The sparks are rekindled, and eternal night is about to fall.

The wind at the entrance to the Yellow Springs Ancient Road carried the decay and deathly stillness unique to the Burial Sands, blowing against Yun Zhiyu's blood-stained white hair. He tightly gripped the Rebirth Star Key, shaped like a twin lotus flower and radiating a warm white light, while his other hand pressed firmly against his chest, as if he wanted to press the dimly lit jade pendant into his heart.

Su Xiaolou stood beside him, silently taking a swig of wine. The spicy liquid couldn't dispel the solemnity between her brows. Although Xuan Chengzi's demonized figure had already fled, the eerie aura mixed with Taoist magic and demonic energy, as well as the terrifying power of the rules in the mirror world, lingered like a heavy gloom over her heart.

"We need to leave here as soon as possible," Su Xiaolou said hoarsely. "That old monster suffered a backlash and won't show himself for the time being, but although the scum of the Silent Shadow Sect and that ancient scorpion have been purified by the River of Rebirth, there's no guarantee there won't be other pursuers. And your body..."

Yun Zhiyu did not respond; his entire mind was focused on his body.

The power of the Rebirth Key, like warm spring water, flowed continuously into his nearly parched meridians, nourishing the hidden injuries left from the battle with the ancient scorpion's remains and mirror image, and more importantly, cleansing the restless, annihilating power in his left arm. A delicate tug-of-war between life and death formed within his body, bringing tearing pain, yet barely maintaining a precarious balance.

But more importantly, this boundless vitality is being continuously channeled into the jade pendant in his arms through some mysterious connection.

Inside the jade pendant, the wisp of glass flame that had been almost completely extinguished by Mo Xiaoyu's second soul-burning was rekindled under the nourishment of the power of rebirth, like a spark that had been reignited. It was extremely weak, yet it stubbornly shone a faint light once more! Although it still could not gather consciousness, the seed of life that represented the origin of life was preserved!

At the same time, the icy sword intent greedily absorbed the power of the Rebirth Star Key, becoming even more solid and sharp. Under the cleansing power of rebirth, the fragments of Xie Yunzhi's consciousness seemed to have been swept away of dust, becoming clearer. He could even vaguely sense that the core power of this Star Key, symbolizing "life" and "rebirth," shared a deep resonance with the creation and life blessing of the Star Spirit race's "Dream Weaver" within Mo Xiaoyu's bloodline.

The two star keys—"Enlightenment" and "Rebirth"—one guiding and purifying, the other nourishing and reviving, now resonated within his body and the jade pendant, forming a preliminary and stable triangular cycle. Yun Zhiyu could feel his power slowly but steadily recovering, even becoming purer than before his injury, and the suppression of the annihilating power in his left arm seemed to have eased somewhat.

Hope, like a candle flickering in the wind, is weak, yet it truly sways.

"Let's go." Yun Zhiyu finally spoke, his voice still hoarse, but with a hint of strength. He needed to find a safe place as soon as possible to completely refine the power of the Rebirth Star Key, stabilize Mo Xiaoyu's soul fire, and try to fully integrate the power of the two Star Keys.

Without further delay, the two, relying on Su Xiaolou's familiarity with Xuanmo and the cover provided by the Dream Weaving Technique, sped towards the outer edge of the Burial Sand Sea.

Shortly after they left.

The Northern Frontier, a land of desolation.

Time flows eerily fast here; one moment it's a frozen wasteland, the next it might be lush and green, only to wither and weather away just as quickly. The cycle of life is accelerated a thousandfold here, filled with a despairing sense of unpredictability.

At this moment, in the very center of the Desolate Time Domain, in an area where the temporal turbulence was most violent, and even light was being distorted and swallowed up, an anomaly occurred.

Xuan Chengzi (in his demonic form) appeared here, the demonic markings on half of his face flickering with unstable light, his aura somewhat disordered, clearly indicating that the backlash from the destruction of the mirror world was significant. However, his eyes were filled with fanaticism, and in his hands he held a fragment of the "Myriad Manifestations of the Netherworld Map," which exuded a strong sense of bloodlust and resentment.

On the tattered scroll, phantom images of various desolate places such as the Northern Wilderness, the Southern Spring of Youth, and the Ancient Yellow Spring Path of the Western Profound Desert appeared. Countless fragments of souls struggling in agony were forcibly extracted from these phantom images, turning into streams of gray-black energy that flowed into the tattered scroll.

"The time has come... Great Lord... Please accept this sacrifice of all souls and descend into this world!"

Xuan Chengzi (in demon form) let out a frenzied prayer and slammed the tattered scroll against the twisted earth beneath his feet!

Rumble—!!!

The entire Desolate Realm, no, the entire northern border of the world, trembled violently! The sky darkened at a visible speed, not as night fell, but as a pure darkness that devoured all light spread!

The darkness originated from the center of the desolate realm. It writhed and expanded like a living thing, forcibly smoothing out the turbulent flow of time wherever it passed. Instead of restoring order, it assimilated the flow into eternal stillness and nothingness! Grass, trees, rocks, and even space itself lost their color and vitality in the darkness, turning into the most basic particles and returning to death.

A pressure far more complete and terrifying than that emanating from the Starfall Scar, filled with the will to "end," rose slowly from the expanding darkness, like an ancient god awakening after billions of years of slumber!

Faintly visible in the boundless darkness, a pair of enormous, indifferent wings, composed of pure "annihilation" rules, are slowly unfurling! Beneath the wings, countless devoured and assimilated souls wail silently, forming the nourishment and foundation of this "avatar"!

Eternal night is about to fall!

...

Almost at the same time, Yun Zhiyu, who was trekking through the desert with Su Xiaolou, and Xie Yunzhi's consciousness within the jade pendant in his bosom, both felt a sudden pang of fear and looked up at the north in unison!

Despite being separated by thousands of miles, the tremor originating from their very souls, and the intense warning from the "Enlightenment" and "Rebirth" star keys, clearly told them—

The worst has happened!

The embodiment of "Silence" has fully awakened in the Northern Territory! It is no longer merely a passive scar from the Fallen Star, but a terrifying being with a clear will, actively devouring the world!

Yun Zhiyu stopped and looked at the ever-expanding darkness in the north, a sight that could be felt even in the Xuanmo Desert. He clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms, and blood dripped from between his fingers onto the pale bone sand.

Su Xiaolou also felt the suffocating pressure, and her face turned ashen: "Damn it... I was still a step too late..."

Just as hope was ignited, the eternal night of despair spread its wings.

Yun Zhiyu looked down at the warm white light in her hand and the faint spark of glass in the jade pendant in her bosom. All the sadness, confusion and pain in her eyes turned into steel after being tempered.

He took a deep breath and pressed the Rebirth Key close to the jade pendant. The warm white light mingled with the sparkling starlight, echoing the starlight of "Enlightenment," forming a stable halo around him.

“Go to the North.” His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable resolve.

Su Xiaolou looked at him, at this young man who carried so much yet never collapsed, and finally wiped her face hard: "Damn it! I'll risk my life for you! Let's go!"

Two figures, facing the gradually spreading atmosphere of eternal night, resolutely headed north, towards the final battlefield, beginning their final journey.

Though the spark is small, I am willing to burn myself to illuminate the eternal night.