Soft strands of hair brushed past Feng Qi's nose, and he caught the familiar refreshing scent.
It was the unique scent of Xiao You—her faint herbal fragrance.
It brought back memories of the little girl who used to drift around half-asleep, never seeming to grow up.
Lowering his head to look at Xiao You, who was still nuzzling in his arms, Feng Qi smiled and gently rubbed her hair.
"Xiao You, I've kept you waiting."
At that moment, Xiao You suddenly lifted her head, and Feng Qi noticed her eyes were already moist.
Throughout her long journey on the Path of Godhood, no matter how many hardships she faced, she had never shed a tear. But now, she could no longer hold back her feelings. After muttering something under her breath, her mouth quivered, and she leaned back into Feng Qi's chest, hugging him tightly as she burst into uncontrollable sobs.
The once self-reliant Xiao You had finally found someone who let her cry like a child again—her old leader.
The members of the Blade Demon Squad standing in the distance were completely stunned by what they saw.
In their minds, their leader, Xiao You, had always been calm, wise, and determined. Although her appearance hadn't changed much over the countless years, they all saw her as a leader worthy of their respect and loyalty.
But seeing their untouchable "Leader You" now bawling her eyes out left them utterly shocked.
"Holy crap, what's going on here? Can someone explain this to me?"
"I've been following Leader You for over 500 years, and this is the first time I've seen her cry… and cry this loud? My whole worldview just collapsed."
"Who is that guy? Who could make Leader You break down like that? There's got to be some secret story here!"
While the squad members were all whispering in disbelief, only Lei Ting and Po Jia wore knowing smiles on their faces.
As they watched Xiao You sobbing in Feng Qi's arms, their eyes were filled with both relief and nostalgia.
This… this was the real Xiao You in their hearts.
After their old leader died, Xiao You had seemed like a completely different person, having lost her carefree joy and liveliness.
The Xiao You they once knew would throw tantrums when she was upset, shout loudly when she was hungry, and cry openly when she felt wronged—never hiding how she felt.
Clinging to Feng Qi and crying her heart out like this had been a common sight back then.
Sometimes, after waking from nightmares where she dreamt their leader had disappeared, she would cling to Feng Qi like a fool, refusing to let go as she cried.
Back then, Xiao You was like a carefree, happy fool, always bringing laughter and joy to the team.
But after Feng Qi died, that happiness was gone.
She started chasing after growth.
The training she used to give up on after just three minutes—she now stuck with it, locking herself in seclusion for years at a time.
She no longer showed the same enthusiasm for food. She still loved eating, but mealtimes had lost the laughter they used to share. No one was there anymore to cut off a piece of roasted meat and stuff it in her mouth while she pouted.
What seemed like a strange sight to the newer members of the Blade Demon Squad was, to Lei Ting and Po Jia, the thing they missed most.
Dust and wind stung their eyes, and they unconsciously found their vision blurring with tears.
Time had turned those memories into faded photographs, tinted with the filter of age, slowly sinking into the sea of their minds, fading bit by bit.
Xiao You's sobbing brought them back to those days, memories crossing the river of time, returning to where it all began.
The faded photos in their minds seemed to regain color, coming back to life.
Tears shimmered in Lei Ting and Po Jia's eyes, their hearts aching with emotion.
This… this was the real Xiao You they remembered.
Unrestrained, carefree sobbing—something that only existed in the depths of their memories.
Just then, a towering man over five meters tall, with muscles as solid as steel and wearing a Blade Demon Squad robe marked with a steel fork emblem, quietly approached Lei Ting and Po Jia.
In a low voice, he asked, "Uncle Lei, Uncle Po… what's going on with Leader You? Who's that guy she's hugging?"
Hearing the question, Po Jia smiled.
"Our old leader. The founder of the Blade Demon Squad."
The burly man's face twisted in shock at Lei Ting's reply.
"Isn't Leader You the founder of the Blade Demon Squad? You mean… there was another leader before her?"
Po Jia nodded firmly.
"Back then, both I and Leader You followed him. He was the first to start training us on the Path of Godhood. But due to some accidents, he disappeared for over a thousand years, and that's when Leader You stepped up to carry on his legacy and lead the Blade Demon Squad forward."
Hearing this, the burly man looked completely stunned.
He hadn't joined the Blade Demon Squad that late. It had already been over six hundred years since he joined.
Back then, he had been just a clueless kid, joining the squad by chance after a life-changing encounter.
In his understanding, Leader You was the heart of the Blade Demon Squad.
In his mind, Po Jia, Lei Ting, and Taihang had always been the four founding giants of the squad, following Leader You to build it from the ground up.
He never imagined that all of them had once followed that man in the distance.
As the others overheard Po Jia and the burly man's conversation, the rest of the squad members were just as shocked.
Clearly, this was a part of Blade Demon Squad's history that none of the four founding giants had ever spoken about.
But there was still one question that nagged at everyone present.
Just now, they had witnessed the mysterious man's fight with Jian Ji. In the end, it was only because Uncle Lei stepped in to resolve the danger that he wasn't killed on the spot by that sword maniac.
With just that level of strength, he didn't seem qualified to be called the founder of the Blade Demon Squad.
While Jian Ji was powerful, at least a dozen people in the Blade Demon Squad had the strength to take him down.
Among them, Leader You, Uncle Lei, and Uncle Po could easily kill Jian Ji.
So why would someone like that earn the loyalty of Leader You and the others?
If this happened more than a thousand years ago, back when Leader You and the others weren't as strong, it might make sense.
But then a new question arose.
Had that mysterious man not improved at all over these thousand years?
His appearance hadn't aged at all in over a thousand years, proving that his bloodline potential wasn't weak. Things shouldn't have turned out this way.
The deeper they thought about it, the more confused the members of the Blade Demon Squad became.
The only thing they could understand was that this man was Leader You's former leader, the original founder of the Blade Demon Squad, and someone she had deep feelings for.
As for why her feelings ran so deep, many of the members who had been taken in by the Blade Demon Squad could guess the reason.
It was just like their loyalty toward Xiao You, born from the care she had given them.
If it weren't for Xiao You, they would've long been buried by the unstoppable flow of history.
While the Blade Demon Squad members were deep in discussion, Xiao You suddenly let go of Feng Qi, looked up at him, and laughed through her tears.
"Boss, it's been so long. You feel so weak now. You're nothing like the almighty figure I used to look up to."
Hearing her teasing, Feng Qi rubbed her head.
"Even if your boss is weak, I'm still your boss."
"You'll always be my boss."
Saying that, Xiao You lowered her head again, trying to snuggle back into Feng Qi's arms. But Feng Qi stopped her with a hand on her head.
"Xiao You, what about Jian Ji?"
"I've already cut off all his limbs. The Sword Spirit Formation that was fused with his body has been shattered by me too. He can't resist anymore."
As she spoke, Xiao You gestured toward the distance. Instantly, the Demon Blade shot toward them and hovered in front of Feng Qi.
"Boss, do it. I know you've waited for this day for a long time. So has Brother Blade."
Feng Qi reached out and grabbed the Demon Blade, which had taken on a different form. A familiar, aged voice rang in his mind.
"Qi brat, long time no see."
"Brother Blade, long time no see. Let's begin. Let's fulfill the promise we made over a thousand years ago," Feng Qi nodded.
Holding the Demon Blade, he walked toward Jian Ji, who had lost all ability to resist but still glared at him with eyes full of madness, letting out a frenzied roar.
Killing Jian Ji had been the final goal for many who had walked this timeline alongside Feng Qi.
Too many companions had been buried in the river of time for this day to come.
Even Mu Qing had died for this moment.
Now, everything was coming to an end.
If the truth about erasing timelines was as Old Mist and the Narrator had speculated, Jian Ji would completely vanish from the origin point of this timeline after his death.
The past couldn't be changed.
But from this moment on, in both the real timeline and the sacrifice timeline, Jian Ji would be gone forever.
Without hesitation, Feng Qi swung the Demon Blade down.
The power of the slash burned in his chest and surged outward. Black flames ignited along the surface of the purple Demon Blade.
The flames released by the Demon Blade engulfed Jian Ji.
A blood-curdling screech rang out as Jian Ji trembled all over, struggling violently.
As life slipped away, a hint of clarity returned to Jian Ji's eyes.
Feng Qi saw pain, rage, and hatred in them. But in the end, all those emotions faded into relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
Maybe Jian Ji had once had great ambitions.
He had dreamed of standing at the pinnacle, of ruling the cruel battlefields of the future, of becoming a supreme powerhouse who could contend with the strongest races, and even witnessing the arrival of the Great Momentum, challenging the impossible.
But this world was cruel.
In this life-and-death game, losing meant losing.
Tortured by negative emotions, he had long ceased to be human. His true self had gradually withered and disappeared.
The final relief in Jian Ji's eyes wasn't just freedom from torment but also letting go of all his past struggles.
As life neared its end, a tear rolled down Jian Ji's cheek.
The former top genius of the Sword Clan, the God of War of the Sword Clan, the Clan Leader, the Clan Elder… memories of his past flashed through his mind like smoke in the wind.
Jian Ji's life ended in the burning black flames.
"Demon Blade… keep going…"
Jian Ji's dying words seemed like he wanted to pass his obsession to the Demon Blade.
He wanted the Demon Blade to witness the future in his place, to witness the impossible.
At the same time, the Burning Heaven Sword nearby began to tremble and hum. Cracks started to appear on its once flawless blade, as if it was breaking apart under some kind of strain.
Even the Burning Heaven Sword, which had never once broken under the Demon Blade's strikes, chose to self-destruct at this moment.
As cracks spread across the Burning Heaven Sword, a crisp shattering sound rang out. The blade exploded and crumbled into pieces, following its master into oblivion.
Only the Fortification Gem remained, flickering with light as it shot up into the sky amid the blast.
A figure flashed and snatched it out of the air.
When he landed, Feng Qi saw clearly—it was Lei Ting.
Lei Ting glanced down at the glowing Fortification Gem in his hand, then turned to the Demon Blade with a grin.
"Demon Blade, you wanna slot this thing in and see how it feels?"
"My goal is to surpass Miracles. What the hell would I need that trash for?"
"What a waste. Guess I'll give it a shot then."
With that, Lei Ting pressed the Fortification Gem onto the wrist guard on his arm.
The gem merged halfway into the wrist guard, causing the guard to radiate a blinding blue light. The gem itself turned a deep blue.
"Thunder, come!"
Lei Ting waved his hand toward the distance. Instantly, arcs of lightning coiled around the wrist guard, disturbing the surrounding spiritual energy.
A massive bolt of purple lightning shot out from the guard, faster than the eye could follow, streaking toward the distance.
Boom!
With a deafening crash, the ground trembled. A deep crater appeared far away.
Purple plasma and electric arcs danced across the crater's edge, lingering for a long time.
"Damn, that's insane!"
Lei Ting looked down at his wrist guard in disbelief.
At that moment, Xiao You spoke up.
"The Fortification Gem seems to amplify based on the material it's embedded in, pushing the enhancement to the material's absolute limit. Technically, there's no upper limit to the amplification—as long as the material is good enough, the boost can be sky-high. Like Brother Blade. If he embedded this thing, he'd definitely be several times stronger than the Burning Heaven Sword."
Feng Qi nodded in agreement.
According to Wei Wei's findings mentioned in her message, Jian Ji had chosen Winterfell City precisely for its ore resources. During that time, Jian Ji had the Burning Heaven Sword absorb a massive amount of spiritual ore.
He did this not only to strengthen the Burning Heaven Sword but also to maximize the effect of the Fortification Gem.
The stronger the sword, the stronger the enhancement effect from the gem.
As for the Fortification Gem itself, Feng Qi had no particular interest in it.
Miracle items were known for their rule-breaking powers, but they were only useful in the right hands.
The Fortification Gem could embed into objects but not living beings.
It didn't fit his combat style at all.
As for how Jian Ji had the gem embedded in himself, it wasn't because his body was special—it was the Burning Heaven Sword that served as the medium. The gem's power hadn't actually fused directly with Jian Ji himself.
Just then, Lei Ting popped the gem out of his wrist guard and tossed it to Xiao You.
Xiao You walked up to Feng Qi and handed the Fortification Gem to him.
"Here you go, Boss. A little welcome-back gift."
"No way. That's way too valuable. You keep it. The road ahead is long—you'll definitely need it someday." Feng Qi immediately shook his head and refused.
Hearing this, Xiao You beamed.
"You heard Brother Blade. He doesn't even want the thing. Crushing and surpassing Miracles is his obsession and the goal of his godhood challenge training. If he slots that gem in, Brother Blade might actually ruin himself."
Seeing that Feng Qi still wasn't taking it, Xiao You grabbed his hand and stuffed the gem into his palm.
"Just take it. If you don't want it, give it to the next me."
Clearly, since she had fused with the Demon Blade, Xiao You already knew his secret. Feng Qi wasn't surprised by her words.
"Boss, take it," Po Jia also spoke up with a smile as he approached.
Feng Qi wasn't the type to hesitate. Seeing their insistence, he nodded and accepted it.
Gripping the Fortification Gem tightly, he expected it to sink into his spiritual sea like every other divine or evolutionary item he'd used before, becoming part of his talent track.
But nothing happened.
No matter how tightly he held the gem, it didn't integrate like the others had.
While Feng Qi was still puzzled, Jian Ji's lifeless body suddenly trembled violently.
Endless blood energy began surging out of Jian Ji's scorched body, flooding madly into Feng Qi.
Clearly, Jian Ji's remaining consciousness had finally dispersed.
As the raging blood energy poured into him, Feng Qi's body started to tremble uncontrollably.
From Xiao You and the others' perspective, they couldn't see the blood energy. All they saw was Feng Qi suddenly freezing up and trembling where he stood.
Seeing this, Xiao You's expression immediately turned anxious.
She stepped up to help, but then seemed to realize something, took a step back, and smiled brightly.
"Heh, looks like Boss is finally getting his reward for killing Jian Ji."