When Li Tianming came out, she looked up at the two Celestial Pole Stars, and tears like liquid stars gushed forth...
"Return," Li Tianming said.
"Mm."
Mu Qingqing nodded. After wiping away her tears, she shakily rose to her feet and said, "Please."
The two soared into the air, crossing the dim skies of the Heaven-Stealing Imperial City toward the Kun Emperor Palace.
Below them were densely packed Eonic Gods. They lingered here, unwilling to leave.
When Li Tianming and the Celestial Pole Stars circling him swept across the sky, rows upon rows of Eonic Gods beneath him knelt once more. Then they raised both hands and wailed in unison, "Farewell, Ancestor!"
The sound surged like mountains collapsing and seas overturning, sweeping through the entire city like two inescapable shackles of fate, locking themselves onto Li Tianming.
These were the Celestial Pole Stars, but they were also responsibility.
"What do you think?" Mu Qingqing asked tearfully from behind him.
"Are you asking whether I was moved?" Li Tianming asked as he crossed the sky.
"Not whether you were moved, but... can you remember anything?" Mu Qingqing asked in a trembling voice.
"I can't remember anything, because I may not be the person you're looking for. I don't have those memories either. But—"
Only then did Li Tianming turn back to look at her. "I'm someone who repays every kindness. In the Upper Star Ruins, I've currently run into a bottleneck in my growth, and you happen to be able to satisfy that need. At the same time, I've received life-sacrificing protection from my elders. To live up to all that, I will definitely do what I should do."
"As for whether I acknowledge that I'm part of this family, that has nothing to do with what I do, does it?"