System's POV

Many years passed, and Vincent had grown up to be one of the prodigies of the Heavenly Pavilion.

His title as Heavenly Sword had also spread far and wide. However, his reputation earned him the love of the ladies as much as he earned the hate of the men.

Although he was now three hundred years old, he still looked like someone who was in his early twenties due to him reaching the rank of a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

"If I were alone, looking down from this peak would have felt lonely," Vincent said as he stood at the highest spiritual mountain in the continent. "I'm glad that you have been with me all this time, Thirteen."

[Vincent, if you don't hurry and leave, they will catch up to you. Even if you are the strongest under the heavens, it will be difficult to defeat the other Nascent Cultivators of the Orthodox, Unorthodox, and Demon Sects. The wound you received a week ago still hasn't fully recovered.]

"It's fine, Thirteen." Vincent smiled faintly. "I will end it here."

[Why? With your skills, if you wish to hide or run away from them, you can easily do so. I don't understand why you planned to stay and face them.]

"Thirteen, what is the Dao of Cultivation that I practice?"

[…the Dao of Love.]

"That's right," Vincent chuckled. "I, who was born not out of love but from a mistake made by my parents, practiced a Dao looked down upon by many. Isn't it funny?"

[Those who laughed at you are now buried six feet under. I don't think they have the right to look down on your path.]

Although Thirteen's voice sounded robotic, there was a hint of pride and arrogance in it because he had watched Vincent's journey from the day.

The journey of a weak and sickly boy, who was abandoned by his parents, as they ascended to a higher world together.

The only one who took care of him and loved him was his Grandfather, who made Vincent feel how it was to be genuinely loved by someone.

In order to further understand this law, he decided to pursue the Dao of Love for the past hundreds of years of his life.

His life was filled with meetings and farewells.

He had held countless beauties in his arms, and they, in turn, held him in their embrace.

As someone who lived and loved freely, these memorable nights allowed him to soar to greater heights.

Ironically, it was for this reason that others wanted his downfall. He became a wanted man by the families of the ladies whom he loved.

In their eyes, he was unfit and had destroyed the future of the ladies whom he had embraced.

One thing led to another, and before Vincent knew it, the entire world had become his enemy.

But all he wanted was to love.

To build a family of his own.

To have children of his own.

But Fate didn't wish for that to happen.

His seed wasn't capable of bearing fruit as if he had been cursed.

As to this, Vincent could only smile wryly.

He had been running all his life, and right now, he decided that he no longer wished to run.

Spreading his arms, as if to embrace the entire world, Vincent closed his eyes in bliss.

[Vincent…]

"Thirteen, thank you for being my friend. But I think you're getting the wrong idea. I don't plan on dying. I will end it here, and make everyone understand that no one can get in the way of my love."

As if waiting for that moment, hundreds of cultivators landed all around the peak of the mountain and surrounded him.

"Give it up, Vincent," an old man wearing white robes said. "Surrender yourself, and I will grant you a swift and painless death."

"You're getting old, Lord Yasha," Vincent said without bothering to turn his head to look at the old man behind him and continued to look at the edge of the horizon. "I will make sure that I give you a swift and painless death."

"How dare you!" Lord Yasha drew his blade in anger. "Last chance, Vincent. This is the only way for you to leave this world with an intact body."

Vincent didn't reply and simply smiled while looking in front of him.

Light faintly illuminated the world, and soon, the sun would rise from the horizon and greet the world with another beautiful day.

To ensure that he would be able to see that day, Vincent slowly unsheathed his blade, making all the Nascent Soul Cultivators and their Elite Subordinates wear grim looks on their faces.

Vincent, who practiced the Dao of Love, also went by another name.

Heavenly Sword.

This name wasn't a fake title, for his sword was said to be able to split the heavens themselves.

That was how he managed to ascend to the Nascent Soul Core faster than any cultivator in the world.

"I will send all of you to the other side of the world with love," Vincent said as he turned around to face Lord Yasha, the temporary leader of the Alliance responsible for hunting down the strongest cultivator in their world.

"Come," Vincent said. "Let's dance."

A few seconds later, the sound of swords clashing against each other reverberated at the highest mountain in the world.

Those who were looking at it from a distance thought that lightning was dancing on the top of the mountain when in reality, they were merely sword lights that flashed with deadly intensity.

"Argh… how can this be?!" Lord Yasha groaned as he tried to support his body with his sword after getting stabbed in the chest. "Damn it!"

The bodies of his disciples, as well as his allies, who had died, lay all around him.

However, there were still hundreds of cultivators actively fighting against Vincent.

His white clothes were now dyed red with his blood, as well as the blood of those who had come to kill him.

While Lord Yasha was still certain that they would be able to kill the Heavenly Sword, he understood that it would be a pyrrhic victory.

Was it worth it?

No.

This victory wasn't worth it.

But they had no choice but to do it because someone wished him dead.

A being who had come from the Heavens beyond the Heavens had asked all the powerful clans and sects in the world to kill him, or else, they would be the ones who would be destroyed.

Just as he was thinking about these thoughts, an annoyed voice spread in the surroundings.

"Stupid insects. You can't even kill a single man?"

Suddenly, a powerful pressure descended upon the mountain, making the cultivators who were fighting against Vincent drop to the ground, unmoving.

Vincent, on the other hand, was forced to support his body with his sword, preventing himself from kneeling on the ground.

He knew then and there that the owner of the voice was a being who wasn't supposed to be in this world.

Someone who should have been in a higher realm of existence, above the world that they currently live in.

It was none other than a Void Cultivator.

Someone who was two Ranks above the Nascent Soul.

"Mortal, I don't want to dirty my hands by personally killing you, so why don't you kill yourself?" a man wearing black robes said with a smile.

He was holding an old man on his right hand and a young lady on his left.

From the looks of the injuries that could be seen on their bodies, the two figures had been severely tortured.

An angry roar escaped Vincent's lips because the old man at the black-robed man's hand was none other than his Grandfather.

The young lady, on the other hand, was a lady he had met five years ago, who saved him from the serious injuries he received after escaping from his pursuers.

Both of them fell in love, but because he was being pursued, he had no choice but to leave her behind for her own safety.

"I won't say it again, Mortal," the Void Cultivator said icily. "Kill yourself, and I will allow these two to live."

[Don't, Vincent! Just run!]

Thirteen shouted in desperation within Vincent's Sea of Consciousness.

[Your Grandfather will only live for a few months, and Lumine is just a mortal! Both of them would not wish for you to die in their place! Run away! Become strong and avenge them!]

Vincent didn't reply to his best friend's words as he slowly raised his body using everything he had.

"You're right, Thirteen," Vincent replied. "But I can't do it. My heart doesn't want to do it."

[Fool! Just give up! Come back when you manage to break through to the Void Cultivation Rank! Kill him and his entire sect if you have to! You can't fall here!]

"I won't fall here, Thirteen," Vincent said softly as he raised his sword above the heavens. "But if I do, please forgive me, okay?"

The Void Cultivator frowned as he listened to the target that had been assigned to him to kill talk by himself.

"Have you gone crazy?" the black-robed man snorted. "Do you really not care about these two people? I thought you were practicing that stupid Dao called Love."

"It's not stupid," Vincent replied in a heartbeat. "Love may be stupid, but it's not stupid stupid."

"Stop talking nonsense, boy, and just kill yourself before I kill these two people."

"You won't be able to kill them even if you try."

"What?! Are you mocking me?"

The Void Cultivator tightened his grip on the old man's and young lady's necks with the intention of making them scream so that his prey would become flustered.

However, he noticed something unexpected.

No matter how hard he tightened his grip, the two people that he was holding didn't seem to be affected at all by his strength.

"Wait… impossible!" the Void Cultivator, who suddenly realized what was happening, couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise.

His grip was indeed strong, which could easily crush boulders. But something was preventing him from hurting the two people in his hands.

It was a law.

No.

It was the world.

No.

It was the heavens themselves who were preventing him from killing the two people, whom he could easily kill with a poke of his finger.

"Impossible!" The Void Cultivator shifted his attention to the young man, whose entire body was standing as straight as a sword. "One with the World, One with the Heavens! How can an insignificant Nascent Cultivator achieve such a state?!"

The cultivator hastily threw the two people in his hands and took out his weapon, channeling his strongest attack.

Vincent, whose eyes glowed golden, pointed his sword toward the Void Cultivator.

"Let my last stand be so bright, that I will be known throughout eternity!" Vincent shouted with arrogance, making his void spread out across the entire world, reaching every living thing whether they be beast, human, or other races.

He knew that an ordinary attack would not be enough to kill the Void Cultivator who was two ranks higher than him.

There was only one way to do it, and that was to burn his life force and stake everything into one last sword strike.

"Annihilate!" Vincent swung his sword for an upward strike. "Ultima Break!"

"Void Cutter!" the robed man roared as he swung downward.

Two flashes of light collided with each other, resulting in a sonic boom that sent the void Cultivator flying backward for dozens of meters before coming to a complete stop.

His gaze then landed on his opponent, who remained standing in place with his sword raised high, poised to strike.

Slowly but surely, he noticed the golden flames that were creeping up from Vincent's feet, eating his body.

"Hahahaha!" the Void Cultivator laughed. "An insect like you thinks that you can kill me?! You overstep your bounds, you Ant! Although it didn't end the way I wanted, you still died in the end, you vermin."

The Void Cultivator was right.

Vincent burned his entire life force for that one final strike and had died after delivering the final blow.

But the Void Cultivator saw something that made him stop laughing.

The young man had a peaceful look on his face and was even smiling, gazing at him with eyes, whose life had been snuffed out.

Perhaps annoyed by his expression, the Void Cultivator decided to destroy Vincent's body, no longer planning to wait for the golden flames to extinguish it to ashes.

However, the wind suddenly picked up, which made him frown.

Beyond the horizon, the first rays of the sun shone upon the world, and on top of it, a hundred-meter-tall gigantic sword made of light materialized right before his eyes.

"T-This!" the Void Cultivator exclaimed because he knew what was happening.

Heavenly Retribution.

But it wasn't just an ordinary Heavenly Retribution.

It was a Heavenly Law Retribution.

When someone practiced a Dao and lived their lives following its will, even the Heavens would be moved by their dedication.

Simply put, because Vincent lived and practiced the Dao of Love, loving everyone more than himself, he was equally loved by Heaven.

At that moment, something landed on the Void Cultivator's cheek, which made him subconsciously wipe it.

He then looked at what had fallen onto his face and noticed that it was a drop of blood.

More drops followed, and soon, a heavy downpour of blood descended from the skies.

The entire heaven was crying for the loss of the one they loved.

The Cultivator wasn't aware that there was also someone else who was crying as he held onto Vincent's Noble Soul.

The System of Cannon Fodders held his best friend's soul in his embrace, crying his heart out as the young man's body was slowly consumed by the golden flames.

Before he died, Vincent said a few words to Thirteen, making the System's non-existent heart ache.

"A friend for a day, a brother for a lifetime. Let's meet again if the heavens wills it."

As the System of Cannon Fodders mourned the loss of his third host, the sword made of light in the distance moved as if to swing upward.

The Cultivator, who understood what was going to happen next, screamed in horror as the Sword of Heaven swung itself upward, obliterating not only the cultivator's body but also the ones in the upper realms responsible for the death of its beloved.

On that day, somewhere in the Heavens Above the Heavens, the realm above the world where Vincent lived, one of the top sects disappeared overnight due to the vengeance of Heaven's Blade.