139: Chapter 139 The Future Yet to Happen

"That is the Desolate Pagoda." Chu Tianjiao looked at the Willow Deity with some confusion. "Do you not even remember the Desolate Pagoda?"

"Desolate Pagoda?" The Willow Deity's brows furrowed slightly, a trace of confusion flashing in her eyes. She recalled carefully, only to find that she had absolutely no impression of the name "Desolate Pagoda."

"I do not know."

She shook her head, her tone carrying a hint of bewilderment.

Upon hearing this, Chu Tianjiao felt a sense of foreboding.

How could the Willow Deity not remember the Desolate Pagoda?

That was the supreme treasure she had carried since the Chaotic Ancient Era, the witness to when she fought side-by-side with Shi Hao, the vessel where she slept after being heavily injured—how could these memories possibly disappear?

He opened his mouth, wanting to explain something, but as his gaze fell upon the Desolate Pagoda emitting a faint glow in the distance, he swallowed his words.

The pagoda floated quietly between the broken worlds, its entire body a dark gold, its style ancient and simple, with the pagoda body covered in tiny cracks and mottled marks. It was not large, only about three inches high, yet it emitted an indescribable, vast and ancient aura.

It was exactly the same as the Desolate Pagoda in his memories.

Chu Tianjiao took a deep breath, suppressing the doubts in his heart.

"It is fine, let us head over first."

He said in a deep voice.

The Willow Deity looked at him without asking further questions. She could sense the gravity in Chu Tianjiao's tone and could guess the importance of that pagoda. Although she did not remember it, since Chu Tianjiao valued it so highly, there must be a reason for it.

The two exchanged a glance and set off simultaneously.

Chu Tianjiao followed closely by the Willow Deity's side, and they sped towards the direction of the Desolate Pagoda.

The surrounding broken worlds became increasingly dense, those shattered worlds layered upon each other like surging waves. In some broken worlds, Laws were still operating, emitting eerie lights; others were completely dead and silent, leaving only eternal darkness.

But Chu Tianjiao's attention was not on these broken worlds.

He noticed that the surrounding space and time were beginning to become unstable.

At first, it was only a slight distortion, like a reflection in water ruffled by a breeze. But as they got closer to the Desolate Pagoda, that distortion became increasingly severe.

The Void Realm began to fold, and time began to become chaotic.

Sometimes they were clearly flying forward, yet the surrounding scenery was receding; sometimes they had just stepped past a broken world, but looking back, that broken world had already turned into a completely different appearance.

"Hold onto me."

The Willow Deity's voice rang out, carrying a hint of gravity. She waved her hand, and streaks of emerald light surged from within her body, enveloping the two of them. That was the Willow Deity's power of Law, the control over space and time belonging to an Immortal King Titan.

Chu Tianjiao did not hesitate and directly embraced the Willow Deity.

This was not the time for politeness.

This level of space-time turbulence posed a risk of getting lost even for a Peak Immortal King. Only with the Willow Deity's protection could they ensure they wouldn't be swept away.

The Willow Deity's body stiffened slightly when he embraced her, but she did not push him away. She simply focused on manipulating the Laws, leading the two of them forward with difficulty through the twisted space and time.

Time lost its meaning in this Chaos.

Perhaps it was a month, perhaps a year, or perhaps even longer—Chu Tianjiao could no longer tell. He only knew that the Willow Deity always stood in front of him, protecting him with her Laws, moving forward step by step through the endless space-time turbulence.

Finally, as they passed through the last area of Chaos, the Desolate Pagoda was close at hand.

The three-inch-high ancient pagoda floated quietly, the cracks on its body glowing faintly in the darkness. It seemed to sense something and trembled slightly.

Chu Tianjiao was just about to reach out and take it—

Suddenly!

The surrounding space and time violently shook!

The vibration came without warning, but its power was terrifying to the extreme. With the Desolate Pagoda as the center, the entire space-time was collapsing, twisting, and restructuring. Countless fragments of time surged from the Void Realm, like shattered mirror surfaces, flying and circling around them.

Chu Tianjiao and the Willow Deity were carried away by this force, flying backward involuntarily. Just in this Chaos, a scene unfolded before them.

It was a fragment of time from the future.

In the scene, it was a chaotic battlefield.

Four terrifying figures stood in the Void Realm, each emitting suffocating pressure. That was the aura of Quasi-Immortal Emperors, beings standing at the peak of All Heavens and Myriad Worlds. Their bodies were surrounded by eerie dark auras, and they were besieging a young figure.

That figure was covered in blood, yet his Battle Intent still soared to the skies. He held a Daluo Sword Embryo, and every swing of the sword tore through the Chaos, every strike shattered the Void Realm.

Shi Hao.

The future Emperor Huang.

And by his side, a massive willow tree was growing wildly. That willow tree was bathed in a ball of brilliant Emperor Fire, its aura rising steadily, having also stepped into the Quasi-Immortal Emperor Domain.

The Willow Deity.

That was the Willow Deity!

Chu Tianjiao suddenly turned his head to look at the Willow Deity beside him.

The Willow Deity's expression changed.

She stared fixedly at that scene, staring at the figure in the scene that was identical to herself. The aura of that figure, the Laws of that figure, every willow branch of that figure—all were exactly the same as hers.

That was herself.

But she did not remember any of this.

The scene continued.

The Willow Deity fought side-by-side with Shi Hao, vying against those four Quasi-Immortal Emperors. Willow branches shattered the Void Realm, Emperor Fire burned the Chaos, and Shi Hao's Daluo Sword Embryo cut through all obstacles. But there were too many enemies; four beings of the same rank plunged them into a desperate situation.

Finally, the Willow Deity in the scene made a decision.

She looked at Shi Hao, her eyes full of tenderness and determination.

Then, she burned everything.

The Willow Deity's true form expanded wildly, that ball of Emperor Fire fused completely with her Origin, turning into an eternal torch illuminating All Heavens and Myriad Worlds. The Desolate Pagoda above her head merged with her, all the willow branches behind her broke off, turning into countless streaks of brilliant light—

Self-detonation.

She used self-detonation to heavily injure one of the Quasi-Immortal Emperors.

It also bought that sliver of survival for Shi Hao.

In the scene, Shi Hao's sorrowful cry was heart-wrenching.

And the Willow Deity was left with only a charred wooden stump.

That half of the Desolate Pagoda also broke into two, one part falling with the Willow Deity's broken body, the other part drifting off to who knows where.

The scene stopped abruptly here.

The surroundings fell into a dead silence.

The Willow Deity stood in place, silent for a long time.

Her face was pale, and her eyes were filled with complex light—there was shock, realization, and an indescribable epiphany.

She finally understood.

She understood why she did not remember the Desolate Pagoda.

She understood why she appeared in this era.

She understood why she had an inexplicable sense of familiarity with this tower.

Because all of this had not happened yet.

Or rather, it had happened, just not on her timeline.

Chu Tianjiao also understood.

He looked at the dissipating scene, then looked at the Desolate Pagoda floating quietly, and all the doubts in his mind instantly connected.

Back then, when he traced back to the Ancient Chaotic Battlefield from the Desolate Pagoda and witnessed with his own eyes the scene of the Willow Deity self-detonating and Shi Hao fighting the four Quasi-Immortal Emperors alone, he had always thought it was the established trajectory of history.

But now it seemed—

That was not history.

That was the future.