I want to tread the heavens

Ling Zhan stood amidst the ruins of the core array eye of the Heavenly Palace, the Nine Heavens Thunder Strike Spear still dripping with golden Dao blood in his hand.

He had lost count of how many demons he had killed.

One hundred? One thousand? Ten thousand?

Can not remember.

My mind was a blank, like a wasteland shrouded in thick fog, with occasional fragmented images flashing by—purple lightning, silver starlight, a blurry smiling face, a gentle call…

But he couldn't remember what those were.

I can't remember whose smiling face it was, or whose name it was calling.

All he knew was that he had to protect the teleportation array.

The sleeping baby inside the formation must be protected.

Why...?

Ling Zhan looked down at his trembling hands and muttered to himself:

Why should I protect him?

"who is he?"

"And who am I?"

There is no answer.

Only one deep-seated instinct screamed: Protect him! Protect him with your life! Even if it costs everything, even if it means falling into the deepest abyss, we must let him leave this place alive!

"Governor! The eastern defensive line has been breached!"

A blood-soaked figure rushed into the center of the formation. It was the last guard captain of the Heavenly Vault Palace, an old subordinate who had followed Ling Zhan for eight hundred years. At this moment, this peak True Immortal expert's left arm was severed at the shoulder, and his right eye was a bloody hole, yet he still stood tall.

"Three demon generals are leading 30,000 demon troops in! They'll reach the core area in no more than thirty breaths!"

Ling Zhan raised his head, the confusion in his eyes instantly vanishing, replaced by a chilling killing intent.

"Thirty breaths..."

He looked at the teleportation array.

The light within the formation was already ninety percent lit, and the spatial distortion was growing stronger. In at most ten more breaths, the formation would be fully activated, teleporting the infant within to some unknown distant place.

"Ten breaths," Ling Zhan said. "Hold on for ten breaths."

"Yes, sir!"

The captain of the guards turned and rushed out, leading the last three hundred heavenly soldiers who were still standing, forming the final defensive line at the entrance of the formation.

Ling Zhan did not move.

He simply stood there, looking down at the baby in the teleportation array.

The child was very small and fragile, his eyes closed, his breathing shallow and even. A jade pendant hung around his neck, emitting a warm glow that shone in harmony with the light from the teleportation array.

Looking at the jade pendant, Ling Zhan's heart suddenly ached sharply.

It seems... I've forgotten something very important.

Forgot something... someone very important.

"who……"

He reached out his hand, wanting to touch the jade pendant, but stopped just before he could.

Because of a figure, who stumbled and rushed into the center of the formation.

It is Yue Rong.

Or rather, it was Yue Rong's last remaining image.

His body was so transparent as to be almost invisible, with only a barely discernible human outline. With each step he took, the outline blurred further, as if it might completely dissipate into the air at any moment.

"Big...brother..."

Yue Rong's voice was weak, like a candle flickering in the wind, yet it still carried that familiar, brotherly warmth that Ling Zhan knew all too well.

"Uncle Rong?!"

Ling Zhan was startled and rushed over to help him, but his hand passed right through the illusory figure.

"Don't waste your energy... I'm about to... disappear completely..."

Yue Rong smiled, a smile that appeared particularly ethereal against his transparent face:

"But before I disappear... I have to finish... one last thing..."

He struggled to raise his hand, pointing to the baby in the teleportation array:

"That child...is the young master...is it you and..."

He was halfway through his sentence when Yue Rong suddenly froze.

Because he saw the confusion in Ling Zhan's eyes.

It was a completely unfamiliar sense of bewilderment, as if... Ling Zhan didn't remember who this child was, why he needed to protect him, or anything else...

all.

"Big brother...you..." Yue Rong's voice trembled, "You don't remember? Don't you remember sister-in-law? Don't you remember the young master? Don't you remember..."

"Sister-in-law?" Ling Zhan frowned, trying hard to remember. "Who is sister-in-law? And who is the young master? Why should I protect him?"

Yue Rong felt as if struck by lightning.

He got it.

I understand everything now.

The forbidden formation that Su Yingxue activated not only erased her own existence, but also... erased all traces of her existence.

This includes traces in Ling Zhan's memory.

So Ling Zhan forgot.

He forgot his beloved wife, forgot his unborn child, forgot everything related to her.

But the instinct remains.

The instinct to love deeply, the instinct to protect, the instinct to do anything to keep the people she cherishes alive.

So Ling Zhan is still fighting, still protecting, even though he no longer remembers who he is protecting.

"Heh...hehe..."

Yue Rong laughed, but his laughter was more like a grimace:

"Sister-in-law...you even...thought of this...?"

"You even foresaw that your older brother would forget you..."

"So... that's why you let me... live until now..."

Yes, Yue Rong should have disappeared completely the moment the Soul Burning Secret Technique was completed.

But he didn't.

A silver starlight protected his last bit of true spirit, allowing his afterimage to remain until now.

Now he understood; it was a backup plan left by Su Yingxue.

She wanted Yue Rong to become the one who "remembers everything" after Ling Zhan had completely forgotten him.

Be the one who fulfills the final entrustment.

"Big brother."

Yue Rong's voice suddenly became extremely serious, even though his figure was so blurred that he was almost invisible:

"Listen carefully, I'll only say it once."

"The child in the formation is named Ling Xiao, and he is your son."

"His mother, Su Yingxue, was your beloved wife. To save you, she activated a forbidden formation, at the cost of erasing her own existence and... erasing your memories of her."

"So you don't remember her, you don't remember the child. But your instincts remember, your heart remembers."

"Now, the Heavenly Palace is about to be destroyed, and the Demon Clan will soon invade. You must send this child away to a place called 'Old Land.' It is the last lawless land in all the heavens and myriad realms, the only place that can shield the Demon Emperor's senses."

"You can't do it, because you have to stay behind to cover the retreat and buy some last bit of time for the teleportation."

"so--"

Yue Rong's figure was so transparent that he was almost invisible, but his voice was exceptionally clear:

"let me."

"Let me take the young master to the old land."

"Let me... fulfill my sister-in-law's last request."

Ling Zhan stared blankly at Yue Rong, at this brother he clearly didn't remember, yet whose heart was filled with endless sorrow.

His instincts told him to trust this person.

His heart told him that this was the only option.

"it is good."

Ling Zhan nodded emphatically, his voice hoarse:

"Please, brother..."

He paused.

Because he suddenly couldn't remember the person's name.

Just a moment ago I knew, just a moment ago I was calling out, but in that instant, that name vanished without a trace, like sand slipping through my fingers.

"My name is Yue Rong."

The phantom smiled, a warm smile:

"He is your brother, brother of three hundred years."

"It's so good to have met you in this lifetime."

"Let's be brothers again in the next life."

"must."

As soon as he finished speaking, the phantom image vanished completely.

But at the point where it dissipated, a faint golden light appeared, then quickly coalesced into a nearly transparent, yet real, golden figure.

The ultimate secret of the Soul-Burning Technique—forcibly reshaping "existence" at the cost of the last bit of true spirit in exchange for three days of life.

Three days later, his soul and spirit were annihilated, and he would never be reincarnated.

But three days is enough.

That's enough for him to take the young master through the teleportation array and arrive at the old land.

That's enough for him to complete his final mission.

"Yue Rong..."

Ling Zhan looked at the golden figure and murmured the name.

Then, he rushed towards the teleportation array.

The activation of the formation had reached a critical moment, and the infant in the center of the formation seemed to sense something and opened its eyes.

Those were eyes as pure as crystal, reflecting Ling Zhan's blood-stained face.

"Xiao'er..."

Ling Zhan reached out and gently stroked the baby's cheek.

The movements were clumsy and stiff, clearly indicating that they had never done this before.

But she is very gentle.

Her gentleness brought tears to Yue Rong's eyes, who was watching from the side.

"Dad might... not be able to be there for you as you grow up."

Ling Zhan's voice was very soft, so soft that only he himself could hear it:

"But I promise you, I will make sure you live."

"Definitely."

He took a letter from his pocket.

He wrote it last night—although he no longer remembers what happened last night or why he wrote the letter, the letter is still there, the words are still there.

The letter was very short, containing only three sentences:

"My son, Ling Xiao, seeing this letter is like seeing you in person."

"If you see this letter, it means your parents are no longer alive. Do not grieve, do not dwell on the past, live well."

"The jade pendant around your neck is related to your origins and a marriage agreement. If you one day meet someone whose spirit resonates with the pendant, she will be your fiancée. Treat her well, as you would treat yourself."

The letter ended without a signature.

As Ling Zhan wrote the final chapters, his memory began to fade, and he could barely remember his own name.

He carefully tucked the letter into the baby's swaddling clothes and placed it close to his body.

Then, he took off another jade pendant that he always wore around his neck.

It was a jade pendant entirely purple, which, together with the one he had given to the baby, formed a complete yin-yang symbol. The front of the pendant was engraved with an ancient character "Ling," while the back was covered with densely packed thunder patterns.

"This is a heirloom of my Ling clan."

Ling Zhan handed the jade pendant to Yue Rong:

"It contains the complete 'Nine Heavens Thunder Emperor Scripture' of my Ling Clan, as well as the cultivation method and sealing technique of the Devouring Heaven Bloodline."

"When Xiao'er grows up and his cultivation is sufficient, we will give him the jade pendant. He will then be able to break the seal and receive the inheritance."

"But remember, you must never cultivate the Devouring Heaven Bloodline before reaching the Golden Immortal realm, and you must never reveal your true identity. Otherwise, you will surely incur the wrath of the heavens and be hunted down by the Demon Emperor."

Yue Rong solemnly accepted the jade pendant, his hands, formed from golden light, tightly gripping it:

"Yue Rong swears with his soul that he will protect the young master, ensure the young master grows up safely, and tell the young master everything at the appropriate time."

"If I break this oath, may my soul be condemned to eternal damnation, to suffer the agony of being burned alive for countless lifetimes, never to be reborn!"

With the oath fulfilled, a golden light flew out from between Yue Rong's eyebrows, disappeared into the void, and vanished into the darkness.

This is a "sworn oath of the soul," which, once made, can never be broken. If it is broken, the punishment contained in the oath will become a reality.

Ling Zhan stared at Yue Rong for a long time.

Then, he bowed deeply:

Please.

Yue Rong wanted to dodge or help, but found himself unable to move.

Because Ling Zhan's bow used the pressure of a Great Luo Golden Immortal to forcibly immobilize him.

This bow is a father's entrustment to his child, an elder brother's plea to his brother, and the living's final entrustment to the dead.

He must endure it.

It must also be completed.

"Don't worry, brother."

Yue Rong's voice was choked with sobs:

"As long as Yue Rong is alive, the young master is alive. Even if Yue Rong dies, the young master... will still be alive."

Ling Zhan straightened up and nodded.

Then, he turned around and looked at the entrance to the array's core.

There, the last line of defense is collapsing.

Of the three hundred heavenly soldiers, most had already perished in battle. The captain of the guard, his body riddled with demonic bone spikes, still brandished his broken sword, stubbornly blocking the entrance, refusing to budge an inch.

"Walk!"

Ling Zhan roared, his voice like thunder.

Yue Rong no longer hesitated, picked up the baby, and rushed into the center of the teleportation array.

hum-

The array shone brightly, distorting space to its extreme.

"Trying to leave?"

A chilling voice came from the entrance to the array.

It is the Gluttonous Demon Lord.

No, it wasn't the Gluttonous Demon Lord that Ling Zhan had just killed, but another one—there are seven Seven Sins Demon Lords, only three of them died just now, and four are still alive.

The one who arrived at this moment was the true form of the Gluttonous Demon Lord, a terrifying being at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm.

His body was ten thousand feet tall, made up of countless writhing chunks of flesh, each with a greedy, enormous mouth that opened and closed constantly, spewing out black saliva that corroded everything.

"Leave that child behind, and I'll let you die a quick death."

The Gluttonous Demon Lord grinned maliciously and reached for the teleportation array.

"You dare to challenge me?"

Ling Zhan stood with his spear held horizontally, blocking the teleportation array.

His figure was as insignificant as an ant before the towering demonic body, but his aura was like a pillar supporting the sky, unyielding and unshakeable.

"court death!"

The Gluttonous Demon Lord's giant hand pressed down, obscuring the entire sky.

"You're asking for it!"

Ling Zhan roared, and lightning exploded on the Nine Heavens Thunder Strike Spear, transforming into a purple thunder dragon that stretched across the heavens and earth, rushing upwards against the giant hand.

The thunder dragon collided with the giant hand, causing the sky to collapse and the earth to split.

In the brief interval between the collisions, the light from the teleportation array reached its peak.