Golden light erupted across the Northern Forest.
Outside the Heart Realm…
The colossal White Tiger stood motionless.
The crimson glow that had consumed his eyes slowly dissolved into brilliant gold.
The suffocating pressure that had blanketed the forest began to fade.
Every Spirit Beast cautiously lifted its head.
“…Lord Bai Hu…”
The Moonfang Wolf, Feng, stared in disbelief.
“…He’s back.”
Inside the Heart Realm…
The faceless shadow shrieked as golden light burned through its body.
“No!”
“You cannot reject me!”
“I am your hatred!”
“I am your regret!”
“I am—”
Bai Hu’s voice interrupted it.
Calm.
Steady.
“…No.”
The White Tiger took one step forward.
“You were only the lie…”
“…I chose to believe.”
The shadow lashed out.
Thousands of black tendrils shot toward Bai Hu.
The White Tiger didn’t dodge.
Instead, he lowered his head.
A single golden rune appeared between his brows.
It was the ancient symbol of Judgment.
The First Keeper’s voice echoed across the Heart Realm.
“Judgment begins with truth.”
The rune ignited.
Every black tendril disintegrated into ash before touching him.
The shadow screamed.
“Impossible!”
“I lived in your heart for millennia!”
“You cannot erase me!”
Bai Hu looked at it without anger.
“…No.”
“I cannot erase the past.”
He raised one massive paw.
“…But I can stop letting it rule my future.”
With one swipe—
BOOM!
Golden light tore through the Heart Realm.
The shadow exploded into countless fragments.
The System immediately updated.
Corruption Purification
Guardian Bai Hu
Corruption Level:
39% → 12%
Warning:
Residual Abyssal Essence remains.
Complete purification impossible while the First Seal is damaged.
The remaining fragments of darkness didn’t disappear.
Instead…
They fled.
Like terrified insects escaping a fire.
They sank into cracks beneath the battlefield.
Descending deeper.
Far below the Heart Realm.
The System tracked them.
Tracing Abyssal Essence…
Destination Confirmed:
The First Seal
Tianyu frowned.
“So it ran away.”
Bai Hu nodded.
“…Only a servant.”
“Then…”
“…Who’s the master?”
For the first time…
Uncertainty crossed the White Tiger’s face.
“…I do not know.”
“…Only that…”
“…its presence is older than the Eclipse Court.”
The Heart Realm began dissolving.
Flowers replaced ruins.
The broken battlefield transformed into the peaceful Sanctuary Tianyu had seen before.
Children laughed.
Spirit Beasts rested beneath the World Tree.
The little memories that had once been hidden now flowed freely.
Bai Hu smiled faintly.
“…Thank you.”
The White Tiger lowered his enormous head.
Not in submission.
In respect.
“I judged every soul…”
“…except my own.”
“You reminded me…”
“…that justice without mercy becomes another form of cruelty.”
Tianyu smiled.
“I just repeated what your old friend taught you.”
“…The First Keeper.”
Bai Hu closed his eyes.
“…I had forgotten his face.”
“…Now…”
“…I remember.”
The System chimed.
Guardian Recognition Complete
Synchronization Successful.
Guardian Approval:
100%
Golden chains of light appeared between Tianyu and Bai Hu.
Unlike the contract with Hei Bao…
These chains didn’t bind.
They intertwined.
As equals.
Guardian Pact Established
Guardian:
Bai Hu
Title:
White Tiger of Heavenly Judgment
Relationship:
Guardian of the Twenty-Eighth Keeper
New Passive Ability Unlocked:
Truth’s Gaze
Effects:
Detect deception within the Sanctuary.
Increased resistance to mental attacks.
Guardian Communication greatly enhanced.
The Heart Realm shattered into particles of light.
Tianyu opened his eyes.
He was back in the Northern Forest.
The enormous White Tiger stood before him.
His eyes were once again a brilliant gold.
Without warning…
The legendary Guardian lowered himself onto one knee.
Every Spirit Beast gasped.
Feng immediately bowed.
The wolves followed.
Birds filled the sky.
The forest itself seemed to kneel.
Bai Hu spoke in a voice that echoed across the Sanctuary.
“Keeper Lin Tianyu.”
“You entered my heart.”
“You saw my weakness.”
“You neither condemned nor pitied me.”
He lowered his head.
“From this day onward…”
“My claws…”
“…shall judge only your enemies.”
A brilliant pillar of white light erupted into the sky.
Far beneath Monkey Mountain…
The First Seal glowed in response.
One of the nine ancient symbols surrounding it reignited.
Seal Status Updated
First Seal Stability:
42% → 57%
Guardian Network Restored:
2 of 9
Back in the hidden valley…
Shen Yuan looked toward the heavens and smiled.
“…Well done.”
Chief Builder Lu nearly dropped his blueprint.
“We gained fifteen percent seal stability?”
“Excellent!”
“That means the foundations won’t collapse!”
Granny Mu chuckled.
“Only you would celebrate structural integrity during an apocalypse.”
“It is a very important apocalypse.”
Yue smiled as she felt a warm breeze brush past her.
For the first time since awakening…
The silver pendant around her neck stopped glowing.
Its restless energy became calm.
“…He’s alright.”
She whispered it with certainty.
But at that exact moment…
Thousands of kilometers away…
Deep beneath an ancient mountain shrouded in perpetual darkness…
A pair of crimson eyes slowly opened.
An old man dressed in black robes knelt before a colossal stone door covered in chains.
Behind the door…
Something breathed.
Once.
Twice.
The old man spoke respectfully.
“My Lord…”
“The White Tiger has awakened.”
Silence answered him.
Then…
A deep voice emerged from behind the chained door.
“So…”
“…the Keeper has finally appeared.”
The chains around the door trembled.
“Send the Four Eclipse Generals.”
“Alive?”
The old man asked.
“No.”
The voice was cold enough to freeze the air.
“Bring me the Divine Beasts.”
“As for the Keeper…”
A low chuckle echoed from behind the ancient prison.
“I want him to witness…”
“…the fall of his Sanctuary.”
The old man bowed deeply.
“As you command.”
As he disappeared into the darkness, the chained door cracked ever so slightly.
A strand of black mist escaped.
Far away, inside the Sanctuary, the System issued one final alert.
World Event Triggered
The Eclipse Court has begun its first major offensive.
Estimated arrival of the first enemy force:
24 Hours.
[End of Volume One]