank by the System, but now it seemed that after her historical reconstruction, a tiny butterfly flapped its wings, triggering unexpected consequences based on her narrative of history.
Just like how Liao Chen could become the Demon Emperor, she had, without any forewarning, become the Human Emperor.
History formed a perfect loop with reality at this very moment.
Five hundred years ago, while the Human Emperor and the Demon Emperor were in a life-and-d*ath struggle, everyone believed the Demon Emperor had perished, but that turned out to be far from the truth.
Lin Nan pressed her right hand against her abdomen, the bl**d had long since stained her white dress, creating a shocking sight, yet she persisted, refusing to fall, clinging to the last shred of dignity as the Female Emperor.
“Five hundred years ago, I clearly defeated you, sending your soul scattering. Why…?”
Lin Nan sought an explanation, one that fit within the historical framework she’d shaped, an intriguing detail she was not privy to.
Good Shiyuan sneered, “Indeed, I did lose to you back then. My soul was truly shattered into pieces, almost dissipating into the void. But how could the soul of the Demon Emperor just vanish in thin air?
When you thought you had secured victory and failed to notice the residual presence on the battlefield, my nearly-dissipated soul reassembled itself.
However, because your power was indeed terrifying, my soul was broken into four parts. Two parts fell into a long slumber, while I and the ‘Young Master’ you speak of could still manage to move about.
After you left the battlefield, Shiyuan and I reconstructed our human forms, but due to our powers being drastically weakened, he lost all his memories during transformation, and I had no choice but to share a body with him.”
Good Shiyuan shot a glance at Liao Chen and Leng Yi, “It was only more than twenty years ago that the other two soul fragments began to awaken.”
Only then did Lin Nan finally understand the origins of the four Shiyuans.
Well, who would have thought that her casual remarks about the history of this dimension, meant to maintain appearances, concealed such a monumental amount of work and calculation? If the brain of a dimension is treated as a supercomputer, each piece of information exponentially increases the computational burden.
No wonder the System emphasized not triggering dimensional collapse; this was precisely why.
On the side, Liao Chen finally grasped why he had earned the loyalty of the demons in the hellish caves; could it be that he was one of the sleeping fragments of the Demon Emperor mentioned by Shi Jinghai?
Leng Yi fought through the pain, laughing heartily, “Kid, that’s quite a story you’ve got there! The Giant Wave Gang could really use someone who knows how to crack jokes like you. How about you join me? I’ll pay you two taels of silver a month.”
Good Shiyuan snorted, “The entire Martial World is under my command; how dare a mere Giant Wave Gang flaunt its stuff here?
Do you know why the Martial Arts Alliance has allowed your gang to grow unchecked in recent years? It’s precisely because you are a fragment of the Demon Emperor. I’ve strictly ordered all factions not to oppose you.”
“So you’re saying I should thank you for that?”
Good Shiyuan shook his head, “No need for thanks; soon enough, you will find out what I truly want.”
“What I don’t understand is why Little Shiyuan… I mean, Shiyuan, considers you his father?” Lin Nan asked.
As her first successful target, she felt a flicker of fondness for him, even experiencing a pang of guilt after what might have seemed like a prank.
Good Shiyuan replied, “Although we share a body, since I’ve inherited all the memories of the Demon Emperor, he is like a child under my control, and I can reshape all his memories at will. Indeed, to play my part well, I really did get married and had two sons, then returned the body to Shiyuan.”
“I see.”
Good Shiyuan patted the frozen coffin where Frost North Snow lay asleep, stating to Liao Chen, “Monk, you really don’t need to be sad. This deceased woman is just a fragment of the Female Emperor; all her memories are stored in the Female Emperor’s head.”
Liao Chen was taken aback, glancing from Good Shiyuan to the Female Emperor.
Having just learned about his own heritage, he instinctively wanted to reject this damnable truth, when Shi Jinghai threw another bombshell at him.
“That’s impossible! They may look alike, but they can’t possibly be the same person!”
Liao Chen clenched his Buddhist beads tightly, denying vehemently.
Good Shiyuan sighed, “How could anyone in this world resemble another so closely? Do you really think that’s mere coincidence?
Moreover, if she were merely the Human Emperor, how could she know about the other soul fragment within me and mistake me for a father?”
Lin Nan was startled, realizing she had inadvertently posed a question that contradicted her identity.
She never intended to become entangled emotionally with Liao Chen again, but unexpectedly, Good Shiyuan’s cunning led him to guess the truth about Frost North Snow being her fragment…
Indeed, that was the truth.
As she had anticipated, after hearing Good Shiyuan’s words, Liao Chen was left in a daze.
He looked at the seemingly sleeping Woman in Red within the ice coffin, then at the injured, frowning Female Emperor nearby, his voice trembling.
“Those things you said on the way…”
Lin Nan said lightly, “It’s true… I… no, I liked you once, back when I didn’t know you were a fragment of the Demon Emperor.
But that was merely the fragment’s foolish whim; I actually feel nothing for you.
Even if you revived the fragment, she would just be a soulless shell.”
