Above the Ninth Sky, past the star-flowing gates of the Celestial Engine, the gods gathered.
Not cultivators.
Not reincarnators.
But architects of reality.
They did not breathe air.
They breathed law.
One spoke.
"Xu Shen has surpassed boundary class. His soul is stabilized across reincarnation, mortality, and divergence."
Another:
"He created a new path—one we cannot influence. It spreads beyond cycles."
A third:
"We must remove the foundation."
The oldest among them—voice like falling stone—nodded.
"Then awaken the Ash Law."
🌑 The Ash Law
It was not a weapon.
It was not even a technique.
It was a command.
Once spoken, it would not target the body.
It would not destroy the spirit.
It would erase the soul's signature from the very concept of memory.
A being destroyed by Ash Law would not die.
They would be unwritten.
Never born.
Never loved.
Never failed.
Never remembered.
🕯 Meanwhile — Thousand Veil Sect
Xu Shen sat in the meditation spire, pulse steady.
Lian Ming paced. Yue Qian watched the sky.
"You feel it, don't you?" she whispered.
Xu nodded.
"They're not sending executioners this time."
"They're sending silence."
Suddenly—
The clouds above parted.
But no light shone through.
Only a voice.
And not just in the air.
In every soul touched by Xu Shen's forge.
A whisper.
"This name… must not remain."
"This path… must not echo."
"This flame… must not rise."
Disciples collapsed, gripping their heads.
Memory fragments flickered.
Even the walls of the sect forgot Xu's image.
Paintings dulled. Statues cracked. Scrolls blanked.
Even Lian Ming stumbled, blinking.
"Wait—what were we just saying?"
Yue Qian paled.
"Xu… they're trying to erase you."
Xu stood.
His eyes glowed gold-blue.
"Let them try."
He drew his saber.
Planted it in the center of the meditation ring.
And said:
"Soulwheel Override. Manifest Core Signature."
The Infinite Soulwheel Forge burst open.
But it didn't just defend.
It screamed.
Ten thousand lives.
Ten thousand failures.
Ten thousand names, burned into time.
And now—
They all cried out together:
"WE REMEMBER HIM."
A wall of light shot into the heavens.
The Ash Law trembled.
And—for the first time in creation—
A commandment broke.
Somewhere beyond the edge of fate, a Celestial Architect gasped.
"He resisted soul erasure…"
"Without ascension."
"Without permission."
Xu Shen opened his eyes.
Not smiling.
Certain.
"You can erase memory…"
"But not meaning."