Chapter 97: The Truth

Chapter 97: The Truth

"Shen Tingyu, how pathetic you are."

Memories always unfold with a gray tint.

No matter how hard you try to shake it off, it clings to you.

"Sharing half my blood, yet doomed to live like an ant in the muck, never to set foot in that palace."

The man in memory wore a golden-winged robe.

A gem-encrusted phoenix on his chest and medals of ultimate authority on his shoulders screamed nobility.

"True, you've kept your end of the bargain."

"But I'm not done with you yet."

His cold, proud emerald eyes sparkled like the finest jewels.

Yet, their owner loathed them, envying the beauty of others, and sneered, "Who gave you those blue eyes?"

The crash of falling objects echoed like firecrackers.

Abruptly cutting through Shen Tingyu's memory, which had surfaced unexpectedly at that remark.

His eyes snapped to Xu Qingran's position.

Only to see the cabinet he'd been leaning on had toppled, likely from someone nearby exerting too much force.

The cabinet held little—just a few books and folders now scattered at others' feet.

Shen Tingyu paid no mind to the mess.

He skirted the table, hurrying to Xu Qingran, who was hunched over, one hand braced against the wall, his expression pained.

The room was dimly lit by the small lamp Xu Qingran carried.

The distant light made Xu Qingran's expression hard to discern in the gloom.

Shen Tingyu grabbed his hand, the chill striking him immediately.

Frowning, his voice tight with concern, "What's wrong?"

Xu Qingran brushed it off.

Just a brief spell of dizziness had thrown him off balance.

He flexed his hand, testing his strength.

His physical strength, mental focus, and supernatural abilities were intact—still the Xu Qingran who could take down an entire room with a single blow.

The internal injuries from his recent exertion were healing slowly.

Yet, this sudden weakness was a stark reminder of his ticking clock.

He turned to Shen Tingyu, his tone matter-of-fact: "Getting here from the Tower of Evil wasn't easy."

"A few scrapes are nothing compared to when I pulled you out that day."

You're not wrong about that.

Shen Tingyu fell silent again.

He stared straight at him, his mood far from pleasant.

Xu Qingran looked up to meet his gaze.

He gave a light chuckle, "Oh, so Your Highness also understands the feeling of worry?"

"I thought you were cold and unfeeling, which is why you would take on such a significant mission without even informing your own partner."

Shen Tingyu remained silent.

He had been too relaxed these past few days, wondering why Xu Qingran hadn't been angry with him.

It turns out he was waiting for him to recover from his injuries before confronting him.

—So that if things got physical, it would be more fitting, right?

Xu Qingran caught the fleeting guilt in Shen Tingyu's eyes.

He chuckled to himself but kept a straight face, "Where should we start?"

"Let's start with your identity?"

"Your feud with Mu Ziyue?"

"Why you insisted on going on this mission without letting me know?"

"Or, the elderly couple in West City who said they've never seen you, but you recognized them and could give me such a complete story?"

Xu Qingran ticked them off one by one.

Shen Tingyu, that scoundrel, took the opportunity to embrace him.

By the time he finished asking, he had already been led to a nearby table and set down on it.

That table was where the small lamp sat.

Xu Qingran looked down, meeting those deep blue eyes, and the room fell silent.

The man looked up, his hands resting on either side of Xu Qingran's waist, leaning in slightly.

Inadvertently, he had him locked in his arms, preventing him from easily slipping away.

"Hmm," Shen Tingyu pondered, "These issues are somewhat connected, so why don't we discuss them together."

He spoke gently, cautiously.

Perhaps he feared his next words might be too shocking for the person in front of him.

Or maybe it was because, for the first time, he was trying to reveal his complete self to another person. Like a child eager to share a cherished toy, he handled both the treasure in his hand and the person before him with great care.

"You're correct, I am indeed of royal blood."

Shen Tingyu raised a hand, gently sweeping the bangs from Xu Qingran's forehead, and added with a slight smile, "The unwanted child."

Even though his eyes smiled, they held a deeper story.

Yet, beneath his eyes, there was a cold, indifferent gaze.

There was no trace of sorrow.

Xu Qingran's eyes widened just a bit.

His already uneasy heart was hit hard by these brief words.

Shen Tingyu remained calm.

He pulled his hand back, took a photo from his coat's inner pocket, and handed it to Xu Qingran.

"This is my birth mother," Shen Tingyu said calmly as Xu Qingran took the photo. "You should have already met her."

The old photo clearly showed Shen Qianning, Qi Shengxue's missing friend.

It was a solo shot of her, with the background looking like a villa's backyard, where half of a fountain sculpture was faintly visible. She wore a beige chiffon dress, standing by a cluster of flowers, her posture proper, her smile as gentle as always.

She looked every inch the graceful, elegant lady from a prestigious family.

Xu Qingran held the photo, silent for a while.

Though he had already linked this possibility while speculating about Shen Tingyu's true origins, when the truth was laid bare before him, his emotions were still a mix of complexity and disorientation.

Shen Qianning was Shen Tingyu's birth mother.

The current head of the Shen family was, in fact, Shen Tingyu's uncle.

Both knew this truth, so even without deep grudges, their relationship remained somewhat distant—respectful, but not like father and son.

"As for my birth father," Shen Tingyu paused briefly, then added, "it's Mu Mingrui."

The man who sits on the throne.

This honor didn’t seem to be something Shen Tingyu wanted.

His tone sounded downright annoyed.

From Shen Tingyu, Xu Qingran learned the full story of how Shen Qianning and Mu Mingrui met, fell in love, and had him.

Shen Qianning was the youngest daughter of Shen Tingyu's grandfather on his mother's side.

She was beautiful and exceptional, a well-educated, cultured woman from a prestigious family.

Yet, despite her excellence, she hadn’t found her soulmate in the soul companion pairing.

Occasionally, a few matches hovered around 65%, but their social status and background were too far from the Shen family's standards.

Their character and personality also didn’t meet the Shen family's standards or win Shen Qianning's favor.

So, the matter of her marriage remained unresolved.

The former head of the Shen family had even prepared to support her for life—arranging properties, depositing money into her account monthly, and drafting a will early to ensure she could live comfortably without working, even if she stayed single.

Shen Qianning and Mu Mingrui met at a banquet hosted by a prince.

As the nation's ruler, Mu Mingrui was expected to make a grand entrance.

However, on that day, he happened to be in a whimsical mood and pretended to be unwell, secretly disguising himself and sneaking into the banquet to see what his officials and the scions of noble families were up to in his absence.

To see if they were talking badly about him.

Whether they were plotting something major, or if he could uncover some interesting behind-the-scenes stories.

In the end, he didn't find anything amusing.

Instead, he ran into Shen Qianning, who had avoided the crowd and was studying the stars with a telescope in the back garden.

Two souls that unexpectedly matched in many ways clicked instantly.

And just like that, they met.

At first, they saw each other as confidants.

It wasn't until later, when they noticed their relationship had changed, that emotions had already sprouted and grown unconsciously, beyond the point of return.

Mu Mingrui finally revealed his true identity to Shen Qianning.

At first, she struggled to accept it, especially since being involved with a monarch complicated matters greatly. Their compatibility score in the national matching system was a dismal 20%.

But for them, their genuine affection went beyond what any data could measure.

They couldn't just ignore these feelings.

Though Shen Qianning seemed quiet and obedient, she was fiercely independent.

She believed a soulmate was more about feeling than any data. So in social interactions, she never held back, nor did she want to refer to the data provided by the soulmate system, always following her heart.

So, even knowing her relationship might face many hurdles, with family and friends strongly opposing, she still chose to proceed without hesitation.

Their love burned fiercely.

Yet, it was like a moth drawn to a flame, risking everything.

Xu Qingran furrowed his brow, remembering, "From Qi Shengxue's diary, I learned that Shen Qianning vanished before you were born."

Everyone thought she had met a tragic end.

But since Shen Tingyu could be born, it meant that Shen Qianning was still safe at that time.

She had to go into hiding for some reason.

Xu Qingran bit his lip, then hesitantly asked, "So... is your mother actually still alive?"

"No."

Shen Tingyu said, "She died, probably not long after giving birth to me."

The relationship between Shen Qianning and Mu Mingrui was eventually discovered by the queen.

She forbade them from being together, and when Shen Qianning was threatened, she had already discovered she was pregnant. To protect her unborn child from the queen's wrath, she chose to flee and vanish from sight.

Only the current head of the Shen family, her brother, knew where she was.

She lived cautiously, hiding for a long time.

Until the night of November 11th, more than twenty years ago.

It was winter, and the snow was falling heavily that day.

Shen Qianning gave birth to Shen Tingyu in a house her brother had rented for her, a child who inherited her jet-black hair and his father's pure blue eyes.

Before Shen Qianning could even hold him long enough, the front door of the house was suddenly forced open from the outside.

It was the Queen and her subordinates; they had found her after all.

They mercilessly killed all the medical staff who had assisted Shen Qianning during the delivery.

They chased her through the house, determined to silence her and her newborn son.

Shen Qianning was fiercely protective of her child.

Even as she was stabbed, she crouched in a corner, shielding the child with her body, clutching him tightly in her arms.

If Shen Tingyu's uncle hadn't arrived in time, Shen Tingyu might have died that winter, just after his birth.

He knelt inside the house, pleading with Su Ya to spare the innocent child, Shen Tingyu.

He struck a deal with her, permanently renouncing Shen Tingyu's royal lineage, ensuring his true parentage would remain hidden, and raising him under the palace's watch as a member of the Shen family.

Su Ya finally relented to his plea.

But not out of kindness; she needed someone to push Mu Ziyue at that time.

"Mr. Shen, don't forget your words today," Su Ya reminded him. "If I discover any overstep from your Shen family, don't expect mercy from me."

When Shen Tingyu was born, Mu Ziyue was still a teenager.

Su Ya was far from satisfied with her son's state; she understood his nature all too well. A child like Shen Tingyu, with such impeccable noble lineage, would inevitably become a source of pressure for Mu Ziyue.

As Su Ya had foreseen, Mu Ziyue's attitude shifted after discovering he had a potentially dangerous younger brother. In the years that followed, he constantly heard about the child's accomplishments at such a young age, and how his soul began to take shape even as the most powerful E-type.

This fueled Mu Ziyue's jealousy, as he couldn't fulfill his own desires, and his hatred reached its peak when he saw Shen Tingyu in the palace.

At just over ten years old, he was already making waves.

Even in commoner's clothes, walking through the palace, he naturally drew everyone's attention. Whether it was his spiritual prowess or the innate nobility radiating from him.

Especially his piercing, cold eyes.

Perfectly inheriting Mu Mingrui's genes, they were impossible to overlook.

Mu Ziyue was consumed by jealousy.

Because in Shen Tingyu, he saw everything he craved but could never have.

This drove Mu Ziyue to seek his destruction by any means necessary.

Thus began the series of events.

He deliberately provoked and humiliated Shen Tingyu when he was brought into the palace, but underestimated his abilities and was beaten up in return.

In a fit of anger, he pressured the empire with the Queen to have Shen Tingyu detained in the Tower of Evil.

Shen Tingyu endured over a decade of torment.

Xu Qingran looked down.

Shen Tingyu kept his eyes on him, smiling habitually as he brought up these memories: "Right, not just three years."

"It was over a decade."

"Was it sixteen... or seventeen?"

Shen Tingyu murmured, "I can’t recall."

Xu Qingran pressed his lips together, his hands gently tracing Shen Tingyu's face.

His fingers pressed lightly at the corners of Shen Tingyu’s mouth, tugging the smile downward.

Shen Tingyu’s smile faded.

His eyes were rimmed with red, their usual brilliance fractured.

He asked, "Xu Qingran... have you seen my soul’s memories?"

Xu Qingran didn’t hold back, answering plainly, "Yes."

"I saw glimpses that didn’t align with your life in this world."

Shen Tingyu went quiet.

After a long pause, his voice cracked as he called out again, "Xu Qingran."

He buried his head in Xu Qingran’s shoulder, hiding the emotions in his eyes.

"I spent over ten years in Tower 1," he repeated, his voice heavy with loneliness.

It was as if he’d finally found someone to open up to, his voice tinged with hurt.

Shen Tingyu was often hailed as the apex of the E-type group.

Seen as invincible, he was either affectionately or teasingly dubbed a 'human weapon.'

Somehow, people forgot he was human too.

He could feel pain, struggle, suffer—even break.

Shen Tingyu was sent to the Tower of Evil at just 12 years old.

For him, the Tower of Evil became his life, a place of endless, inhuman torment.

The cruelest part was his resilience—his body was stronger than most, making death elusive and forcing him to endure the torture again and again.

No one knew how he made it through.

Even his own memories were hazy.

The self-destructive power that erupted from his spiritual pool was the culmination of over a decade of struggle in his past life.

By then, his spirit was in ruins, consumed by resentment, and all he wanted was to escape the Tower of Evil. So after severely injuring the surrounding staff, he escaped and became a fugitive like Ming Hai, starting a life of wandering.

The empire was full of surveillance systems.

At that time, it was impossible for him to completely evade surveillance.

However, Shen Tingyu was not aware of it then.

Because the imperial guards did not appear to arrest him, he thought he had broken free from Mu Ziyue's grasp. It wasn’t until he reappeared in the Tianlong system, mocking him with arrogance like a cat toying with a mouse, that he realized Mu Ziyue had always known his whereabouts.

Mu Ziyue took pleasure in it, so he deliberately did not appear immediately, giving Shen Tingyu hope only to crush it himself.

Mu Ziyue despised Shen Tingyu for being an E-type.

However, the bigger reason was his true background. Together, these made Shen Tingyu someone who pushed all his buttons.

"Scum."

Xu Qingran's eyes darkened, and his fists began to itch again.

Mu Ziyue was still in his aircraft.

Xu Qingran hoped he was still alive. Otherwise, after tormenting Shen Tingyu for so long, if he didn’t inflict enough physical and mental pain, Xu Qingran couldn’t let it go.

"It’s fine," Shen Tingyu said.

"This time, he won’t have another chance."

Xu Qingran nodded: "You're right, he will never have another chance."

Shen Tingyu detected a strange note in his tone and remembered that Xu Qingran had come out of Mu Ziyue's Tower 1. He asked, "Did Mu Ziyue mistreat you in Tower 1?"

"No," Xu Qingran replied.

Shen Tingyu assumed Mu Ziyue hadn’t gotten to him before Xu Qingran escaped.

Then Xu Qingran added, "I bullied him."

Shen Tingyu paused.

Xu Qingran continued with a blank face, "And I blew up his Tower of Evil."

Shen Tingyu: "..."

Huh, his boyfriend was indeed impressive.

Xu Qingran briefly assessed the situation and asked further, "How did you find out you were the child of Mu Mingrui and Shen Qianning?"

"Did your uncle tell you?"

"Yes," Shen Tingyu replied, "Though it was before his death in his previous life."

As he spoke, his thoughts wandered once more.

Images flooded his mind again.

The grand and majestic mansion crumbled amidst the chaos.

Shen Tingyu treaded over the rubble, making his way into the ruins.

They found the middle-aged man pinned under the stone slab. A piece of the stone slab pressed on the man's leg, his eyes coldly staring at the person beneath him, showing no pity for his predicament.

The left eye was still familiar and beautiful, the deep blue of the ocean.

And in the right eye socket, which should have been destroyed by Mu Ziyue's actions, a brand-new eye had grown, the pupil as crimson as blood.

"Shen Tingyu..."

After a moment, the man under the slab struggled to speak, calling out to him.

His unfocused eyes strained to find him: "The empire wronged you; this is what they deserve."

"I, I should tell you something..."

His weak voice faltered.

He stood there, coldly observing the man beneath him, his mouth opening and closing.

"Does Mu Mingrui know about this?"

Xu Qingran's icy voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

Shen Tingyu pulled himself together to answer: "For now, I guess he knows."

In Shen Tingyu's previous life, the situation was quite complicated.

When Shen Tingyu met Mu Mingrui, the latter was bedridden, delirious, and terminally ill.

With great effort, he turned his head to look at the person by the bed, his voice rough and hoarse: "Kid, you seem so familiar."

Perhaps he didn't even know what he was saying.

Recalling, Shen Tingyu suddenly asked him: "Have you read Qi Shengxue's diary?"

Xu Qingran was momentarily stunned but quickly recovered: "...That secret under the peach tree she mentioned—did you take it?"

Shen Tingyu obediently admitted: "It was me."

"The so-called secret is actually the true soul compatibility data of Mu Mingrui and Shen Qianning's."

"95%—not the highest compatibility, but enough to threaten Su Ya's position."

It's common knowledge that the emperor can have many concubines.

But the queen, the mother of the nation, can only be one. In this world, the spouse with the highest compatibility with the king determines who becomes queen.

Whether the data is real or not, Su Ya and Mu Mingrui's official compatibility is 85%.

Su Ya is the one with the highest compatibility with Mu Mingrui in the harem, and no one has ever surpassed her—of course, perhaps some have been silenced.

When the Su family was still under the control of Su Ya's father, it could be said to be the most powerful and influential family in the entire empire.

Even the Shen family, Xie family, Lin family, etc., all had to step aside, completely unable to compete with them. This led to Queen Su Ya, after supporting Mu Mingrui to the throne, being able to use her family's power to dominate, making the palace her own domain.

Whoever she wanted dead, had to die.

Because of this, the Shen family and Qi Shengxue were so terrified when they discovered that Shen Qianning and Mu Mingrui had such a high compatibility.

Shen Qianning was just a sheltered young woman.

First of all, the Shen family couldn't bear the thought of their beloved daughter entering the palace to compete for a husband. Even if they were willing to let her go, her high compatibility data might have led to her being killed by Su Ya before she even set foot in the palace.

To avoid this outcome, Shen Qianning's father and brother sought out Qi Shengxue, who was then interning at the Soulmate Research Department.

Her mentor, Mr. Zheng, had taught her data modification techniques. After discussing, they decided to seal the real data permanently. However, once the soul system matches, the data records can only be transferred, not erased.

Qi Shengxue took it upon herself to transfer and secretly hide the data.

Primarily to keep it from Su Ya and to keep Shen Qianning in the dark, so she would never have any interaction with Mu Mingrui.

Little did they know, fate had a cruel twist in store.

Things unfolded in the worst possible way.

Xu Qingran remembered that the night he found the diary was the same day Shen Tingyu came looking for him.

He was suddenly struck with shock and anger: "...Shen Tingyu, you lied to me?"

"You said you came because you missed me and wanted to celebrate my birthday before March 18th... So you really came to Bishui Villa to take something?"

Xu Qingran was starting to get really mad.

Shen Tingyu hurriedly explained: "I took it away ten years ago."

Then he added: "That day, I truly went to Bishui just to see you."

Shen Tingyu had already seen that diary in his past life.

After being reborn and leaving the Tower of Evil, he soon found a chance to enter the deserted Bishui Villa and took what Qi Shengxue had called the 'secret'.

Later, he seized another chance to present it to Mu Mingrui and reveal everything.

He informed Mu Mingrui about his background, Shen Qianning's tragic story, their actual compatibility, and how the Queen and Mu Ziyue had been poisoning him for years.

"...So Mu Mingrui's poor health is due to poisoning?"

Xu Qingran was surprised.

"Yes," Shen Tingyu replied, "Perhaps our existence made Queen Su Ya uneasy."

"She aimed to secure Mu Ziyue's succession, and with the palace under her control, Mu Mingrui's importance dwindled as Mu Ziyue aged."

"You know they're always experimenting with strange drugs at Tower 1."

"Brewing a slow-acting poison for Mu Mingrui was no challenge."

Xu Qingran recalled the medicine a servant handed Mu Mingrui during his palace visit that day.

It was supposedly on the Queen's orders.

That day, Mu Mingrui's reaction was particularly telling.

His irritated refusal suggested he knew the medicine was off.

Xu Qingran looked down, pondering, "If you warned Mu Mingrui so early, why is he still in such poor health?"

"I heard from Mu Ziyu that he is now in a coma, waking up only for a short while every ten days or so."

Shen Tingyu did not respond immediately.

Ten years ago.

He went to the palace to meet Mu Mingrui and laid everything out to him.

After hearing this, Mu Mingrui's reaction was rather indifferent.

He showed no joy upon learning about their compatibility, no surprise at discovering he had a son with his lover, no grief over Shen Qianning's death, and no anger at Su Ya and Mu Ziyue's actions.

He simply asked a very practical question: "What do you want from me?"

The throne? The right to inherit?

Status and power? Or money?

Faced with the royal family's coldness, Shen Tingyu felt little.

Since Mu Mingrui had asked, Shen Tingyu stated his request plainly: "I have no interest in your gilded cage. I only ask that, for my mother's sake, you give me some leeway."

Mu Mingrui glanced up at him.

Shen Tingyu continued, expression unchanged: "All you want is to preserve the royal line and the Kayan Empire."

"If I can achieve this on my own, I hope Your Majesty will grant me some leeway in matters that don't seriously break the empire's laws." His tone was respectful but distant, neither trying to curry favor nor asking for more.

It seemed like he was just reporting necessary truths and negotiating a deal.

After talking with Mu Mingrui, Shen Tingyu left the palace.

From then on, he made remarkable achievements in the Golden Wing Battalion. Mu Mingrui kept his word, often showing favoritism in matters and decisions related to him. To outsiders, it looked like a monarch appreciating a capable general of the empire.

Only people like Su Ya and Mu Ziyue could see the clues.

But none of them pierced that thin veil, maintaining this strange, somewhat morbid atmosphere and preserving the facade of royal relations.

As for why Mu Mingrui, knowing Su Ya was poisoning him, didn't refuse.

"Maybe he wants to atone," Shen Tingyu chuckled.

His laughter, as always, was emotionless.

After hearing Shen Tingyu's words, even if Mu Mingrui didn't believe them, he'd secretly have someone investigate.

Or maybe he didn't even need to investigate to foresee the outcome.

After meeting Shen Tingyu, he showed no reaction on the surface, but that didn't mean he was unmoved.

Whether it was Su Ya, who had supported him in the battle for the throne and deserved gratitude, or Shen Qianning, whom he owed the most and loved deeply, from his position, he couldn't reprimand anyone for anyone else.

He could only choose to escape, to let things go.

Especially since he no longer controlled the palace.

How he lived no longer mattered; whether he died early or late, the result was the same.

Today's conversation was particularly heavy.

Xu Qingran suddenly remembered the inexplicable incident of being summoned to the palace before.

Connecting it with Shen Tingyu's unspoken identity, he hesitantly asked, "...Does Mu Mingrui also know about the two of us?" "It was never explicitly stated."

Shen Tingyu added, "But for you, I went to the palace to see him a few times."

After all, Mu Mingrui is the ruler of the nation.

His little schemes couldn't escape Mu Mingrui's notice.

Xu Qingran was silent...

He thought, no wonder the procedures and atmosphere of entering the palace that day, including Mu Mingrui's own attitude, were so strange.

So there was this reason.

So when Mu Mingrui said he wanted to see him, did he really mean it literally?

...Is this considered meeting the family?

On second thought, since Mu Mingrui could give him such good treatment and be so tolerant towards him for Shen Tingyu's sake, in a sense, Shen Tingyu also holds a certain position in his heart.

How could he really not want the child born from his most beloved person?

His identity and position prevent him from openly doting on him.

Xu Qingran felt no sympathy for Mu Mingrui.

Clearly, Shen Tingyu suffered more pain than he should have because of his incompetence.

"Are you pushing Su Ya's limits by doing this now?" Xu Qingran asked.

He remembered that Shen Tingyu said she had threatened his uncle with the entire Shen family.

"In his previous life, it would indeed have been more troublesome."

Shen Tingyu seemed to have prepared before deciding to do this: "In this life now, the Su family is no longer the dominant force in the empire, and she no longer has the ability to control everything."

"Now, the Shen family is beyond her reach."

Shen Tingyu, with memories from his previous life, secretly altered the trajectory of the Shen family after being reborn.

Early on, after leaving the Tower of Evil, he eliminated many adversaries within the Shen family, causing other 'siblings' to run to the current head of the Shen family, Shen Tingyu's nominal father, demanding explanations. This compelled the Shen family head to disclose the truth about Shen Qianning and Su Ya's threats.

After that, Shen Tingyu had a separate conversation with the head of the Shen family.

He foresaw what would be crucial for the empire's future and gave the head of the Shen family some advice, quickly securing control over the military transactions in the Golden Wing Battalion. This encompassed the military research divisions under the Shen family, where all those recruited would develop or research crucial items for them.

All those individuals were selected by Shen Tingyu for the Shen family.

The Shen family complied dutifully, following instructions to the letter, including expanding their commercial connections and networks. Thus, the Shen family's status became increasingly steadfast in silence.

At the same time, Shen Tingyu intervened in the Su family's internal conflicts.

The Su family indeed had developed a powerful influence, but internally, it was not so harmonious. The brutality of Su Ya and her father's faction naturally bred discontent within the family. Led by Su Wenming and Su Wenxu's father, this faction received Shen Tingyu's aid, informed by his past life's knowledge.

Later, Su Ya's father's faction's influence was diminished.

The Su family fractured due to internal discord, at least in the overall influence within the Golden Wing Battalion, their influence had significantly waned.

"Thus, Su Ya now finds it challenging to topple the Shen family."

As Shen Tingyu spoke, he subconsciously rubbed Xu Qingran's waist, his fingertips gently caressing it: "Moreover, with your help in repairing my spiritual pool, once we remove this major threat, Mu Ziyue will no longer pose a danger to me."

Let alone Mu Ziyue.

Even Su Ya, he could have killed.

Xu Qingran murmured, "Don't worry, even without fixing it, he can't threaten you now."

Shen Tingyu looked at him again.

Xu Qingran calmly summarized how he had handled Mu Ziyue and how he was now tied up and left in his aircraft.

Shen Tingyu: "..."

The general was momentarily stunned.

Xu Qingran coughed lightly, shifting the topic: "So, did you get reborn?"

Reborn.

What a strange word.

Shen Tingyu pondered: "If you need a term for it, then I guess so?"

Having died in my past life.

In the blink of an eye, he was back many years ago, when he first entered the Tower of Evil.

"You went back to when you were 12, just after being captured and taken to the Tower of Evil?" Xu Qingran was somewhat surprised. "Then why did you wait three years to leave the Tower of Evil like that?"

He assumed Shen Tingyu had changed his life path because he was reborn that year.

Shen Tingyu let go of him and stood up straight again: "To strengthen my resolve and plan for the future."

Admittedly, a 12-year-old has every right to lose it. But back then, he had just entered the Tower of Evil, and his mind and spirit were still untainted. Using that method to harm his spiritual core would have been too risky. So he deliberately stayed in the Tower of Evil for three more years, not letting himself slack off just because he got a chance to be reborn.

Xu Qingran laughed upon hearing this.

A choice befitting a quiet madman.

"And then?"

Xu Qingran asked him again.

What became of the empire later?

How did the conflict between Mu Ziyue and Shen Tingyu resolve?

"Later," Shen Tingyu fell into memories again, "Later, the demon army breached the defenses of the domain and the public zone."

"They overran the Kayan Empire."

"Countless lives were lost."

Xu Qingran instinctively asked: "Did you die too?"

Shen Tingyu couldn't help but smile at him.

His tone was light: "If I hadn't died, how could I have been reborn?"

Xu Qingran fell silent.

Shen Tingyu squeezed his waist again and looked up and asked him, "Do you want to know how I died?"

"Actually, I can also answer your earlier question about the devils."

Xu Qingran was momentarily stunned, still processing his words.

Suddenly, a hand gently rested on the back of his head, gently guiding it down until their lips met in a smooth kiss.

In the darkness, Shen Tingyu's eyes shone faintly.

Through their intimate contact, Xu Qingran glimpsed fragments of memories from Shen Tingyu's soul.

The flames of war raged uncontrollably.

All around, the devil's army blanketed the empire's land.

Even the grandest palace on the Queen's Star was occupied by various types of devils, climbing to the highest points of the structures, letting out sharp, insect-like screeches.

It sounded like a triumphant roar.

Amid the chaos, a familiar silhouette was making its way toward the palace.

He was dressed in plain clothes, unaffiliated with any faction, step by step, navigating through the flames and chaos.

The rampaging devils left him unharmed.

Instead, they parted to let him through.

Xu Qingran was staring in disbelief.

The walking figure suddenly stopped, turned around, and seemed to lock eyes with him across the void.

He saw the man's face clearly.

Though there were slight differences in hairstyle and appearance, it was unmistakably Shen Tingyu.

In his shock, the person who should only exist in memories raised his eyes towards him.

His blue and red eyes were filled with boundless sorrow.

"I'm sorry."

"The pain was too much back then, so I couldn't endure it."

Through some miraculous means, the present Shen Tingyu not only actively showed him fragments of his soul's memories but also took control of the memory version of himself.

He gave a faint smile.

It was a mix of detachment and bitterness, as if it was a memory he had to muster great strength to revisit.

"I sold myself to the devils."