We're Married; We're Husband and Wife.

Haikou.

As dusk falls, the waves gradually advance and then recede, as if dragging along the last ray of light, yet still only able to let the brilliance fade away, allowing the night to slowly engulf it.

To avoid prolonged contact with the demon corpses and the risk of contracting the Honkai Sickness, the members of the Dragon River Gang immediately chose to leave and return home upon reaching the shore.

Jiang Rongyue touched the delicate silver bracelet on her fair wrist in a daze. She glanced at the stunning Courtesan in red beside her, who seemed ready to ride the wind at any moment. She felt that such an item would suit the other woman better if it were on her fair skin, which had been pampered since childhood, rather than on a martial artist like herself who only knew how to fight.

She was a swordsman, a martial artist, a solitary figure who picked up a wooden sword and walked alone from the deep mountains.

On the day he emerged from the mountains, this solitary figure, dressed in tattered gray clothes stripped from the corpse of a beggar by the roadside, wielding a pale sword forged from the bones of demons and tempered with the Heaven and Earth Qi, and accompanied by an empty, ethereal azure Jalana, silently sought out a few remaining enemies and, just as he had severed the head of that white ape demon, carried out his slaughter.

After that, Jiang Rongyue embarked on her travels. Like a ghost, she swept across the vast land, making up for the long absence of communication with others. She also left behind some Karma and tried to act as a chivalrous knight-errant with her own will and caution.

Time flies, and five years have passed in the blink of an eye.

She could be simply seen as an ordinary girl, given gifts that girls her age would typically like, yet it was still an experience she had never had before.

Just as Su Qing'an had thought, Jiang Rongyue would find it difficult to refuse the gift from her junior uncle, especially after the young man revealed the examination criteria.

This was tantamount to refusing the gift from the "elder" while also rejecting the "bad" behavior that resembled summer homework, something she, with her upright yet somewhat old-fashioned personality, naturally couldn't do.

But setting aside these seemingly incongruous thoughts, the girl didn't dislike the gift. Her fingertips would occasionally fiddle with the silver bracelet on her fair wrist, the scattered, rain-like Heaven and Earth Qi making it sound like a silver bell swaying in the breeze, adding crisp notes to the trivialities of the sea breeze and waves.

Li Shishi stole glances at the man's subtle movements, her lips slightly upturned.

It seems like you quite like it.

Neither of them tacitly observed the boy's eating process. At the estuary, far from the warehouse, they could only hear the faint sounds like branches curling and withering in the fire, and the strange spectacle of black dust swarming towards the warehouse entrance, stretching to the horizon.

Su Qing'an stood amidst the hazy shadows of the night, his dark pupils swirling with iridescent light. A tiny point seemed to have solidified in his palm, absorbing the fine fragments of corpse that were being pulverized into powder by the [Stigmata], and finally slowly condensing into a tiny, illusory bead the size of a grain of rice.

The boy was merely following his instincts to prepare the food in a form that would allow him to eat it most efficiently, but in doing so, he sensed that his appetite within his consciousness and body had been reignited, as if his stomach was constantly secreting large amounts of digestive juices, giving him a burning signal.

Without hesitation, he threw it into his mouth. The burning sensation subsided slightly, then returned to a deathly stillness.

A very, very small amount.

Even without peeking at the panel, one can understand that this food is utterly incapable of satisfying one's underlying cravings and desires. To achieve sublimation and qualitative change, even multiplying this level by a thousand or a hundred times would hardly fill half of the progress bar.

[Unknown Gene Awakening Degree: 0.0000009451%]

Atropos's panel seems to provide a clearer answer.

However, Su Qing'an had anticipated these things from the beginning. According to the classification of Honkai Beast, only the genetic level in Hua's body is currently worth being considered as a main course. The corpses of dozens of demons that are not even at the Emperor-class naturally do not have much value.

While some accumulation of knowledge is still meaningful, what's more important is clearly a clear understanding of one's own situation.

At least for him, the urge to eat triggered by demons of a normal level is not something he needs to suppress with his willpower.

Based on his intuition, Manas believed that after devouring all the demons below the Nine Nether, he would be able to communicate with Hua normally face-to-face without needing to deliberately suppress or restrain himself.

Even as a cub at the Planetary-class level, the instincts of this body are clearly no match for the individual consciousness that truly holds the reins of power.

Simply put, as long as you're not starving, such a blunder won't happen.

That being said, the feeling of trying to stimulate your appetite but only getting crumbs is unpleasant in every sense.

The boy looked at his slender, delicate fingers, his easily worn skin, and his fragile bones. He pondered that, based on the fragments of his memory, he was over 17 years old in the past. However, his subsequent experiences had not been able to resurface, so his true age remained uncertain.

However, judging from the starting age of 17, his current body has indeed undergone a reversal of its life form. Objectively speaking, based on the price of the final battle that tipped the scales, this body is a product of revival from nothingness.

But what is the reason for the existence of this demonic nature that resembles a god?

Su Qing'an used the three characters "Mana Shi" engraved on the panel to communicate and make judgments with Fu Hua.

Therefore, he can probably understand his true situation.

The eternal and permanent Manas consciousness also means being infinitely close to the Tathagatagarbha, residing in a state of ethereal immortality where the body is in harmony with the heavenly way, a realm that humans can never reach with their own ego.

This is something that belongs to the soul and consciousness. The essence of one's own body is an unknown demon far beyond the Judgment-class, which, under some inexplicable guidance, became entangled with the Manas consciousness, interrupting the process of the Ascended State and preventing this body, which should have been able to easily overturn mountains and rivers, from showing any special characteristics.

In short, what should have been a chaotic mess was transformed into a bizarre Tai Chi cycle under the mediation of the gods.

Su Qing'an knew exactly how to break this situation completely, but the opportunity could only be glimpsed after his appetite was completely satisfied and his genes were truly awakened.

Therefore, before his genes awakened, his physical strength would likely be difficult to even return to the level he remembered.

Planetary-class genes and Manas consciousness are like a twisted rope, creating difficulties for each other.

Because the former has not fully transcended the dimensional ascension and is at a disadvantage, in order to prevent the Manas consciousness from overflowing from the body and to create a qualified and accident-free perfect cage, it is completely unable to provide any interference or assistance to the human's outer shell, unlike the boy who can still demonstrate the ability of the Manas consciousness.

Su Qing'an calmly analyzed the situation with a detached expression:

"Without Honkai Energy, I'm not much different from an ordinary child."

That's why she was lifted high by Li Shishi without any resistance when she first entered Zhen'an Ward.

But now, due to the revival of his emotional functions and memories, he has regained a sense of shame that was not there before, and considers being lifted up high to be taboo, which made Li Shishi somewhat disappointed.

He calmed himself and stepped out of the warehouse.

At this moment, the night enveloped and swallowed the twilight, and the originally dim crescent moon gradually cast its silvery light.

The sea breeze caressed his face, causing the boy's hair to sway and fall to his temples, then slide down his shoulders and sway in the wind.

This is a night where nothing else exists, only fragments of memory.

The silver bracelet on the girl's fair wrist jingled clearly. Her long hair was tied up with a dark blue silk ribbon. Her gaze was silent, the light in her pupils fading, and crimson feathers extended out corresponding illusions.

It's Fu Hua.

The immortal, whose true form was still in Qinglong Town, inquired:

"How?"

The boy silently shook his head, pointed to a distant stretch of sea, and said:

"Reluctantly."

"But after eating everything from that area, I finally gained the ability to communicate with you directly and normally."

Fu Hua was not surprised to hear this. After learning a little about Su Qing'an's current true state, she realized that the other party's gene level was probably indeed the Planetary-class, just as she had initially thought.

Even a Chi You of the Judgment-class could devour the entire continent.

It's impossible to know exactly how many [compatriots] a malnourished Planet-class Honkai Beast would need to eat to feel full.

But in this day and age, Chi You is the only one who can provide Su Qing'an with the best sustenance.

Unless there is a deliberate push for technological explosion or entrapment, the Honkai Beast produced by the entire world in the past decade cannot be compared to this.

But putting aside the fact that such a method is undoubtedly taboo, even if it were actually implemented, it would not be something that could be achieved in a short period of time.

The emergence of Chi You was a sudden eruption resulting from a long period of gradual accumulation, not an accident that occurred overnight.

Therefore, upon hearing that Chi You could solve this most troubling problem, she already considered it good news enough.

Once this problem is solved, and an organization that can be established step by step to last for thousands of years is built, the remains of demons and monsters throughout the Shenzhou can be gradually collected, and one day the other side can be helped to achieve true sublimation.

At that time, humanity will miraculously possess the ability to resist the Finality, or even annihilate it, without the aid of any external force.

The Immortal Chi Yuan deeply understood the level of the brief moment of entering the Ascended State, but the power that a human soul and consciousness could obtain through "unity of heaven and man, and communion with all things" was truly limited. It might be able to make up for the gap between himself and the High Command human combat power, but he could not be confident that it would pose a clear threat to the Finality.

To put it bluntly, it's just a brief, incomplete dimensional ascension that lasts only a few seconds. It can't form its own spacetime axis, separate itself from the world's records to transcend, nor can it possess the power that truly belongs to this level.

Not only is it impossible to access the Scavenger mechanic of the Imaginary Tree, but there is also no hope of defeating the Finality.

Even just this much is already terrifying.

The Void Sword Qi is a method of using a mortal body to dabble in the divine realm. It cleverly utilizes the framework of the sword heart to replace the soul and transform it into the Manas consciousness, eliminating some of the interference of heaven and earth on the self. Thus, it can control this incomplete power of dimensional ascension with its own will. It is no exaggeration to call it a method of stealing the heavens by substituting the beams and pillars.

Although the method of substituting one's own mind for the will of Heaven means that one is destined to be unable to ascend to a higher dimension or obtain even one ten-thousandth of the full power, it can still be considered a technique close to immortality.

If Su Qing'an now possessed all the memories and looked at everything from the other side, she would understand one thing.

The original Immortal Chi Yuan, who had no Karma to himself and was heading towards the distant beginning of the original timeline, might not have been able to create such an extraordinary Void Sword Qi.

World records, Karma entanglements, the convergence of self into a single entity across infinite parallel worlds...

If we consider all the speculations, it's easy to conclude that this might be a large-scale butterfly effect triggered by Su Qing'an's very existence.

Even cases involving the grandmother paradox can reveal subtle answers.

In short, Fu Hua clearly understood the immense potential the young man possessed.

She had never witnessed the limits of the Finality before, yet she still firmly believed that Su Qing'an, restored to his prime, possessed the ability to annihilate it.

On the other hand, Fu Hua also had to think about something.

What kind of extraordinary opponent could force a true immortal in an eternally Ascended State to pay such a price and fall to this state?

After the Finality, are there even more unfathomable enemies?

That is... the Honkai mechanism itself?

This is an unknown quantity.

But whether it's to give humanity more hope of resisting the Honkai, or to allow Su Qing'an to quickly gain more strength to face that enemy again, gathering the power of everyone is an essential choice.

Fu Hua knew that her personality and methods were insufficient to support an organization like Schicksal.

In the past, taking on a few disciples and establishing a loosely organized Taixu Sect would have been the limit of her abilities. However, given the reality that Su Qing'an's resurrection would allow him to appear arbitrarily on the timeline, he was highly likely to encounter that terrifying enemy again. How could a mere handful of people possibly withstand an organization like Schicksal that controls the world?

Assuming Fu Hua were now in charge of a similar organization, it wouldn't be a problem for her to emulate the aid provided by the Moth to Fire in the previous timeline. Furthermore, under the Honkai mechanism of the new era, the corpses of Honkai Beast would be less likely to disintegrate, and could even reach an even more exaggerated scale.

In this situation, accumulating the nutrients needed for Planetary-class cubs would no longer be a difficult task, so why resort to such an inefficient method as embarking on a journey to slay demons and monsters as the only means at hand?

In order to avoid repeating the mistake of losing Su Qing'an, Fu Hua decided to abandon some of her original beliefs.

Perhaps, after gaining the memories of those two timelines, she had already undergone a subtle change unconsciously.

Bathed in moonlight, the girl's face wore a faint smile. As her thoughts drifted, she softly said:

That's good.

"After Rongyue has practiced her sword a few more times in the next few days, you will enter the Nine Nether and kill Chi You. I will be on the outside preventing any potential tsunamis."

The fairy descended to the boy's side, half-kneeling, head bowed in silence. Then, she stretched out her ethereal hands, cupped his face, gazed into his eyes and brows, and with a gentle, earnest and joyful whisper, said:

"Then we'll be able to meet."

Su Qing'an looked into those clear eyes that were staring straight at her, her gaze involuntarily shifting several times, finding it somewhat difficult to look directly at the face so close to hers and the slightly upturned lips.

He still couldn't remember the other person, but at this moment, his heart was inexplicably fluttering.

It's a very simple truth—you can still fall in love with someone you once loved, even if you've forgotten them.

It's almost like a curse.

Who is she?

At this moment, my chest felt numb and itchy, my heart was pounding, and my blood was circulating faster, gradually turning my originally fair cheeks pink.

At that moment, the boy forgot the State of Still Water of his instincts and was almost unaware of his predicament. His mind was in turmoil, like a deer that had lost its way in the forest and plunged into a winding stream, rushing downstream along its meandering course.

Even now, he couldn't help but continue pondering the question that had been lingering in his mind for so long.

What kind of communication did you and Hua have before? What things did you do together? When did you meet? Have you ever had any misunderstandings? Have you ever argued? Have you ever cooked together in the kitchen?

And then there's the most important and core question.

Su Qing'an lowered his eyes, pursed his lips, hesitated, but couldn't help asking:

"What was my relationship with Hua before? Can you tell me in advance?"

The girl was stunned by what she heard. She suddenly remembered that, based on the memories she had received so far, the two of them had never clearly defined their feelings for each other or their relationship.

But the emotions themselves seemed to have transcended the ambiguity that should have existed, reaching deep into her heart, leaving her no room for escape or avoidance. She only wanted to cherish this Karma, which was outside of fate, in her own way.

Regardless of what aspects of their relationship had previously led to their separation, for someone as traditional and conservative as her, there could only be one answer.

As memories flooded back, the words Su Qing'an had entrusted to Rita to relay echoed slowly in his Mind Lake:

I've loved you since 55,000 years ago.

I'm sorry I couldn't say it in person, Hua.

Her eyelashes trembled, and her eyes glistened with tears.

I couldn't say it out loud.

Then we shouldn't make the same mistake again, right?

"Okay, I'll tell you."

The immortal slowly lowered her head, and this illusion embraced the boy's body in an extremely intimate gesture. Her lips slightly upturned, and she pressed them against his burning ear, carefully biting down on her soft yet cool voice, saying each word distinctly:

We're married, we're husband and wife.

Her illusion shattered into countless rays of light, only her whispered laughter lingered in her ears, never fading away.

"So, I really, really want to see you."

Su Qing'an lowered his eyes and remained silent, his fingertips brushing against his earlobe, which seemed to be burning hot.

We got married, we're husband and wife.

[So, I really, really want to see you.]

The boy pondered the other's response, and the tone so certain that even his mind couldn't discern its truthfulness. He felt the sea breeze that was blowing in his face was no longer cool, but rather mixed with a bit of heat.

Li Shishi was not surprised at all by this scene.

Jiang Rongyue, completely unaware of the situation, silently turned her back and fiddled with the silver bracelet on her fair wrist, finally realizing why Senior Xiao Xuan had hesitated for so long over how she should address Su Qing'an.

What martial uncle? Isn't this your Grand Martial Uncle?