I, the Chaos Being, joined the chat group at the start.

Because it was just a little bit of dark matter, it caused Liu Shen immense pain. Her physical body was cracking and her primordial spirit was disintegrating. If this continued and the dark matter was not removed, Liu Shen would have already perished.

Even their original sanity was swallowed by darkness, turning them into complete killing machines of darkness.

Liu Shen had known this would be the outcome all along, and watched Xu Yi complete all of this with immense pain.

“Liu Shen, you have your reasons. But I will not give up seeking the truth,” Xu Yi said.

“I know, but one day when you really find the truth, will you have enough resolve to face it? Perhaps that truth isn’t what you’re looking for!” Liu Shen asked.

"What do you mean?" Xu Yi frowned.

Clearly, Liu Shen did not answer.

"Little Stone, is he really dead?" Xu Yi asked again.

“Xiao Shi is doing well,” Liu Shen said.

"That's good." Xu Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

For the next few years, Xu Yi and Liu Shen stayed in this small world, not going anywhere, living a life of their own.

Xu Yi did not give up on purifying the dark matter on Liu Shen's body, but he changed his approach.

Just like becoming an immortal in the mortal world, Xu Yi and Liu Shen tempered themselves in the mortal world, using the way of nature to improve their own Daoist charm and state of mind, analyzing the origin of primordial matter and reversing its original state.

This method had some effect. Over the next few hundred to a thousand years, the dark origin on Liu Shen's body was indeed reduced. Rather than being reduced, it was essentially reversed into her own Great Dao origin, which made Liu Shen's strength even greater!

Over these thousands of years, the Willow Goddess has let go of the past.

She seemed to have forgotten that she was once a top-tier immortal king, a peerless immortal emperor, and instead transformed into an ordinary woman living in the mortal world, far away from the hustle and bustle of the outside world.

Ten thousand years later, the dark matter on Liu Shen's body miraculously disappeared, and Liu Shen returned to her original self, her Dao heart and primordial spirit pure and flawless, making it difficult to see the dark matter again. This was simply a miracle.

Throughout the history of the heavens, no fallen immortal emperor has ever been able to return to his original state.

But a strange thing happened: Liu Shen, who was already in her normal state as an Immortal Emperor, turned white-haired overnight, her vitality dimmed, and her lifespan suddenly decreased to less than a hundred years.

For a Celestial Emperor, lifespan is endless.

Even if all the heavens and myriad realms collapse, the Immortal Emperor can still remain immortal and indestructible, but now the Willow God has indeed run out of lifespan.

Even though Xu Yi channeled life energy into her, Liu Shen's lifespan remained frozen, unable to increase, and could only continue to decrease.

"Why is this happening?" Xu Yi looked at Liu Shen, whose head was full of silver hair, beside him.

"Although the primordial substance was purified, it had been integrated with me for many years. It disappeared, taking with it my lifespan," Willow God replied.

"Impossible, you are still an Immortal Emperor. How could an Immortal Emperor have a lifespan limit?" Xu Yi did not believe this explanation.

“Primordial matter is the power above the sacrificial path, and the laws of the Immortal Emperor are useless to the power above the sacrificial path,” Liu Shen said frankly.

Seeing Liu Shen's composure, Xu Yi considered a possibility and questioned her:

"Did you already know this would happen, Willow Goddess?"

"Yes." Liu Shen nodded.

"Why didn't you stop me?" Xu Yi asked, his emotions running high, even filled with regret.

“I know I can’t stop you, and these ten thousand years have truly been the most beautiful time of my life. I wish I could stay here forever,” Willow God replied.

Xu Yi remained silent. His arrogance had harmed Liu Shen. He had thought his strength was enough to fear nothing in the heavens, that he was omnipotent and could solve all suffering, but in the end, was this still the case?

"You don't need to blame yourself, Xu Yi. I should thank you, thank you for everything you've done." Liu Shen smiled slightly.

"I will never let you die," Xu Yi promised.

No matter the cost, he would ensure that Liu Shen lived.

……

Chapter 434 The Willow Goddess Passes Away, All Heavens Grieve

The nameless small world of the heavens.

Liu Shen, having been tempered in the mortal world and with Xu Yi's full help, purified the dark matter. However, the primordial matter possessed power surpassing that of an Immortal Emperor. After this power disappeared, Liu Shen, who was at the Immortal Emperor level, lost her lifespan, leaving her with less than a hundred years.

Moreover, even taking rare and precious herbs that extend lifespan and elixirs of immortality is useless.

Unless the power above the sacrificial path intervenes, the Willow God will die from exhaustion of lifespan.

Knowing that she would soon perish, Liu Shen remained remarkably calm.

Looking at the Willow God before him, Xu Yi felt guilty. If he hadn't insisted on taking the Willow God away, perhaps the Willow God wouldn't have perished. In that case, it would have been better to have killed the Dark Willow God directly in the first place.

"Willow Goddess, is there anything else you wish for? I will grant it no matter what," Xu Yi said.

Willow God shook her head. "In my life, I have lived through countless eras, seen too many people and things, witnessed the changing of the world, and have no regrets."

"This period has actually been the most peaceful time of my life!"

"Xu Yi, stay with me during these last moments of my life!"

"Okay," Xu Yi agreed.

Over the next few years, Xu Yi took Liu Shen on a journey through countless worlds, where they saw the ruins left behind by numerous great battles, the strange and wondrous objects of the heavens, and all sorts of landscapes.

For them, a century is but a fleeting moment.

In her final years, Liu Shen's vitality grew weaker and weaker, and her appearance aged, like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.

Xu Yi was in extreme pain and had mixed feelings as he witnessed all of this.

He thought that if he could break through to the level of the Sacrifice Path, he might be able to reverse the state of the Willow God.

Unfortunately, a hundred years is simply not enough time to break through, and he didn't want to cultivate during Liu Shen's last days.

Several more years passed, and on this day, the day of the Willow Goddess's death finally arrived. She lay under a willow tree, her body emaciated, her breathing extremely slow, her eyes fixed on the sky, as if she didn't even have the strength to speak.

Xu Yi channeled his own essence into Liu Shen, allowing her to leave without pain.

"I didn't expect that when the time to leave would actually come, I would feel a little reluctant," Liu Shen said.

“Yes, when faced with life and death, no one can calmly cope. Throughout history, countless geniuses have gone astray because they could not overcome the challenge of life and death,” Xu Yi sighed.

"Willow God, you will return when I break through to the Dao of Sacrifice."

Xu Yi assured him that the Immortal Emperor could reflect the heavens, revive people and things from the past, even an era or a piece of ancient history.

Unfortunately, the situation of the Willow Goddess is special and cannot be reflected.

"Was I still myself back then?" Liu Shen asked.

Xu Yi remained silent. Whether it was a reflection of the heavens or some other method of resurrection, at the moment of true resurrection, would that person still be the same as before? Perhaps it was just a projection of the past, or something else entirely.

“It’s you.” Xu Yi grasped Liu Shen’s hand, his gaze firm and unwavering.

Liu Shen smiled, her pale lips slightly parted, she uttered a word without making a sound, then collapsed into Xu Yi's arms, leaving this world with a smile.

At this moment, heaven and earth were silent, time and space stood still, and a thunderclap resounded throughout the myriad realms.

Xu Yi remained silent, but his heart was churning with turbulent waves and endless storms. This emotion directly reflected the entire universe, filled with pain and rage!

boom!

The heavens and myriad realms trembled and teetered on the brink of collapse. Countless great realms were affected by this emotional force and vanished like bubbles.

Now, in the past, and in the future, many timelines have felt this immense power, and their expressions are filled with awe.

Having spent millennia together and a century as companions, Xu Yi had long since developed feelings for Liu Shen that went beyond friendship.

The same was true for Liu Shen; however, in the end, neither of them dared to break through the final barrier.

Liu Shen knew that Xu Yi had too many female confidantes.

Therefore, Liu Shen kept this feeling buried in her heart until her death, and finally took it with her when she left this world.

She is unique and irreplaceable.

Xu Yi knew this, which is why he felt even more pain and self-blame after his death.

“I told you, I will resurrect you, Willow Goddess.”

Xu Yi crafted a coffin for Liu Shen and placed her inside.

Although her lifespan had come to an end, Xu Yi still used a heaven-defying forbidden technique to forcibly retain Liu Shen's primordial spirit, sealing a wisp of her essence within her physical body.

As long as Xu Yi continues to nourish this wisp of origin with the essence of the sacrificial path, it will never perish. When Xu Yi breaks through to the sacrificial path in the future, he can revive it. At that time, the Willow God will still be the Willow God, not a projection!

For the next ten thousand years, Xu Yi stayed in this small world and did not leave.

It wasn't until ten thousand years later, when the aura of an Immortal Emperor reappeared in all the heavens and myriad realms, that Xu Yi was awakened.

He raised his hand to refine this world, carrying it with him at all times.

They teleported to the place where the new Immortal Emperor was born, which was the world of Shrouding the Heavens.

For ten thousand years, without any strange invasions, the entire Shrouding the Heavens universe has continued to evolve, and its scale has long surpassed the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths of the Immortal Ancient Era, and the Immortal Realm!

Over these ten thousand years, many true immortals and numerous immortal kings have been born in the Shrouding the Heavens universe.

Like the Stone Emperor, the lord of the Undying Mountain who once submitted to him, he finally cultivated to the Immortal King realm!

The rising star Yan Ruyu also cultivated to the Immortal King realm, reaching this level even faster than her ancestor, the Azure Emperor, thanks in no small part to the help of the Great Dao Chat Group.

However, Yan Ruyu's talent cannot be denied; she also has the assistance of the Great Dao Chat Group.