Ten years.
To the vast universe, it was no more than the flick of a finger.
But for certain existences, ten years was enough to become something else entirely.
Ten years had passed since Wei Qing entered IX.
The territory of Nihility looked no different than before.
The Aeon IX still hung there—like a permanent black hole pasted onto the universe's backdrop.
Yet in these ten years, its purposeless wandering had stopped.
At first, no one noticed.
As time went on, the Doctors of Chaos were the first to sense something wrong.
As Self-Annihilators, they made it their vocation to dissolve the "Nihility" in others.
But in these ten years, no new Nihility walkers were being born.
That should have been good news.
Instead, it unsettled them.
Because this wasn't caused by IX's death.
IX still existed—unfathomable, abyssal, untouched.
Yet Nihility, for a full decade, had truly ceased to "produce" new traces.
So the strongest Doctors of Chaos, along with scouts and Path-walkers from other factions who had also noticed the abnormality, began arriving here—risking infection—to verify it firsthand.
What they detected was simple.
Auras of Destruction and Trailblaze.Both unmistakably at the Emanator level.
That was all.
No one could find the true cause.
After that, one trembling Self-Annihilator muttered about a nightmare he once had:
At the endpoint where nothing remained to destroy, a Lord Ravager flew into IX's body—then a burst of pale ash pierced the immeasurable darkness.
And soon, a theory took hold:
IX's "stillness" had been caused by Fenghuo.
Most refused to accept it.
Destruction's reputation was already infamous—no one wanted to believe a Lord Ravager had reached that kind of height.
Then another theory surfaced.
According to the Interastral Peace Corporation, the long-vanished Astral Express had reappeared and even cooperated with them.
Ten years ago, traces of the Nameless had shown up on a world touched by Nihility.
Coincidentally, Fenghuo had also appeared there.
And since the Trailblaze aura here was equally strong, perhaps the Astral Express was the culprit after all.
But the truth?
No one knew.
Because in these ten years, neither Fenghuo nor the Astral Express had shown themselves again.
"…Firefly, are you alright?"
On a specially modified Xianzhou skiff, Baiheng glanced at Firefly.
Nihility's pressure reminded Firefly of her old Entropy Loss Syndrome; she had already summoned SAM as a precaution.
"I'm fine, Baiheng," Firefly replied evenly. "It's just… the Nihility here brings back some unpleasant memories."
"Good. As long as you're fine." Baiheng didn't press.
They'd been together ten years; she considered herself familiar with this teammate—usually shy, but decisive on missions.
Seeing this side of Firefly still made her curious… but she kept it to herself.
Then Baiheng turned toward the black cat sitting primly nearby.
"Hey, Elio. Are you sure Wei Qing is here?"
Mentioning him made her temper flare.
He had dragged her into the Stellaron Hunters—then vanished before she even learned the company's "core business."
Ten years.
If Firefly and Elio hadn't been there to explain, Baiheng would've been convinced she'd been scammed.
Honestly, even now, she still wasn't sure she hadn't boarded a black-market ship.
"He's here," Elio said, licking a paw.
"But there's nothing here except IX," Baiheng frowned. "You sure?"
Elio raised a paw and pointed toward IX.
"He's right there."
A moment of silence.
Firefly was the first to react.
"Elio… you mean… Senior is inside IX?"
Her voice was disbelieving—but she'd guessed it instantly.
"Correct," Elio said.
Baiheng's fox ears snapped upright.
"What?! He's in IX's body?!"
She rushed to the skiff's viewport, staring at the black sun.
"Was he set up? Fenghuo? The Nameless?"
Firefly's armored hand tightened. Behind SAM's visor, her gaze was anxious.
"No," Elio said. "He stayed there willingly."
"And he's been in there for ten years."
Elio sounded mildly disappointed.
He hadn't gotten the panic he wanted.
Baiheng and Firefly simply watched him, waiting for the explanation.
"…Fine," Elio sighed. "You don't need to worry. He's doing very well."
A pause.
"He's digesting."
"Digesting?" Baiheng and Firefly spoke in unison.
"He's digesting Nihility," Elio said, cat-face turning into something close to awe.
"Using himself as a vessel, using Harmony as the medium—he's drawing in IX's essence. A path even I didn't foresee."
"He's weirdly hardworking. Frankly, this looks like something Polka's 'Mechanism' should be responsible for."
"So IX's stillness… is because of Senior?" Firefly asked, worried. "That's insane. IX is an Aeon. Can a mortal endure that kind of Nihility?"
"That's why it took ten years," Elio answered, flat. "And he's still continuing."
"Wei Qing has too many Paths in him. Harmony is trying to reconcile them all—and IX's Nihility may be the 'key' that quiets the ones that are too loud."
Baiheng's brow furrowed.
"When did he pick up Harmony?!"
She'd found the exact wrong detail to focus on.
"And if that's the case, how do we go in? If we disturb him—"
"We don't go in," Elio cut her off. "We can't. Unless he chooses to exit, or an Aeon personally arrives, no one can break the balance."
"We just wait."
"Wait?" Baiheng mimicked his tail-swish. "Wait until when? Another ten years? A hundred?"
Elio didn't answer directly.
He jumped onto the console, eyes locked on IX.
"Soon. I can feel the balance about to break—not from the outside, but from within."
Inside IX, the boundary between concept and reality had long since dissolved.
Wei Qing floated in endless emptiness, strange halos flowing around him.
Multiple Paths' colors braided through him—then were restrained, tuned, harmonized by another force.
For ten years, he had behaved like a greedy diner, steadily drawing in IX.
At this rate, he joked internally, he might as well "borrow" Gluttony too.
But it wasn't smooth.
This Nihility came directly from IX.
It wasn't like any Path-power Wei Qing had ever held.
Countless times, he'd felt himself on the verge of being assimilated into ultimate nothingness.
Each time, Harmony hauled him back from the cliff.
He was walking a tightrope over an infinite abyss—beneath him, eternal silence.
His task wasn't merely to keep balance.
It was to pull part of the abyss into himself without falling in.
Gradually, he noticed changes.
The Path-powers inside him—once noisy, active, even prone to clashing—grew tamer under Nihility's saturation.
Wei Qing opened his eyes.
Not that it helped; everything was still black.
But he could feel it.
Ten years ago and now—he was no longer the same kind of existence.
Ten years of sitting still had to mean something.
Before, he'd been "a powerful being bearing many Paths."
Now he felt closer to a walking bundle of concepts.
He flicked his mind—
and the system interface unfolded.
The cold prompt that had sounded ten years ago had been silent ever since… until now.
[Ding! Detected: an "Intellect brat" attempting to overturn the Path of Harmony — The Primeval Doctor.][As a devout walker of Harmony, how can you tolerate such heresy? The more you endure, the more furious you become. Crush him!][Side Quest Issued: Stop the Primeval Doctor's research and ensure all outcomes go bankrupt.]
Wei Qing murmured the name.
"Primeval Doctor…"
He'd heard of him.
Genius Society #64, an Emanator of Nous.
In the stories, the man conducted illegal atavism experiments and human trials, collapsing planetary ecosystems—while also earning the hatred of the Galaxy Rangers.
More importantly: he, like Polka, seemed to have noticed the "Four Ends" early.
"So he's responsible for Harmony," Wei Qing thought.
If you forced the logic, they were almost… colleagues.
At least on paper.
But now?
He'd have to visit.
Soon.
For now, Wei Qing intended to leave.
Ten years of settling and absorbing had reached a threshold.
Staying longer brought diminishing returns.
Worse—over-immersion might strip away traits that belonged to "existence" itself.
He gathered his mind and began cutting his connection to IX's vast Nihility source.
Separating was harder than absorbing.
Like trying to peel two vines apart without tearing either.
The surrounding emptiness thickened, pressure turning viscous—almost clingy, as if the void itself wanted to keep its strange parasite.
But Wei Qing was no longer the man from ten years ago.
He moved first with Harmony, softly guiding the separation.
Then Trailblaze erupted—
and in a realm made of concepts, he forced open a route pointing outward.
As for the other Paths…
They weren't useful here.
So he didn't call them.
Half an hour later—
Wei Qing's silhouette sharpened.
He took one step, following the Trailblaze route toward IX's edge.
Then, like passing through a thin water-membrane, his figure surfaced from the black sun's "skin," and he stepped out into the void beyond.
He was out.
Almost simultaneously, aboard the distant skiff, Elio snapped his head up—cat eyes flashing.
"He's out."
Firefly and Baiheng tensed instantly, staring toward IX.
"Senior!" Firefly couldn't help calling out. SAM disengaged, revealing her face—relief and worry braided together.
Baiheng released a breath, then immediately put hands on hips, already preparing a ten-year complaint session.
Wei Qing glanced at the skiff and smiled faintly.
He took a casual step.
Trailblaze did what it did best.
In the next moment, Wei Qing was inside the skiff—crossing space as if it were a hallway.
"Long time no see, Firefly, Baiheng. And… Elio."
He spread his arms, expecting a welcome.
Reality disagreed.
Baiheng's fist knocked his forehead with a crisp thunk.
"Ten years! Do you know how I survived ten years?!"
Her fox ears practically exploded.
"You joined and immediately went missing! Not even a message!"
"I thought I'd been scammed!"
Wei Qing covered his forehead, wincing.
"Ow—hey, easy, Auntie. I'm back, aren't I?"
Firefly's voice was softer.
"Senior… we were really worried."
Elio, from the console, sounded as dry as ever.
"Looks like you ate well. How did IX's Nihility taste?"
Wei Qing rubbed the bump, grin returning.
"Not bad?"
Baiheng still glared, but the worry had faded, leaving pure curiosity.
"So what the hell were you doing for ten years? Why did IX stop moving? People are going crazy out there."
"I just borrowed a little of IX's power," Wei Qing said lightly, as if he'd asked a neighbor for sugar.
"IX was too empty. I stuffed something in. Maybe it got full and couldn't walk?"
Firefly caught the key point.
"Senior… have you succeeded? Did you balance the Paths inside you?"
Wei Qing nodded.
"Yeah. Harmony was the key. Without Xipe's gift, I couldn't have held IX's essence."
Elio hopped onto Wei Qing's shoulder.
"Interesting. You turned Nihility into a stabilizer in your system. Nihility can be used like that."
Then Baiheng narrowed her eyes.
"Hold on. Why are you mixed up with Harmony now? How many Aeons are you 'serving'?!"
Wei Qing flicked her forehead.
"Who are you calling a 'servant'? This is integration. Compatibility. Cross-disciplinary development."
Baiheng held her forehead, indignant.
"I call it flirting everywhere and ditching everyone!"
Wei Qing was about to retort—
when Elio's tail brushed his cheek.
"Catch up later. Your exit disturbed more than expected. Some 'things' have already noticed this abnormality."
"Oh? People camp at a place this dead?" Wei Qing raised an eyebrow.
"Because IX isn't moving," Elio said. "It's safe to linger on the periphery now. Multiple factions have stationed forces nearby."
"And IX is the easiest Aeon to 'approach,' in a sense."
Wei Qing smiled.
"Alright. Hold tight."
He pressed a hand to the skiff.
Trailblaze wrapped it in gold.
Outside, space warped into a corridor of streaming light—
a jump with no windup, no beacon, no warning.
The skiff shot away like an invisible arrow, following a shortcut Wei Qing created with a thought.
Far away, behind a barren planet's shadow, the skiff reappeared within an asteroid belt as if it had always been there.
"…We're out?" Baiheng blinked at the normal starfield. "How far did we just go?"
Wei Qing didn't answer, casually withdrawing his hand.
Elio stared at him.
"Even the Astral Express needs laid beacons for jumps. You opened a stable long-distance route from the edge of IX's domain using only Path mastery."
He paused.
"Seems absorbing IX's Nihility didn't just balance your internal Paths. It also strengthened your control—especially over Trailblaze. A strange phenomenon."
Baiheng then grabbed Wei Qing by the collar.
"Trailblaze?! When did you secretly become a Nameless?!"
Firefly covered her mouth.
"Senior… your number of Paths is… getting ridiculous."
Wei Qing raised both hands.
"This isn't 'secret.' This is a legitimate career change. I'm the Astral Express's official Navigator now. Properly appointed."
Elio's tone carried dry amusement.
"Fascinating identity shift. So you're collecting three salaries: Stellaron Hunter, Lord Ravager, and Astral Express?"
Wei Qing coughed.
"Multi-track development. And the Express is hibernating—so I'm technically on standby."
Baiheng's voice shot up again.
"Navigator?! You're a Lord Ravager and a Stellaron Hunter and you went to be a Navigator?!"
"And you didn't bring me?!"
"I hate you!"
Wei Qing tried to answer, but Baiheng steamrolled him with wounded betrayal.
"You KNOW my childhood dream was to be a Nameless and ride the Express across the stars, and you went without me!"
"I don't care! You owe me! I'm getting on the Astral Express!"
Wei Qing sighed.
"Auntie, you've heard the rumors. The Express is basically asleep."
"I don't care! I want to!" Baiheng doubled down. "I even have a skiff pilot license!"
"And who knows if you're lying?!"
"He's not," Elio said.
"The Astral Express is in hibernation. Next departure will be… far in the future."
Baiheng's ears drooped.
Wei Qing laughed and rubbed her head.
"Don't make that face. Even if the Express is asleep, my Navigator status isn't fake."
"When it wakes up, you'll be the first I bring aboard. Deal?"
"Really?"
"Have I ever lied to you?"
Baiheng's smile turned into pure sarcasm.
"Heh."
Wei Qing: "…"
Right. His credit score with her was indeed in the negatives.
Wei Qing turned to Elio.
"You seem very familiar with Trailblaze."
Elio's tail swayed.
"Familiar enough. Finality and Trailblaze have… history."
Wei Qing's expression sharpened.
"Elio. I haven't met many who truly walk Finality."
"But I'm certain—Emanator or not—you've gone far enough to stand at Emanator depth."
"So about the Omen Vanguard's 'Four Ends'…"
"You know more than they do."
Elio's cat pupils tightened.
"Four Ends…" he echoed softly. "You really would ask that."
Silence filled the skiff, broken only by the faint hum of engines.
"Elio?" Firefly's voice held concern.
Elio ignored it.
He looked up at Wei Qing and continued.
"You're right. My view into Finality is deeper than the Omen Vanguard's. They see shattered fragments."
"I read a more complete script."
"The Four Ends isn't nonsense. It reveals the most likely endings of the universe."
"Destruction's incineration. Harmony's unification. Nihility's silence."
"And one massive variable."
Wei Qing's gaze narrowed.
"A variable?"
"Yes." Elio's voice was low. "A variable that stirs every Path's trajectory."
"By now, you should already be able to guess which Path it belongs to."
Wei Qing breathed out slowly, then spoke with certainty.
"The future is uncertain."
"But I know what it used to be."
He met Elio's eyes.
"It was once called Trailblaze."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 165)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter220)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter125)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter250)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 220
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 185
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 230
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 115
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 110
My Harem Is Indescribable 100
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 105
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 80
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 85
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 78
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 80
Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 85
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 75
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 80
Why did they assign me to Uma 75
MYGO Beauties 70
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 70
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 80
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 80
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 57
The Uma Musume Who Became 55
I'm Definitely Not the King of 60
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 35
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 34
I, the Elden Sword Saint 27
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 24
No One Knows Pokémon Better 18
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 20
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