The gathering of the Seven Eternal Body Successors lasted only a short while.
No one spoke.
No one attempted to stand above the others.
Each of them simply observed the six standing before them.
Different powers.
Different paths.
Different ambitions.
Yet all seven shared one undeniable fact.
They had been acknowledged by the Eternal Bodies.
At that very moment...
Something changed.
Far beyond the countless galaxies...
At the very boundary of the observable universe...
The fabric of space-time...
Cracked.
It was not the result of an attack.
Nor did it resemble any ordinary spatial distortion.
A long fracture silently stretched across the distant darkness, as though reality itself had been torn apart.
Every gaze turned toward it.
The Seven Eternal Body Successors watched in silence.
The successors of the distinguished Celestial Bodies looked toward the same direction.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
After several moments...
Each of them quietly departed.
The Golden Era had begun.
And every successor had only one thought in mind.
To walk their own path.
To seek their own glory.
To become stronger than anyone else.
One after another...
They disappeared.
Some headed toward newly revealed hidden realms.
Others left in search of opportunities known only to themselves.
Within moments...
The gathering came to an end.
Only empty space remained.
William, however...
Did not begin his journey immediately.
Instead...
He returned to the Evergreen Family.
The moment Angela saw him, a gentle smile appeared upon her face.
Neither of them spoke much about the Golden Era.
Nor about the crack that had appeared at the edge of the universe.
For the time being...
William chose to remain beside his wife.
Days became weeks.
Weeks became months.
Half a year passed peacefully.
Then...
One day...
Angela quietly approached him.
She gently took his hand...
And placed it upon her abdomen.
William looked at her in confusion.
Angela smiled softly.
"I'm pregnant."
For a brief moment...
William simply stood there.
Silent.
The words echoed within his mind.
He slowly looked from her eyes...
To the hand resting upon her stomach.
Then back again.
A smile...
One that had not appeared on his face for a very long time...
Gradually formed.
Without saying a word...
He embraced her.
Gently.
Carefully.
As though afraid that even the slightest force might disturb the fragile happiness they now shared.
Months later...
Their child was born.
A son.
William held the child in his arms for the first time.
The little boy's tiny fingers instinctively wrapped around one of his own.
William remained completely still.
His expression softened.
The countless battles he had fought...
The endless years of cultivation...
The suffering he had endured...
None of them had prepared him for this single moment.
He lowered his head slightly.
Looking at his son...
Then toward Angela.
For the first time in years...
He felt a quiet sense of peace.
The birth of William and Angela's son spread throughout the Evergreen Family within hours.
For the first time in many years...
The manor echoed with unrestrained joy.
Servants who had always maintained perfect composure could not hide the smiles upon their faces.
The elders congratulated Manuel with genuine happiness, seeing the birth of the child not only as the continuation of the family's bloodline, but also as the beginning of a new chapter for the Evergreen Family.
Many of the younger members quietly gathered from afar, curious to catch even a brief glimpse of the child whose father had already become one of the Seven Eternal Body Successors.
Yet despite all the excitement...
No one dared disturb the peace surrounding William's small family.
They celebrated...
But they celebrated from a respectful distance.
When Victoria arrived...
She paused outside the room for several long moments.
Her hand rested upon the wooden door.
She smiled.
Then...
Without warning...
Tears slowly gathered in her eyes.
For an instant...
She was no longer looking at her nephew.
She was seeing Jack.
She was seeing Maria.
Memories she had desperately tried to bury resurfaced all at once.
She imagined how brightly her father would have laughed.
How gently her mother would have held her grandson in her arms.
How proud they would have been to see William standing there...
No longer the broken young man who had lost everything...
But a husband.
A father.
A man who had finally found a reason to smile again.
Unable to hold back any longer...
Victoria quietly wiped away her tears before entering.
She walked toward William without saying a single word.
Their eyes met.
Nothing needed to be explained.
She simply embraced him.
A long...
Silent embrace.
When she finally stepped back, her gaze shifted toward the sleeping child.
A warm smile slowly appeared upon her face.
"So..."
"Our family..."
"It finally has a future again."
William looked at his son.
Then at Victoria.
He answered with a quiet smile.
"Yes..."
"It does."
Although countless opportunities had appeared throughout the universe...
William chose not to leave.
One year passed.
Then another.
For two full years...
He remained beside Angela and their son.
He watched over his child as he grew.
He stayed beside Angela.
He carefully made sure that both his wife...
And his son...
Were living in good physical, mental, and emotional condition.
Late one quiet evening...
William stood alone outside the manor.
His son slept peacefully inside.
Angela rested after another long day.
A cool breeze passed through the Evergreen forests.
For a long time...
He simply looked toward the endless stars.
His thoughts drifted...
Not toward the future.
But toward the past.
Jack.
Maria.
Their faces appeared in his memories as vividly as ever.
The pain was still there.
It had not disappeared.
It had not become lighter.
Some wounds...
Were never meant to heal completely.
They simply became a part of the person carrying them.
William slowly lowered his head.
Years ago...
After losing everything...
He had searched desperately for a purpose.
He had sought strength.
Then revenge.
Then responsibility.
Yet none of them had managed to fill the emptiness that remained within his heart.
Until now.
He slowly turned his head toward the room where Angela and their son were sleeping.
For the first time...
He realized something.
His goal had never truly been to become the strongest.
Strength...
Was only the means.
Never the destination.
The destination...
Was this.
To build a family that would never experience the despair he once endured.
To create a home where fear would never replace laughter.
To ensure that his wife...
His son...
And everyone precious to him...
Would always have someone capable of protecting them.
His parents were gone.
Nothing in existence could change that.
Nothing could return the years stolen from them.
But...
He could make certain that the tragedy which had destroyed his own family...
Would never be repeated.
A faint smile appeared upon his face.
Not the smile of someone who had forgotten his grief.
Nor the smile of someone who had finally recovered.
It was the smile of a man who had found a reason to continue walking despite carrying that grief within him.
For the first time since Jack and Maria's deaths...
William no longer felt as though he was merely surviving.
He was finally...
Alive .
Only after he had finally reassured himself...
William quietly rose.
The time had come...
To continue walking the path he had chosen.