In a darkness so profound not even an outstretched hand was visible, a few faint, ghostly blue lights floated up and down.
Qi Guan Shang summoned Tun Yue and Zhi Jie to guard Yuan Ji at his side. The deeper the two of them ventured, the more appalled they became by the sight before them.
The dark, damp cave walls were covered in mottled bloodstains, grown so black over countless years it was impossible to tell their age.
“I sense he’s just ahead. Be careful.”
Qi Guan Shang’s expression was grave. His grip on Zhi Jie kept tightening, his knuckles turning white. A faint sense of foreboding lingered in his heart.
“Yuan Ji.” He turned his head to look at her, words caught in his throat.
Yuan Ji understood his unspoken thought and shook her head. “We go together.”
“Alright.”
After passing through a narrow passageway, the view suddenly opened up. Pale sunlight fell into a spot within the cave, casting the only light.
And there, bathed in that light, sat an extremely aged man, his body covered in withered vines and branches. His eyes were tightly shut, his long, slender white eyebrows cascading from his temples down to his chest, giving him the appearance of an immortal Taoist sage.
“You came after all.”
He slowly opened his eyes. The look between his long, narrow brows was completely unlike the one he had when inside Guan Su’s body—now peaceful and serene, as if he were a different person altogether.
Long Mengzhi lifted his gaze to quietly observe Yuan Ji and Qi Guan Shang, then lowered his eyes, a faint, gratified smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
“Child, you found her.”
The familiar tone stirred a strange feeling in Yuan Ji’s heart. She turned to look at Qi Guan Shang beside her and saw a flicker of emotion pass through his eyes.
Qi Guan Shang slowly took Yuan Ji’s hand and led her forward. Together, they bowed respectfully. “Grandmaster.”
Yuan Ji’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. What was this about?
She looked at Qi Guan Shang for a moment, then without hesitation, she too bowed her head. “Grandmaster.”
“Hahaha, good. Good children.” Long Mengzhi was immensely pleased, his chest heaving with laughter that triggered a fit of coughing. “To see you fulfill your wish before I depart… I can rest in peace now.”
Qi Guan Shang pressed his lips together. He took a step forward. “Grandmaster, what exactly happened? Who was that soul fragment?”
“It was me.” Long Mengzhi sighed and shook his head. “It was my greed.”
“I coveted immortality, and a demon was born in my heart.”
“I struggled to suppress it, but gradually lost control of my body.”
Long Mengzhi calmly recounted everything that had happened ten thousand years ago.
The Great Sacrificial Array was activated, and the Heavenly Dao released a wisp of spiritual energy to be shared with the world. A Dragon’s Blood Vine seized that strand of spiritual energy, gained sentience, and embarked on the path of cultivation.
It watched the passage of time in the world, the sun rising and the moon setting, the seas turning to mulberry fields. Gradually, the spiritual energy in the world dissipated, and this Dragon’s Blood Vine also began to age and approach death.
But it wanted to shine as brightly as the heavens. It had witnessed the glory and formidable power of the dragon race, and it too desired eternal life.
By chance, it discovered that consuming blood and spiritual energy could prolong its life.
In that single thought, it fell into demonic ways.
The demon heart was born.
By the time Long Mengzhi came to his senses, his hands were already stained with countless lives. He could only try to separate that demon heart and destroy it.
But a thought that had turned demonic would not be so easily slain by him.
One body, two souls, suppressing and killing each other.
At first, Long Mengzhi could still suppress the demon heart. But as the blood on the demon heart’s hands increased, the demonic will gradually gained the upper hand.
Therefore, Long Mengzhi founded the Tianji Sect, nurturing countless talented children, hoping that one day they could stop the demonized version of himself.
But the demonic will grew stronger and stronger. It trapped him within the Sea of Souls, preventing his escape.
Recalling the horrific scenes of bloodshed he had witnessed, Long Mengzhi sighed, his voice full of remorse. “I should have acted sooner back then!”
“Now that he’s severely wounded and has retreated into the Sea of Souls to recuperate, I finally have a chance to emerge.”
“He knows I want to kill him. He placed a restriction on me; I cannot harm my own body.”
Long Mengzhi lifted his eyes. His turbid eyes were unusually clear. “Qi Yan, seize this opportunity. Kill me.”
“I beg of you, Grandmaster.”
Yuan Ji glanced at him worriedly. “A-Shang.”
Qi Guan Shang tightened his grip on Zhi Jie, his knuckles rising prominently and turning stark white from the force. He pressed his lips together, a complex look in his eyes.
When Grandmaster had picked him up and brought him to the sect, he didn’t yet have a master. Grandmaster had cared for him like both a teacher and a father for a long time. To make him strike down Grandmaster now…
Qi Guan Shang’s mouth turned down at the corners. His entire being resisted silently. Yet, under the old man’s expectant gaze, he slowly raised his longsword.
Grandmaster nodded in relief. He seemed to remember something and turned to Yuan Ji. “Yuan Ji, may I call you that?”
Yuan Ji nodded. Of course.
“Child, take this. It might prove useful.” Long Mengzhi trembled as he reached into his robe to pull something out. His withered arm resembled a dry branch.
Yuan Ji looked down. It was actually the final Swastika bronze token.
When the six Swastika bronze tokens came together, they merged into a tiny array that vanished into Yuan Ji’s palm.
She studied it carefully. The array’s patterns were unfamiliar; she could only vaguely recognize it as a formation for converting spiritual energy.
Yuan Ji looked at A-Tong with confusion, completely failing to notice the sudden, slight stiffening in Qi Guan Shang’s eyes beside her.
“A-Tong, do you have any record of what kind of array this is?”
The blue octopus was silent for a moment. “Yuan Ji, let me check.”
Long Mengzhi smiled, watching as Qi Guan Shang slowly approached him, his loving gaze resting on the younger man inch by inch.
Time had flown. That child from back then had finally grown up.
The moment the longsword touched the withered skin, a fierce, malicious aura surged from within the old man’s body.
The two saw the old man’s body suddenly contort. When he looked up again, his eyes were filled with hatred.
“You… did you really think I had no preparations?”
He let out two sinister laughs, gesturing for Yuan Ji to look at her palm. “Dragons… truly a race favored by the Heavenly Dao. How enviable.”
“But now, I can do it too.” In his palm, a small insect woven from vines fluttered its silver-thin wings. “After all, their lives are in my hands.”
“As long as my vine threads remain unbroken, their lives are forever under my control.” The demonized Long Mengzhi grinned widely. “It’s your choice.”
“Shall I plant the vine threads in you, or shall these tens of thousands of lives accompany me to the grave?”
Yuan Ji sneered. “After all these years, is this all you’re capable of?”
Only knowing how to threaten with others’ lives.
“Then again, you’re just a parasitic vine, lacking the power to survive on your own.”
These words immediately stabbed at the demonized Long Mengzhi’s heart. He glared viciously at Yuan Ji, black blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
Thud.
The silver longsword pierced the withered body, bringing forth a flood of foul, stinking blood.
Long Mengzhi stared incredulously at the cold, expressionless Qi Guan Shang before him. His eyes widened, seeing in the other’s pupils his own reflection rapidly withering and shriveling, like a dead weed.
His mouth opened and closed, but in the end, he couldn’t utter a single word. Only a faint smile finally appeared in his slowly closing eyes.
“Thank you.”
A very soft whisper of gratitude dissipated into the air, carrying with it years of regret and guilt.
Qi Guan Shang lowered his hand. The Zhi Jie sword in his grip hummed softly, nudging his knuckles.
“A-Shang. Grandmaster… he would be glad.” Yuan Ji reached out and took Qi Guan Shang’s hand. As their skin touched, Qi Guan Shang gripped hers tightly in return.
“Yuan Ji, I’ve sent off another one of my elders.”
“A-Shang, I will always be by your side.” Yuan Ji understood him. So she reached out and embraced Qi Guan Shang, just as her dragon tail had once coiled around that little silver dragon for the first time.
But for some reason, Yuan Ji felt that A-Shang seemed especially needy of her embrace this time. He held her tightly, resting his head against her neck.
Each breath, each warm exhale, brushed against her skin, sending shivers through her. “A-Shang?”
“It’s nothing, Yuan Ji.” Qi Guan Shang pulled Yuan Ji’s hand to his chest. “Just let me hold you a little longer. Just for a moment, alright?”
Qi Guan Shang held one of Yuan Ji’s hands and placed the other on her back.
Suddenly, silver spiritual energy appeared on Yuan Ji’s back. In a flash of lightning,
A body-freezing spell landed on Yuan Ji.
“A-Shang?!” Yuan Ji jolted, sensing something was wrong. She never expected that little one who used to chase after her had, in the years she was unaware, suddenly grown up.
When had he cast the spell?
“Yuan Ji.” Qi Guan Shang’s gaze lingered greedily on Yuan Ji’s face. He took a deep breath. “This… should end with me.”
It should have been him who sacrificed to the Heavenly Dao back then. It was only Yuan Ji’s intervention that allowed him to cling to life all these years. Now, with living beings suffering, those lives controlled by Long Mengzhi… their debts should be repaid by him.
Qi Guan Shang extended his hand. In his palm lay the very array that had appeared in Yuan Ji’s palm moments before.
Now, the array activated. Strands of spiritual energy transformed into life force, flying out of the cave and merging into the bodies of those whose lives Long Mengzhi had stolen.
“A-Shang! Stop!”
Once the vine threads broke, the life force of those people would also be severed.
Yuan Ji instantly understood his actions. He was going to use his own life to save those people.
Yuan Ji’s voice was cold as she tried to stop him, a barely perceptible tremor in her clear tone.
Suddenly, a strange force poured into her body, undoing the body-freezing spell.
Yuan Ji wasted no time. She rushed forward. Her usually cool hands were now frighteningly hot. She grasped Qi Guan Shang’s hand tightly. Meeting his surprised gaze, Yuan Ji suddenly froze.
Countless soul-cries from living beings flooded into her mind through the array.
“Save me, I still want to live.”
“I want to say goodbye to my mother. She’s been waiting for me at the foot of Tianji Mountain for seven years. Seven years… I wonder how her health is.”
“Once my cultivation improves a bit, I’ll go to more distant places to subdue demon beasts and protect the land.”
“I’m different from the others. I missed a tree’s spring, summer, autumn, and winter. If I can live, I want to see it properly.”
“…”
One voice after another, one plea after another.
No resentment, no hatred. Only infinite hope.
After a long moment, she lifted the corners of her mouth. “A-Shang, let’s do it together.”
“Let’s make sure they live, together.”
In the blink of an eye, gold and silver intertwined, rushing into the array. The immense spiritual energy that burst forth transformed into strands of life force.
A sky full of life force rained down. One by one, the lifeless bodies began to stir.
They looked at each other—some putting aside hatred to share a smile, some weeping for joy, others simply bewildered and lost.
But slowly, they seemed to understand why they had died, yet lived again.
It was simply because “The divine loves all beings.”
Growing increasingly transparent as their spiritual energy faded, Yuan Ji and Qi Guan Shang felt the waves of gratitude transmitted through the array. They held each other’s hands tightly.
“This time.”
“We go together.”
“Mm.”
Yuan Ji closed her eyes, her whole body going weak and limp. Everything before her grew blurry until there was only darkness.
Suddenly, an extremely soft laugh sounded by their ears.
[Ding: Host has completed the hidden task ‘Uncover the Truth Behind the Guan Family Massacre.’ Obtained hidden reward: A Thread of Vitality.]
[Ding: Congratulations, Host, on achieving the accomplishment ‘The Divine Loves All Beings.’ Final memory fragment unlocked.]
Yuan Ji awoke with a start. She stared in astonishment at her hands, now solid once more, having regained all her power. Her heart jolted violently.
“A-Tong!”
She looked around, but could no longer find the little blue octopus.
“Yuan Ji, there’s no need to look.”
An ethereal voice came from above, carrying a somewhat familiar tone.
It was A-Tong!
But… what was going on?
“Yuan Ji, actually, I was never any ‘River God Cultivation System.'”
“I am just a remnant wisp of the Heavenly Dao’s will.”
“My appearance was the Heavenly Dao’s reluctance to part with the dragon race. It separated me out to guide you to become a ‘god,’ to use your power correctly.”
“Why?” Yuan Ji asked, her hand closing emptily, her heart feeling hollow. “Didn’t the Heavenly Dao dissipate?”
The voice fell by Yuan Ji’s ear. “Yuan Ji, have you forgotten? You sacrificed yourself to mend the Heavens.”
“Yuan Ji.” Qi Guan Shang beside her suddenly rubbed the bridge of his nose, somewhat awkwardly pulling at Yuan Ji to divert her attention. “Let’s go out. They’re all waiting for us outside.”
Yuan Ji: ?
She looked at Qi Guan Shang suspiciously. A faint voice in her heart told her something was off about A-Shang.
“Tsk, getting scared now?” The voice held a note of amusement. “Yuan Ji, you obtained the final memory fragment, didn’t you? Look, and you’ll understand why.”
As the words fell, Qi Guan Shang shot a covert glare at the sky. When he looked down again, his brows were drawn together, his whole demeanor turning pitiful.
“Yuan Ji… let’s not look, okay?”
Yuan Ji hardened her heart and clenched her jaw.
In the memory, after she sacrificed herself, rain fell upon the world, alleviating the drought.
Spring rain fell, and all things revived.
Except for Qi Guan Shang, outside the array.
He collapsed to the ground, his entire person so stained with mud he was unrecognizable. Yet he seemed oblivious, dazed, scooping the soil from within the array into his arms handful by handful, as if by doing so, the one he loved could return to his embrace.
But it was all in vain.
The rain washed it away. No matter how hard he tried, the soil ultimately followed the rainwater into the earth, not lingering in his arms a moment longer.
He lay there in the array just like that, begging for it to activate again and take him away.
One day, two days, a month, a year…
The array never lit up again.
Qi Guan Shang fell into demonic ways.
Demonic energy corrupted his heart. Searching for Yuan Ji became his Dao.
He wandered the world in a haze, seeking a single wisp of Yuan Ji’s spiritual energy, but it was all futile.
Qi Guan Shang went mad.
He resented everything that had taken Yuan Ji’s life. He began to slaughter indiscriminately.
The last dragon in the world, with power unmatched, brought wailing and misery across the land.
The Heavenly Dao appeared.
It made a deal with Qi Guan Shang.
Qi Guan Shang would return his power to heaven and earth, and the Heavenly Dao would allow Yuan Ji’s soul to reincarnate.
Qi Guan Shang drew his sword without hesitation and ended his own life, sacrificing himself to the Heavens in exchange for a thread of vitality for Yuan Ji.
The dragon race had always been favored by the Heavenly Dao. Even after Qi Guan Shang committed such acts, the Heavenly Dao could not bear to abandon him entirely.
It sighed, returning a portion of Qi Guan Shang’s memories to him. With each of his subsequent rebirths, his memories would gradually recover.
And it transformed a wisp of its own remnant will into a “system,” sending it into Yuan Ji’s mind.
When both Qi Guan Shang and Yuan Ji could selflessly sacrifice everything for the myriad spirits of the world, the Heavenly Dao would also take pity on its favored race and leave them a thread of vitality.
Thus, Yuan Ji and Qi Guan Shang each found their own Dao.
Yuan Ji became a true River God.
And for Qi Guan Shang, to forever guard Yuan Ji—that was his Dao.
Yuan Ji met Qi Guan Shang’s somewhat guilty gaze and sighed.
Just as Qi Guan Shang’s heart was filled with unease, he felt a force on his neck pulling him down.
Then, a soft kiss landed on his lips.
A smile he couldn’t suppress spilled from the corners of his mouth. Qi Guan Shang’s heart settled at last.
He tightly encircled the form in his arms, deepening that kiss delayed for ten thousand years.
From this point on, nothing could ever separate them.
