The spark was tiny.
So small that, had it existed in the mortal world, it might have been nothing more than a moment of anger in the heart of an ordinary man.
A student far from home, sitting alone in a cold rented room, hearing strangers pass judgment on his world and wanting helplessly to shout back.
No strength.
No cultivation.
No spiritual treasure.
Even his real body was still sitting somewhere beyond this layer of space.
But here, within the white mist that lay still as the bottom of an ancient lake, every fluctuation had a shape of its own.
The instant Hao Nhien's anger flared, the concealment around the Cosmic Ark trembled.
The black-robed man standing in the void suddenly stopped moving.
The points of light within the Time Disc continued to rotate, but his fingertip no longer tapped across its surface.
His gaze slowly left Earth.
It swept across the endless white mist.
Then stopped precisely where the Cosmic Ark was hiding.
Hao Nhien felt everything inside him turn cold.
Not the cold of a Columbus winter.
It was the feeling of an ant crawling across the ground and suddenly realizing that an eye in the heavens had noticed it.
The Ark Spirit immediately moved in front of him.
The wooden staff in the old man's hand lowered slightly.
That frail, aged figure suddenly became deep and heavy, like a stone gate that had remained sealed for tens of thousands of years.
"Do not meet his gaze."
The Ark Spirit's voice sounded in Hao Nhien's consciousness, lower than ever before.
"Master, do not think. Do not resist. Do not allow your consciousness to stir."
Hao Nhien heard him.
But hearing was not the same as being able to obey.
The black-robed man's gaze fell upon them.
For one brief instant, Hao Nhien felt the entire sea of white mist being torn open.
Space.
The seal.
The hull.
Even the thin layer of consciousness by which he currently existed—
all of it seemed to be touched by that gaze.
It was not hot.
Not sharp.
There was no obvious killing intent.
And that was precisely what made it terrifying.
It was pure observation.
Like someone noticing an unusual stone beside the road.
Like a hunter examining a small footprint in the snow.
Like a god bending down to see what was moving inside a speck of dust.
Hao Nhien's consciousness shook violently.
For a moment, he nearly forgot who he was.
Broken fragments of memory surfaced all at once.
The rented room.
His breath.
Anh Nhien.
Snow outside the window.
Distant traffic.
His mother holding his hand as a child and leading him across the street.
The smell of rice back home.
A phone ringing late at night.
Everything was compressed beneath that gaze into scattered points of light, as though if the black-robed man wished, he could simply spread Hao Nhien's entire life open and read it.
The Ark Spirit struck his staff hard against the side of the boat.
No sound rang out.
But an invisible ripple spread through the Ark and pulled Hao Nhien's consciousness back into the shape of himself standing on the deck.
He gasped, though he was not even sure he still needed to breathe.
His hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
In the distance, the young prince noticed the change in his father.
"Royal Father?"
The black-robed man did not answer immediately.
He continued staring toward the hidden Ark.
Then the corner of his mouth lifted.
"Interesting."
Only that one word.
Yet everyone behind him fell silent.
The middle-aged man holding the horsetail whisk immediately followed his gaze, but clearly detected nothing.
The young prince took half a step forward, his eyes brightening as though some unexpected opportunity had appeared before him.
"Royal Father discovered something?"
"There is a sealed flying spiritual treasure here."
Hao Nhien felt his heart sink.
The Ark Spirit said nothing, but his grip on the wooden staff tightened.
The black-robed man began walking toward them.
He did not fly.
He barely seemed to move at all.
Yet with every step he took, the distance between himself and the Cosmic Ark shortened.
The white mist parted silently before him, like water separating around an invisible blade.
"It does not belong to this world," he said calmly.
"Its aura is ancient. The seal is not ordinary either."
The prince asked,
"Can Royal Father take it?"
The black-robed man stopped while still very far from the Ark.
He clearly could not see the vessel with ordinary sight.
But Hao Nhien knew its position had already been locked.
"Not at present."
"Because Royal Father descended only through a soul-fragment?"
"Mm."
The black-robed man gave a slight nod.
"If my true body were here, I might be able to try breaking the seal. But with only this soul-fragment, there is no need to waste time."
He paused.
"Besides, this object may not even be useful to me."
The young prince looked disappointed, but still lowered his head.
"Yes."
Hao Nhien listened to every word, the chill along his back deepening.
Might not even be useful.
The Cosmic Ark—something the Ark Spirit claimed could cross boundaries between worlds,
something that had waited for Hao Nhien across countless years—was, in this man's mouth,
merely something that might or might not be worth taking.
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There was no deliberate contempt in it.
It was simply the habit of a being who stood too high.
So high that things others would consider miracles were, to him, only objects to be weighed and discarded.
The black-robed man suddenly tilted his head.
"No."
That single word changed the Ark Spirit's expression.
Hao Nhien immediately felt uneasy.
The black-robed man's gaze deepened.
He no longer looked toward the position of the Ark.
He looked through it.
Through Hao Nhien.
Through something invisible that connected Hao Nhien to a place unimaginably far away.
"There is a soul-thread."
The prince immediately asked,
"A soul-thread?"
"Mm. It extends from this spiritual treasure back toward that world."
The black-robed man looked again in Earth's direction.
A rare trace of interest entered his voice.
"It seems the owner of this treasure is not entirely present here.
"Or…"
He paused.
"Something deeply important to its owner remains there."
Hao Nhien's consciousness shook.
A thought flashed through him without warning.
No.
Don't.
He did not even know what he was afraid of yet.
But instinct screamed before reason could catch up.
The Ark Spirit immediately turned toward him.
"Master, stabilize your consciousness!"
Outside, the black-robed man lifted one hand.
The gesture was casual, as though pulling on a fishing line.
In an instant, a milky-white point of light appeared in the void.
It hung upon an invisible thread.
The ivory mist around it immediately began flowing inward, winding around it in slow spirals as the point grew larger.
A woman's form gradually emerged.
"A woman?"
The black-robed man raised an eyebrow, sounding mildly surprised.
"Very beautiful. But this soul cannot be the owner of that spiritual treasure.
"She only has a very deep connection to the remnant soul still on the vessel."
He gave a faint smile.
"Interesting."
The richly dressed prince stared at the figure, his gaze heating.
"She is indeed beautiful, Royal Father. If she possessed a physical body, she would surely be a rare beauty."
On the Cosmic Ark, Hao Nhien felt as though lightning had struck through him.
The figure was too familiar.
Even as a faint soul-image.
Even with her face veiled beneath milky-white light.
He recognized her instantly.
Anh Nhien.
His wife from the world he had left behind.
The woman who had seen him off during those long years abroad.
The woman who still sent him the most ordinary messages on winter nights.
Have you eaten yet?
Don't stay up too late.
She was not some legendary beauty from a story.
She was the last small piece of home inside his heart.
Anh Nhien's soul floated within the void, gentle and fragile as a dream on the verge of fading.
Her long hair hung through the white glow.
Her delicate face still carried the quiet expression Hao Nhien knew so well, her eyes half closed as though deeply asleep.
She was beautiful.
But what strangled his breath was not that beauty.
It was the warmth he had leaned on through years of loneliness.
A person who had truly lived.
Who had truly loved him.
Who had truly waited for his return.
And now she had been dragged out of his world like an ownerless object, examined and discussed by two strangers with casual eyes.
Hao Nhien clenched his fists.
His entire body trembled.
"No…"
Now he understood why that soul had been linked to the Ark.
Some part of her—
he did not know when or how—
had become connected to this place.
Connected to the Cosmic Ark.
Connected to the strange web of cause and consequence now dragging him forward.
"Possible."
The king looked at the floating soul and smiled faintly.
There was even a trace of satisfaction in his voice, as though his son had stumbled upon a worthwhile prize.
"Beautiful women are not uncommon on the Continent. But a soul this pure is rare even by my standards."
He glanced toward the prince.
"Your eye is not bad."
The young prince brightened.
"Then can we take her back, Royal Father?"
"We can. But it will be somewhat troublesome."
The king raised one hand.
Thin threads of light wrapped around Anh Nhien's soul.
"We can only take this portion of her soul.
"Her physical body cannot leave that world. It will eventually decay along with it."
The prince said quickly,
"Recreating a body should not be difficult. With Royal Father's resources, or with the great alchemists of the Continent, surely there are methods."
"The body is not the main problem," the king replied calmly.
"The problem is that her soul is incomplete."
The prince was startled.
The king looked toward the sealed vessel hidden in the void.
"A portion of her soul remains on that boat. I cannot forcibly extract it in my current state.
"If I attempt it, I may damage what remains."
"Then what should we do?"
"Cut the connection. Take this portion for now."
The king spoke lightly, as though describing an ordinary procedure.
"When my true body returns next time, I will take the vessel as well. Then I can retrieve the remaining portion of her soul for you."
The prince was silent for a moment.
"What will happen to her until then?"
"An incomplete soul should not awaken.
"It is best to keep her asleep within a soul-preserving vessel."
The king looked at his son.
"One thousand years is not especially long for you."
The prince lowered his head, unable to conceal the heat in his eyes.
"This son will obey."
Inside the Ark, Hao Nhien felt as though another bolt of lightning had torn through him.
No.
Impossible.
It could not happen like this.
He roared inside his consciousness.
"Old Ark! Release me! They can't take her! They can't sever her soul! Hurry!"
There was no answer.
Hao Nhien spun around.
In one corner of the vessel, the Ark Spirit had collapsed onto the deck.
The old man's figure had faded until it was nearly transparent.
His eyes were unfocused.
The radiance around him had almost been extinguished entirely.
After a moment, his voice finally came.
Broken.
Weak.
"I cannot, Master…"
"That man is suppressing me too strongly…"
Hao Nhien rushed toward him, but his entire form was held in place by an invisible restriction.
The Ark Spirit forced himself to continue.
"He wants to pull out the soul-fragment still on the Ark.
"If I release the seal, he will succeed.
"He will still take her.
"And you…"
The old man's voice grew even weaker.
"In his eyes, you are merely a remnant soul.
"He may ignore you.
"Or erase you casually."
"Master… Stay conscious."
Clear-headed?
How could Hao Nhien remain clear-headed?
He slammed himself wildly against the invisible restriction.
Again.
Again.
As though he could use his own soul to break the cage apart.
His figure warped and trembled like smoke being torn inside a storm.
He felt no bodily pain.
Only the sensation of his heart being slowly carved apart with a knife.
Anh Nhien.
She had said she would wait for him to return.
She still sent those ordinary messages to him through winter nights abroad.
She had always listened gently when he spoke of meditation.
Of loneliness.
Of the doubts he could tell no one else.
And now she was being looked at as though she were some rare spiritual object.
Her body.
Her soul.
A soul-preserving vessel.
As though she were not a person who had lived.
Loved.
Waited.
Hao Nhien screamed until even his consciousness felt hoarse.
Not a single sound escaped the Ark.
Outside, the king spoke quietly.
"This is as much as I can take."
Then he waved his hand.
A cold line of light cut through the void.
Anh Nhien's soul convulsed violently.
Even though she was only a faint apparition, Hao Nhien clearly saw pain twist across her face.
Her half-closed eyes trembled.
Her pure, luminous form distorted beneath the silver light, like a flower being torn from its branch without even being able to cry out.
In that moment, Hao Nhien felt as though his own soul had been struck by the blade.
Something very deep inside him snapped.
The king lowered his hand.
Anh Nhien's soul rapidly contracted.
From the shape of a woman, it became a transparent point of light, still shimmering faintly with gentle silver radiance.
He passed the point of light to his son.
"Keep it safe.
"Until we retrieve the rest, do not allow her to awaken."
The prince accepted it in both hands, solemnly, as though receiving a priceless treasure.
"Yes."
The king did not look at her again.
He turned and spoke into the void.
"Prepare to leave.
"I will activate the Time Disc and return all of you to the Firmament Continent.
"This world will be reset after we depart."
The Time Disc was released.
It floated within the void.
One glowing square after another lit across its surface.
An ancient fluctuation spread outward.
The white mist around it slowly began to still, as though time itself had started holding its breath.
Beside the king, a black vortex appeared.
No one knew where the deep passage led.
Its edges rotated slowly, swallowing the surrounding light and forming a cold tunnel through the void.
The others entered one by one.
The richly dressed prince held the glowing fragment of Anh Nhien's soul.
Before stepping through, he turned once toward the hidden Ark.
Hao Nhien would never forget that gaze.
Not hatred.
Not caution.
Expectation.
As though the prince were already certain that one day, the remaining part of her soul would belong to him as well.
At last, only the king remained before the passage.
He turned back.
His deep gaze rested for a moment upon the sealed Cosmic Ark.
Then swept across the white spatial expanse.
"One thousand years will be enough."
Then he stepped into the vortex.
The black passage slowly closed.
Silence returned.
A cold, merciless silence.
The suppression vanished.
Hao Nhien was finally free.
But he no longer shouted.
No longer struck the restriction.
No longer rushed outward.
He simply stood on the deck and stared at the place where the passage had disappeared.
The place where Anh Nhien had been taken.
All emotion seemed to drain from him at once.
What remained was an enormous emptiness.
Cold.
Bottomless.
Anh Nhien appeared in his memory more clearly than ever.
Her gentle smile.
Her warm hands.
Her soft voice telling him not to stay awake too late.
The trust in her eyes whenever she said,
I'll wait for you to come home.
She was still waiting for him.
But she was no longer home.
She had been taken somewhere called the Firmament Continent.
Her soul had been severed.
Placed inside a soul-preserving vessel.
Put to sleep for one thousand years.
Hao Nhien stood there, pitifully small inside the void.
Like a grain of dust that had just watched the entire sky collapse and had been unable to raise a hand to hold it up.
Behind him, the Ark Spirit finally managed to restore his old man's form.
He leaned heavily on his staff.
His figure remained translucent, but a faint spark had returned to his eyes.
He stepped off the Ark and approached the Time Disc floating in the void.
His hands trembled slightly when he touched it.
But in the end, he managed to drag the spiritual treasure back onto the deck.
"Master."
His voice was very low.
"We must leave before it is too late."
Hao Nhien did not answer.
The Ark Spirit stared at his unmoving back.
His voice grew heavier.
"We are not the master of this Time Disc. We cannot truly control it.
"All I can do is borrow the Cosmic Ark's complete sealing ability to temporarily halt the command that reverses time."
Hao Nhien remained silent.
"But it is only a pause," the Ark Spirit continued.
"To resolve this completely, you must become the master of the Time Disc yourself.
"Then you must bring it back here."
No response.
Hao Nhien kept staring into the empty void, as though if he stared long enough, Anh Nhien would return.
The Ark Spirit let out a faint sigh.
"Master…"
"I have heard the summons from our destination."
He lifted his head.
The surrounding mist had begun to tremble.
"We will leave through the Cosmic Ark's world-crossing leap.
"Immediately afterward, you will arrive in a new world.
"I cannot accompany you in this form.
"Both I and the Cosmic Ark will be sealed and returned to our ordinary state."
Only then did Hao Nhien's fingers finally move.
The Ark Spirit saw it, but continued.
"The seal will open step by step as your strength becomes sufficient.
"When that happens, I will be able to awaken and assist you again."
He stepped behind Hao Nhien.
His voice dropped.
"Take care."
"You must live."
"Only by living can you reach the Firmament Continent and reclaim Anh Nhien's soul."
"And only then can you return here, become the master of the Time Disc, and save your world from being dragged back to its beginning."
Hao Nhien slowly closed his eyes.
In the darkness, he could still see the glowing fragment of Anh Nhien's soul held in that man's hands.
He saw distant Earth being slowly locked by time.
He saw himself standing helplessly between the two most important things in his life—
unable to protect either of them.
The Ark Spirit lowered his head.
"Farewell, Master."
"Until we meet again."
A transparent ring of sealing light suddenly enveloped the entire Ark.
Pale blue radiance erupted.
Then instantly collapsed into a single point.
In the blink of an eye, the Cosmic Ark vanished from that spatial region as though it had never existed.
Immediately afterward, everything stopped.
The milky-white mist froze in the void.
The fluctuations of the Time Disc locked rigidly beneath an invisible seal.
Far away, on Hao Nhien's planet, time also fell into stillness.
Clock hands atop tall towers ceased to move.
A fish swimming through the water remained frozen in the middle of a tail stroke.
Crowds hurrying along streets became countless motionless figures.
An airplane turning through the clouds stopped in the sky, suspended as though frozen inside the final instant of the world.
Everything was silent.
Everything waited.
Waiting for a man who had been cast away from his home.
Waiting for a remnant soul that had once stood helplessly and watched the woman he loved be taken away.
Waiting for the day he became strong enough to return.