He wasn’t joking around, nor was he making a threat; he was stating a fact, uncovering a condition.

     For a moment, no one dared to retreat; they could only bite the bullet. No matter how scared they were, they closed their eyes and concentrated their spiritual energy.

     A thousand meters… a hundred meters…

     Closer…

     BOOM!

     The waves beat down, and eardrums trembled as the heavens and earth drummed as if billions of people were throwing hammers; even the sun and the moon were drowned in the waves. Taxian-Jun’s arms bulged and his teeth nearly cracked.

     Behind him, Chu Wanning came to the meeting point of the Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death and patted Xue Meng, who had been struggling to maintain the Return Ten Thousand Billowing Waves spell.

     Xue Meng turned around with a very calm face.

     Although there were some wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, when he looked at Chu Wanning, his expression was still the same as when he was young.

     “Shizun.”

     Chu Wanning looked at him. “I’m here.”

     A blue light rose, and Jiu’ge appeared in the air. Chu Wanning stood in the wind with the twang of the qin strings. The edges of the Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death were shrinking and closing from across the world at an astonishing pace visible to the eye.

     “Retreat.” He said to everyone while playing the qin, “Everyone get behind me.”

     There was no need to repeat the matter of escaping. But this time, most people, even those who feared death, did not scramble to be the first. Some people helped up their severely injured companions and some carried the wounded whom they had never met before and slowly walked to the back.

     The edge of the Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death rift was near the Kunlun Mountains. When they reached the Kunlun path, many people stopped retreating.

     They stood there, watching Chu Wanning’s figure standing before of the snowy plains, his sleeves fluttering and the melody of his qin continuing…

     Who said that cultivating immortality meant becoming immortal and possessing the power to destroy the world?

     Some people, even if they lived for ten thousand years, were only a piece of stubborn stone; some people, even if they only walked through the world in a hurry, would leave behind a trail of bright flowers.

     For example, at this very moment, before the Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death, wasn’t there an immortal crossing through this mortal world, and with his flesh and blood and the notes from his ten fingers, proving his own immortal path?

     Snow began to drift from the sky, falling on his shoulders.

     Someone noticed a detail and was taken aback. “Huh? This isn’t snow…”

     It was the Flame Emperor’s sacred tree in the east sea that was affected, and the ancient haitang tree at the beginning of the universe blossomed. It was different from any other flowers and emitted a rich fragrance. The crystalline petals floated down like falling snow from the ends of the earth from world to world.

     The petals rose up, and the petals were swept away. The light-colored flowers were like a stream of stars, rushing to the edge of the Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death and helping heal the mortal world…

     Amidst the dancing petals, many cultivators recalled a legend: the last time the world was about to collapse, it was Shennong who planted the Flame Emperor’s sacred tree and saved the fallen world. Time had passed, Fuxi had departed, and Nuwa had fallen asleep; the Flame Emperor had disappeared, but the sacred tree remained.

     Although it was a withering tree, it still held up the blue sky of the nine provinces.

     Seeing the space-time rift shrinking, Taxian-Jun looked back and said to the people beside him, “Retreat. Hurry up and go back while the Gate of Life and Death has yet to close.”

     Not everyone fled immediately. Some said they could still support themselves, and some said they wanted to fight until the last moment.

     Who didn’t have a bit of hero’s blood in their bones?

     Even if it was buried deep in one’s heart by the years and life, there would always be a day when it would boil and burst forth.

     Taxian-Jun was so angry that he laughed. “You’re supposed to leave now, yet you don’t want to leave? Are you deliberately trying to make This Venerable One angry? Get lost!”

     Those people began to withdraw one after another.

     Suddenly, he heard a trembling voice: “Emperor… what about you…?”

     Taxian-Jun was stunned for a moment, then slowly turned his head and saw an old man hunched over in the distant rain, looking at him.

     “...Liu-gong?”

     Perhaps he was seeing things, but he actually felt that the old man looked at him with inexplicable compassion and pity, just like a father looking at his child.

     Ridiculous.

     Even if this old slave had the guts, the old guy shouldn't dare to treat the cruel and vicious Emperor Taxian-Jun as his own child. However, at this time, Taxian-Jun suddenly vaguely remembered that the old guy had just lost his son in the war when he entered the imperial palace to serve him.

     If that child were still alive, he should be about the same age as him.

     Taxian-Jun closed his eyes and said, “This Venerable One has such abilities and should naturally be the last one to leave. Elder needn’t worry.”

     “Emperor…”

     “Now go.” Taxian-Jun turned his eyes away from the old man. “To another world.”

     “...”

     “Maybe your son is still alive in that world.” He suddenly grinned, revealing his sharp canine teeth and deep dimples. “Get out of here, Old Liu. Keep him company.”

     The Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death was shrinking, and the people in front of the Xuanwu barrier retreated one by one. Every time a guard would fall back, Taxian-Jun would exert greater force on the Xuanwu barrier. When there were only a hundred people left in the end, another onslaught of mighty waves rose up in the vast sea ahead, rolling closer from the distant horizon.

     Taxian-Jun narrowed his eyes, considered the situation, and then said sternly, “Everyone stop and pass through the Gate of Life and Death.”

     At this time, the space-time rift had shrunk to the height and width of an ordinary door. Seeing another round of huge waves approaching, the remaining cultivators finally withdrew their hands and passed through the rift one by one, returning to the Kunlun snowy plains of another world.

     But the massive waves came too fast, and before most people had a chance to cross the barrier, the waves had already fiercely slammed against the Xuanwu barrier.

     At this moment, the barrier was only supported by Taxian-Jun’s strength, and even though he had extraordinary talent, he was under the pressure of a tremendous force. He couldn’t help but groan as pain flashed on his face.

     The waves were like a giant gale, like whales breaking the waves; it was as if the ocean was shaken by a dragon-girl dance, causing the earth and mountains to quake.

     Someone hesitated and looked back from the intersecting point of the Gate of Life and Death. “Mo-zongshi…”

     When Taxian-Jun heard this name, he was suddenly angered and yelled, “Mo, my ass! Will you scram? Get lost!”

     The other person didn't know what had touched his sore spot, so he dared not say anything and only lowered his head and crossed the threshold of the Gate of Life and Death. The remaining cultivators followed one by one and the Gate of Life and Death shrank smaller and smaller.

     However, the Xuanwu barrier was already on the verge of breaking. When Taxian-Jun looked back, he saw that there were still more than ten cultivators who hadn’t entered in time. He couldn't help but curse inwardly, and his scarred hands continued to cover the lining of the barrier as all the veins on the backs of his hands became visible.

     But he still couldn’t hold on any longer.

     Although he had the strongest power in the mortal world, he was ultimately just one person. How could he fight against the divine?

     The crisp rattling sound was incessant.

     “The barrier is about to break!”

     Taxian-Jun stood in front of the raging flood and, without turning his head, shouted angrily at those who hadn’t yet fled.

     “Get out of here!”

     Black blood oozed from between his lips, and two rows of long eyelashes drooped. Taxian-Jun glanced at his left foot—it was slowly being eroded and turning into ash…

     He sneered, showing no fear.

     He was a living-dead person revived by Shi Mei. As long as Shi Mei died, his body wouldn’t last long and would soon be turned to ashes.

     He felt that it was enough to be able to fight fate one more time before turning to ash.

     Only…

     Turning back, he saw Chu Wanning's figure blurred behind the Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death. The rift was still shrinking, and the last four or five people squeezed toward the gate. Other than them, only Xue Meng and the Mei brothers of this era hadn't crossed the border.

     The man at the entrance to the Gate of Life and Death couldn’t help but move forward, anxiously saying, “Young Master!”

      Xue Meng coughed and pointed at his younger self. “Your young master is that one, not me.”

     Young Xue Meng: “...”

     “There is no room for two tigers on one mountain. How can there be two Xue Mengs in one world? Wouldn’t that be a mess?” Xue Meng smiled, and wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes. “I don’t belong to that world of yours, and I won't feel at ease if you want me to leave. Now that I was able to contribute my last bit for these two worlds, my wish has been fulfilled. Besides, I’ve been tired for too long, and I’ve wanted to rest for a long time.”

     He turned his back and walked in the direction of the Xuanwu barrier. At this time, the barrier was already cracked to the point of being mostly broken, with cracks and holes everywhere.

     He walked to Taxian-Jun’s side, looked at the man with a complicated expression, and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something.

     But in the end, he still couldn’t say it.

     “Young Master!”

     “Young Master Xue!”

     Behind him was someone from Sisheng Peak calling him, but so what? Even in this era, his father and mother were gone.

     What's more, his life had nothing to do with another mortal world. If he was forced to go, he didn’t know how he would move forward.

     Xue Meng let out a sigh. He raised his hand to rub the back of his neck where the blood vessels were throbbing, and suddenly grinned.

     This was what happened when one got older; sometimes you would suddenly feel dizzy and absentminded, but there were also advantages to being older. For example, when you felt dizzy, the sky and the earth weren’t dark. Many times he would be able to see Xue Zhengyong’s figure and Madam Wang’s smile.

     Many times he could see the three little youths from his teenage years surrounding a white-robed cultivator and shouting, “Shizun, Shizun.”

     These were things that belonged to him, and no one could take them away.

     “I pay my respects to my old friends who have mostly died…” He gulped, and before anyone could react, he had already passed through the Xuanwu barrier and plunged into the surging tide.

     He belonged to this mortal world, even if it was broken to pieces and drifted away, he felt that he should return to this place.

     He didn’t feel much pain at all; in fact, it was like falling asleep in a drunken stupor.

     I am willing to give my remaining years just to remain blissfully dreaming.

     If only to let you return and share the wine.

     It was a great joy. Xue Ziming had endured over ten years of hardship and finally found fulfillment and relief.

     Everyone fell into a deathly silence. After a moment, all the disciples of Sisheng Peak knelt down and didn’t utter a single word. The palace servants of Taxue Palace suddenly seemed to realize something, and many of their expressions changed as they looked at the Mei brothers.

     “Da-shixiong! Come here. Don’t stay there…”

     “Hurry, come back… Both of you come back…”

     “Aiyo, I'm not coming back." Mei Hanxue waved at them from behind the barrier with a bright smile. “One Mei Hanxue can bring disaster to half of the beauties in the cultivation world. If there were two of me in this world, wouldn’t it be a blunder? For the sake of the women of half of the world, I’m leaving, little brothers. Until we meet again in the jianghu.”

     Mei Hánxue stood beside his brother, looking at the snow-covered Kunlun Mountains that he hadn’t seen for a long time, the lofty sacred mountain, and gave a formal salute to Ming Yuelou, who had long since passed away in his era. “Disciple Mei Hánxue bids farewell to master today.”

     These two people seemed to speak lightly, but everyone knew that their thoughts were firm and unshakable.

     Ming Yuelou closed her eyes and let out a sigh that floated into the wind.

     The Mei brothers supported the Xuanwu barrier, watching the last guard cultivator squeeze into the crack of the Gate of Life and Death. The younger brother smiled and the older brother nodded. The heavy responsibility on their shoulders had been fulfilled. They lived up to their gratitude, their best friend, and the world.

     Facing the surging torrent of water, they actually felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from their shoulders. Their eyes were closed as they plunged into the vast sea. After the wave passed, their figures disappeared like plum petals falling into the water.

     At this point, everyone had either retreated beyond the Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death or returned to silence in the vast and boundless sea.

     At this moment, the sound of the qin stopped suddenly.

     Chu Wanning raised his eyes, and Jiu’ge turned into a ray of golden light and returned to his bones and blood. On the snowy plains of Kunlun, he wore fluttering white clothes, with his back to everyone.

     For a moment, no one knew what he was going to do.

     “There is one last crack,” Chu Wanning said. He turned his face to the side, and the wind rose, blowing his soft sleeves and his dark, scattered hair.

     “After I leave, you gentlemen will close it to ensure the peace of the world.”

     “...”

     After a few moments of silence, someone suddenly reacted and shouted, “Zongshi!!”

     “Chu-zongshi!”

     Xue Meng stumbled through the Kunlun snow, his hair standing on end. “Shizun!! Shizun!!!!!” But the snowy path was too slippery, and he ran so fast that he suddenly fell to the ground. His pair of dark, animal-like eyes looked at Chu Wanning with despair.

     “Shizun…”

     Hearing his voice, Chu Wanning turned around.

     His brown eyes gazed at him from afar, and finally, Chu Wanning said, “...I’m sorry.”

     Sorry for what?

     Xue Meng’s pupils shrank in fear, and it seemed as if the top of his head had been drilled open and someone was pouring white snow and cold ice into his skull.

     What was he sorry for?! Was he sorry for his relationship with Mo Ran? Was he sorry for the deception? Or was he sorry for…

     His throat throbbed, and he gulped.

     Or for…

     “No! Don't go!” Xue Meng finally broke down. He knelt on the snowy plains and burst into tears. “Don't leave! Why are you all like this…? Why do you want to leave me alone…? Why do you leave me alone?!!!"

     Tears kept flowing down his blood-stained face, leaving behind white streak marks.

     The heart-wrenching mournful cries seemed to be dug out of a throat filled with blood, as if the liver and guts were torn and bloodied, his flesh a mess of blood and gore.

     “Don’t leave me… Come back! Come back!”

     He howled like a beast, kneeling hunched over in the snow. Snowflakes fell silently around him, and he seemed as if he was crushed into pieces by the falling snow.

     Never able to stand up again.

     “Please… come back…”

     What else do I have?

     Father. Mother. Gege. Friend.

     Even Longcheng is destroyed.

     Come back.

     Don’t take my final support.

     Shizun… please…

     But Xue Meng didn’t know that Chu Wanning had already died.

     Placing a person on a pedestal because of his overwhelming strength forced him to carry such a heavy burden that he couldn’t breathe.

     He watched his lover close his eyes in his arms.

     He fractured and mutilated his lover’s body with his own hands.

     He had to draw his sword against a late friend.

     Any one of these things would be enough to break one’s heart, and he’d experienced all of them. He couldn’t go back.

     —I did my best to keep you alive.

     So now, can you please let me once be selfish and die with him?

     Chu Wanning finally stepped into the Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death and returned from the Kunlun snowy plains, where dawn was about to break, to the raging waters of the broken world.

     There, the sky and the earth lost all their colors, and the mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas all became a vast ocean.

     In this place, it was unknown whether it was day or night, and only one person remained in the nine provinces.

     Chu Wanning, with his white robe trailing on the ground, came up to the man and embraced him from behind. Then he raised his slender fingers and covered Taxian-Jun’s wounded palm.

     Taxian-Jun was shocked and turned back suddenly. “What are you—?!”

     Chu Wanning smiled, and beneath his long eyelashes were a pair of soft, brown phoenix eyes.

     “I’ll tell you.”

     “...”

     “Hell is too cold. I’m here to die with you.”

     The warm body embraced the cold body. The ruin of Taxian-Jun’s body was badly broken, to the point where his left leg had almost completely fallen apart, turned to ash. 

      The expression on his face was extremely complicated. He pursed his lips and finally turned his face away.

     “...You are the one that troubles This Venerable One the most. Why would I need your company?”

     However, his heart felt as if it had burst open and all that flowed from it was tenderness and love. He knew that he was only a corpse, but at this moment, he suddenly felt that it was so warm.

      After a moment of silence, Taxian-Jun suddenly turned around and said, “Oh, that’s right. Actually, there’s one thing This Venerable One should tell you.”

     “What is it?”

     He raised his head, took a breath despite the stifling sensation in his heart, and then looked at Chu Wanning with determination. “Before telling you, can you tell This Venerable One the truth first?”

     “Do you really hate me like this? Is it only the Mo-zongshi who died in your arms that you can’t bear to part with?”

     At the end of his words, his eyes moistened and reddened with humiliation.

     If it weren’t for the collapse of the world and the separation of life and death, he probably would never in his life have used such a humble tone to seek the answer to this question. He asked and felt it was so humiliating that he couldn't help but clench his fingers into a fist—but he suddenly found that even the fingertips of his left hand began to turn into dust, slowly turning into ash little by little…

     After waiting for a long time without any reply from Chu Wanning, his burning heart gradually grew cold.

     It was as if the beating organ in his chest had been crushed and turned into mortar.

     “Forget it.” Taxian-Jun turned his head and said, “This Venerable One knows the answer. It doesn't matter. Anyway, This Venerable One also…”

     Before he could finish his words, a pair of warm hands cupped his cheeks.

     Chu Wanning looked at his face, which was marred and ugly after being inflicted with a thousand cuts, no longer handsome, but his eyes were more sincere and full of warmth than ever before.

     “Are you foolish?”

     “...”

     “They’re both you.” Chu Wanning hugged him. The Xuanwu barrier flickered and dimmed before it was finally extinguished.

      There was only darkness left in the world as the last wave of the tide approached with a triumphant pride. The sound of the surging force seemed to mock how weak and insignificant human power was and question how dare it fight against fate.

     “I told him that too.”

     Chu Wanning embraced his disappearing lover before the raging flood at the moment of doomsday. His expression was calm, but his eyes were solemn.

     “Whether it’s Mo-zongshi or Taxian-Jun, they’re both you.”

     The ash had already spread to his arms, gradually invading his chest.

     Dark eyes gazed at each other.

     Chu Wanning said, “I will always be your person.”

     “No regrets.”

     Taxian-Jun stiffened and suddenly closed his eyes, tears faintly visible under his long eyelashes.

     He finally removed his cold mask, and his expression slowly relaxed. He used his remaining hand to hug Chu Wanning's back tightly, holding his lover against his chest. He lowered his head to kiss Chu Wanning's hair, his cheek rubbing affectionately against his lover’s forehead.

     “You’re right.” He sighed. “I’m too foolish…”

     Taxian-Jun whispered, “Wanning, I’m sorry.”

     So many years of love and hatred intertwined, and most of a lifetime of grudges and grievances settled with this sigh.

     After a while, Chu Wanning heard him whisper in his ear. His voice was slow and deep, with a peace that Taxian-Jun rarely had in his life. “Okay, there’s not much time left... I should tell you the secret.”

      “What secret?”

     Taxian-Jun lowered his eyes. “It’s related to Mo-zongshi.”

     “!”

     “Actually, ever since merging with his heart, I could feel it.” He paused. “Mo-zongshi’s soul merged into my body.”

     “...” Chu Wanning was stunned, and then he suddenly raised his eyes, looking at Taxian-Jun’s smiling face in disbelief.

     “Those soul fragments... have always been inside my body, it’s just that my heart is like a stubborn stone; I feel that even if I am just a broken body and a wisp of consciousness, I will have my own destiny, so I am unwilling to merge with those three souls and five spirits.”

     “But at this point, if I’m the only one who can confess to you, it would be too unfair.”

     “...”

     “Wanning…”

     Taxian-Jun closed his eyes, and the faint smile on his face gradually faded.

     “Don’t be sad. He’s always been here.”

     “!!”

     Under Chu Wanning’s astonished gaze, in just a moment’s time, Taxian-Jun opened his eyes again. They were clearly the same eyes, yet they weren’t the same dark shade to the point of being purple, but pure and gentle.

     “...Mo Ran?!!”

     With a crash, the huge wave crashed down, and the Xuanwu barrier finally collapsed completely. In the midst of the raging waves, Mo Ran didn't say anything, but only hugged him tightly and sank with him into the boundless ocean, disappearing deep into the torrent of destruction.

     The waters were deep, just like the affection in those black eyes.

     Amidst the rolling waves, Mo Ran’s lips moved as he soundlessly spoke to Chu Wanning.

     —

     Shizun, don’t worry, it’s me.

     I’ve always been here.

     And I’ll be there in the future too.

     So… go back. Don’t stay here.

     Believe me, I will be fine. I’ll try my best to see you and accompany you.

     I’m waiting for you in another world.

     His lips opened and closed, and he finally summoned Jiangui, which wrapped around Chu Wanning’s entire body and sent him through the final thin crack in the Gate of Life and Death.

     “Mo Ran… Mo Ran!! What do you mean by that? You bastard! What do you mean?!!”

     Mo Ran smiled as he floated in the water. His broken body had turned to ash, up to his face. That face, which had been crazed and sweet—the face that had been pure and malicious, both virtuous and wicked—had turned to scattered ash.

      And gradually faded away.

     Go back. Wanning.

     You must believe me.

     I’ll be fine. I’ll always be by your side.

     For all time.