“Then I need you to do nothing for a while,” she said, her back turned.
Ling Xiaoxiao’s expression was one of utter resolve, and her eyes held nothing but endless exhaustion—the kind that could crush a person with just a single glance.
“Why? Don’t do anything stupid!” Xue Ji’s composure completely crumbled upon hearing that.
“It’s come to this. Can’t you just let me be selfish for once?” Ling Xiaoxiao no longer had any of her former sharpness; all that remained in her was a deep yearning for release.
“I… I don’t want you to become like this.” Xue Ji nervously grabbed Ling Xiaoxiao’s hand.
“Then what do you want me to be? Tell me!” Ling Xiaoxiao turned around, her gaze complex. “What exactly do you want from me…”
She looked angry, yet her words came out wrapped in tenderness. In the end, Ling Xiaoxiao simply could not break free from the web of emotions that the white-haired girl had woven around her.
High above, the heavenly tribulation lightning had finished gathering, its thunderous might tearing through the very fabric of space.
“I will rebuild the Immortal Path, so that cultivators may ascend to even greater heights. And your task will be to take on my responsibilities and lead them forward.”
After saying this, Ling Xiaoxiao looked at Xue Ji with a hint of mockery in her eyes.
Xue Ji instantly understood what she was trying to do—she was mirroring what Xue Ji herself had done a thousand years ago, using duty to trap her in this world, making her experience the same pain.
“I won’t agree to that. Either you come back with me, or we both die here together.” Xue Ji stopped hiding her true nature.
Deep within her soul, she had always been this way—selfish and utterly unscrupulous when it came to getting what she wanted.
“Are you really the kind of person who only thinks about yourself?” Ling Xiaoxiao was furious. The overwhelming sense of déjà vu she felt from Xue Ji made her clench her fists involuntarily.
“Yes. I was wrong from the very beginning. Even I was fooled by my own lies.” At this moment, everything finally clicked for Xue Ji.
Her explorations into the power of the soul as a Sage had allowed her to peer into her past self from a thousand years ago, tearing away the disguise that the darkness in her heart had worn.
“Xiaoxiao, it was always you who cared about the world. I was nothing but a wretched person who carved an ugly scar upon your flawless heart.” As Xue Ji spoke, her expression gradually descended into madness.
A crimson aura began to radiate from her body.
The commotion caused by Ling Xiaoxiao drew the attention of every supernatural organization in the world.
And among those who noticed this shift were the Female Pope of the Inquisition, a certain pastor girl who was still in the middle of eating instant noodles, and Xiao Huohuo—Xue Ji’s former classmate.
“Master, what’s happening over there?” Xiao Huohuo asked the elderly man beside him, who carried an air of otherworldly immortality.
“Alas… the events of that year are still hard to explain clearly even now. Go and support your senior sister from the sidelines.”
If Xue Ji had seen this, her jaw would have dropped. The venerated master of the Dao Sect had actually traveled to the present day as well.
The tribulation lightning came crashing down—this time, it was the real deal, the primal heavenly lightning that symbolized the very wrath of the heavens and earth. Ling Xiaoxiao bypassed the Immortal Path, which had been overrun by the Great Demon, and chose instead to open the Heavenly Gate herself.
This was something that only a divine beast blessed by heaven and earth could accomplish—and in this age, she was the only one capable of it.
First, rectify the heart; then, know oneself.
By casting aside all distracting thoughts, Ling Xiaoxiao was able to reveal her true nature. The primordial power of the Chongming bloodline—the ability to exorcise evil and suppress demons—fully awakened.
Golden light shone in all directions, but Xue Ji saw something completely different in her eyes.
The Chongming clan, which had long since vanished, now gradually came into focus before her—even the corrupted divine tree was restored to its former glory.
“Fate…”
The ouroboros mark on Xue Ji’s right hand began to glow, and countless silver threads tightly wrapped around both Ling Xiaoxiao and Xue Ji.
The moment to change fate had arrived.
For a brief time, the space the two of them occupied was shielded from all ominous prying eyes.
“If your heart belongs to the human world, then my heart having you in it is more than enough.”
Xue Ji had finally identified the strongest and purest emotion within herself.
She did not want Ling Xiaoxiao to leave her.
BOOM! RUMBLE!
Even just the first bolt of tribulation lightning left Ling Xiaoxiao struggling.
After all, Xue Ji was also caught beneath the tribulation clouds. And in terms of sheer soul power, Xue Ji even surpassed Ling Xiaoxiao—which meant the lightning’s intensity had reached an absurd level.
Even that demigod Cain from before would have been reduced to ash if he had tried to withstand even this first bolt.
The second bolt descended, carrying enough piercing force to tear through the entire world.
At that moment, people across the globe felt as if their very souls had been scattered.
Ling Xiaoxiao took the hit, and her newly donned ceremonial robes were completely destroyed.
Just the second bolt, and she was already in such a sorry state.
“We can’t wait any longer.”
Xue Ji attempted to cast a spell, but the magic she constructed dissipated the moment it was released.
“Don’t be reckless! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!” Ling Xiaoxiao yelled in frustration.
Xue Ji, equally enraged, shot back:
“I don’t want you to die! You’re not leaving me!”
Since magic was useless, she would resort to raw, primal power.
She unleashed all her spiritual energy and mana at once, intending to blast the tribulation lightning apart with a magical cannon.
But from Ling Xiaoxiao’s perspective, it looked like Xue Ji was simply dispersing all her power into nothingness.
“Maybe this is for the best. As long as you live, that’s enough,” Ling Xiaoxiao thought to herself.
“Don’t you dare make decisions on your own!” Xue Ji’s voice rang directly inside her mind.
“Even if it means death, I will never let you leave me!” She screamed those words out loud.
The residual energy from the first two lightning bolts gathered toward Xue Ji. Using that power, she unleashed a colossal magical cannon that collided with the third bolt head-on.
But after barely two breaths of stalemate, the tribulation lightning pressed down on her.
Xue Ji felt as if her soul was about to be ripped apart. Controlling such a massive amount of lightning energy was taking a devastating toll on her.
“Dammit, I haven’t…”
“It’s not over yet. Don’t give up.”
Ling Xiaoxiao embraced her from behind, and her spiritual energy flowed into Xue Ji’s body without any resistance.
The pure-white magical cannon expanded until it nearly covered the entire sky, just barely pushing the tribulation lightning back to its original stalemate position.
But the tribulation did not give them a moment’s respite. It condensed all its power into a single bolt of heavenly judgment—like a divine punishment.
In an instant, the magical cannon was devoured. The heavenly judgment lightning was now inches away.
“I’m sorry, Xiaoxiao.”
“Idiot. You’re such an idiot of a Sage.”
Their consciousnesses drifted together in a pale, empty void.
Ling Xiaoxiao simply held Xue Ji tightly. Nothing more.
Neither knew how long they drifted, but they eventually woke up on a beach.
“Where is this? Are we… dead?” Xue Ji asked.
No sooner had the words left her mouth than a slender hand found its way to her waist and pinched her—hard.
“HISS!” Xue Ji gasped in pain, tears nearly springing to her eyes.
“Looks like we’re still alive,” Ling Xiaoxiao said, covering her mouth.
Xue Ji rubbed her waist and stared at her. “Are you laughing at me?”
“I’ve had professional training. I won’t laugh—unless I can’t help it. Heh~” Ling Xiaoxiao turned her head away.
“Even if it means death, I will never let you leave me~” Ling Xiaoxiao mimicked Xue Ji’s tone, repeating those very words back at her.
Xue Ji’s face instantly turned as red as a boiled crab.
“Stop it! Stop saying that!” It was unbearably embarrassing to have her own words thrown back at her like this.
“So… was that the truth?”
“Yes, of course it was… I mean, I don’t want you to be alone… What I’m trying to say is…” Xue Ji was fumbling over her words, getting redder by the second.
“Anyway—no matter what, I will take responsibility and do everything I can to make it up to you. Please… don’t ever do something like sacrificing yourself again.”
The smile on Ling Xiaoxiao’s face grew even wider. She hadn’t even said anything yet, and Xue Ji was already spilling all her deepest feelings.
The atmosphere grew increasingly intimate, and the two drew closer and closer to each other.
“Alright, you two. That’s enough.” A goddess with the lower body of a serpent could no longer stand to watch and interrupted their moment.
“You’ve caused such a huge commotion, and you still have the mood for this? Are both of you just hopelessly lovesick fools?”
It turned out they had drifted onto the shores of the Goddess of Fate. At her reminder, they finally snapped back to the reality of their situation.
But for some reason, Ling Xiaoxiao grabbed the goddess by the collar and lifted her up.
Xue Ji gasped: “Xiaoxiao! What are you doing?!”
