I want to tread the heavens

The teleportation channel was supposed to be a straight tunnel of light.

In normal interstellar teleportation, cultivators enter a channel stably enveloped by the laws of space, speeding towards their destination at a speed exceeding that of light. The flow of time within the channel is one ten-thousandth of that outside, and the spatial structure is like an intricately woven brocade—smooth, stable, and secure.

But at this moment, the passage where Yue Rong was holding Ling Xiao was collapsing.

It wasn't a slow collapse, but rather like glass struck by a heavy hammer, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading wildly in all directions from the weakest point. Wherever the cracks passed, the spatial structure was like torn cloth, revealing the violent, chaotic, and destructive void turbulence behind it.

"Oh no..."

Yue Rong's expression changed drastically.

Although he only had three days left to live, his Golden Immortal-level knowledge remained. There was only one possibility for the current situation—the starting anchor point of the teleportation array, the core array eye of the Heavenly Palace, was completely destroyed at the last moment after the teleportation was completed.

Without the stability of the initial anchor point, the transmission channel becomes like a rootless duckweed.

Even more terrifying is that the collapse of the passage will release a terrifying spatial tearing force, enough to rip a True Immortal-level cultivator to shreds. Even a Golden Immortal, caught off guard and swept in, would likely meet a grim fate.

The baby in his arms, Ling Xiao, was less than three months old.

"Protect!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Yue Rong tightly hugged the baby in his arms to his chest, then curled up with his back to the outside, using his forcibly condensed golden light and shadow body to completely envelop Ling Xiao.

Almost at the same moment—

boom!!!!

The teleportation tunnel was completely destroyed.

Yue Rong had never experienced anything so terrifying.

It was neither simple darkness nor pure light, but a complete chaos of color, sound, touch, temperature, time, space... all sensory concepts and physical laws.

Just a moment ago, he felt as if he were being slowly tortured by countless invisible knives, each cut penetrating deep into his bones and severing his soul.

The next moment, it was as if he had been thrown into a furnace, where his flesh, bones, and soul melted, boiled, and vaporized in the high temperature.

The next moment, it was as if I was frozen in absolute zero, even the flow of my thoughts was frozen.

But that's not the worst part.

The most terrifying thing is the chaos of "time".

Yue Rong watched helplessly as the skin on his left hand rapidly aged, wrinkled, dried up, and turned to ashes, while his right hand grew in the opposite direction, degenerating from an adult's palm into a baby's delicate hand, then from a baby into an embryo-like lump of flesh, and finally into a shapeless mass of protoplasm.

The scene that his left eye saw was the image of himself when he had just condensed this body three days ago.

The scene he saw with his right eye, however, was that three days later, he would be utterly destroyed and completely vanish.

Past, present, and future are brutally mixed together in the turbulent flow of time and space, losing their boundaries, their order, and their meaning.

"We must not...get lost..."

Yue Rong gritted his teeth—if he still had any.

His consciousness was being eroded by this chaos, and fragments of his memories were flying around his mind like fallen leaves scattered by a gale.

He saw the purple lightning bolt that Ling Zhan used to cleave through the turbulent flow of time and space in the Burial God Starfield three hundred years ago.

He saw the words Ling Zhan had said when he stood in front of him at the Heavenly Rift Abyss defense line 280 years ago: "Anyone who touches my brothers will die."

He saw that not long ago, Su Yingxue stood at the center of the formation, and when she looked back, there was a resolute tenderness in her eyes.

He saw Ling Zhan bow deeply as he entrusted the baby to him.

"Young...Master..."

Yue Rong looked down at his chest.

Then, his heart sank to the bottom.

The golden light enveloping Ling Xiao was thinning at a visible rate.

The temporal turbulence was frantically eroding his body, constantly consuming his dwindling life force. At this rate, the light and shadow would completely dissipate in at most another hundred breaths.

At that time, Ling Xiao, exposed to the turbulence, will be torn into the most basic particles in an instant, without even a chance to be reincarnated.

"No……"

A look of madness flashed in Yue Rong's eyes.

He cannot die.

At least, I can't die now.

He must not die before he safely delivers the young master to the old land!

"Awesome!"

Yue Rong roared and formed a forbidden hand seal with his hands.

He has only used this hand seal twice in the past three hundred years.

The first time was when he was being hunted by the Resentful Demon God in the Burial God Starfield. He escaped using the Blood Burning Secret Technique, at the cost of losing three thousand years of his lifespan.

The second time was at the Heavenly Palace just now, where he used the Soul-Burning Secret Technique to kill three Demon Generals, at the cost of three days of his life and eternal damnation.

And now, this is the third time.

"With my blood, with my soul, with my very existence, I offer this sacrifice—"

Yue Rong's voice echoed through the chaotic space-time, yet remained exceptionally clear:

"Let's borrow a glimmer of hope from time and space itself!"

"Burn blood! Burn soul! Burn away all the karma of this body!"

"Just for—"

"Protect this child!"

boom--!!!

Yue Rong's golden body of light and shadow burst into flames.

That was no ordinary flame; it was "existence" itself burning. With each passing moment of burning, the traces he left in this world faded a little, his memories became a little more blurred, and his past, present, and future all turned to ashes in the flames.

In return, a golden light shield, ten times stronger than before, firmly protected him and Ling Xiao within it.

The erosion of the spacetime turbulence has been temporarily blocked.

The price was that his life was shortened from three days to one day.

During the burning process, Yue Rong saw many scenes.

Those were his memories that were about to be erased, proof that he had ever existed in this world.

Scene 1: First Encounter

Three hundred years ago, deep within the Burial God Starfield.

Young Yue Rong lay prone on a hill piled high with the remains of gods and demons, his eyes fixed on the Burial God Flower about to bloom. His gaze was fiery and greedy, yet also carried the unique vigilance and resolve of a rogue cultivator.

As long as he can obtain this flower, he can break through to the Golden Immortal realm and escape the suffering of a rogue cultivator.

He moved, transforming into a streak of blood as he rushed toward the Burial God Flower.

Then, the Burial God Flower opened its eyes.

The giant hand of the Demon God of Resentment reached out from the spatial rift, and the shadow of death enveloped him.

Just as he closed his eyes in despair, a bolt of purple lightning cleaved through the darkness.

A young man dressed in dark black armor descended from the sky, the tip of his spear still shimmering with lingering lightning.

"Can you still move?"

The young man asked, his voice calm, yet carrying an undeniable authority.

Yue Rong stared blankly at him, at the man who had descended like a god in his most desperate moment, at his deep, star-like eyes.

At that moment, Yue Rong knew that his life belonged to this person from then on.

Scene 2: Sworn Brotherhood

On a shattered star at the edge of the Burial God Starfield.

Yue Rong knelt on the ground, using his own blood to inscribe the Blood Soul Oath, vowing to follow him for eternity.

Ling Zhan helped him up and said, "In my life, I, Ling Zhan, have no servants, only brothers."

Then, Ling Zhan took out the Nine-Turn Thunder Tribulation Pill from his pocket and put it into his hand:

"If you ever reach the Golden Immortal realm, you may come to the Purple Jade Star Domain to find me."

Yue Rong held the still-warm pill in his hand, watching Ling Zhan's departing figure, his tiger-like eyes filled with tears.

From that day on, he had an older brother.

I have someone I'd give everything for.

Scene 3: Sky Rift Abyss

Two hundred and eighty years ago, the Tianlieyuan Defense Line.

Yue Rong's left arm was severed by the Shadow Demon Lord, his right chest was pierced, and his immortal soul was corroded by a deadly poison. He collapsed in a pool of blood, watching the pitch-black dagger pierce his brow.

He was unwilling to accept it, but he was powerless to do anything about it.

Then, a purple spear was placed in front of the dagger.

Ling Zhan, covered in blood and with shattered armor, still stood tall, shielding him.

"Anyone who harms my brothers shall die."

Three shots, and the Shadow Demon Lord fell.

Ling Zhan knelt down and clumsily bandaged his wound, saying:

"We're brothers, no need for thanks."

"You have a childlike heart, and that's enough."

"If your cultivation level is weak, you can practice; if your realm is low, you can cultivate. But if your heart is corrupted, then there is truly no hope."

"You are very good, better than 99% of the people in all the heavens and myriad realms."

"So stop saying stupid things that will drag us down."

"You're my brother, and you always will be."

Yue Rong nodded vigorously, engraving those words into his very bones and the depths of his soul.

Scene 4: The Last Drink

One year ago, at the Tianqiong Palace Observatory.

Ling Zhan and Su Yingxue stood side by side, gazing at the auspicious purple river in the distance.

Yue Rong walked over with a wine pot and filled the two of them's cups.

"Uncle Rong, please sit down," Su Yingxue said with a smile.

Yue Rong shook his head: "I'll just stand."

"There's no garrison commander here, no princess, no left vanguard general," Ling Zhan pulled him down to sit. "Only my elder brother, sister-in-law, and brothers."

That night, the three of them drank wine under the moon and talked a lot.

We talked about the past, the present, and the future.

We talked about the baby who is due in three months.

"If it's a boy, name him Xiao," Ling Zhan said, "like me, brave and skilled in battle."

"If it's a girl, name her Xue (Snow)," Su Yingxue said, "like me, intelligent and quick-witted."

Yue Rong laughed loudly: "What if it's a man and a woman?"

Ling Zhan and Su Yingxue exchanged a glance and smiled simultaneously.

"Then I'll take them all!"

Laughter echoed through the starry sky, warm as spring.

That was the most beautiful night in Yue Rong's memory.

Yes, it was the last night.

The burning continues.

Memories are fading.

Yue Rong felt that his memories of Ling Zhan were becoming blurred. That face, that voice, those scenes of fighting side by side, were all turning to ashes in the flames.

But he doesn't care.

Because what he cares about is not the past, but the present.

Instead, it was the child in his arms who needed his protection.

Yue Rong looked down at Ling Xiao in his arms.

Then, he froze.

Because in such a terrifying spatial-temporal turbulence, in the chaos of laws that even a Golden Immortal could hardly withstand, this infant, less than three months old, actually... had his eyes open.

It wasn't crying or fear, but calmness.

An almost eerie calm.

Those eyes, as pure as crystal, were quietly watching the chaotic space-time around them, watching the distorted colors, the broken images, and the disordered flow of time.

What shocked Yue Rong even more was that the jade pendant around Ling Xiao's neck was now emitting a soft light.