Yao Xi's divine light pulsed violently as she waved her hand, sending Yue Yun and the others stumbling back. She stepped forward, her crystal-clear eyes burning with determination.
"Today," she declared, "only one of us will walk away from this battlefield."
Yun Qianxue frowned. "You've heard the truth. Why cling to vengeance?"
Yao Xi's lips curled into a bitter smile. "I have nothing left in this world. Vengeance is all that remains."
The raw pain in her voice made Yun Qianxue hesitate.
Yun Lintian studied Yao Xi calmly. "There is another way," he said. "I can send you back—to Yun Tian's time."
Yao Xi visibly trembled.
For centuries, she had dreamed of such an opportunity but lacked the power to manipulate time. Now, the possibility hung before her like a forbidden fruit.
"You would... do this?" Her voice wavered.
Yun Lintian nodded. "In exchange for your divine power. And one condition—you cannot reveal the future's truths to him."
Yao Xi's breath hitched. "Why?" she demanded. "After everything I've done—attacking your people, seeking your death—why offer me this?"
Yun Lintian's mismatched eyes softened slightly. "I owe Senior Yun Tian a debt. Without him, I wouldn't exist. And I understand..." He paused. "The pain of losing someone irreplaceable."
The battlefield fell silent.
Yao Xi's clenched fists slowly relaxed. The hatred that had sustained her for centuries was crumbling—not from force, but from an unexpected act of mercy.
Her divine light flickered uncertainly.
"I..." She looked down at her trembling hands. The vengeance that had defined her existence was slipping away, leaving only emptiness.
Yun Lintian extended his hand. "Choose."
A single tear traced down Yao Xi's cheek—the first in centuries.
"I choose... to see him again."
With those words, the God of Light's aura dissipated completely, her divine power coalescing into a radiant orb that floated toward Yun Lintian.
Yun Lintian caught the radiant orb of Yao Xi's divine power, his mismatched eyes studying it briefly before looking up.
"Before you go," he said, "I need to know one thing."
Yao Xi looked at him calmly.
"Where did you find the World Tree's branch?" Yun Lintian asked.
Yao Xi turned slightly, her gaze shifting to Ning Yue—still unconscious beneath the World Tree's canopy. A flicker of recognition passed through her crystal-clear eyes.
"The True Wood Spirit King," she answered quietly. "After Yun Tian disappeared... I prepared to follow him but the True Wood Spirit King appeared first."
Her voice grew distant, as if reliving the memory. "He gave me the branch and told me to guard it. He said... the true inheritor would come in time."
Yao Xi's eyes softened as she studied Ning Yue. "I didn't know how she came to possess it... but I can sense her mother's aura—the garden spirit who once tended my palace."
As she spoke, the space beside the Gate of Beyond Heaven rippled. A graceful figure stepped out—an ageless woman with hair like flowing willow branches and eyes the color of spring leaves.
Her eyes immediately filled with tears as she saw Yao Xi. "Master!" she cried, rushing forward to kneel before her. "You're alive...!"
Yao Xi's breath caught. A rare pang of guilt flashed across her face. "Xianxian..." she murmured, using Madame Leisure's childhood name.
She reached out, her fingers brushing the spirit's cheek. "I'm sorry... for leaving you all behind."
Madame Leisure shook her head fiercely. "No apologies, Master. We—we always knew you were in pain."
Yao Xi's hand trembled. Centuries of isolation, of rage—all momentarily undone by the loyalty of a servant she'd thought long forgotten.
Yun Lintian watched silently, the orb of divine power pulsing in his palm. The pieces were falling into place—the World Tree's branch, Ning Yue's origins, the tangled threads of fate connecting them all.
But there was no time for revelations now.
Yun Lintian raised his hand, and the space before them twisted violently. A swirling temporal portal materialized, its edges shimmering with golden light. Through its hazy surface, glimpses of the past flickered—a time before Yun Tian's disappearance.
"Go," Yun Lintian said, his voice firm. "But remember—you cannot tell Yun Tian what has transpired here."
Madame Leisure suddenly stepped forward. "Master, I'm coming with you!"
Yun Lintian didn't stop her.
Yao Xi hesitated for a brief moment, her crystal-clear eyes flickering between Yun Lintian and the portal. Finally, she bowed her head slightly. "Thank you."
With those words, she stepped through the portal, her form dissolving into the currents of time.
Madame Leisure turned to Yun Lintian, her willow-like hair swaying as she knelt deeply. "Young Master Yun," she said softly, "I've watched you grow from a weak boy to the powerhouse you are today. I pray you break this endless cycle. And... thank you. For everything."
Without waiting for a response, she rose and followed her master into the portal.
Yun Lintian waved his hand, sealing the temporal gateway shut. The residual energy crackled before dissipating into nothingness.
Long Wu, his newly revived body still weak, frowned. "Won't this disrupt causality? Sending them back could—"
"No," Yun Lintian interrupted. "This creates a new timeline entirely. Our present remains unchanged."
His mismatched eyes shifted to Ning Yue, still unconscious beneath the World Tree. With another wave of his hand, emerald light surged from his palm, flooding into the ancient tree. Its withered leaves regained their luster, its roots pulsing with renewed vitality.
Simultaneously, a translucent barrier formed around the entire endless abyss, sealing it off from outside interference.
Yun Qianxue stepped forward, her frost-blue eyes filled with concern. "Husband... Where's Sister Qingxuan?"
Yue Yun crossed her arms, her gaze sharp. "And is it true? Did you really ally with Nian Shi?"
Yun Lintian met their stares unflinchingly. "Yes."
Yue Yun's frown deepened as she stepped forward, her golden eyes burning with intensity. "What do you mean by that?"
Yun Lintian exhaled slowly, his mismatched eyes flickering with an unreadable emotion. "It's complicated. Currently, there are three camps—first, us. Second, Nian Shi. And third… the Chasm of Uncreation—Yin."
His voice was low, carrying the weight of inevitability. "None of us can kill each other alone. If I don't make peace with Nian Shi, he will join forces with Yin and then, it will be difficult."
Yue Yun's eyes narrowed. "How do you know they haven't already formed an alliance?"