Chapter 60, "A Perfect Ending," marks the conclusion of the Demon Realm arc.
Demonic cultivators who had been hiding in the city occasionally peeked out; after all, the commotion just now was so great that it was hard to go unnoticed.
Upon seeing Xie Jitong lying lifeless amidst the rubble, their eyes betrayed nothing but schadenfreude. When their gaze shifted to the disheveled young girl, the surviving demonic cultivators in the city instinctively averted their eyes before even meeting hers.
After all, Xie Jitong's tragic fate was still fresh in their minds, and they didn't want to suffer the same end as him.
Ignoring the prying demonic cultivators, Gu Xiaozhu stood up, staggered a few steps, and after regaining her balance, turned to look at the three people lying lifeless in the yellow sand.
Golden light emanated from her eyes, and a semi-transparent book appeared before her. At the same time, the pain in her body intensified, and even her mouth and nose began to leak traces of crimson blood.
She didn't care about any of that; she would do anything to bring the three of them back.
【Host! 】
The system's voice arrived late, tinged with anxiety.
[Host, no...]
"Don't what?"
She spoke, her voice somewhat hollow, her golden eyes fixed intently on the ever-turning pages, as if searching for something.
"Don't make me go save them?"
She didn't give the system time to respond before saying her next sentence.
【But...you should know your physical condition better than anyone else right now!】
His voice rose, becoming urgent.
The reason you're still alive and standing here is entirely due to the power within you. If you used that power to save them, then you…!
The voice suddenly stopped, as if reluctant to speak:
You will die.
The translucent pages were still turning. Hearing this, Gu Xiaozhu remained silent for a moment, then finally sighed softly, as if in helplessness.
"I should understand."
【What? 】
The system's voice sounded somewhat puzzled.
"As the Heavenly Dao, as the being that maintains the order of this world, it should not have emotions."
The speed at which the pages were turned began to slow down.
"Only the ruthless laws of Heaven can maintain order."
The pages finally stopped turning, revealing the scene where Teng Shao and Jiang Zhihe encountered Xie Jitong after leaving the holy land.
She was also there at the time.
"You've always been good to me because I'm a god, the one who created you. That's why you value me more than anyone else, and of course... you'll only value me."
A phantom pen appeared in her hand. She lowered her eyes, held the pen in her right hand, and tried her best to control her hand from trembling. Finally, she slowly crossed out the three words "Xie Jitong" on the page.
[Host! No! Your life is the most important thing. We can wait until you retrieve the last fragment of your soul before rewriting your destiny!]
"So you don't care about other people's lives. As long as I can live, you can sacrifice anyone's life without hesitation."
The voices of one person and one voice overlapped at this moment, creating a huge rift between calm and anxious tones, and the air fell silent.
As Gu Xiaozhu spoke, she wrote something on the back of the book.
Her movements didn't falter at all, and her expression was frighteningly calm. If you ignored the cold sweat on her forehead and her still slightly trembling hands, anyone would think that she was completely unharmed.
"My memories have mostly returned, and half of the power I was supposed to have has come back. Do you really think I don't know what you mean?"
"Yes, the ending can be rewritten, fate can be changed, and even the dead can be brought back to life."
Her right hand suddenly lost strength, and the pen slipped from her fingertips and fell to the ground. She looked at her hand, which had suddenly begun to tremble violently, and lowered her eyebrows slightly.
"But they are different."
"They defied the laws, and in doing so, they are also bound by the power of those laws. Unlike the people of this world, they cannot be resurrected simply by rewinding time, no matter how long they have been dead. In other words, their situation is similar to mine back then."
Just as she was about to bend down to pick it up, an invisible force lifted the pen first and brought it to her eyes.
She looked at it for a few seconds, then finally reached out and took it.
"If their souls are not reunited within the stipulated time, they will truly die."
As she spoke, the pen glided across the pages, leaving lines of text. Finally, she finished writing the last word.
"If what you say is true, I will rewrite fate after I gather all the souls... Fate can be rewritten, but the three of them are no longer included."
"At that time, I really couldn't save them."
Her hand gripped the pen tightly, and her voice held a hint of bitterness: "You still want to sacrifice them... to save my life."
The system… no, the Heavenly Dao, after a moment of silence, finally spoke:
I know about your human emotions, but I don't understand them, and I never will.
But for me, regardless of whether I possess what you call feelings, you are the most important person to me.
His originally highly emotional voice gradually faded, eventually becoming an inorganic emptiness. But the last words he uttered carried an unusually profound and devout reverence:
You are a being beyond this world, the most precious existence.
Gu Xiaozhu remained silent, the pen in her hand hovering in the air, hesitant to fall. After a long while, she chuckled softly, her voice tinged with helplessness: "This is why I can't be cruel to you."
She couldn't be indifferent to someone who was wholeheartedly good to her, even though their beliefs were wrong, their concern for her was genuine.
"Don't worry, I won't die."
"After all, the world is not yet 'liberated'. If I die, this world will cease to exist."
The pen fell to the ground, and a period was written at the end of the last word on the page, symbolizing the end.
When the pages shone, her eyes, which had been filled with gloom, finally lit up, as if shooting stars had fallen into them, filled with heartfelt joy and hope.
The pages spilled out a golden glow, blending into the surrounding space. The world turned upside down, and in a daze, it seemed as if the ticking of a clock reversing its direction echoed in the sky.
Everything around her was rushing past her. She watched the three people who had been lying on the ground stand up and retreat; she saw the destroyed formation quickly recover and then disappear again; she saw the broken stones rise up and the cracked city wall be restored.
Xie Jitong, who lay dead by the city wall, vanished as starlight, as if he had never come into this world.
Gu Xiaozhu was the only one who was unaffected. She walked alone through the world of retrospection, from outside the city to inside the city, from inside the city to the Demon Palace, and finally to the outskirts of the Holy Land.
Along the way, she stared blankly at everything before her, at the streets gradually becoming bustling with people, at the ground where there was no more blood, at the demon palace with its doors wide open, and finally—
She saw two teenagers standing on the altar, having just emerged from the site of the inheritance.
"Clatter".
Time seemed to freeze at that moment; the joy on their faces from when they first emerged was still there, their expressions so vibrant, no longer... a deathly stillness.
A glistening liquid slid down her cheeks; this time, it wasn't crimson blood, but crystal-clear tears.
The bloodstains on his body quickly began to dissipate, and his previously disheveled appearance began to become neat and clean... as if none of the previous events had ever happened.
After confirming that there was no blood left on her body, she composed herself and then looked up.
She reached out her hand.
"Smack!"
A crisp snap of fingers echoed through the space, time began to flow again, and the conversation between Jiang Zhihe and Teng Shao could be faintly heard from above.
Gu Xiaozhu took a step forward, exerted all her strength, and then rushed into the arms of the boy in red.
The red hem of her dress fluttered in the air, carrying the boy's cool yet reassuring aura, enveloping her entirely.
Jiang Zhihe's face still showed surprise. The girl in his arms was hugging his waist tightly. Although he was a little confused, he still subconsciously reached out and hugged her, patting her back as if to comfort her.
"Xiaozhu?"
A boy's clear voice rang out from above, tinged with a hint of doubt.
The sensation in my hand was so real, and a wave of bittersweet emotion welled up inside me.
"No... I'm fine."
She spoke softly, then looked up and met the boy's slightly worried eyes, a smile blooming on her face: "I just feel happy to see you."
Although Jiang Zhihe was still completely confused, upon hearing this, the corners of his mouth involuntarily curled up:
"Xiaozhu, I'm so happy to see you too."
… …
Everything went very smoothly after that.
With Teng Shao inheriting the throne, the fallen demons in the Demon Palace were leaderless. Naturally, the other demons would support Teng Shao to become the new Demon Lord. With the help of the other demons, the fallen demons would naturally not be able to gain any advantage.
Since Teng Shao became the new Demon Lord, a grand ceremony was naturally to be held to mark his inauguration, as was customary. The remaining three then stayed in the city for a while longer. Meanwhile, Zhu Songyun, who had returned from outside the city at some unknown time, resumed her old profession—fortune telling.
Later, the three of them attended the ceremony together, and they sang songs while raising their glasses at the banquet.
Amidst a lively atmosphere of laughter and joy.
The Demon Realm arc has come to an end.
The pages of the book turned, recounting these scenes.
This is the ending she rewrote for them.
A...perfect ending.
… …
[Host, we can't afford to waste any more time; we must speed things up.]
The system's voice sounded in his ear. At this moment, its tone had returned to its previous emotional state, with anxiety in its voice.
Your health is deteriorating day by day. If this continues, you'll run out of the little strength you have left to maintain your body!
Gu Xiaozhu sat in the room, looking down at her arm. There were very abrupt golden cracks on her fair skin, just like cracked porcelain.
Hearing the system's words, she nodded, lowered her sleeve to cover her arm, and said, "I understand. Tomorrow... tomorrow we will leave the Demon Realm and go to the Boundless Sea."
"By the way, you didn't tell Ahe about me, did you?" she suddenly asked.
The system was taken aback: "No, I've kept my mouth shut!"
Upon hearing this, she frowned slightly: "Could it be my imagination?"
She felt that Jiang Zhihe had been acting strangely lately. Even though he seemed perfectly normal and no different from usual, she just felt something was off.
"Knock knock knock".
A knock sounded on the door, followed by a familiar young voice:
"Xiaozhu, are you there?"
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