Invincible Dad-Chapter 767: My Name is Li Hua_1

"If this were a dozen epochs earlier, perhaps we could have been saved. But now it’s too late... far too late."

The female giant looked tenderly at Gu Yan behind her, an irrepressible smile brimming on her face.

Having been dead for so long, just to see him one more time before truly perishing is enough. It really is enough... But why am I still so reluctant to let go? And why awaken me from my brief slumber, only to endure the despair of this heart-wrenching goodbye?

Two silent streams of tears flowed down from the corners of the female giant’s eyes. Each drop fell as heavily as a meteor, cratering the expensive floor of the Heavenly Court Treasury.

Fortunately, when Xu Lai established the Heavenly Court Treasury, he hadn’t used various Divine Metals for the flooring. He had simply chosen some slightly precious Exotic Stones; otherwise, he would be heartbroken right now.

Even so, Yu Guiwan, accustomed to a life of penny-pinching, still felt a pang of heartache. In her eyes, the shattered Exotic Stones weren’t just flooring; they were Immortal Artifact embryos!

In no more than ten breaths, the one-hundred-thousand-zhang body of the female giant had mostly dissipated. Everything below her chest had turned to ash.

"Even if it’s late, there must be a way to revive him, right?" Baize, the Divine General, said gravely. "Tell me, how can we save him!"

"..."

The female giant opened her mouth, but no sound came out, only a fleeting dimness in her eyes. "It’s useless. There’s no time; it’s too late... The Emperor’s Demise Epoch has arrived, and no one can escape the great calamity. The six of us were merely pawns. We should have died long ago."

The female giant sighed mightily. "One cycle of reincarnation... that’s acceptable."

"Snap out of it!" Baize, the Divine General, snapped. "Every second you delay, his chance of awakening diminishes. Do you really want to let him die?"

The female giant remained silent. Her body continued to crumble—torso, limbs—and the disintegration soon reached her neck.

Baize gave up. This female giant saw only darkness ahead without a glimmer of light, clearly resolved to sink into the endless abyss. And perhaps that was for the best. Knowing there was no hope, why attempt to climb out of an abyss thousands of fathoms deep? The fall back down would only hurt more. It was better not to struggle from the start, to let death approach step by step, and to perish silently in the darkness.

"Qingfeng, what should we do?" his senior sister asked, her voice laced with worry. She knew how important these two giants were to her junior brother.

Xu Lai was not anxious. He simply said softly, "You and Gu Yan can still return to your homeland."

That single sentence, like a ray of sunlight piercing the depths of the abyss, made the female giant’s remaining head tremble violently. She stared fixedly at Xu Lai.

Xu Lai had once entered the World of Obsession belonging to the male giant, Gu Yan. Back then, both giants were still alive. They were lying in a field of rapeseed flowers, hands firmly clasped. The female giant, clad in animal skins, had asked Gu Yan a question.

"Gu Yan, can we ever return to our homeland?"

At that time, Gu Yan gave no answer. Because it wasn’t him. It was Xu Lai.

Now, Xu Lai spoke. "Yes, you can. So... are you willing to trust me?"

After so many long years, the question sealed deep in her memory finally had an answer. The female giant was somewhat dazed. The young man before her was as tiny as an ant, no different from a speck of dust in her eyes. Yet for some reason, his stature suddenly seemed to grow infinitely tall.

So he was still there. He wanted to return, too.

The female giant’s eyes curved as she smiled. That smile made all the stars in the Heavenly Court Treasury pale in comparison.

Her head instantly shattered, turning into countless particles of ash, but from it, a faint Divine Sense emerged and entered Xu Lai’s sea of consciousness.

Baize and Yu Guiwan remained silent, waiting for the Supreme Emperor to process the information within that Divine Sense. After a long while, Xu Lai finally opened his eyes. Facing the gazes of the Second Divine General and his senior sister, he sighed gently.

"Her name is Li Hua. She’s a pitiful soul, too."

***

"My name is Li Hua. The ’Li’ for my surname, and ’Hua,’ which means flower. What about you?"

On a sapphire-blue beach, a daydreaming youth heard a woman’s crisp voice by his ear. He looked up, a bit dazed, and saw a radiant, smiling face. The sunlight scattered across her features.

So beautiful.

The youth scrambled to his feet, blushing as he spoke softly, "My name is Gu Yan."

"I’ve heard of you. Among the younger generation, your talent ranks seventh, but well... you’re still quite a ways behind me!"

"Ah? Ah..." young Gu Yan stammered. "Then you’re really amazing."

"I’m alright. Come on, I’ll take you to go pick a fight. Once we beat the one ranked sixth, you’ll be the new number six."

"But... why do I have to be number six?"

"There are only six slots to enter the Lower Realm. It’s filled with opportunities, and I want to take you with me. Will you come with me?"

Gazing at the girl’s radiant smile, how could the young man possibly refuse? He nodded vigorously.

"I will."

The youth had no idea that the Lower Realm he and the girl fantasized about was actually a broken Star Domain, a place filled with slaughter and plunder. And they were not going there to seek opportunities and fortune.

"Guard the Realm Gate and wait for the Emperor’s Demise Epoch."

As they left The Other Shore, only these words echoed in their ears. Nothing else.

When they awoke, Li Hua discovered the Lower Realm was not as wonderful as their elders had described. She and the young man, in the first bloom of love, were bound by thick chains of Divine Metal. They couldn’t struggle free. They couldn’t escape. The two had become birds in a cage.

Li Hua didn’t know what had gone wrong. Always decisive, she finally broke down in tears when she realized she would spend the rest of her life here and die. But the youth, whom Li Hua had always protected, cast off his naivete and feigned strength, saying, "Don’t be afraid. I’m here."

These four words gradually warmed Li Hua’s heart.

That’s right. No matter how bad the Lower Realm was, he was still with her. That was enough. It didn’t seem so bad to grow old and die here quietly together.

But their peace was soon shattered. For some unknown reason, the natives of the Lower Realm banded together to attack them. They were searching for a key, hoping to tread an Immortal Path whose very existence was uncertain. Li Hua explained that she knew nothing of any key, let alone the location of an Immortal Path, but they wouldn’t listen and attacked directly with their Magical Treasures.

In the years that followed, the bodies piled high. The boy and girl were no longer young. Their bodies grew with the years, eventually stopping at a height of one hundred thousand zhang. But as the injuries on their bodies multiplied, their strength steadily declined.

Then, one day, a man named Dongfang Youming arrived at the Mass Burial Mound. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

A hero at the end of his time. A beauty with white hair. No matter how strong a living being, they can never overcome the ravages of time.

At the cost of his own life and the destruction of his Dao, Dongfang Youming killed the two aged giants, and all three perished together. After what felt like countless millennia, the little finger on Dongfang Youming’s corpse suddenly twitched.

The scene shifted again. In the end, Li Hua never returned to The Other Shore.

And this was the information contained within Li Hua’s Divine Sense.

Xu Lai shared it with them, and both Baize and Yu Guiwan fell into a deep silence.