60: Chapter 60 Shi Hao's Entrustment

Chu Tianjiao watched as Willow Deity burned her own body, wielding the Emperor Fire to face Emperor Yu alone. Her emerald willow branches were constantly broken by the war spear, only to regenerate again and again, yet the Emperor Fire continued to dim.

He saw that cluster of Emperor Fire finally fade, revealing the true appearance of Willow Deity within—dressed in white, with a peerless figure and a face of incomparable beauty, though her white robes were already stained with spots of blood, like crimson flowers blooming sorrowfully in the snow.

He saw the Little Pagoda, in order to protect Willow Deity, being pierced through by Emperor Yu's war spear. Even after the Fusion of Quasi-Immortal Emperor bones and transforming into a ten-story pagoda, it still shattered into pieces amidst a wail of unwillingness, its fragments scattering into the depths of Chaos.

He saw Emperor Yu's palm also shattered, Emperor blood spilling, but ultimately, the defense was breached.

Finally, he saw Willow Deity smile slightly towards Shi Hao's direction; the smile was still gentle, but carried the intention of a final farewell.

Afterwards, she burned her final true body and remnant soul without hesitation, driving that cluster of Emperor Fire to transform into an eternal torch that illuminated All Heavens and Myriad Worlds, rushing towards Emperor Yu!

"Willow Deity, no—!!!" In the distance, Shi Hao's sorrowful cry was heart-wrenching.

"I have done my best." Willow Deity's voice was very light and calm; even as her life reached its end, she remained serene.

Boom—!!!

The Emperor Fire erupted completely, completely engulfing and covering Emperor Yu, burning and exploding crazily within the Chaos Sea!

"Roar!!!"

Emperor Yu let out a painful roar, struggling frantically.

He was absolutely unwilling to be tainted by this suicidal Emperor Fire; the strangeness and obsession contained within it were enough to erode his Origin of the Emperor Dao!

"Kill!!!"

Shi Hao was completely crazed, killing towards Emperor Yu, who was entangled by the Emperor Fire, regardless of everything. Punch after punch, all of them slammed onto his Emperor body!

At the same time, he frantically drove his own massive life essence and Origin blood essence, wanting to nourish and recover the Willow tree's true body that was heading towards total destruction.

However, everything was still too late.

The Emperor Fire finally exploded, and Willow Deity's figure became completely blurred and dissipated.

The sky was filled with withering willow leaves burning into ashes.

That towering willow tree snapped, turned charred black, and rapidly turned into flying ash amidst the flames.

Shi Hao exhausted everything, but only managed to save a small, charred, dead tree stump, as well as the root system deeply buried in the Chaos.

"Willow Deity..."

Witnessing that peerless figure resolutely choose the most tragic ending to protect the future generations, an indescribable, twisting pain and sorrow surged in Chu Tianjiao's heart.

That tragic heroism and sacrifice spanning eras moved even him, a bystander, to subconsciously whisper that name.

And it was precisely this whisper, mixed with real emotional fluctuations, that completely exposed his presence at this moment!

"Who is it?! (x4)"

Emperor Cang, Emperor Hong, the bedraggled Emperor Yu who had just broken free from the Emperor Fire, and Shi Hao, who was holding the charred tree stump with blood-red eyes—four gazes locked onto the void where he was located almost simultaneously!

Just at this moment of tension, where all existences were suspicious and uncertain—

Among the ten-story bone pagoda fragments that had long been shattered and scattered everywhere, the largest piece of wreckage suddenly began to glow on its own!

"Hum!"

A gentle yet extremely swift force of attraction was emitted, which actually instantly snatched the charred willow tree stump from Shi Hao's arms, and then transformed into a stream of light, shooting directly towards Chu Tianjiao's location!

Chu Tianjiao subconsciously reached out his hand.

The next moment, that half of the broken bone pagoda, along with the charred, dead, and lifeless willow tree stump, landed steadily in his hands.

The touch was cold and rough, yet heavy, as if it carried the hope and weight of two eras and countless living beings.

And at the very instant he caught it, the concealment of time and space seemed to be completely shattered.

The four Quasi-Immortal Emperors "saw" his existence with absolute clarity.

"A True Immortal?!"

"How is that possible!"

"A True Immortal, actually able to deceive our perception and hide until now?!"

Emperor Cang, Emperor Hong, and Emperor Yu all revealed expressions of disbelief in their eyes.

At their Realm, a True Immortal was no different from an ant; how could one hide right under their noses?

Only Shi Hao looked towards Chu Tianjiao with a complex gaze.

On this strange True Immortal from the future, he felt an extremely familiar aura—it was the fluctuation of a complete and powerful Secret Realm Cultivation system, originating from the same source as the Law he created, yet it seemed to have undergone some different evolutions.

"A person from the future... someone who Cultivates my Law..." An epiphany flashed through Shi Hao's heart instantly.

It was by no means a coincidence that Willow Deity and the Little Pagoda's final remnant spirits chose to entrust their hope to this person.

"I..." Chu Tianjiao held the broken pagoda and charred wood in his hands, just about to say something.

The half of the Desolate Pagoda wreckage erupted with light once again, and a force of time and space, even more powerful and profound than when he arrived, instantly enveloped him!

"Don't you dare leave!" Emperor Yu was the most severely injured, but also the most violent; seeing this, he moved to intercept.

"Your opponent is me!" How could Shi Hao let him succeed? Clutching the last hope, he erupted with unprecedented Battle Intent, tightly entangling the three Emperor figures, buying time for that spark that had crossed time and space!

"Help me take good care of Willow Deity and the Little Pagoda!" Shi Hao instructed Chu Tianjiao at the very end.

The moment Shi Hao finished speaking.

A flash of light.

Chu Tianjiao's figure, along with the broken pagoda and charred wood in his hands, completely disappeared from this Ancient Chaotic Battlefield.

What Shi Hao saw last was that True Immortal from the future looking back deeply, with eyes full of complexity and determination.

Without any worries for the future, Shi Hao roared to the sky, his Battle Intent piercing through the Chaos Sea, facing the three great enemies alone!

"Kill—!!!"

...

The light dissipated, and time and space returned to their place.

The familiar aura of Chaos, the familiar quiet courtyard.

Chu Tianjiao opened his eyes and discovered that he had returned to the quiet room in Undying Mountain.

Outside the window was still the night sky of the Big Dipper Astral Region, silent and still, as if that tragic Emperor war that spanned eras just now was only a dream.

But the heavy touch in his hands told him that everything was real.

He looked down.

In his left hand, he held half of a broken, crack-filled, dull-lustered ten-story bone pagoda wreckage. The pagoda body was warm, as if it still retained the residual heat from the Ancient Chaotic Battlefield, as well as the Little Pagoda's final unwillingness and obsession.

In his right hand, he held a Willow tree stump, no more than a foot long, charred black all over, completely lifeless, like the most ordinary dead wood.

It was cold and dead, with no life fluctuations to be felt, as if it had already completely vanished eons ago.

However, Chu Tianjiao's True Immortal Divine Sense keenly captured that, in the deepest part of the charred, dead surface, within the almost imperceptible wooden texture, there remained a trace of life light that was weak to the extreme, yet unbelievably tenacious...

As weak as a candle in the wind, yet it had never truly been extinguished.

That was Willow Deity, in the desperate situation where her body was burned by Emperor Fire and her form and spirit were destroyed, leaving behind a thread of almost impossible vitality for future generations.

It was also the fire of hope that the Little Pagoda, before completely shattering, exhausted its final spirituality to deliver into his hands across the eons of time and space.

Chu Tianjiao was silent for a long time, just quietly looking at these two "relics" in his hands, which came from the Chaotic Ancient Era and carried endless tragedy and sacrifice.

The air in the room seemed to have solidified.

After a long time, he slowly raised his head and looked towards the endless starry sky outside the window; the initial shock, grief, and bewilderment in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by an unprecedented clarity and determination.

"I understand."

He whispered to himself, his voice echoing in the quiet room.

The Desolate Pagoda bringing him back to the Chaotic Ancient Era was no coincidence.

The Willow Deity's remnant branch leading him there was also not without cause.

Witnessing that ultimate battle with his own eyes, seeing Willow Deity's sacrifice and the Little Pagoda's shattering, and taking this charred stump and broken pagoda body...

This was a heavy entrustment that spanned endless eras.

It was also a path... pointing towards the future.

He carefully placed the charred Willow tree stump and the half of the Desolate Pagoda wreckage side by side in the center of the purple immortal flower garden in front of him.

Afterwards, he sat down cross-legged and formed an ancient seal with his hands.

The majestic Immortal Rank immortal power slowly surged out, not for attack, nor for defense, but the purest and gentlest power of life nourishment and Dao cultivation, like a trickling stream, carefully wrapping around that charred stump.

"Senior Willow Deity..."

"Senior Desolate Pagoda..."

"I will do my best to help you recover..."