The battlefield stretched endlessly beneath a blood-red sky.
Broken swords littered the ground.
Ancient banners fluttered in a wind that no longer carried life.
Everywhere Lin Tianyu looked…
There were ruins.
Shattered Guardian Thrones.
Collapsed temples.
Cracked statues of beasts that had once protected the Sanctuary.
And in the middle of it all…
A tiny white tiger cub.
Curled into itself.
Alone.
The System’s voice sounded distant.
As if coming from another world.
Heart Realm Entered
Guardian:
Bai Hu
Heart Stability:
9%
Warning:
Everything inside this realm is a manifestation of Bai Hu’s memories.
The cub didn’t look up again.
It simply whispered,
“…Go away.”
Tianyu slowly approached.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
“…Everyone says that.”
“I know.”
“…Then they leave.”
He stopped a few feet away and sat down on a broken stone.
“I’ll stay here.”
The cub frowned.
“…Why?”
“Because you look lonely.”
Silence.
Minutes passed.
Neither spoke.
The strange thing was…
The longer Tianyu remained, the more the battlefield changed.
The violent winds became weaker.
The blood-red clouds faded ever so slightly.
The System quietly explained.
A Guardian’s Heart Realm reflects its emotional state.
Your presence is stabilizing the realm.
Finally…
The cub glanced sideways.
“…You’re strange.”
“I’ve been told that.”
“…You’re not asking me to fight.”
“No.”
“…You’re not telling me to forget.”
“No.”
“…You’re not saying it wasn’t my fault.”
Tianyu shook his head.
“Because it was your battle.”
“And your pain.”
“I’m not going to pretend I understand it.”
The cub stared at him.
For the first time…
There was curiosity instead of despair.
“…Then why are you here?”
Tianyu looked at the broken thrones surrounding them.
“To understand.”
The cub slowly stood.
It was small enough to fit in Tianyu’s arms.
Its once-pristine white fur was stained with soot and blood.
“…Follow.”
Without another word…
It began walking.
The battlefield dissolved around them.
The world shifted.
Now they stood inside the Sanctuary…
Thousands of years in the past.
Everything was alive.
The World Tree towered into the heavens.
Spirit Beasts ran freely through flowering fields.
Children laughed as they chased glowing butterflies.
Nine magnificent Guardian Thrones surrounded a circular plaza.
Each occupied.
Hei Bao.
A graceful nine-tailed fox.
A crimson phoenix with wings of living flame.
A giant black tortoise whose shell carried rivers and mountains.
And…
A proud white tiger.
Adult.
Powerful.
His golden eyes held warmth instead of suspicion.
“…This…”
Tianyu whispered.
“…was the Sanctuary.”
The cub nodded.
“…Home.”
Another scene unfolded.
The First Keeper stood before all nine Guardians.
He wasn’t dressed like a king.
Nor like an immortal.
He wore simple keeper’s clothes.
His hands were dirty from planting trees.
He smiled as he handed Hei Bao a basket of peaches.
Sun Xiaohou immediately stole one.
The First Keeper laughed instead of scolding him.
The fox rolled her eyes.
Bai Hu snorted.
Even the Azure Dragon chuckled.
The Sanctuary felt…
Like a family.
The cub watched quietly.
“…He never ordered us.”
“…He asked.”
Tianyu smiled.
“That sounds right.”
“…He listened.”
“…Even when we disagreed.”
The vision suddenly darkened.
A loud horn echoed across the heavens.
The sky split apart.
Thousands of black-robed cultivators descended like a storm.
Crimson banners bearing a black sun filled the horizon.
The Eclipse Court.
The war had begun.
The nine Guardians charged.
The First Keeper fought beside them.
Not behind them.
Beside them.
The battle shook heaven and earth.
The Azure Dragon tore open the clouds.
The Phoenix turned the battlefield into an ocean of fire.
Hei Bao held an entire mountain on his shoulders to protect fleeing children.
Bai Hu became a streak of white lightning.
Judging every invader who crossed his path.
Still…
The enemy kept coming.
Wave after wave.
Endless.
Tianyu clenched his fists.
“They were overwhelmed…”
The cub nodded silently.
Then…
A figure appeared among the enemy.
Unlike the others…
Its face remained hidden behind swirling darkness.
It never attacked directly.
Instead…
It whispered.
Every whisper became doubt.
Every doubt became fear.
Guardians who hesitated for a single heartbeat found themselves surrounded.
The corruption wasn’t a weapon.
It was an idea.
The cub trembled.
“…I heard it.”
“It told me…”
“…I wasn’t strong enough.”
“It told me…”
“…everyone who died…”
“…died because I failed.”
Tianyu looked at the battlefield.
He watched Bai Hu desperately trying to save everyone at once.
Protecting children.
Fighting enemies.
Rescuing wounded Guardians.
Holding collapsing formations together.
No matter where he ran…
Someone else fell.
No one…
Could have done more.
The First Keeper stood before the White Tiger.
He was gravely wounded.
Blood stained his robes.
Behind him…
The First Seal was forming.
“Go!” Bai Hu roared.
“We fight together!”
The First Keeper smiled.
“We always will.”
He placed a hand on Bai Hu’s forehead.
Then spoke the words that had echoed through the generations.
“Judgment is not about carrying every burden.”
“It is knowing which burdens were never yours to bear.”
Golden light engulfed the battlefield.
The First Seal closed.
The vision shattered.
Back in the ruined Heart Realm…
The little cub stood frozen.
“…He…”
“…said that.”
“I forgot.”
“No.”
Tianyu knelt beside him.
“You didn’t forget.”
“You buried it.”
The cub’s ears drooped.
“…Because it hurt.”
“I know.”
Suddenly…
The black mist erupted from the ground.
The faceless shadow appeared once more.
Larger than ever.
Its crimson eyes burned with fury.
“Enough!”
“It took me thousands of years to break him!”
“I won’t lose him to a human child!”
The shadow lunged toward the cub.
Without thinking…
Tianyu stepped between them.
The darkness slammed into him.
Agony tore through his soul.
The System blared.
Warning!
Keeper Soul Integrity:
73%
68%
61%
The shadow laughed.
“You can’t protect him forever!”
Tianyu gritted his teeth.
“…I don’t have to.”
The cub slowly looked up.
Something had changed.
Its frightened blue eyes had become brilliant gold.
“…No.”
The little tiger stood.
“…You don’t.”
Golden light erupted from the cub’s body.
The ruined battlefield began to heal.
Grass spread across the cracked earth.
Flowers bloomed among broken weapons.
The shattered Guardian Thrones slowly reassembled.
The cub grew larger.
And larger.
Until the majestic White Tiger once again stood proudly before the shadow.
This time…
His eyes were clear.
Pure gold.
The System rang like a bell across the Heart Realm.
Guardian Bai Hu
Corruption Level:
68% → 39%
Mental Stability:
9% → 56%
Guardian has remembered the First Keeper’s final teaching.
Outside the Heart Realm…
The real White Tiger slowly opened his golden eyes.
But the corruption…
Had not been completely destroyed.
Deep beneath Monkey Mountain…
Something ancient smiled.
[End of Chapter 24]