Groggily waking up, I found myself in an all-too-familiar ce. The cold, lifeless air bit at my skin, and the void around me seemed to press in from all directions. The oppressive stillness was unnerving, as if the very concept of sound had been eradicated. "For crying out loud, not again," I muttered, rubbing my temples as the stark emptiness of this realm confirmed where I was.


    The sensation was unmistakable.


    I was back in front of the Enforcer.


    The throne room remained exactly as I remembered it—if you could even call this ce a room. It was more like a distortion of reality, a pocket of existence where the rules of the universe had been rewritten or discarded entirely. the massive walls with an endless depiction of cultivators, murdered by their own weapons. And therge red carpeted floor that is mixed with the space itself.


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    The Enforcer''s throne stood at the center, an imposing structure that seemed to be carved from a single piece of obsidian, reflecting nothing of the lightless void that surrounded it. The dais on which it stood was adorned with intricate patterns that glowed with an eerie, otherworldly light, pulsating rhythmically like the heartbeat of some ancient, unfathomable being.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Seated upon this throne was the Enforcer, draped in the same flowing red and ck robes that shimmered like the night sky, embroidered with golden stars that seemed to shift and move of their own ord. His face, thoughrgely obscured by the gold and ck hood of his cloak, was still visible enough to make out that unsettling smile.


    It was a smile that spoke of knowledge too vast toprehend, of secrets buried in the fabric of the cosmos itself. His eyes, twin orbs of burning intensity, peered out from the shadows of his hood, locked onto me with an amusement that sent a chill down my spine.


    "Hello..." I said, waving a hand awkwardly. A sense of déjà vu washed over me, making the entire encounter feel even more surreal. The first time I had stood here, I had been paralyzed by fear, trembling before this entity that held power beyond imagination. Now, despite the fear still coiling in the pit of my stomach, there was an odd sense of familiarity.


    It was like meeting an old acquaintance, albeit one you hoped you''d never see again.


    "You don''t seem as terrified as I believed you would be," the Enforcer remarked, his voice a deep, echoing timbre that resonated through the void, each syble carrying the weight of the cosmos.


    "Should I be?" I questioned, trying to hide the undercurrent of fear that ran through me. The coldness of this ce, the utter absence of life, it was all too much like the embodiment of death itself. I couldn''t help but wonder—was I dead again? Had I somehow failed in the battle? My thoughts raced, each one more frantic than thest.


    The Enforcer tilted his head slightly, an eerie motion that suggested curiosity, or perhaps amusement at my predicament. His movements were fluid, almost inhuman, like a marite pulled by invisible strings. "Since you''re the first one to have met me twice, even I am surprised.


    But I suppose you have some semnce of knowledge as to why I brought you here?" His voice held a mocking lilt, as if he was toying with me.


    "Not really," I admitted, my voice wavering despite my efforts to stay calm. "I mean, I hardly broke any rules... I never told anyone about what happened here." The words felt hollow as they left my mouth, my confidence wavering in the face of this otherworldly judge.


    "Think twice about what you just said," the Enforcer said, his eyes narrowing slightly. The gleam in his eyes grew sharper, as if he were dissecting me with his gaze alone.


    I paused, wracking my brain. And then it hit me, the realization crashing down like a ton of bricks. "Ah, I was supposed to have my memory wiped of this ce..." I muttered, smacking my forehead in frustration. How could I have been so careless? The intensity of the fight must have rattled my brain more than I thought. Or perhaps it was the poison overdose scrambling my thoughts.


    "Worry not," the Enforcer said, amusement coloring his tone. "It seems that the heavens themselves allowed you to retain your memories. But I would not be so arrogant as to share what you saw here. The first or second time," he added pointedly, a warning clear in his voice.


    The room around us seemed to warp and shift with his words, the swirling patterns on the floor intensifying in their glow. It was as if the very fabric of this space responded to his emotions, bending and twisting in ordance with his will. The thought made me shiver. Here, he was not just an entity; he was the environment, the essence, the very air I breathed.


    "You mean I''m not dead?" I guessed, a flicker of hope stirring within me. If he was mentioning a second time, then maybe this wasn''t the end. Maybe I was being given another chance.


    "Indeed," he confirmed, his voice calm, almost reassuring. "You may return whenever you wish, but I''m here to discuss that... Domain of yours." His tone shifted, taking on an edge of curiosity, or perhaps it was caution.


    "Ah, yes... Monochrome..." I said, swallowing hard. The weight of what I had done, what I had conjured, settled over me like a leaden cloak.


    "Indeed. It is something... even I would not use," he admitted, which surprised me. For an entity of his power to say such a thing—it was both apliment and a warning.


    Not use because it was risky, I thought to myself, still grappling with the implications. "Not exactly," the Enforcer said, as if plucking the thought from my mind, his gaze piercing straight through to the core of my being.


    "Then what is?" I asked, confusion knitting my brow as I tried to make sense of his words.


    "It is because it''s too powerful," he replied, his voice dropping to a whisper that echoed through the void, resonating with a power that seemed to shake the very foundation of this space. "The Delusion you put yourself into, and the Delusion you apply onto the world, it is mighty indeed, and it touches upon the realm of heavenly control to a certain point."


    "Ah..." I stammered, not quite understanding. Was this one of those moments where I was supposed to nod and pretend I understood?


    "That I can do," the Enforcer confirmed, his eyes glinting with something akin to amusement. "As for what that means, you, as a mortal, seek immortality by pursuing your Dao. But your delusion is something that in theory can bypass the entire pursuit of Dao all the way to achieving immortality and evestinghood, to be among the Heavens if you so crazily deluded yourself and the world of it."


    "Isn''t that a bit too absurd?" I asked, the concept too grand, too impossible to wrap my head around. The very idea of transcending the Dao through sheer will alone—it was beyond sphemous.


    "It should be, no, it has to be," the Enforcer replied, his voice carrying a gravity that made the air around us feel thick and heavy. "But what if your delusion is mighty enough that you truly believe that you are the Heavens? What if your Delusion is powerful enough that you truly believe you reached immortality?


    Though you would need the power to literally recreate the entire existence as you know it, with its universes and dimensions all the way to its smallest atom to achieve this Delusion, wouldn''t that be as if you be the new heavens?"


    "Trust me," I said, shaking my head. "I may be crazy enough to pump enough poison in my brain to kill a billion mortals, but I''m not crazy enough to be a deity."


    "Do you believe that the Heavens is foolish or crazy?" it asked, a strange light in its eyes, like the gleam of stars just before they copse into ck holes.


    "No," I said slowly, choosing my words carefully. "It''s me who isn''t that capable. After all, I really don''t think I can be so selfless to watch over, protect, and punish all living things. You know... it''s too much work," I replied with a shrug.


    The Enforcerughed—a deep, boomingugh that echoed through the void. It was a sound so rich and full that it seemed to reverberate in my very bones. It was unsettling, hearing such a human expression from a being so far removed from humanity. Heughed on and on, as if I had told the greatest joke in the universe, as if he hadn''tughed in eons and was savoring the sensation.


    "Indeed!" he roared, wiping a tear from his eye. "It''s simply too much work. I apologize," he said, the mirth fading as he regained hisposure. "I truly misjudged you. You can go back, Shen Bao. And thanks to having humored me, I can allow you toe here whenever you breakthrough your cultivation instead of suffering at the hands of a Heavenly Tribtion," he offered.


    For some reason, the prospect felt terrifying, a shiver running down my spine. But there was also a strangefort in it, knowing that this... entity had granted me a kind of passage. The Enforcer was not just some cosmic executioner, but a being withyers, with... humor?


    "Thank you," I said, bowing my head slightly, still not fullyprehending the magnitude of what had just transpired.


    "Return," itmanded, and the world around me faded to ck. The throne room, the Enforcer, and his inscrutable gaze all vanished as if they had never been, leaving me to wonder if any of it was even real.