645: Chapter 645 A Promise Across Eternal Time

"Little girl."

"You are very special."

These three words spoken from his mouth carried the certainty settled by eternal ages—just like a star that has existed in the Universe for billions of years; it does not need to prove its existence, it only needs to be there, and that is enough to make everything else pale in comparison.

"I have seen quite a few Desolate Ancient Sacred Bodies, but one like you..."

He paused.

In that pause, Luo Xiaojiu felt the surrounding space solidify.

The galaxy stopped flowing. The Chaos stopped surging. The points of light stopped flickering.

The entire world, the entire Universe, the entire eternal time and space, were all waiting for him to speak the next sentence.

In those golden eyes, a trace of an extremely subtle expression emerged.

This expression was too complex, so complex that Luo Xiaojiu could not describe it with words—it was not surprise, for surprise was too shallow; it was not curiosity, for curiosity was too frivolous; it was not awe, for awe was too distant.

This was a kind of scrutiny that transcended all known emotions, belonging only to those who have existed since time immemorial.

"You are the first person that I cannot see through."

Luo Xiaojiu was stunned.

It was not just her brain that was stunned, but also her Soul.

In this instant, she felt her entire being struck by these words, vibrating from the inside out.

Cannot see through?

This Great Accomplishment Desolate Ancient Sacred Body, having lived for eternal ages, having seen countless Prodigies, having experienced countless great battles, having seen countless ups and downs of fate and alternations of Reincarnation—yet he said she made him unable to see through her?

What did this mean?

It meant her existence exceeded his cognitive range.

It meant her fate was not within his calculations.

It meant she carried secrets that even those who are immortal throughout the ages could not pry into.

"There are too many mysteries about you,"

The Golden Giant continued, his voice no longer trembling or deep, but restored to a kind of calmness—a calmness that transcended all emotions, approaching eternity, "Some mysteries, even I cannot pry into."

He raised his other hand, pointing at the center of Luo Xiaojiu's eyebrows.

"There, there is a mass of fog."

"I cannot see clearly what is in that fog."

"I have tried; the moment you stepped into this Dao field, I swept over you with my Divine Sense. But after my Divine Sense entered that area, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, with no echo."

His finger retracted and curled into a fist.

"But one thing, I can be certain of."

His fist loosened, his five fingers spread, his palm facing upward.

A mass of golden light rose from his palm—this light contained countless runes, countless insights, countless scenes of battle, and countless trajectories of the Dao.

"Your future is not within my expectations."

"It is not within anyone's expectations."

His voice became more solemn, like a thunderbolt piercing through the silence of eternal ages.

"Little girl, I have suppressed the Star-Burial Clan here, guarding for countless ages, waiting for this very day."

His voice began to rise, like the tolling of a bell from eternal ages echoing in the starry sky, shattering stars billions of light-years away.

"Waiting—for you."

Luo Xiaojiu's heartbeat exploded.

Not accelerated, but exploded.

She felt her heart explode within her chest, turning into countless fragments, each fragment beating wildly, each fragment shouting the same sentence—

Waiting for me?

Waiting for me!

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but found her throat as if blocked by something.

"I do not know how far you will ultimately go," the Golden Giant's voice carried a solemnity that spanned eternal ages—this solemnity was not feigned, not performed, but condensed bit by bit from the tempering of eternal ages, "but I know that what you carry is not merely the power of the Desolate Ancient Sacred Body."

His gaze became deeper, as if wanting to see through her Soul, see through her past and present lives, see through all her possibilities yet to unfold.

"There is also some... deeper level of something."

His hand slowly descended, landing on his own chest.

The golden light there was the thickest, the most intense, as if all his life essence was condensed in that position—that was the only thing that had not been extinguished since time immemorial.

"I cannot hold on for much longer."

When he said this sentence, his tone was as calm as if he were saying the weather was nice today.

But it was precisely this calmness that made Luo Xiaojiu feel the immense sorrow contained within it.

This sorrow was not wailing and weeping, not beating one's chest and stamping one's feet, but a person standing on the edge of a cliff, watching the sunset sink bit by bit into darkness, and quietly saying— "It is getting dark."

"This Physical Body should have dissipated long ago, eternal ages ago. It is my obsession that has kept it barely holding on."

He lowered his head to look at his own body.

On his golden body, cracks were becoming more and more numerous, denser and denser, like a mirror about to shatter.

Through those cracks, one could see the inside was empty—no flesh and blood, no bones, only endless starlight and Chaos flowing silently.

"But now, I have waited for you."

He raised his head and looked at Luo Xiaojiu.

In his golden eyes, all the stars stopped revolving, and all the light converged into a single point—that point was Luo Xiaojiu.

"I can pass everything I have condensed since time immemorial—the insights of the Sacred Body, the experience of battle, the understanding of the Dao, the mastery of techniques—all to you."

His voice began to become ethereal, as if coming from very, very far away, passing through layers upon layers of space-time barriers.

"It is not charity, it is not a gift."

His body began to emit light.

This light did not emit from within his body—he himself was light.

He was decomposing bit by bit, turning into countless tiny golden light particles, each particle of light containing a complete Universe, a complete history, a complete Dao.

These light particles danced in the air, like billions of fireflies, illuminating the entire Dao field, illuminating the entire starry sky, illuminating all the darkness since time immemorial.

"It is a entrustment."

The last two words, like two heavy hammers, slammed fiercely onto Luo Xiaojiu's heart.

Luo Xiaojiu looked at this Golden Giant, looked at his eyes full of stars, looked at his body sitting cross-legged, looked at the surging Chaos and flowing galaxy behind him.

She suddenly felt that this giant was not a god, not a legend, not a distant, unreachable existence.

He was just a—

Old man who had waited for too, too long.

An old man who, carrying endless regret and unwillingness, had guarded here alone, guarding for eternal ages.

She saw the exhaustion in his eyes—it was the exhaustion accumulated over eternal ages, heavier than mountains, deeper than seas, heavier than the sum of the Myriad Heavens and Worlds.

She saw the loneliness in his eyes—it was the loneliness of eternal ages, so long that even he himself had forgotten who he was, so long that even the starlight was tired of accompanying him.

She saw the expectation in his eyes—it was the final expectation, the only reason he had supported himself for eternal ages, the only meaning for which he had burned for eternal ages.

She took a deep breath.

"Okay."

This word spoken from her mouth, not light or heavy, but carried a firmness that made even the Golden Giant slightly moved.

The Golden Giant looked at her.

In those golden eyes, that initial expression finally re-emerged—gratification, satisfaction, relief.

And a trace of... extremely faint, like the ease after setting down an eternal burden.

"Okay."

He also said the word "Okay."

Then, he extended his hand.

This golden, huge hand, carrying eternal ages, slowly extended toward Luo Xiaojiu.

In the palm, a galaxy flowed—that was the path he had walked.

There was Chaos surging—that was the enemy he had slain.

There were countless lights flickering—those were the living beings he had protected.

Luo Xiaojiu did not hesitate.

She reached out her hand and placed it in the giant's palm.

One large and one small, one golden and one golden, the two hands, on this Dao field suspended at the end of the starry sky, separated by the distance of a finger, faced each other.

This distance of a finger was eternal ages.

The waiting of eternal ages, the guarding of eternal ages, the loneliness of eternal ages, the expectation of eternal ages—all were condensed within this distance of a finger.

The Dao field began to tremble.

This trembling was not an earthquake, not a spatial fluctuation, but the trembling of time itself.

All the time accumulated since time immemorial woke up at this moment, they cheered, roared, surged, and poured into the gap between these two hands.

The galaxy began to boil.

Those galaxies that had flowed for eternal ages were now like they had been ignited, every star was burning, every beam of starlight was screaming, the entire starry sky became a sea of fire, a sea of light.

The Chaos began to surge.

Those Chaos that had been silent for eternal ages were now like awakened ancient beasts, they rolled, roared, tore, trying to break through the constraints, but had to submit under the suppression of some force.

Those points of light flickering on the surface of the Dao field all lit up at this moment.

Not lighting up one by one—but lighting up simultaneously.

Like countless stars simultaneously blooming with the most dazzling light, like all the hope extinguished since time immemorial burning again in the same instant.

This light was too bright, so bright that Luo Xiaojiu could see nothing.

But she felt it.

She felt a vast, boundless force, flowing along that golden palm, through the distance of that finger, and pouring into her body.

This force was too great, so great that her body was trembling, so great that her bones were groaning, so great that her Soul was expanding.

She felt she was being filled.

Filled by eternal ages.

Filled by countless insights.

Filled by battle experience.

Filled by understanding of the Dao.

Filled by mastery of techniques.

She was filled with everything.

But it also felt like nothing had been filled.

Because that force was still pouring in continuously, with no end, no boundary, infinite and endless.

The entire starry sky was roaring.

This roar was not a sound, but the echo of eternal ages.

It was the most magnificent movement played by this Great Accomplishment Desolate Ancient Sacred Body with his final life.

Luo Xiaojiu closed her eyes.

From the corner of her eye, a tear slid down.

This tear, under the illumination of the starlight, shimmered with golden light.

It was the tear of the Legacy.

It was the tear of eternal ages.

It was the promise between her and him, spanning eternal time and space.