The chamber dimmed.
The chains around the sarcophagus trembled, sensing what was coming.
Even Aether Xu—the First Heretic—fell silent.
Xu Shen closed his eyes.
Inside him, the Devourer Core throbbed.
Ten thousand lives pulsed beneath his ribs.
Every technique. Every scream. Every love. Every betrayal.
"I wasn't made to be this. But I am."
"So I'll decide what that means."
He placed his palm on the sarcophagus.
The world went still.
[Core Alignment Detected]
[Initiating Legacy Fusion Protocol]
[Warning: Path Divergence Chosen — CUSTOMIZATION ACTIVE]
Confirm fusion method?
Absorb?
Override?
Rewrite?
Xu Shen whispered:
"Rewrite."
The glyphs exploded with golden flame.
Aether Xu's face twitched—not in pain, but surprise.
"You're… changing the Core?"
Xu's voice was calm. Steady.
"You said I was your mistake."
"I'm choosing not to repeat it."
Light burst from his chest.
The ten thousand memory fragments surged together—spiraling, burning, fusing.
But Xu wasn't surrendering to the legacy.
He was editing it.
He tore away techniques that cost too much.
He reforged soul paths with compassion instead of wrath.
He restructured the path of inheritance to preserve choice, not domination.
He wasn't just a Devourer now.
He was becoming a Forger.
The sarcophagus cracked.
Aether Xu's form dissolved—not devoured, but accepted.
His essence streamed into Xu like falling stars.
It did not consume him. It completed him.
Not as a puppet.
But as a successor.
[Legacy Rewrite Successful]
[Devourer Path: Variant Created]
[New Path Registered: Infinite Soulwheel Forge]
[Inheritance Host: Xu Shen — Designation: Architect of the Rewritten Flame]
Xu opened his eyes.
His aura pulsed—not black or silver, but molten gold edged in indigo.
A color no realm had ever seen.
He took a breath.
And the ground beneath him sang.
Yue Qian stepped forward, eyes shining.
"What are you now?"
He turned to her slowly.
"Still me," he said.
"Just… finally whole."
🌑 Far above, in the Divine Sky Court…
The Heaven-Seers screamed as their fate mirrors cracked.
A scroll of prophecy burst into flame.
And the voice of the Law of Heaven whispered:
"The path has diverged."
"We no longer know what he becomes."