Blue pearl.

Yao Jun found himself in a completely white world after he opened his eyes again. Not far from him stood a familiar middle-aged man clad in a simple white robe. He had short brown hair and clear, green eyes. An ancient sword sheath was strapped to his back. He was the one who had just spoken to Yao Jun, Sword Empyrean Heng Jiang.

"Senior Heng Jiang."

Yao Jun gave a quick bow upon seeing Sword Empyrean Heng Jiang. Seeing Sword Empyrean Heng Jiang caused Yao Jun to feel slightly guilty. Heng Jiang had dedicated his entire life to free their planet from its prison.

When he gave Yao Jun the Crumbling The Nine Heavens Technique, he said that it embodied his life and hopes. It was clear that Heng Jiang wanted Yao Jun to take up his mantle and work towards freeing the planet. But Yao Jun had not chosen to do that, instead deciding to head down a path that created a peaceful place for those he loved. Freeing the planet was something he would only consider after he had managed to do that.

"No need for this formality, this is but the last remnant thought that I attached to the token I gave you before you left. Training in the Crumbling The Nine Heavens Technique can be very difficult, so to make it easier for you, I decided to let you witness how I created the different parts of the technique."

Heng Jiang had a tranquil smile as he spoke. He had never been one that cared for formality, even while he was alive. With Yao Jun being the only person to inherit his technique, Heng Jiang had already decided back then to do everything in his power to aid him.

"But I must say that I am rather impressed, you had only just left my tower when you managed to find another person holding a God Gate, you even made her your little girlfriend."

Heng Jiang couldn't help but chuckle as he spoke, slightly teasing Yao Jun. The tiny amount of remnant thought that he had left behind in the token allowed him to observe everything happening around it, letting him see everything that Yao Jun had done.

Heng Jiang waved his hands after he finished talking, and the white world around them started to change. Yao Jun suddenly found that the two of them were floating in the air. The air above them was completely filled with golden runes, preventing them from taking a step higher.

A good distance below them, Yao Jun could see a blue planet. The entire planet was covered in water, only four continents present on it. Three of the continents were placed near each other, forming a triangle. Looking closer, it looked like the three continents were once a single, large continent that had been torn apart. The last continent was massive in size, almost four times as large as any one of the three other continents.

"The most important part to mastering anything is a person's state of mind. Look below you, do you see that beautiful, blue pearl? That is our planet, that is our home. When I was still alive, I would often come up here to just look at it."

Heng Jiang turned away from Yao Jun and faced that blue planet in the distance, a wistful expression on his face. He reached out with his hand as he spoke. They were so far away from the blue planet that he could cover the entire planet with his hand when he stretched it out.

"When I stand here and reach out my arm, I can grasp the entire planet in a single hand. Everything I wish to protect and fight for placed safely within the palm of my hand."

Heng Jiang had a faint smile on his face as he moved his hand, making it look like he was cradling the entire planet in the palm of his hand.

"You and I are different, but we are also the same. I fought to free all living beings on that planet, allowing them to experience a greater world beyond this single planet. You, on the other hand, seek to create a peaceful place for those you care about, no matter how much blood you must drench yourself with to make that happen."

Heng Jiang turned to face Yao Jun, who had his head slightly lowered. Heng Jiang had seen everything going on around Yao Jun, something Yao Jun realized when he mentioned Guo Luo. This clearly also meant that he knew about Yao Jun's intentions.

"But we both want to protect them. I wanted to protect the living beings on this planet from being imprisoned, you want to protect those you care about from harm and sadness. We both simply want to protect, it is just that the scale of things we want to protect are different."

Heng Jiang continued talking, not minding Yao Jun's lowered head. He wanted the planet to be freed, true, but he would never force this task on anyone. And he quite liked Yao Jun, he was fond of how decisive and straightforward he was. If he wanted to protect something, he would protect it. If he wanted to kill someone because they were evil, he would kill them.

"Reach out your hand, grasp that which you wish to protect safely within your palm, keep it safe for all eternity. If you manage to do that, it will mean that my inheritance has not fallen into the wrong hands."

Heng Jiang had a faint smile as he spoke, grabbing Yao Jun's arm and making it reach out towards the planet. He was certain that as long as there were people on that planet that Yao Jun wanted to protect, he would protect the planet.

Yao Jun held out his arm, placing his hand beneath the planet in the distance, holding the entire thing in his palm. He did not know what Heng Jiang saw when he did this, but he knew what he saw.

He saw his parents sitting around a small table, a pot of steaming soup standing at the center of the table. He saw Guo Luo leaning up against his chest with her eyes closed, sleeping peacefully. He saw Yun Yantian standing next to him as they flew away from Great Xian City, shouting out loud about his clear heart.

A friend, a family, and a lover. Three things held tightly in his palm, three things he wanted to protect with all his might. With these three things held tightly in his palm, the guilt he felt towards Heng Jiang faded away. All that remained was a strong determination to use Heng Jiang's technique to keep these three things safe for all eternity,

"It seems that you have managed to throw away that useless guilt, excellent. Then follow me, let me show you my first technique, One Sword To Free The Heart."

Heng Jiang saw Yao Jun's eyes turn more and more determined as he cradled the blue pearl in the distance, a satisfied smile on his lips. The more he saw of Yao Jun, the more he realized that he had made the right choice in handing his inheritance to him.