Ten days had passed since Xu Xiao's death.
Ten days since the city had fallen — and since we had dragged it back from the edge of oblivion with our own hands. We had already finished rebuilding the city; if it had been only mortals working, it would have taken much longer. But their help mattered nonetheless. It was their home as much as anyone else's.
The dead deserved a place to rest.
And the living deserved a city that did not look like a grave.
The air grew still. Tools were set aside. Fires dimmed. Voices softened.
It was the day of remembrance.
Rows upon rows of memorial tablets filled the central courtyard — more than the eye could count. Each tablet carved from fresh white stone. Each bearing a name.
And among them stood a tablet for Xu Xiao.
Even after everything he had done — the betrayal, the slaughter, the madness that had consumed him — he was given a place. Some were unhappy about this. Some indifferent. Some simply chose to show a measure of respect because he had been part of the family.
I stood before the sea of tablets as incense curled into the grey morning sky and the bells tolled their slow, solemn cadence. Xu Yunfei stood at my right, her face cold and unreadable. Xu Yansheng stood at my left, his shoulders heavy beneath the mantle of a patriarch he had inherited far too soon.
My gaze drifted to the memorial tablet of their father — the man who had detonated his demigod body like a nuke.
Then I looked towards Xu Xiao and Xu Yunfei's mother.
It was raining today. She didn't show her grief in her posture — she stood serious and composed — but I could still see the tears mixing with the rain.
I looked over at Liraine.
She wasn't holding anything back. She was crying openly, shoulders shaking, the kind of tears that came from years of pressure finally snapping. Xu Xiao's death had given her what she had wanted for a long time — not revenge for its own sake, but an end to what he'd done to her family.
Shuyin and Sura stayed close to her, one on each side. They didn't say much, just kept a steady hand on her back or arm when she needed it. Her tears weren't only grief. There was relief in them, too. A quiet, exhausted sort of happiness. She looked freer than I had ever seen her.
Then my eyes shifted to Lingxue.
She wasn't crying. She just looked… distant like her mind had already moved on to the next place we needed to go — the Luo family's homeland.
Everyone was here except for Nagni. She kept to the shadows, half-hidden in the darkness at the edge of the courtyard, watching without coming any closer.
When the rites finally ended, people drifted away in small groups. Some returned to their work. Some stayed behind to sit by the tablets a little longer. The rain eased to a thin mist.
Xu Yunfei and I walked away from the courtyard in silence.
Her steps were steady, but her expression stayed cold and distant — the same look she'd worn since the moment her blade fell. Our wedding ceremony had been interrupted by Xu Xiao's madness, but her mother had insisted we would still hold it again, once things settled. It was what her husband had wanted… and it was what Yunfei herself had wanted. She had been excited before all of this.
Now she looked empty. Hollow from what she had done. She had killed her own brother — a brother who had loved her far more than he ever should have.
As we walked down the long path toward the main hall, I reached out and took her by the waist, gently pulling her into a hug.
She froze for a second, caught off guard.
Then her breath hitched — a small, sharp sound she tried to swallow.
And she started crying.
Quiet tears. No trembling, no collapse. Just the rawness finally slipping through her control as she leaned into me, letting the rain and her own grief fall at the same pace.
I didn't say anything.
I just held her.
Sometimes, that was all someone needed.
We eventually married and became husband and wife. We celebrated it with everyone. Yunfei had started smiling more again, which was good and made me relieved — she had finally begun to overcome the burden she carried after killing her brother, even though she knew it had been necessary for the sake of her Xu clan.
By the time night came, the courtyard had fallen quiet. We returned to the room together. The candles were still burning, faint and steady. We sat on the bed with a bit of space between us at first.
I moved a little closer and slipped an arm around her back. She stiffened for a moment, surprised, and looked up at me with a slightly confused expression.
To ease her a bit, I let my weight drop back on purpose, pulling her with me.
She let out a soft gasp as she landed lightly on top of me. Her hands pressed against my chest as she tried to steady herself. She looked embarrassed, caught off guard — her cheeks a little warm, her gaze slipping away from mine.
"It's fine," I murmured.
She hesitated, then slowly relaxed. She settled against me, her forehead resting near my shoulder — careful, unsure, but no longer trying to pull away. Her breathing steadied, and some of the tension in her arms faded.
There was nothing more — no rush, no forced closeness. Just the two of us lying there, getting used to each other in a quiet room.
After a while, her grip on my robe loosened as she drifted off to sleep, still close enough that I could feel the warmth of her breath.
I closed my eyes not long after.
Our first night together — peaceful, slightly awkward, but gentle in a way that felt right for us.
The Morning After
"You should show some privacy, Nagni," I said.
She didn't look away. If anything, her eyes narrowed.
"I did," she muttered. "Far more than you deserved."
Her voice was low, sharp in that familiar way — the tone she used when she felt something she didn't want to admit. She glanced briefly at Yunfei sleeping beside me, then back at me. The jealousy was obvious, even if she tried to hide it under irritation.
"I wasn't going to wake her," she added. "I just wanted to see… how you were."
I sat up a little, careful not to disturb Yunfei.
"You've seen enough," I said quietly.
Nagni held my gaze for a long moment. The annoyance faded first, leaving something tired underneath it — something she didn't want me to notice.
"…Fine," she said at last.
She turned away, her form blurring for a moment as she moved toward the windows.
Before she stepped out, she paused.
"Just remember," she said without looking back, "you're not the only one who's survived this long."
Before she could slip away, I reached out and caught her wrist. Nagni froze, annoyance flickering across her face, but she didn't pull back. I stood quietly so I wouldn't wake Yunfei, stepped closer, and pulled her into a firm, steady hug.
She went stiff at first, tense and uncertain. Her breath hitched — not out of anger this time, but something she didn't want to show.
"I won't abandon you. Any of you. Do you hear me? Ever."
Nagni's hands hovered at her sides for a moment before she finally rested them lightly against my back — cautious, reluctant, but real. Her forehead touched my shoulder for a brief second.
Then she pulled away, eyes glossy with a jealousy she tried to hide and a sadness she couldn't.
She shifted back into her serpent form and slipped out through the open window, silent as smoke.
Not long after, Yunfei woke up. She blinked a few times, still half-asleep, before looking over at me. I offered her a small smile.
"I told you… there was something I needed to say. Do you remember?"
Yunfei pushed herself up a little, brushing her hair back from her face. She looked tired, but calmer than she'd been in days. At my words, she paused, trying to recall, then gave a small nod.
"…I remember," she said quietly. Her voice was still soft from sleep. "What is it?"
She shifted to sit properly, legs folded beneath her, watching me with a faint mixture of curiosity and nerves — like she was bracing herself for something important.
"I'm going to be direct," I said. "The man you knew as Emperor Genesis — the one who created this realm, Mìngjiè Xiānlù… that was me. A name I used an eternity ago, the last time I stood in this world."
I met her eyes.
"Let me show you something, so you'll believe me."
Before she could reply, the world shifted.
In the blink of an eye, we were standing in the past.
My past self stood at the centre of an endless plain — tall, long, heavy hair the colour of blood-wine, his presence pressing against the air like weight. Behind him and beside him stood the countless ancient clans who followed him in that era, their banners lifting in the wind.
Ahead of us were countless other clans, whole factions swearing their loyalty, every one of them bowing as far as their bodies could manage.
From every direction, voices crashed together:
"Black Dragon Emperor!"
Xu Yunfei looked at me, then back at the fading scene of my past self.
"You didn't use cultivation just now… what was that?"
"It's just something I can do," I said calmly. "There's nothing I'm unable to do. I don't need qi or techniques for any of it."
I kept my voice steady, wanting her to understand.
"You don't have to be afraid of me. I promise you that."
Her eyes softened slightly, though she still didn't fully understand.
"Everyone knows my past self didn't use cultivation," I continued. "But the current me does — because I chose to learn it here. Not because I needed it, but because I wanted to. I decided to add cultivation on top of what I already am."
I held her gaze, speaking the simple truth.
"I can summon any element. I can take any form. I can appear anywhere. I can create anything. I can fly without qi. I can control time and space. Cultivation is just something extra I picked up — nothing more."
"There are no limits for me. Not in this realm… not anywhere."
Xu Yunfei looked at me again, then back at my past self. Compared side by side, she could feel it clearly — my current self was calmer, steadier, while the man I had been back then carried a far more chaotic presence.
She spoke, her voice low and unsteady."I'm so confused right now, husband… Who are you really? You or him? You've been lying about who you are all this time. I think I understand some of it, but… now I want to know why you're here. Truly."
I answered her plainly.
"My real name is Ren Blackdragon. I am the true immortal — the beginning and the end. I was the first immortal, the one who created everything. And I've come back to this realm with my Eternal Empire to conquer, to claim Mìngjiè Xiānlù."
I glanced at my past self standing on that ancient plain, then back at her.
She tried to process everything, but it was too much at once. It hit her like a hammer — a truth so big she couldn't fully grasp it. She'd been lied to, yes… but I had chosen to tell her this myself. That alone showed how much I valued her, how much I trusted her as my wife.
Eventually the weight of it overwhelmed her.Her eyes rolled slightly, her legs weakening, and she fainted.
I caught her before she could fall.
Holding her steady, I looked back at my past self. He stared directly at me for a moment — recognising me without surprise — and then looked away again, his gaze settling back on the countless beings shouting his title:
"Black Dragon Emperor!"
I stayed and watched for a few more moments before finally turning away. Then I shifted us back to the present.
The room settled around me again — quiet, dim, familiar.
I carried Yunfei over to the bed and laid her down carefully, making sure she was breathing steady and that her colour was returning. I pulled the blanket over her and sat beside her for a moment, just watching to make sure she was all right.
I left and glanced back at her figure one last time before I teleported to the Heaven of this realm — the domain where those who had reached the Divine Realm called themselves gods and goddesses.