Scorching waves of flame evaporated the Blood Sea. Countless wronged souls and undead wailed in agony, only to be utterly vaporized beneath the turning wheel, freed from the sins clinging to them.
Blood seeped into the earth, dyeing the entire Burial Heaven Mountain Range crimson, while restoring blue to the heavens. Violent energy tides condensed into clouds that rumbled above the mountain peaks.
For a time, dark clouds blotted out the sun, and a torrential downpour was imminent.
The energy rain lasted seven days and seven nights, washing away the evil resentment and the tainted blood upon the land. Only the Reincarnation Fire, infused with Xiao Yan's life's work, continued to circle the place where the two had vanished.
Though as precarious as a guttering candle in the wind, it still cast a faint glimmer through the downpour.
Dawn came, and the rain stopped.
Just as the first pale light of dawn emerged at the horizon, a green-gold tendril quietly poked out from the cracked, damp soil.
"Is fate truly so hard to defy?"
It let out a soft sigh, carrying the innocence of chaos newly awakened.
As it spoke, the originally verdant branch began sprouting at a visible rate. In the blink of an eye, it condensed into a tender sapling.
And as the sapling grew, that somewhat naive voice gradually gained a trace of emotion.
"In your previous life, though you defied the heavens, you ultimately still took a shortcut. To end up in this state in this life is truly lamentable."
The rustling of swaying leaves gathered into an illusory figure, whose calm gaze carried regret.
It was none other than the Bodhi Ancient Tree!
Completely different from before, the Bodhi Ancient Tree was no longer a weak tree spirit capable only of communicating through divine sense.