Chapter 1643: Unbreakable Bonds

A cold wind swept through, swirling sand and dust, lifting grass roots from the desolate earth. The air was thick with it. The land was barren, lacking vitality, and no human trace could be seen for thousands of miles.

In the distance, a silver-haired woman, tears streaming down her face, ceaselessly dug into the earth. Initially, her search was frantic, like one driven mad, but over time, it became a mechanical daily ritual. For a full twenty-five years, she had been digging in this cold, frozen ground, her footprints marking an area spanning thousands of miles. An ordinary woman would have long lost her youthful beauty, her dark hair turned to silver, after two and a half decades. Few could show such persistent devotion to digging in a single location.

"Why? You must be here," she cried. "I will find you. If you're alive, I'll care for you. If you're gone, I'll be with you!"

She burst into tears again. Twenty-five years had passed since that battle, and every day felt like a dagger piercing her heart. Whenever she recalled that final scene, she felt suffocated, and a chilling coldness would envelop her.

She herself had been unconscious for over a month. Upon awakening, she was confronted with a scene of utter devastation: the ground was covered in blood, countless bodies lay strewn about, mountains and rivers were fractured. All the great heroes had vanished, leaving behind only scattered bones and dried blood, mottled remnants of a tragic past.

Ying Xiaoxiao wept for a long time before she began digging once more. She distinctly remembered that he had fallen onto this very land on that day. She had searched frantically for over two decades; why had she found nothing?

The earth she dug through revealed many withered bones, a poignant symbol of boundless grief. She truly dreaded recalling the horrors of that final battle. The Dog Emperor had intended to send them away, but she couldn't bring herself to leave. She feared something might happen to him, having already perceived a farewell in his eyes—a premonition that they might never meet again in this life. So, at the last moment, she burst through the shimmering light barrier, determined to stay, no matter the consequences. Even if it meant her own death, she would remain on this land, by his side.

"Brother Chu Feng, where are you?" Ying Xiaoxiao sobbed. "I've been searching for you for so many years!"

Within a thousand-mile radius, very few living creatures remained. Vast stretches of land lay barren, and both the human population and the earth's vitality had plummeted by over ninety percent.

Two more years went by, and Ying Xiaoxiao continued her relentless digging. She was determined to excavate the entire land, persisting even if it meant uncovering the most unbearable truth.

"Why is my strength waning?" Ying Xiaoxiao wondered, looking up at the sky. "Is the essence of this world, all its spiritual energy, becoming increasingly scarce?"

Her once beautiful dress was now ragged. Yet, this woman, who had once cherished beauty, paid no heed to her appearance as she resumed her search for Chu Feng. She hadn't abandoned this area, knowing that the great battle had drastically altered the landscape. It was possible Chu Feng had sunk deep into the ground nearby. All around, numerous mountain peaks stood shattered, bearing silent witness to the horrors of that bygone battle. The entire land was scarred, with many regions completely obliterated.

One day, as she continued her search, she descended into a newly discovered fissure in the earth. Suddenly, her eyes widened in shock: she saw tattered battle armor and bloodstains...

"It's his battle armor!" she cried, frantically scrambling downwards. She would never forget it; even after all this time, the memory remained vivid. She remembered perfectly that he had worn that very moon-white battle armor during his final battle. But now, it was heavily stained with blood, already a dark red, and significantly torn, lying at the bottom.

"Chu Feng!" Ying Xiaoxiao cried, tears streaming down her face as she rushed to the very bottom of the great fissure. She feared the reality would be too cruel—that Chu Feng still wouldn't be there, or worse, that she would find nothing but a cold, withered skeleton. Tears flowed incessantly as she stumbled down.

Finally, she saw him. He lay motionless on the ground, his arms and legs somewhat distorted—injuries sustained during that great battle, never healed. Ying Xiaoxiao trembled as she gently lifted Chu Feng, clutching him as if he were the most precious treasure, unwilling to let go. She murmured, "You're not dead. You can't be. I'll take you, and I'll heal you!" Overwhelmed with fear, she didn't dare immediately check if Chu Feng was alive or dead. She simply willed herself to believe he was still breathing.

It was a long while before she finally calmed herself. She reached out to feel his chest, then extended her soul-light to touch his forehead.

"Oh, he's really alive! This is wonderful!" she exclaimed, like an innocent young girl, laughing and crying with pure joy, bouncing and skipping in place. The transition from profound loss to renewed possession overwhelmed Ying Xiaoxiao, bringing forth uncontrollable tears. She had previously braced herself for the worst, expecting to find nothing but a fragmented, cold corpse, or perhaps even just scattered bone fragments.

"Heaven, for the first time, I truly thank you!"

Shortly after, she noticed a stone jar nearby, within the fissure. It was open, containing various rare and precious medicinal herbs. She knew these were likely life-saving elixirs Chu Feng had prepared for his desperate battle. Unfortunately, most of their spiritual essence and medicinal properties had dissipated.

"It seems as though a Great Cosmos-level expert absorbed it unconsciously while practicing a breathing technique?" Ying Xiaoxiao mused, a flicker of suspicion in her eyes. If that were the case, it spoke volumes about the severity of Chu Feng's injuries. His Great Cosmos-level body had automatically absorbed the essence from those rare herbs, yet he had still remained unconscious. She continuously channeled pure life energy into Chu Feng, determined to awaken him.

"Chu Feng, please wake up!"

He didn't know how much time had passed, but Chu Feng heard a voice calling him. His soul, lost in darkness, gradually revived, saw a flicker of light, and then perceived a familiar yet incredibly haggard face—Ying Xiaoxiao. Her silver hair had lost its luster, her dress was tattered, and her face was streaked with dirt and tears. Yet, when she saw him open his eyes, she smiled.

"You've finally awakened."

After a long while, Chu Feng struggled to sit upright, his bones cracking and snapping as they all reset into place. This time, he had sustained severe injuries, primarily to his soul. Yet, it was ultimately the woman from the Flower Pollen Path who had intervened, preventing his complete annihilation. Otherwise, when multiple Dao Ancestors unleashed their combined assault in the final moments, he would surely have been annihilated, body and soul. Later, he recalled that Nine Dao One, the Corpse Emperor, and others had fought desperately, roaring for vengeance on his behalf, before he blacked out, losing all awareness.

"Don't cry, Xiaoxiao," Chu Feng said, leaning against the fissure's stone wall as he activated his breathing technique. He felt mostly fine now; his soul had largely recovered after its prolonged dormancy.

Suddenly, his eyes fell upon the stone jar. How was it still here? He distinctly recalled throwing the stone jar away to save Nine Dao One, unsure where it had landed. It shouldn't possibly have fallen with him.

"Xiaoxiao, this stone jar?" Chu Feng inquired.

"It was right beside you when I found you," she replied.

Chu Feng frowned. This was peculiar. Could the jar truly possess consciousness and have returned on its own? The title "Jar Heavenly Emperor" had always been a jest, but was its will genuinely fully revived now? He pondered quietly. If the jar hadn't flown back by itself, what force could be manipulating causality? He quickly dismissed these thoughts, however. Before him stood the silver-haired girl who had dug him out of the underground fissure. Had she been searching for him all this time?

"Xiaoxiao, why are you here?" Chu Feng asked.

"I... I've been looking for you," Ying Xiaoxiao said, tears welling up and spilling over. For all these years, she had never given up, and now she had finally found her Brother Chu Feng.

Chu Feng's heart stirred. He recalled yelling to the Dog Emperor during the battle to ensure the safety of the others. Yet, at the very last moment, someone had broken free, refusing to depart with the brilliant light barrier. It was... Xiaoxiao.

"You stayed behind? You didn't retreat with them?" Chu Feng asked.

"Yes, I couldn't bear to leave you!" Ying Xiaoxiao declared, looking up. She wasn't hesitant or quiet, but told him directly.

Chu Feng felt both remorse and profound emotion. Lost for words, he finally asked her how many years had passed since the battle and what the outside world was like. When he learned that Xiaoxiao had searched every inch of this land alone for him for twenty-seven years, Chu Feng's nose tingled with emotion. He gently touched her disheveled silver hair, noting her bloodshot eyes—a clear sign of severe sleep deprivation—and her utterly gaunt face. The deepest chords of his heart were struck. Someone had defied life and death, abandoned their path to safety, and risked everything to find him. How could he remain unmoved?

"Thank you, Xiaoxiao," Chu Feng said, "but you shouldn't have come back. The Yang World must be incredibly dangerous now." Chu Feng strongly suspected that after his fall, a mysterious power had concealed him, allowing him to evade certain doom. Otherwise, not only would Xiaoxiao have found him much sooner, but the Dao Ancestors from the Land of Misfortune would also never have spared him, the "Cremation Dao Ancestor." Those individuals had clearly witnessed where he had fallen.

"I was very willing to return, and now I'm incredibly happy," Ying Xiaoxiao said, wiping away her tears and breaking into a brilliant, carefree smile.

What had happened to the outside world? Ying Xiaoxiao didn't know, as her activities had been confined to this specific region, where she relentlessly dug the earth in search of Chu Feng. At the time, Xiaoxiao herself had been unconscious for a prolonged period, at least a month, and had not witnessed the battle's final outcome. Afterwards, she had no inclination to learn about the outside world's fate. She only knew that in the world outside, nine out of ten homes stood empty, and the number of survivors was far less than ten percent.

After returning to the surface and altering his appearance, Chu Feng walked across the land with Xiaoxiao. They saw a devastated landscape, littered with countless bones. He sighed softly, realizing that the Great Sacrifice had likely succeeded. It was much like the ancient legends of the Heavens' Great Sacrifice, where eighty percent of living beings perished, and the remaining twenty percent were wiped out in the ensuing years. Would the entities from the depths of the Land of Misfortune return to the Yang World?

Then, he frowned. While not much of the peculiar substance remained, the spiritual energy of this world had also sharply declined, now less than a tenth of its former level.

"Is the Age of Dharma Decline upon us?" he mused, frowning.

Over the next few months, Chu Feng traveled the world with Xiaoxiao, but found no old acquaintances, nor did they encounter any high-level cultivators. They did encounter some very low-level cultivators, but these individuals had no knowledge of the Great Sacrifice's outcome. Their cultivation was too low; they hadn't even been qualified to witness a Dao Ancestor battle, let alone gaze beyond their immediate domain. What about his old friends? What had become of Nine Dao One and the Corpse Emperor? The thought sent a pang of grief through him. He had witnessed the collapse of the ancient Dao, and seen the Dog Emperor explode right before his eyes, blood spraying everywhere.

"Even you died," Chu Feng murmured to himself. "Where were the people you protected sent!?"

Soon after, Chu Feng realized a grave problem: the spiritual energy of the entire world was still continuously declining. The Yang World was on the verge of desiccation. This rate of decline was unimaginable. This vast world was becoming unsuitable for cultivation. If this continued, it would lead to an era devoid of spiritual energy, and eventually, no more cultivators would exist!

Ten years later, Xiaoxiao could no longer fly, her internal spiritual energy steadily depleting with each use. Twenty years later, Ying Xiaoxiao began to look in the mirror more frequently, noticing signs that her body was losing its youthful vigor. Frightened, she clutched Chu Feng's arm. "Will I become an old woman?" she asked.

"If I... truly begin to age," she continued, "please take me to a quiet mountain village beforehand. I don't want you to see me grow old. I wish to depart quietly, alone." Clearly, she had long since realized that this world was no longer suitable for evolvers, and it was highly probable that no one would be able to cultivate further in the future. Chu Feng's changes, however, were barely perceptible; he remained far more vibrant than her, looking much as he always had.

"Xiaoxiao, I have a talisman here," Chu Feng said, handing it to her. "The Dog Emperor gave it to me, telling me it was for escape. I believe it might transport you to a place still abundant with spiritual energy."

"Will you come with me?" Xiaoxiao asked.

"No," he replied, his voice deep, his fists clenched. "I intend to cultivate into a Mortal Immortal in this Age of Dharma Decline. I will comprehend the heart of an Immortal King on this despairing land. I will rise from these ruins, grasp the true Dao, and ascend to the Dao Ancestor realm. I refuse to accept defeat like this. I will go to the Land of Misfortune and seek revenge!"

"I won't go," she stated. "I'll stay in this world with you. Even if I can't see you in the future, just knowing you're still in this world will bring me peace." Ying Xiaoxiao then asked Chu Feng to take her to a quiet mountain village, where she intended to live the life of an ordinary person.

When Chu Feng's numerous attempts to persuade her proved futile, he didn't press the matter. He worried that the Dog Emperor's Dao talisman might not be truly effective, especially since the Dog Emperor itself had perished without escaping. There was still time; he would think of other solutions.

After he had seemingly departed, Chu Feng discovered that outside the small mountain village, Ying Xiaoxiao stood for a long time, never truly leaving. He quietly returned and watched from a distance as she stood, her face wet with tears, softly murmuring to herself: "I truly don't want you to go, but I also don't want you to see me grow old. I'm so heartbroken. I'll wait here alone for news of you, hoping you will achieve the status of a Mortal Immortal. Before I become truly old, I will quietly leave this place. I don't want you to see me age or what I look like after I'm gone. I just hope that everything goes well for you in the future."

Chu Feng could no longer bear it. He strode forward and embraced Ying Xiaoxiao, whose tear-streaked face first registered shock, then overwhelming joy.

"You haven't left yet?" she whispered, her voice laced with hope. "Will you stay with me a little longer? But not for too long; I'm going to grow old."

"Nonsense," he chided gently. "You don't even look thirty. How can you say you're growing old?"

"But I used to look only twenty," Ying Xiaoxiao replied, her voice tinged with sadness. "I'm aging very quickly now."

"I'm not leaving," he declared. "I'll stay and accompany you. What kind of Mortal Immortal would I be if I fled from this, leaving you to cry and grow old alone? That would be utterly incompetent!"

Not only did Chu Feng decide against leaving, he chose to stay with Xiaoxiao and grow old alongside her. How could he not understand the depths of her feelings? She had forsaken her chance at escape, stayed behind to tirelessly search for him, shedding such heartbroken tears. How could he possibly fail her?