Tian Shen stared at the system notification. His hands clenched.
"…Why me?"
He stepped back from the pedestal and sat against a stone pillar, mind racing. The energy inside the soul fragment pulsed, almost like it could hear his doubt.
Was he a descendant?
Was it fate? Coincidence?
Or something darker?
He glanced back to the final entry in the history tome.
"Should Yao Shou's remnant ever resurface, only one born with affinity to both spirit beast and demonic spirit shall be able to seal or absorb it completely. That one must choose: to inherit or to destroy."
Tian Shen looked at the orb again.
Silence settled in the hall.
For the first time in his journey, he realized his path wasn't just about cultivation or survival.
It was about choice.
Hours later, he emerged from the Ancestral Hall.
The token had dimmed, its duty fulfilled. The door behind him closed with a soft hum, the formation reactivating and vanishing from sight.
Tian Shen didn't speak.
