The poor spirit must have blamed itself ever since.

Now, the memory felt almost endearing.

For two weeks, nothing unusual happened. Gu Jin and Long Yifan relaxed, unaware that a great danger was approaching.

Then, on the fifteenth day, as they sat by their chairs chatting quietly, the air around them suddenly trembled. The wind stopped. The sky darkened.

A figure began to materialize before them.

He wore a long white robe, his beard and hair equally white, tied neatly into a bun. His presence radiated immense power.

Gu Jin and Long Yifan both stood up instantly, their eyes narrowing.

The man's gaze swept over them with disdain.

Gu Jin whispered under her breath. "That face…"

Long Yifan's expression turned grim. "The Mage God… Chang Yin."

Chang Yin smirked coldly. "So you still live. You should have died long ago. Allow me to correct that mistake."

He raised his hand, and the sky erupted with energy. Elemental spheres of every color, purple, blue, white, and black, appeared around him, each pulsing with the might of creation itself.

No mortal could comprehend these orbs, let alone withstand them.

Even Heaven-ranked mages would perish before they touched a single one.

Transcendent mages would vanish at the first strike, while Saints might dodge a few, five or six at most, before their souls were shredded apart.

Chang Yin conjured them effortlessly, as if the laws of the world were his to command.

It was a show of supremacy, honed through countless ages of cultivation, something far beyond what Gu Jin or Long Yifan, as mortals, could seemingly match.

But neither of them looked afraid.

Gu Jin's red eyes gleamed with calm determination. Long Yifan's lips curved faintly, as if amused.

Chang Yin noticed their composure and smirked. "Brave, are we?" He released the spheres with a flick of his wrist.

The world exploded into light.

Thousands of elemental spears, born from the condensed spheres, shot toward Gu Jin and Long Yifan like divine punishment.

The ground split open; mountains trembled in the distance. But the two didn't flinch. They moved like shadows, graceful, fluid, almost dancing through death itself.

Gu Jin's robes fluttered as she spun, dodging one spear that carved a crater where she had stood. Long Yifan followed, intercepting another with a shimmering barrier of violet light.

Chang Yin's smirk widened. "Good. Dodge all you want. Sooner or later, you'll run out of breath."

He had received reports that Gu Jin's cultivation had reached only Transcendent Stage Ten, barely scratching the peak of mortal power.

Long Yifan, if he remembered correctly, was stronger, somewhere between Saint Stage Three and Five. One good strike would be enough to erase them.

But as minutes passed, his smile faltered.

The spears grew heavier; the mana around him began to strain.

Yet Gu Jin and Long Yifan were still moving as though they'd barely begun.

Their breathing was steady. Their eyes were calm. Not even a flicker of panic appeared on their faces.

Chang Yin's brows drew together. "Impossible…"

If they were truly at those cultivation levels, they shouldn't even see his attacks, let alone dodge them. His intelligence must have been wrong.

He narrowed his eyes. "Have you regained your memories?" he asked quietly, suspicion rising like a dark tide. "Or have you reached godhood once more?"

Gu Jin didn't answer. Instead, she exchanged a brief glance with Long Yifan, an unspoken agreement. Then, both smiled faintly.

In the next heartbeat, the elemental spears that had been chasing them suddenly froze midair. The mana around Chang Yin twisted. The spears turned, swift as lightning, and shot back toward their creator.

"What the heck?!"

Chang Yin barely managed to teleport aside as his own divine attacks slammed into the ground, sending a shockwave that shattered the nearby cliffs. When he reappeared, his face was pale with fury.

"You! You've already recovered your divine powers!"

Gu Jin's lips curved into a knowing smile. "Took you long enough to realize."

Long Yifan chuckled softly beside her, his eyes shimmering like stormlight. "We were wondering how long you'd keep underestimating us."

Chang Yin's fury boiled over. "That's impossible! Your souls were destroyed! You were erased from the Celestial Records!"

Gu Jin tilted her head slightly, her expression calm but dangerous. "Erased?" she whispered. "Then why do you look so afraid?"

Her words struck him like a blade. For a moment, his composure faltered. His pupils trembled as a long-buried fear clawed up from his heart.

It couldn't be. He had sealed them himself. He had ensured their fall.

"Impossible!" he roared. "It's impossible!"

Long Yifan stepped forward, his aura flaring like thunder. "You seem to say that word a lot."

Chang Yin's fury only deepened. He gathered his mana, summoning more elemental power, but something felt wrong.

His body resisted him. His energy fluctuated wildly, like it were being bound.

He realized too late, he was trapped.

A faint golden light spread beneath his feet, spiraling upward into glowing runes. Chains of light began to rise from the ground, wrapping slowly around his wrists and ankles.

"What is this?" he demanded. "What have you done?"

Gu Jin's voice was calm, almost serene. "Something I should've done long ago."

Chang Yin tried to summon his divine form, but the chains pulsed, sealing his mana flow completely. Panic crept into his voice. "No… No, this can't be…"

Long Yifan's eyes glimmered as he looked at the glowing chains. "Golden Chain of Justice…" he murmured.

Chang Yin's eyes widened in horror. "How...how can you possess that?!"

Gu Jin met his gaze, her golden irises glowing brighter than the chains themselves.

"Even the Celestial Realm didn't foresee this. When they banished the Justice God, perhaps Heaven itself could not bear such an imbalance. That is why the chain awakened within me."

Her voice was calm, but every word struck like a hammer of fate.

"This," she continued softly, "means my justice was never flawed. It was you, Chang Yin, and your kind, who corrupted it."

For a moment, silence reigned. Then Chang Yin laughed, hollow and broken.

"Golden Chain of Justice… That relic has not appeared since the First Goddess of Justice herself. You cannot possibly..."

He froze.

Because deep within his heart, he knew it was true.

The Golden Chain of Justice was no ordinary weapon. It was a divine force born at the dawn of creation, awakened only by those whose hearts carried untainted justice.

It was said that even among the gods, no one had wielded it since the first Goddess herself. The chain did not serve power. It served truth.

And now, seeing it coil around him, shimmering with judgmental radiance, Chang Yin realized the magnitude of his mistake.

It was over.

All his schemes, all his lies, had led to this.

He remembered the day he rose to godhood in the Celestial Realm. Back then, he had known that Gu Jin descended from the bloodline of the first Goddess of Justice.

Justice flowed in her veins like sacred fire. Yet he had mocked it. Envied it.

When Gu Jin had ascended to divine status, she had been pure, carefree, unwilling to play politics.

Chang Yin had thought she was naïve, too soft for the celestial court. He believed that if he manipulated the laws and spread enough lies, he could have her stripped of her title and replace her with his own bloodline.

But Gu Jin's sense of justice had been flawless, so flawless it terrified him. Her rulings were precise, her fairness undeniable. The celestial world had admired her, and in their admiration, he saw only threat.

So he lied. He deceived. He wove stories that painted her as biased, merciless, even cruel. Slowly, the gods turned against her. And when the time came, he had her sealed, cast down to the mortal realm, her memories shattered.

Yet here she stood again, the golden chains of her lineage burning bright.

Chang Yin's voice trembled. "No… it can't be… you were supposed to fall forever…"

Gu Jin stepped closer, her expression unreadable. "You tried to bury justice, Chang Yin," she said softly. "But justice doesn't die. It only waits."

The chains tightened, glowing brighter. Chang Yin screamed as golden fire began to consume him, not burning flesh, but erasing corruption itself.

Long Yifan stood beside Gu Jin, watching silently. His hand brushed hers lightly, a silent comfort. She didn't look at him, but the warmth of his touch steadied her heart.

Chang Yin's voice cracked as he glared at her. "You think… you've won?"

Gu Jin's gaze was calm, almost sorrowful. "No. I think justice finally spoke."

The light engulfed him completely. When it faded, there was nothing left, no trace of the Mage God, only the faint shimmer of golden dust drifting into the wind.

For a long while, silence filled the clearing. Then, Long Yifan exhaled quietly and turned to her.

"You knew this would happen," he said.

Gu Jin nodded, eyes distant. "He was the one who played us both in the past life. I couldn't let him go again."

Long Yifan smiled faintly. "Then it's finally over."

She looked at him. "Yes," she whispered. "But something tells me this is only the beginning."