Author's Note (end)

Hello everyone, RubyKing here!

I came to tell you some bad news, I won't be publishing this story anymore. I lost my enthusiasm for the novel as I wrote it.

The truth is that I started writing it without much planning, and that was a huge mistake.

But I won't leave you completely without closure, I'll put here the structure I had for it until the end, at least to give you something.

I'm working on something new, and this time I'm doing it slowly, without skipping steps.

Well, see you soon.

Here's the summary of the story.

.....

During the Trial, the technique "The Secrets of the Withered Shadow" makes an appearance through another disciple, alarming all the sect's forces who are aware of it. Soon after, the technique begins to spread throughout the sect, plunging it into chaos.

The Azure Sky Sect is attacked by external forces. Enemy cultivators launch a coordinated invasion. As buildings burn and disciples die, the truth is revealed: Gu Tianying was a spy sent to destabilize the sect from within, and he dies during the invasion.

The sect is torn apart. Elders fall. Alliances break. The survivors scatter.

Lu Chen uses the chaos to disappear.

He leaves the sect in ruins behind and embraces the identity of a rogue cultivator. He wanders through the wilderness, relying on his simulations to escape danger, find hidden opportunities, and grow stronger in isolation.

This period of independent cultivation is marked by his discovery of ancient ruins, surviving ambushes by bounty hunters and rival sects.

Eventually, Lu Chen enters a greater cultivation world, far beyond what he had known. He hides his identity, enters regional tournaments, forges new false identities, and begins to slowly influence the politics of the Shadow Sect.

Over time, he meets a rival: Xu Qingyao, the Holy Saint of the Ethereal Ice Palace. Cold and powerful, she becomes both his greatest challenge and his deepest bond. The simulations show them in countless futures: as enemies, lovers, and sometimes both.

Together, they uncover lost legacies and ancient truths, including the secret that several cultivators throughout history had abilities like his. One of them, an ancient warlord known as the God of Fate, used his abilities to manipulate the world's destiny, leading to wars that destroyed kingdoms.

Lu Chen must now face enemies who wield similar powers of fate, each with different philosophies, each with different consequences.

Eventually, Lu Chen's system evolves, granting him access to Parallel Life Fusion, merging skills and experiences from simulated lives into one. But such power comes with three risks: mental instability, karmic debt, and destiny distortion.

As war erupts between celestial factions, demonic empires, and divine cultivators, Lu Chen rises through the chaos not as a hero, but as a silent master of cause and effect.

In the final arcs of the novel, Lu Chen confronts his greatest threat yet — an alternate version of himself. A Lu Chen from a lost timeline.

During the confrontation, he discovers that the River of Fate was broken, which is why so many people gained access to his power and manipulated it, and even other destinies invaded other timelines.

He then repairs the River of Fate and becomes its guardian and controller.