140: Chapter 140 Causal Closed Loop

It is the future that the Willow Deity of this moment is about to experience.

And he, at that time, was already within it.

"Willow Deity."

Chu Tianjiao took a deep breath and looked at her beside him.

"We may be situated in the space-time of the future."

His voice was low and grave.

"Or rather, fragments of future time have overlapped with the Boundary Sea of this era. What we are seeing now is something that has not yet happened, but is about to happen."

The Willow Deity looked at him without speaking.

Chu Tianjiao continued, "That tower is the key."

He pointed to the Desolate Tower in the distance.

"Back then on the Ancient Chaotic Battlefield, I saw you and Senior Shi Hao fighting side by side. I saw you self-destruct, saw you reduced to nothing but a charred wooden stump, and saw that half of the Desolate Tower deliver your final remains into my hands."

"I always thought that was history."

"But now I understand—that was not history; it is the future."

"It is the future you are about to experience."

He paused, his gaze fixed intently on the Willow Deity.

"And that tower will take you into that future."

The Willow Deity was silent for a long time.

Then, she raised her head and looked at Chu Tianjiao.

In her eyes, there was no longer any confusion, only a calm realization.

"I understand."

She said softly.

"No wonder I do not remember the Desolate Tower. Because for me, it has not truly appeared yet."

"No wonder I came to this era. Because I must enter that battlefield from here, at this point in time."

She looked at the Desolate Tower, a faint smile appearing at the corners of her mouth.

In that smile, there was relief, determination, and an indescribable gentleness.

"Tianjiao."

She spoke.

Chu Tianjiao looked at her.

"Give the tower to me."

The Willow Deity's voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable firmness.

Chu Tianjiao was silent.

He knew what the Willow Deity was going to do.

She was going to enter those time fragments to experience everything she was meant to experience. To fight side by side with Shi Hao, to battle those four Quasi-Immortal Emperors, and to—self-destruct.

To become that charred wooden stump.

To become the Willow Deity in his memories.

This is Karma.

This is a loop.

This is something already destined and unchangeable.

But he—

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

The Willow Deity looked at him, her eyes filled with gentleness.

"Do not worry."

She said softly, as if seeing through his thoughts.

"Have you not already seen the outcome?"

"I will survive."

"Although only a wooden stump remains, I will survive. And I will be delivered—to the hands of your past self."

Chu Tianjiao was stunned.

His past self?

The Willow Deity continued, "You said that back then on the Ancient Chaotic Battlefield, you saw that half of the Desolate Tower drifting toward you with my remains. That was not me drifting aimlessly after death; that was—"

"It was me, at this moment, sending you back after completing all of this."

She looked at Chu Tianjiao, the light in her eyes growing brighter and brighter.

"Do you not understand yet?"

"The one who brought you to the Ancient Chaotic Battlefield back then was me, at this moment."

"The one who let you see all of that back then was also me, at this moment."

"The one who placed the wooden stump into your hands back then was still me, at this moment."

"And now—"

She paused and looked toward the Desolate Tower.

"I am going to complete all of this."

"And you will be here, watching all of this happen."

"Then, you will return to your own era."

"Return to the era of Ye Fan."

"Return to that era when you had just returned from the Immortal Domain."

As Chu Tianjiao listened, it was as if a bolt of lightning had struck his mind.

He finally understood.

Why he had been brought to the Ancient Chaotic Battlefield by the Desolate Tower back then.

Why he had witnessed that ultimate battle back then.

Why that half of the Desolate Tower and that wooden stump had fallen into his hands back then.

Because all of this was done by the Willow Deity of this moment.

She was completing the Karma loop.

And the him of back then was another him.

It was his past self.

It was him before he had experienced all of this.

"So..."

Chu Tianjiao murmured.

"I am here watching you enter the future and become that wooden stump. Then, you will be delivered to the hands of my past self. And my past self will take you back to the Desolate Ancient Era, using eight hundred thousand years to let you recover."

"Then, you will stand before me once again."

"And that 'once again' is now."

The Willow Deity smiled.

That smile was heartbreakingly gentle.

"That is correct."

She said softly.

"This is a circle."

"The starting point is the moment your past self obtained the wooden stump."

"The ending point is the moment you, now, watch me become the wooden stump."

"And I have always been within this circle."

"Never having left."

Chu Tianjiao's eyes turned red.

He wanted to say something, wanted to stop her, wanted to tell her not to go—but he knew he could not stop her.

This is Karma.

This is destiny.

This is something that has already happened.

If he stopped the Willow Deity, then his past self would not have obtained the wooden stump, would not have spent eight hundred thousand years nourishing her, would not have allowed her to recover, and would not have allowed her to stand here at this moment.

Everything would collapse.

"Go."

He finally spoke, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper rubbing together.

The Willow Deity looked at him, her eyes filled with gentleness.

Then, she reached out and gently stroked his cheek.

The gesture was like soothing a child.

"Wait for me to return."

She said softly.

Chu Tianjiao nodded vigorously.

The Willow Deity withdrew her hand and turned around.

She took a step and flew toward the Desolate Tower.

The Desolate Tower sensed her arrival and trembled slightly, the cracks on its surface beginning to glow. The light grew brighter and more intense, finally transforming into a massive portal.

Behind the portal were those fragments of time.

It was that ultimate battle.

It was the Willow Deity's fate.

The Willow Deity stood before the portal and looked back at Chu Tianjiao one last time.

That look contained too many words.

But she said nothing, just smiled.

Then, she turned and stepped into the portal.

---

The portal slowly closed behind her.

Chu Tianjiao stood where he was, watching the disappearing figure, remaining motionless for a long time.

The surrounding space-time began to tremble violently.

That was the sign that the Karma loop was about to be completed.

He suppressed the urge to rush in, staring fixedly at the direction where the portal had vanished.

The next moment—

The portal opened again.

No, it was not opening.

It was something flying out from within.

Half of a broken Desolate Tower, carrying a charred wooden stump, drifted out from that chaotic space-time.

The tower was covered in new cracks, and the wooden stump was completely charred, without a trace of vitality.

But Chu Tianjiao knew that within it, there was the Willow Deity's final True Spirit.

It was the last glimmer of life she had exhausted all her strength to preserve before self-destructing.

And just as that half of the Desolate Tower drifted out—

Chu Tianjiao saw it.

In that chaotic space-time, at the edge of the portal that had not yet fully closed, a young figure was standing there, dazed.

That face, he was all too familiar with it.

It was himself.

It was himself, having just attained the rank of True Immortal and arriving at the Ancient Chaotic Battlefield for the first time.

It was himself before having experienced all of this.

The young Chu Tianjiao stood at the edge of the portal, looking at the half of the Desolate Tower drifting toward him, looking at the charred wooden stump, and instinctively reached out his hand.

The half of the Desolate Tower fell into his palm.

The charred wooden stump lay quietly in his palm.

The young Chu Tianjiao looked down at them, his eyes filled with shock and grief.

And within that half of the Desolate Tower, a faint, yet stubbornly persistent green light quietly slipped into his body.

It was the Willow Deity's True Spirit.

It was her final glimmer of life.

The young Chu Tianjiao seemed to sense something; he gripped the half of the Desolate Tower tightly, protecting the wooden stump. Then, he was pulled by a force and slowly disappeared into that chaotic space-time.