I want to tread the heavens

"Xiao'er—!!!"

Ling Zhan turned around, looked at the infant who was about to disappear in the formation, and let out the most heart-wrenching roar since the start of the battle.

In that roar, there was a father's reluctance to part with his child, a husband's guilt towards his wife, the grief of the living for the dead, and also...

A fragment of memory finally broke through the fog.

He remembered.

I remembered that woman with snow-white hair, her gentle smile, and her parting words, "Live well."

I remembered her name.

Su Yingxue.

His wife, his beloved wife, the wife he was willing to protect with everything.

Then, he remembered more.

He thought of the child in her womb, the name they had chosen for the child together, and how she touched her belly and said, "Xiao'er will definitely be like you, a strong and upright man."

He remembered... her final, resolute gaze, and that whispered sentence, erased by the laws of nature, but which he now finally recalled:

"Zhan, I'm sorry. This time, it's my turn to protect you."

"Reflecting Snow..."

Blood tears streamed down Ling Zhan's face.

He remembered, he remembered everything.

However, it's too late.

She died—no, she vanished, she was completely erased from this world.

Even the image of her in his memory is rapidly blurring and fading away.

Do not!

He mustn't forget!

Never forget the woman he loved so deeply! Never forget the woman who gave everything for him!

"In the name of Ling Zhan, with the bloodline of the Ling clan as my guide, and with my Great Luo Dao Fruit as my sacrifice—"

Ling Zhan roared to the sky, his voice filled with a mad, desperate rage:

"To all the heavens and myriad realms, to all existence, I make an eternal vow—"

"I will never forget Su Yingxue!"

"I will never forget my wife, the mother of my children, the only person I have ever loved in my life!"

"If I break this oath, may my Dao fruit shatter, my bloodline wither, my soul be condemned to eternal damnation, and I suffer all the pains of the world, never to be reborn!"

The moment the vow was fulfilled, a bloody gash appeared between Ling Zhan's brows.

That is the mark of an "eternal oath," once made, it can never be broken, nor can it ever be erased.

The price was that his Dao Fruit developed an irreversible crack, and his cultivation would be forever stuck there, with no possibility of further progress.

But he doesn't care.

He was willing to pay any price as long as he could not forget her.

"madman……"

The Gluttonous Demon Lord looked at the bloodstain between Ling Zhan's eyebrows, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes.

The oath of eternity is a forbidden vow that even the Dao Ancestor dared not easily make. Because once it is made, it is truly eternal and cannot be broken. Even through reincarnation, even if the soul is scattered, the vow will follow you like a bone-deep infection.

This human, in order not to forget a woman, actually...

Is it worth it?

The Gluttonous Demon King couldn't help but ask.

"worth."

Ling Zhan wiped away the blood and tears from his face and smiled:

"Because she deserves it."

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his gun again.

This time, the lightning on the gun was tinged with a faint silver.

That's the color of starlight.

It's Su Yingxue's color.

"This shot is called 'Thunderous Starfall'."

Ling Zhan spoke softly, as if speaking to someone he couldn't see:

"It was you who gave me the name, I've always remembered it."

The gun is fired.

Lightning and starlight merged, transforming into a purple-silver pillar of light that pierced the heavens and earth, erupting towards the Gluttonous Demon Lord.

This shot burned away all of Ling Zhan's remaining Dao foundation, burned away all of his life essence, burned away everything he... existed.

It was the real, final shot.

Unsuccessful, they become benevolent.

No, whether he succeeds or not, he is doomed to die.

But that's enough.

The pillar of light engulfed the Gluttonous Demon Lord's towering demonic body, swallowed all the demons surging in from the entrance of the array, and swallowed... the entire collapsing Heavenly Palace.

At the moment the pillar of light erupted, the light from the teleportation array finally reached its peak.

The infant and Yue Rong in the formation completely blurred and disappeared into the distorted space.

"Xiao'er, be happy..."

Ling Zhan took one last look in the direction where the teleportation array disappeared, a gentle smile playing on his lips.

Then, he closed his eyes, opened his arms, and faced the all-consuming purple-silver pillar of light.

The light engulfed him.

It swallowed everything up.

Within the teleportation channel, time and space lose their meaning.

Holding the baby, Yue Rong darted through the distorted stream of light. He could feel his forcibly formed body rapidly disintegrating; in half a day at most, it would completely vanish.

But he doesn't care.

He looked down at the baby in his arms.

The little guy slept soundly despite the jolting of the teleportation, his face serene, as if nothing in the outside world mattered to him.

Yue Rong's gaze fell on the jade pendant around the baby's neck.

The jade pendant was now emitting a warm glow, forming a thin protective shield around the baby, isolating it from all dangers within the teleportation channel.

Suddenly, the jade pendant vibrated.

Then, a faint silver light drifted out from the jade pendant and condensed into a blurry female phantom in front of Yue Rong.

Although the image was blurry, Yue Rong recognized her at a glance.

"Big...Sister-in-law..."

Yue Rong's voice choked with emotion.

Su Yingxue's illusory figure nodded, then looked down at the baby, her eyes filled with tenderness and reluctance.

She didn't speak—because she could no longer speak. Her existence had been erased; it was a miracle that this remnant soul had survived.

But she reached out and gently touched the jade pendant around the baby's neck.

hum-

The jade pendant shone brightly, and two lines of fine ancient seal script appeared on its surface:

"When yin and yang unite, marriage is ordained by heaven."

"May the Ling family, whose stars have fallen, be united in heart forever."

Yue Rong was startled.

He remembered the letter Ling Zhan had slipped into the baby's swaddling clothes, and the "marriage contract" mentioned in the letter.

It turns out that this jade pendant was not only a token of one's lineage, not only a protective charm, but also...

A token of a marriage contract made in childhood.

The jade pendants were originally a pair, one yin and one yang, one star and one thunder. Ling Zhan held the yang pendant, which represented thunder; the one around the baby's neck was the yin pendant, which represented star.

When the Yin and Yang pendants meet, they will sense and resonate with each other.

The one wearing the Yin pendant is Ling Xiao, the young master of the Ling family.

The one wearing the Yang Pendant is Ling Xiao's fiancée, the partner chosen for him by the Starfall Clan.

This is a pact made between the Starfall Clan and the Ling Clan as early as 30,000 years ago. It is the last effort made by the two clans to continue their bloodline and to fight against their destiny.

"So..." Yue Rong stared at Su Yingxue's illusory figure, his voice trembling, "Young Master...his fate was already predetermined?"

Su Yingxue's illusory figure nodded, then shook her head.

She pointed to the baby, then to the endless void, and then clasped her hands together in a prayer gesture.

Yue Rong understood.

This marriage is an arrangement, a contract, and a responsibility.

But whether or not to fulfill the obligation, and how to fulfill it, is Ling Xiao's own choice.

The Starfall Clan and the Ling Clan provided the starting point and the direction, but how to walk the path and where to go was Ling Xiao's own business.

"I see."

Yue Rong nodded emphatically:

"I will protect the young master as he grows up and will tell him everything. As for this marriage... it's up to him to decide."

Su Yingxue's illusory figure smiled, a very gentle smile.

Then, she reached out to touch the baby's face, but her hand stopped just before it touched him.

Because she was afraid, afraid that the nothingness in her hands would hurt the child.

Finally, she simply gazed deeply at the baby, as if trying to etch that little face forever into the depths of her soul—even though she herself no longer had a soul.

The illusory image vanished and disappeared back into the jade pendant.

The jade pendant's luster dimmed as a result.

Yue Rong held the baby tightly, feeling the warmth of the little life in his arms and the faint yet firm heartbeat.

"Young Master, don't worry."

He spoke softly, as if to a baby, and also as if to himself:

"With Uncle Rong here, the sky won't fall down."

Even if the sky really does fall...

"Uncle Rong will also be there to support you."

At the end of the teleportation channel, a glimmer of light appeared.

That's the exit.

It is old soil.

They are new students.

Yes, it's a new beginning.

Yue Rong took a deep breath, hugged the baby tightly, and rushed towards the faint light.

Behind them, in the long-collapsed Purple Starfield, in the ruins swallowed by eternal darkness, a faint purple-silver light flickered gently in the void.

Like a final farewell.

It is also like an eternal vigil.