The Future Has Arrived, What Will You Do?

Fragments began to collapse and separate. Everything in the world was like jigsaw pieces piled haphazardly. Following the fair-skinned doll crawling out of the Eight Trigrams Furnace, everything began to return to a state of disorder.
Finally, Ye Fan seemed to see a third eye opening on the forehead of the fair-skinned doll...
...
However, all of this was far from over.
The palace that had been crushed to dust by the Qing Lian seemed as if it had never been destroyed. In the blink of an eye, Ye Fan was standing there.
"Ye Fan... You have seen all of this..."
Coming back to his senses, the black-robed man did not seem to have perished along with that Qing Lian, but was standing right in front of Ye Fan.
This man looked somewhat weary, his eyes seemingly filled with worry. When he saw Ye Fan appear, he seemed very surprised.
Thinking that this man had always been gentle toward him and did not seem to be an enemy, Ye Fan nodded. "Yes."
The other party seemed to see the confusion in Ye Fan's eyes and continued, "This is a branch of the river outside the flow of time, and also a lawless land of the three realms. If you have many questions, I can answer them all here."
Ye Fan thought for a moment. "Who are you?"
"Sect Leader Tong Tian."
"Who am I?"
The other party froze for a moment, then smiled. "You are... Ye Fan."
Ye Fan breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, good, I am still myself..."
"So, Sect Leader Tong Tian, is everything I just saw the truth of what happened?"
"Everything you saw was originally a branch in the flow of time..."
Ye Fan suddenly remembered a saying he had heard.
The fate of the world is a river, and all living beings are the shrimp and fish within it, following the current, eventually heading toward a path of no return.
But martial artists become strong through cultivation, breaking through all these constraints, like seagulls or wild ducks on the river, capable of changing the future of the ignorant masses.
However.
"What do the things that just happened have to do with me?"
Sect Leader Tong Tian said nothing more, only quietly watching Ye Fan. It seemed he had once faced a similar question.
Then, Sect Leader Tong Tian spoke with some hesitation, slowly uttering similar words, "The great tribulation of heaven and earth is approaching. We are disciples who study the arts of immortality, seeking longevity. We must eliminate evil and help the weak, practice the Great Dao, and not forget our original intentions..."
Seeing that Ye Fan did not respond, Sect Leader Tong Tian looked a bit lonely and continued, "Perhaps, what has passed has nothing to do with you."
"But if you take action, then it will have everything to do with you..."
...
Ye Fan knew Sect Leader Tong Tian probably wanted to hear something... But Ye Fan did not speak.
Vaguely, he seemed to understand what had appeared in his mind while on Zhu Que Road. That eloquent speech from that time seemed to have truly existed.
Ye Fan muttered, "I am Ye Fan, not anyone special... Perhaps... I have disappointed you..."
Sect Leader Tong Tian shook his head. "In this world, sand piles into a pagoda, water gathers into a river, and every speck of dust is a world... What you desire is also the Heavenly Dao..."
"How... could I be disappointed..."
"It's just that it is time for me to go..."
Suddenly, Sect Leader Tong Tian flicked his sleeve, pushing open the doors of the empty palace...
Ye Fan looked out through the palace doors and saw a colossal Qing Lian descending from the sky, receiving the black-robed Tong Tian!
"Ah, this!"
Ye Fan seemed to understand something, yet also seemed to understand nothing at all.
...
Not long after.
...
It seemed the future had arrived.
The magnificent palace was struck by an irresistible force; the eaves tilted and collapsed, the pillars snapped, and the great hall was filled with a violent aura... But Ye Fan was completely unaware.
Everything around him did not affect him; he was merely a passerby, and his surroundings seemed to be nothing but illusions.
Right before Ye Fan's eyes, the massive palace turned completely to ash. The high-and-mighty throne followed its master's departure, thoroughly dissolving into the void...
All living beings in the world were refined by the Eight Trigrams Furnace, leaving nothing else.
Time once again fell silent.
...
Not far away.
The dark shadow turned around.
A faint smile appeared. "If you could change all of this, what would you do?"
At this moment, the world had restored its tranquility.
Ye Fan was already inside the ruined temple. Therefore, the dark shadow was not Sect Leader Tong Tian, but the pitiful heavenly soldier possessed by the ghost shadow—a fool who didn't even have the chance to self-detonate.
At this moment, he was also Ye Fan...
Ye Fan looked toward the dark shadow.
A bizarre light flashed in those eyes. It seemed that every word of his future answer would affect the dark shadow's choice.
Ye Fan spoke slowly, "Since I came to this world, I have walked among men as Xiao Ye Zi, never forgetting my original promise... Besides, whether the world is destroyed or the three realms face a great tribulation..."
"I only do what I should do, and what I can do."
The dark shadow suddenly spoke, "If a cultivator only knows how to take and not how to give back, how are they different from the vermin of the earth?"
Ye Fan looked quietly at the dark shadow. Those eyes had begun to become stubborn and fanatical.
Ye Fan shook his head. "Grinding my bones to dust is not my style. If I go and never return, I fear someone will be lonely..."
Hearing this, the dark shadow laughed maniacally, as if hearing the naive words of a three-year-old.
"Naive... Ridiculous..."
"It seems you and I follow different paths and do not share the same ambition."
Ye Fan finally spoke, "Indeed."
"Since that's the case, I bid you farewell!"
The dark shadow cupped his hands toward Ye Fan.
The dark shadow then turned into a streak of light and left this world... As he left the ruined temple, his colossal pressure continuously radiated out, having long since broken through the shackles of the late stage of Dao Integration...
This power continued to grow stronger and stronger... The colored threads in the world all converged upon him, rushing toward him...
Currently, even Ye Fan using his spirit eyes could not clearly see the other party's true strength.
Even though this person could have once been himself.
"I wish you every success..."
...
Ji Zhou City, including the entire Great Qian, seemed to feel the existence of this aura and suddenly trembled.
Throughout the court, whether it was a First Grade Houtian martial artist or those experts who had broken through beyond the First Grade and were intentionally hiding their strength, all looked toward the ruined temple in fear.
"What on earth happened!?"
This question appeared in everyone's hearts.
Taishan Mountain God Li Tai, who had just returned to the Great Qian Imperial Palace, could not believe the massive transformation he felt in the world... In that moment just now, he felt as if he had returned to the prosperous era of old!
So much so that he stopped what he was doing and looked up at the sky, somewhat dazed.
In his hand, he was holding an iron shovel.
He stood beneath a crooked ancient tree in the Imperial Palace, digging into the earth with force...