So that’s how it is.

The last confusion has also been resolved.

"It’s just that this time, the Canglong Ancestor thought I was a created experimental body, a vessel for his Master to descend. Thus, Canglong was always loyal to me. Unfortunately, during my rebirth, I still treated him as an enemy."

Candle Dragon Venerable coldly laughed: "When I first awakened, I also regarded my clan as enemies, slaughtering them without leaving a trace... Canglong is the only one who survived from that era."

Gu Jianlin tried to deduce her enigmatic past, but what he sensed was endless sadness and pain. She too had experienced possession and loss, countless joys and sorrows.

But she was different from himself.

Because she didn’t even have someone she could hate.

"The person you fear is yourself."

He sighed deeply: "Your greatest enemy is also yourself."

Candle Dragon Venerable responded with a soft acknowledgment.

"What have you been doing in these two thousand years since the battle at the East Sea?"

Gu Jianlin voiced his final doubt.

"Experiencing the previous cycle."

Candle Dragon Venerable’s voice was filled with resentment: "My authority is limitless; even I can’t control it. Every two thousand years, my power swells to an uncontrollable extent. I must fall into slumber, releasing a spirituality sufficient to destroy everything. My memories and consciousness will be sealed again, returning to my earliest and weakest times, to relive those painful days."

"It’s like one cycle of reincarnation after another."

"Yes, and this cycle is getting shorter and shorter."

"What do you mean?"

"Initially, the cycle I experienced was once every one hundred thousand years, then it became every fifty thousand years, then every ten thousand years. The next time I fall into slumber might be a thousand years later."

"You can no longer restrain your own power, can you?"

"Yeah, until I fall into eternal sleep, which is no different from death."

"You don’t want to die, so you want to replace the Primordial."

"Uh-huh, I am a God; why should I endure such pain? I want to break free from fate, become immortal, end my clan’s curse, and seek the truth of the Universe."

"I see, would you still be you at that time?"

"According to my speculation, neither divinity nor humanity would exist anymore, just like if we had personally killed that little boy within you. The girl deep inside me would no longer exist. If I had to say, it would probably become like Father God and Mother God."

"Is that what you want?"

"Yes, but you won’t let me do that, will you?"

Candle Dragon Venerable placed her hands on his shoulders, indicating him to turn around.

Gu Jianlin didn’t resist.

"I want to replace the Primordial, and the price is the decline of this planet. Everything you love and want to protect will die because of it. Doesn’t this resemble back in the Divine Ruins when I wanted the Eternal Fruit for healing, and you wanted to save your Grandmaster?"

Candle Dragon Venerable encircled his neck with her arms, a sneering smile playing at her lips: "Your love is rational and restrained; you wouldn’t give up everything for me, would you?"

Gu Jianlin gazed into her enchanting eyes, now so close, and acknowledged with a nod.

"I didn’t originally want you to die, but you destroyed the Primordial."

Candle Dragon Venerable embraced him, her ink-black hair swaying in the wind: "I can only recreate the ritual from billions of years ago, using your body as a vessel to resurrect Father God."

Gu Jianlin thought of her previously consuming the ashes of the Candle Light Divine Tree, and he finally understood.

"You want me to become the next Qiongqi."

A serene smile appeared at the corners of his lips: "Then let’s begin."

With a meow, the orange cat jumped to the ground, looking up at its masters.

Candle Dragon Venerable smiled slightly and gently kissed his lips.

Gu Jianlin also did not refuse her, finally yielding to the desires and tremors deep within his soul, wrapping his right hand around her slender waist, his left gently resting against her back, stroking her long hair.

This was their first kiss, a long and deep one.

Accompanied by drifting ashes.

Embraced at the world’s edge.

No tenderness, no love.

Only intent to kill.

Because Gu Jianlin felt, the sun-like scorching power pouring into his body.

Sealed memories resurfaced; he once dreamed while unconscious, of an ancient-styled room, shadows of the day sinking outside the window, sandalwood scent permeating like mist, flowing in the silent time. He and she, hand in hand, walking to the end of time, gazing at the golden ancient tree.

"Fool, this is also the wish of the Skylark."

Candle Dragon Venerable’s ethereal and distant voice echoed in his ears.

So melodious, yet so cruel.

"This way, I can keep you by my side forever."

With a loud boom.

Time and space were reversed by supreme power, and Gu Jianlin arrived in a strange world.

The wind and snow swayed.

This is the world of Candle Dragon Venerable.

·

·

Liu Li pushed the wheelchair onto the rooftop, witnessing a chaotic world.

"Oh God."

Jiang Mingyan sighed softly, her sharp Eagle Eye filled with shock. Sometimes she saw prosperous cities bathed in sunlight, other times barren, dry ruins. The two worlds seemed overlaid, an unprecedented dimensional distortion.

The approaching wind was chilly, yet so scorching as it skimmed across the skin.

At times, she could even feel the ground shaking, see long streets trembling and cracking, spewing hot molten lava. Passing vehicles turned to ashes, leaving charred remains.