The river of time is vast and unfathomable.
Shadows delve deep into its currents, intertwining and overlapping in places. Amidst these mingling shadows, Dongbo Xueying glimpsed countless familiar lives—some still living, others long departed. Even figures like Xiang Pangyun, Si Lianghong, Uncle Tong, and Cheng Lingshu appeared vividly before him. Their lives were fleeting in comparison, mere specks in the grand flow of time, like tiny tadpoles next to Dongbo Xueying’s towering form.
*”When I transcend in the future, I will surely bring you back, Uncle Tong,”* Dongbo Xueying thought silently. *”I will grant you all a chance to live more extraordinary lives.”*
Yet, he foresaw a grim reality.
Even if resurrected, most of them would struggle to ascend to godhood, let alone become World Deities. Their lifespans would remain short, ending when their divine hearts collapsed—a death from which no resurrection was possible, for revival would only lead to the same fate.
“White Monarch,” Dongbo Xueying spoke aloud, “if possible, could you also revive the wife of my dear friend? She was a weak Transcendent, but her bond with him was profound.”
The White Monarch, standing upon the void’s shore, laughed heartily. “Very well, I shall revive her as well.” His mood was buoyed by the immense aid the *Blood Devil Scroll* had granted him, and reviving a mere Transcendent was trivial. Had it been a deity, he might have hesitated.
“These two,” Dongbo Xueying gestured gently with his colossal form.
With a ripple of spacetime, he enveloped Chi Qiu Bai and another woman—his beloved, whose fate had been sealed by a cruel whip. Yet, this was all Dongbo Xueying could do; resurrection lay beyond his power.
“Leave it to me,” the White Monarch declared with absolute confidence.
Reaching into the river of time, his arm stretched impossibly long, his hand seizing the two souls effortlessly. With a forceful motion, he dragged them upward, against the river’s resistance, toward the surface—the present moment.
The river resisted, its primordial might vast and unyielding. But Chi Qiu Bai and his wife were mere specks in its depths, and the White Monarch’s task, though daunting, was manageable.
As they breached the surface, they were reborn into the present.
*”What is happening?”* A distant figure, magnitudes larger than Chi Qiu Bai but still minuscule compared to Dongbo Xueying, watched in awe. A newly ascended Second Heaven World Deity, having just grasped the Spacetime Heart, witnessed the White Monarch’s act of resurrection.
The Nirvana Emperor, sensing the gaze, turned his eyes toward the intruder. The World Deity recoiled in terror, withdrawing his consciousness from the river, his form dissolving back into obscurity.
—
In midair, two figures materialized beside Dongbo Xueying, the White Monarch, and the Nirvana Emperor—a man in snow-white robes and a woman in black, both mere soul forms. The man remained composed, but the woman’s soul trembled violently, her face contorted in agony.
“Hmm?” The White Monarch frowned. With a thought, he delved into her memories, sealing away the torment she had endured. For a being of his stature, manipulating a weak Transcendent’s soul was child’s play.
As the memories were locked away, the woman’s soul stilled.
Chi Qiu Bai and Wu Xi opened their eyes, disoriented yet overjoyed to see each other.
“Xi’er?” Chi Qiu Bai gasped.
“Qiu Bai!” The woman, Wu Xi, trembled with disbelief.
Their last memories diverged—Chi Qiu Bai recalled the horrors inflicted by the Howling Fiend Abyss Lord, while Wu Xi remembered only endless torture. The worst of her suffering had been sealed away, sparing her immediate anguish.
“I thought I was…” Wu Xi murmured, glancing around.
Chi Qiu Bai followed her gaze, then froze. Beside them stood three beings of incomprehensible might—the White Monarch, the Nirvana Emperor, and Dongbo Xueying. Their presence was so overwhelming that even a wisp of their unrestrained aura could annihilate them.
Then Chi Qiu Bai recognized one.
“Xueying?” His voice wavered. The Dongbo Xueying he remembered from the final war paled in comparison to the being before him—one who now eclipsed even the Great Demon God and the Howling Fiend Abyss Lord.
“Dongbo Xueying,” the White Monarch said, “your companions have been resurrected from the river of time. Our transaction is nearly complete. Soon, I shall send you from the Dark Abyss.”
“My gratitude, White Monarch,” Dongbo Xueying replied.
“As for their physical forms,” the White Monarch chuckled, “I assume you’d prefer not to have them molded from the essence of the Dark Abyss?”
“I will handle that,” Dongbo Xueying assured. Reconstructing bodies was a simple matter for him.
“One more thing,” the White Monarch added. “The woman’s will is fragile. The memories of her torment were too much to bear, so I sealed them. They will return gradually, allowing her to adapt without breaking.” Despite his ruthless nature, the White Monarch had ensured the task was done flawlessly.
Dongbo Xueying nodded.
“Changfeng, sister-in-law,” he said warmly, turning to Chi Qiu Bai and Wu Xi. “Let us leave the Dark Abyss. There will be time to speak in the Divine Realm.”
“Of course,” Chi Qiu Bai agreed, his eyes brimming with gratitude. He pulled Wu Xi into a tender embrace—a dream fulfilled after countless years of longing.
At last, he held his beloved once more.
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