The one in the two domains has made a move!
The moment Cheng Xilin set off, the Divine King of the Divine Domain and the Desolate King of the Desolate Domain simultaneously looked up in one direction, their expressions shifting with evident unease.
However, they took no action, merely observing Cheng Xilin's movements.
Cheng Xilin walked silently through the void, his brown eyes holding a playful smile. From the very beginning, he had never regarded the Kings of the Divine and Desolate Domains with respect. To him, both the Divine King and the Desolate King were the same. The years of past conquests had long since tempered his ambitious spirit.
He knew what the Divine King and the Desolate King intended to do.
What he intended to do, no one in the world knew.
Above a planet, Cheng Xilin's figure hovered ethereally. He tucked his sleeves, clasped his hands in front of him, and looked down. Little White, or rather... Tata, stood beside him, also gazing downwards.
Seeing that the planet was unremarkable, merely a barren star, Tata asked curiously, "Why is He Li here?"
Tata's tone had improved considerably compared to before, which pleased Cheng Xilin. Looking back, his world had been small, and his heart even smaller. The people he had met and cared about were few, and Tata was one of them.
Cheng Xilin shook his head and smiled, "He isn't here. This planet is the Earth I preserved during the nineteenth cosmic Great Stillness. Don't you remember? We originally lived here. I grew up here, fought alien beasts and demons, fused with the Golden Gate with my own body, and then emerged from here to conquer the heavens, witnessing nineteen cosmic Great Stillnesses and shattering eighteen eras ruled by gods."
Tata looked intently at the barren planet below, which was clearly thousands of times larger than Earth and entirely yellowish-brown. "Earth was much smaller than this and teeming with life."
Cheng Xilin nodded, a wistful sigh escaping him. "Time... everything in the world fades with the passage of time. No matter if it's human, divine, or demonic, no one can resist the flow of time."
Cheng Xilin turned to look at the young girl, gazing at her delicate profile. "Tata, I have always kept my promise to my teacher and his wife. Nineteen eras have passed, and I have continued to protect Earth. Even though Earth's life has dwindled to this empty shell due to the erosion of time, I am still here."
Cheng Xilin withdrew his hand from his sleeve, electric arcs of pale blue dancing at his fingertips. A long bench materialized in the void. Cheng Xilin sat down.
Then, looking at Tata, Cheng Xilin patted the seat beside him, signaling her to sit.
Tata's eyes flickered with hesitation before she gracefully sat down, but as far from Cheng Xilin as possible, on the very edge of the bench.
Cheng Xilin didn't mind. As long as Tata could gradually accept him and forgive him, that was enough. Everything had a process. He looked at the planet before him and sighed.
"The demons have returned to their ruins, the thirteen Great Heavens, the Great Desolation, the Divine Domain. Tata, my entire life, countless years, have been spent in conquest.
You know my Star Cards. Aside from the previous ones, the final formation cards, 'Town' and 'Battle,' I used 'Town' to seal Earth and 'Battle' to seal the demons, all to preserve humanity and the demon race.
Beyond the heavens, my homeland is Earth. The rest are the demons, who are my enemies. But to me, the demons feel more familiar than those heavenly gods from beyond the heavens.
It was for you that I preserved the surviving demons from those great wars.
To them, our war was in the previous era. Perhaps for some demons who have just awakened, our great war was yesterday.
They resent me, they hate me. I killed your thirteen Great Heavens, I killed your Supremes. But I was merely standing on my own ground to protect my family."
Tata frowned displeasively. "Why are you telling me this?"
Tata's hands, resting on her knees, clenched tightly together, showing her inner turmoil. She endured, then continued, "I was not sealed within your formation flags. I survived for nineteen eras by relying on the demonic power left by the thirteen Great Heavens. I also witnessed your conquests and battles, and unlike other demons, I do not resent you.
Or rather, when we were on Earth, from the very beginning, I was on your side. I am a traitor to the demon race."
Cheng Xilin gave a soft hum, a smile on his face. His hands were tucked into his sleeves, his body leaning slightly against the chair. He exhaled softly, quietly gazing at his desolate homeland. Even after so long, returning to his homeland, even though it had changed and was no longer as he remembered it,
To the wanderer, the homeland remained as beautiful as in his memories.
Recalling the past, Cheng Xilin suddenly realized that his life, up to this point, had been filled with very few moments of enjoying peace and happiness.
And they were all spent on Earth, with Teacher Jiang, with his teacher and his wife.
Turning to look at Tata again, it seemed she had never experienced a single peaceful day.
Thinking of this, a pang of sadness and heartache arose in Cheng Xilin's heart.
"In the previous few eras, I was constantly at war, standing alone before the universe, protecting my homeland. Later, I began to seek the source of my power."
Tata asked with confusion, "What do you mean?" She was very perplexed. Seeking the source of power?
Cheng Xilin said, "Star Cards. My power is not my own. It came from an old fortune-teller by the roadside. He gave me a white card, and I came to your world, and then everything that followed happened.
In the subsequent cosmic Great Stillnesses, I discovered that my power was not accidental, nor was the fortune-teller who gave me the card accidental. He has always existed, and I have been searching for him.
But he seems to know I'm looking for him and has gone into hiding.
Tata asked, "Did you find anything?"
In fact, Tata was shocked. She had witnessed Cheng Xilin's power firsthand. It was no exaggeration to call it world-shattering. He had single-handedly fought through nineteen eras, destroying countless gods and demons. Were there people or things he was powerless against?
"I found him," Cheng Xilin said with great certainty, but also with a hint of dejection. He sighed, "He is hidden within time."
Cheng Xilin raised his hand, electric arcs flashing between his fingers, his eyes filled with melancholy. "Unfortunately, I have completely mastered electromagnetic force. With a wave of my hand, the universe is born and dies, created and destroyed. I can no longer interact with the laws of time.
Time is not a material thing; it is a higher existence.
Time, space, and matter cannot be explained individually. No matter what influence time is subjected to, whether it speeds up or slows down, it still exists.
And that fortune-teller is hidden within this unexplainable time. I can sense him, but I cannot see or grasp him."
Tata was completely bewildered by his words and asked, "What does this have to do with us saving He Li?"
Cheng Xilin smiled slightly and said, "I have mastered the power of electromagnetism, so I can no longer interact with time. But He Li can.
This era is the twentieth era I have experienced. The previous era was the Primordial Era. He Li is one of the last two surviving gods of the Yan Clan.
Yan Li can dissolve into time and slumber within the river of time.
However, He Li is rejected by the river of time and cannot slumber within it.
This is why. This indicates that He Li possesses the ability to withstand destruction by time, to not merge with time, and to not vanish with the passage of time.
It's just that he is not aware of it yet."
Tata became even more confused, wondering in her heart if there was any inevitable connection between this and her goal of reviving the demon race and establishing the Ruins.
Clearly, Tata did not understand, but she could not refuse the man before her revealing his thoughts. She wanted to listen, even if she couldn't comprehend it.
Meanwhile.
He Li was sitting obediently in a car, heading somewhere unknown.
In the morning, He Li woke up on a bench. Two people were standing before him. Seeing that he was awake, they snatched his knife, then half-supported, half-dragged him into the car.
He Li was now half-crippled and couldn't resist, so he obediently sat in the car.
Looking at the two people in the driver's and passenger's seats, He Li pursed his lips and asked, "Um, where are you taking me?"
"My body is disabled, so I won't fetch a high price..."
At this point, He Li's words abruptly stopped. Damn it, for certain professions, being disabled was even better. They didn't even need to cripple them; they could be trained and put to work directly.
No way! No way!
I, the great He Li, a generation's World God, am about to be sold into the hands of unscrupulous people to beg disguised as something else?
Damn it!
"You're overthinking it. We are from a social welfare organization. We will treat your injuries, verify your identity, and then find you a job to support yourself," the man in the passenger seat replied, turning his head.
He Li gave an awkward smile. Perhaps it would be better not to verify his identity. Being an undocumented person was quite embarrassing.
...