“An Lin... don’t leave me. Promise me, don’t leave me again! Don’t sacrifice yourself again! You’ve already done enough for this world. Let us live together in happiness in the future, okay?” Xu Xiaolan sobbed in a pleading voice. Her embrace was tight, and it was as if she were afraid that An Lin might vanish at any moment.

An Lin’s gaze became extremely gentle, and he also wrapped the woman before him in a tight embrace. As he experienced her warmth, all of his reluctance and feelings transformed into the most heartfelt embrace.

“My life has already been filled with enough splendor... ” An Lin suddenly said.

The woman in his embrace shuddered upon hearing this. She looked up with teary eyes, and she frantically shook her head as she said, “No... don’t. You already promised me, didn’t you? You promised that you would accompany me forever. You promised that you would become Dao partners with me and host a wedding for the ages. Have you forgotten? You can’t break your promise... ”

She was an extremely independent woman, yet at this moment, she was like a lost child. Her body was trembling, and her tears were unstopping. She continued to plead with An Lin.

An Lin opened his mouth as he gazed at her, yet he realized that there was nothing that he could say.

He hadn’t betrayed anyone in his lifetime. In the end, however...

He had still betrayed Xiaolan...

With his life essence erased, he could no longer become a Heavenly Dao that possessed awareness.

His heart shuddered violently.

Darkness suddenly covered the sky and swallowed the entire universe.

The fractures in the sky were mended by this darkness, and the wanton currents of chaos were also engulfed by this darkness. All signs of a catastrophe were suppressed by this darkness.

The tumultuous heaven and earth fell silent.

Everyone looked up, gazing at the dark sky. However, they didn’t feel any fear. Instead, they felt a sense of tranquility and peace.

They had clearly still been facing an apocalypse and panicking in terror just then.

Now, however, all of their negative emotions had been soothed by the darkness before them.

Such gentle darkness...

This thought involuntarily arose in everyone’s mind.

The man in Xu Xiaolan’s embrace suddenly became intangible and transparent.

“No... !”

Xu Xiaolan exclaimed in panic and fright. She tried to embrace An Lin again, yet all that she could grab was empty space.

An Lin could feel everything disappearing from before him. His body didn’t listen to his commands anymore as it slowly rose into the sky.

“Master!”

“Big Brother An! Woof!”

“Master! Don’t leave us!”

“Sect Leader!”

As if realizing something, tears instantly trickled down everyone’s cheeks.

Some even tried to drag him back, yet their effort was all for naught.

Refusing to listen to his commands, An Lin’s body continued to drift toward the sky.4

It was also at this moment that the ring on his finger flashed. A peculiar black orb materialized in heaven and earth before surging toward the sky and exploding. It formed a connection with the Tai Chu Continent as well as countless different worlds.

“This is... the nascent form of the Heavenly Dao? I never imagined that such a matter would exist. An Lin... ultimately can’t escape the fate of becoming the Heavenly Dao... ” Chen Chen exclaimed. There was astonishment in this voice, yet this couldn’t conceal his feeling of desolation.

“Using his body to mend the heavens, using five Supreme Heavenly Gods to recreate the land, and using six Supreme Heavenly Gods to recreate the Heavenly Dao. This is the most perfect way to mend the heavens, right? Apart from having to sacrifice his own life... Sigh... There’s no need for us to participate in mending the heavens... ” Nuwa couldn’t help but sigh as she witnessed this scene.

“Is this An Lin’s fate?” Daolord Lu Ya remarked. He discovered that he couldn’t do anything at all. There was an expression of sorrow on his face.

Anyhow, An Lin recognized that orb of darkness. Both this and the Evil-Slaying Sword had been left to him by the previous Heavenly Darkness God. However, he had never understood the use of this black orb. After investigating it for a long time, he still hadn’t made heads or tails of it.

At this moment, he finally understood what it was for. As it turned out, it was for him to sacrifice himself to mend the heavens. The previous Heavenly Darkness God had truly planned everything to a tee...

However, An Lin wasn’t agitated by this. Instead, he found it to be quite alright. At the very least, he could guarantee the success of mending the heavens. He would die a worthy death.

His body slowly drifted toward the sky.

He was leaving everything behind.

His power, his Dao power, his divine sense, and also his memories.

He truly didn’t want to leave everything behind.

The appearances of those close to him gradually became distant and hazy.

Perhaps they had become hazy.

Or perhaps he had become hazy.

The woman in jade frantically tried to grab onto his hands, yet her hands passed through him time and time again. However, she still stubbornly persisted, just like how she had painfully waited for him for one hundred years. After setting her mind on something, she would pursue it with all her might...

There was also Da Bai, who was trying to leap onto him. However, his lunges were bound to yield no result, and he could no longer carry his master to soar through the sky. There were also beautiful women rushing toward him, yet they passed through his body as if he didn’t exist. Then there was also Xiao Hong, who was as dazzling as the sun. She tried to draw him back with her light, yet why was her radiance becoming weaker and weaker? The adorable ball that only knew how to speak in four-word idioms seemingly discovered how to speak in more than four-word idioms. However, An Lin could no longer hear his words clearly. And that large black dragon... It appeared so black... !

An Lin understood that his adorable companions were unwilling to leave him. He had initially thought that death would be a terrifying thing. However, after seeing his companions trying so hard to grab at him, he suddenly felt a feeling of warmth and gratitude. He felt peaceful and at ease.

To a true cultivator, his life was perhaps too short.

However, An Lin felt that his life was extremely wholesome.

Just like that, he would wave goodbye to the world...

His world descended into darkness...

“M-hm... It’s my pleasure, ” the Heavenly Lord of Dao and Virtue stroked his beard and said. He then shook his head and continued, “I couldn’t stand back and watch them bully a young girl like you.”

“I’m not a young girl, ” Tian Yi said in a mellow voice.

The Heavenly Lord of Dao and Virtue found this God of Creation Stage divine being to be extremely interesting, and he was just about to say that regardless of how old she was, she would still be a young girl in his eyes.

However, Tian Yi suddenly said, “I’m a small fish.”

“Er... ahem... ” The Heavenly Lord of Dao and Virtue almost choked to death upon hearing this.

Not a young girl, but a small fish?

What kind of strange self-awareness is this?

“Small fish eventually have to return to their own pond. Only that small pond is where I belong... ” Tian Yi said in a mellow voice as she gazed up at the sky.

The Heavenly Lord of Dao and Virtue also gazed up at the sky.

Perhaps the Sea God hadn’t known what Tian Yi was gazing up. Or perhaps he had thought that she was daydreaming and belittling them. However, the Heavenly Lord of Dao and Virtue saw what she was gazing at. The sky wasn’t the same sky, but it was instead a sky that lay countless eons away.

“Ow... it’s hurting my eyes... ”

The Heavenly Lord of Dao and Virtue couldn’t help but shut his eyes after gazing at the sky for a while. He then rubbed his eyes in exasperation as he turned around to look at the beautiful mermaid who was still gazing at the sky. “Why are you always gazing at the sky? Don’t your eyes get tired?”

Tian Yi smiled in reply. This was a beautiful smile, and it was as if she were a mermaid who had continued to guard that which was valuable to her for countless and countless years. This was a peculiar and somewhat lonely sense of beauty, and even the experienced Heavenly Lord of Dao and Virtue couldn’t help but feel astonished by her beauty.

Tian Yi swished her slender and jade-like pink tail before saying in a soft voice, “No, they don’t get tired. How can one become tired looking at their own home?”

An Lin looked toward the audience.

This place was lively and bustling with excitement. The cheers of the crowd were more so like the waves of the sea.

The performers who had all reached the pinnacle level of their respective crafts also smiled in encouragement as they looked at An Lin. It was as if they were cheering him on.

Each of the spectators appeared so full of passion as if everything were peaceful and beautiful.

However, An Lin knew that this was perhaps the last land of joy in the Ancient Tai Chu Realm.

These people were clearly in a state of half-living and half-death, yet they still continued to guard their civilization and live their lives.

Glazed lamps of the Red Ink Tavern;

Bright sky of the desolate Tai Chu.

An Lin was dressed in a white Daoist robe as he stood in the center of the stage.

He suddenly recalled a popular song from Earth.

This was a song that was already over one hundred years old...

How many people still remembered this song?

Just like the Ancient Tai Chu Realm that had once been the center of the universe... How many beings still remembered this land?

“The brightest star in the night sky,

“Can you hear,

“That person who’s gazing up.

“The lonely sigh in their mind... ”

The loud cheers instantly subsided as An Lin started to sing. They were a respectful audience, and they knew that they should remain silent now that An Lin had begun his performance.

The Red Empress faltered upon hearing these lyrics.

She had a nagging feeling that these lyrics were an appropriate description of their current situation.

Hadn’t the Ancient Tai Chu Realm once been the brightest star in the night sky?

Now, however, they had become people who gazed up and reminisced about the past...

“The brightest star in the night sky,

“Can you recall,

“The figures that once accompanied me and vanished into the windy rain.”

An Lin’s ethereal and charming voice reverberated around the theatre.

The spectators gradually confirmed that this was a song dedicated to them.

During that apocalyptic period, how many of their family and friends had vanished from beside them? There were far too many, too many to remember and keep count of...

They were lonely beings who gazed up at the universe.

A graceful and elegant accompaniment started to play.

The spectators suddenly discovered that Gu Qiu was sitting on the stage like a

tranquil Celestial Maiden. She was holding a harp as she accompanied the singing of the man.

“I pray for a transparent soul,

“And eyes that can shed tears.

“Give me the courage to believe again,

“Oh, I’ll leap over the lies to embrace you.”

The spectators couldn’t help but develop goosebumps when they heard the climax.

It was as if An Lin’s voice possessed a peculiar ability to penetrate and a peculiar sense of prayers and blessings.

“Whenever I question the reason for existence,

“Whenever I’m lost in the dark night.

“Oh, that brightest star in the night sky,

“Please guide me toward you.”

An Lin’s singing continued to echo around the theatre.

Tears had already stained the faces of the spectators.

They were struggling; they were fighting to survive even if they had to do so in a different form of existence.

However, they couldn’t find a reason for their existence. They were stationed in this final and lonely city of a destroyed world, enduring the pain of boundless loneliness and darkness.

An Lin continued to sing.

However, the spectators in the stands started to vanish one after another.

They vanished from their seats, almost as if they had never existed before.

However, An Lin ignored this as he continued to sing.

Ying Bao—who had been sobbing and silently following behind him—also vanished.

An Lin continued to sing with emotion.

The performers on the stage also started to vanish one after another.

In the end, even the accompanist Gu Qiu vanished, causing her accompaniment to abruptly fall silent.

The stage became empty and spacious.

The stands were already devoid of spectators.

Perhaps... they had never come here to begin with.

However, there was still one person singing on the stage.

What An Lin saw was a Red Ink Tavern that had lost even light. The lanterns were extinguished, and the divine light was scattered. The only light came from the starry universe.

It was as if he were standing under this starry sky, standing in the dark and silent pagoda of ninety-nine floors. The stands were deserted, and only a single person remained singing on the stage.

Was everything truly non-existent?

“The brightest star in the night sky,

“Can you hear,

“That person who’s gazing up.

“The lonely sigh in their mind... ”