Nexus Ascension: My Comprehension Defies the Heaven-Chapter 335: Soul Death

"Your soul was already under immense strain from transmigration," Tian Yuan said calmly. "Yet you chose to impose further pressure by walking an evolutionary path you are fundamentally incompatible with."

"That you managed to reach your current stage without self-destruction is impressive." His lips curled into a faint sneer. "If it were anyone else, they would have perished long ago."

"You and your path are moving in completely opposite directions. You do not truly control it."

Tian Yuan had seen countless so-called geniuses across the starry sky. They either forged new paths or uncovered remnants of ancient ones, only for their souls to reject those paths outright due to incompatibility.

Some attempted to force compatibility through external means.

But destiny had already determined the outcome. If one’s soul was incompatible, they would never become a true evolver.

The soul itself was a mysterious phenomenon. It governed everything tied to existence. Talent, compatibility, memory, physique, even one’s laws. Under normal circumstances, it could gradually adapt and reshape itself alongside the evolver.

But the man before him had never given it that chance.

He ignored its warnings and advanced regardless.

That was why rules existed within evolution.

Soul rejection was not a trivial matter. As long as one followed the heavenly paths and remained compatible, nothing catastrophic would occur.

Yet Grey was an anomaly.

Aside from being a transmigrator, his soul was already on the verge of collapse. Whether the cause was pure incompatibility or something deeper, even Tian Yuan could not say with certainty.

But the conclusion remained unchanged.

It was absolute soul death.

An outcome this mortal could not escape.

"You will die within a few months at most," Tian Yuan stated plainly. "Because the issue lies within your soul, not even you can perceive it."

"The mysteries of the soul are beyond the comprehension of third or fourth rank existences. Even if they could observe it, they would never know how to resolve it. They won’t know the remedy."

"In a backwater planet like this, I did not expect anyone to even attempt repairing a compatibility issue." His sneer deepened. "But in the end, what can the country bumpkins of this world possibly achieve?"

"Even if an exceptional individual appears, it will not change the result."

"You are dying, not the death where you come back from the dead like you did already. It will be permanent." Tian Yuan said without hesitation. "And even if you somehow survive until the pseudo fifth rank, the moment you attempt to merge with your soul to form an origin..."

"Without complete soul stabilization and absolute compatibility with your path, advancement will be impossible."

The words continued to echo inside Grey’s head.

For a brief moment, he was genuinely stunned into silence.

To make matters worse, his comprehension triggered.

[Your comprehension deifies the heavens. By hearing the words of the Heaven’s Origin, you have gained insight into your inevitable death.]

[You have gained insight into the mysteries of the soul.]

[Current Soul Integrity: 11%]

"..."

Grey’s heart skipped a beat.

What Tian Yuan said was right.

He really was dying.

"So this is how it ends," Grey chuckled softly. "Does that mean I’ll die before I turn eighteen in this world too?"

The feeling was strange.

He felt nothing, yet at the same time, he felt everything.

It turned out that the bottlenecks he had encountered were never limits imposed by cultivation.

They were warnings.

His soul had been constantly rewriting itself, trying to attune to the Nexus path he walked. Each bottleneck was its attempt to slow him down, to buy time.

Yet he had ignored every single one.

And made it worse.

From what he understood now, he had less than eight months to live.

The soul was not something the body could reflect. Even at the brink of death, his physical state remained flawless.

Because the fracture was not physical.

It was within his soul.

It was a painful realization.

Grey Lockhart was dying.

"How rare." Tian Yuan looked at him indifferently. "A mortal who chuckles upon learning of his own death."

"I was originally interested in you," he continued. "A second-rank evolver capable of comprehending the Heavenly Tribulation."

"But it seems I overestimated you."

"You merely brushed against the concept. Not even minor comprehension."

Then Tian Yuan’s gaze shifted.

"But at least my time here was not wasted."

His eyes settled on Jasmine.

"Chief Grey." Jasmine glanced at Grey, then back at Tian Yuan.

Tian Yuan was no ordinary existence. If even he spoke with such certainty, then there had to be truth behind his words.

Grey inhaled slowly before speaking again.

"You said earlier that fourth-rankers here wouldn’t even know how to resolve this issue," Grey said calmly. "Does that mean a higher being could?"

Tian Yuan did not answer immediately.

He simply stared at Grey in silence.

Then mockery surfaced on his face.

"Why should I entertain the question of a dying man?"

He paused.

Then, suddenly, he smiled.

"But," Tian Yuan said lightly, "if you manage to defeat me, I will reveal a few secrets."

"Secrets that might save your miserable life."

He laughed.

"But before that," Tian Yuan added, his gaze shifting once more, "let me kill the woman beside you."

A manic smirk spread across his face.

"The physique of a future One," he said slowly, "is something this body can make use of."

His figure vanished.

His voice echoed from every direction.

Jasmine’s pupils constricted.

The wind behind her distorted violently.

Before she could even fully react, a devastating force surged toward her with overwhelming momentum.

Jasmine was a third-ranker at the second level. With the Hexcore stabilizer, she could surpass ordinary limits and contend with a fourth-level third-ranker.

Yet she could not sense him at all.

But she didn’t panic, her computation was already completed, she hesitated no further and instantly activated a skill.

"Projection Frame."

Whrmm!

Boom!

Her figure blurred violently as multiple afterimages tore across the ground.

Tian Yuan’s hands was met with nothing but air as Jasmine blurred away.