Has She Always Been Alone?

"These two things..."

Shi Yi's Double Pupils bled continuously, making him look utterly terrifying. This showed that the true level of the Beast Bone and Beast Hide was still beyond what he could casually peer into.

Although nothing in the world could remain secret beneath a Double Pupil User's gaze, that was only if Shi Yi was strong enough. Right now, he could not truly display the divine might of his Double Pupils.

"The Rain God Decree of the Rain Clan, the foundations of the Shi Clan's Martial King Manor—I secretly observed them with my Double Pupils too, yet I never felt such immense pressure. Just what level of treasures are this Beast Bone and Beast Hide?"

Supporting himself against the headboard, Shi Yi endured a splitting headache as he slowly raised a hand and wiped the blood beneath his eyes. He did not force himself to examine the Beast Bone and Beast Hide with his Double Pupils again.

After a long while.

"Willow Deity?" Shi Yi called out tentatively to the air.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Three minutes.

The Willow Deity gave no response. Shi Yi sighed softly and collapsed weakly onto the bed, his eyes vacant. For some reason, the sight made one's heart ache.

It was at that moment.

"Shi Yi, those two items came from the Upper Realm's Nine Heavens Ten Earths. They are no ordinary things, and they are not something you can casually peer into at your current level. In the future, do not force your Double Pupils to examine things beyond your ability to see."

The Willow Deity's voice carried a trace of helplessness. She had not wanted to respond to Shi Yi. She did not want him to become overly dependent on her. Yet seeing him look so pitiful, she could not help but feel a little softhearted.

Logically speaking.

An existence at her level should not have possessed any excess sympathy. She had witnessed far too much death. Even the destruction of worlds and the extinction of universes were things she had seen countless times.

Yet Shi Yi was different to her. Though she had known him for only three years, this young man with an unsteady Dao heart had successfully left a mark upon her heart.

Throughout her immeasurably long life, there had been far too many passersby. There were only a few whose names she could remember, yet Shi Yi had made her remember him.

"Willow Deity, what secrets is Stone Village hiding? Why are these two Ancestral Artifacts so terrifying? Even my Double Pupils..."

It was not that Shi Yi was ignorant.

In his previous life, he truly knew very little about the details of Perfect World. In some aspects, he knew everything clearly; in others, he was utterly clueless.

Completely clueless.

Ask him who the female leads and supporting female characters were!

He could count them off on his fingers: Yun Xi, Qing Yi, Willow Deity, Witch, Moon Chan, A Man, Hu Niu, Hong Huang, Double Pupil Woman, Qin Yining, Yu Yuexian, Yu Zimo—and analyze the body measurements of every female lead and supporting character frame by frame with you.

Ask him who the male leads and supporting male characters were?

Desolate Heaven Emperor Shi Hao.

Shi Hao's brother, Shi Yi.

Everyone else was just a passerby.

But ask him about the details of Perfect World.

Shi Yi's brain would turn to mush. He had absolutely no impression of that sort of thing.

It really was not Shi Yi's fault.

He had not known that after death, he would be reincarnated into another world and ultimately be born into the body of someone with the same name and surname. So, he did not know much about the broad course of the future either.

Even because of the global Nuclear war, with the world entering a countdown to destruction, he had only read one of the Perfect trilogy, Holy Ruins, up to that line: I have always been here.

"Do not ask, Shi Yi. You do not need to know too much right now. You only need to know that, in the eyes of those from the Upper Realm's Nine Heavens Ten Earths, all of you from the Eight Regions of the Lower Realm are sinners."

After saying that.

The Willow Deity fell completely silent. She understood Shi Yi's curiosity, but she could not tell him everything. He was still far from the time when he could know the truth.

Shi Yi understood the Willow Deity's silence well.

That was simply her personality. If she did not want to speak, she would not speak.

Time passed soundlessly.

A short while went by.

Having failed to learn anything from the Beast Bone and Beast Hide, Shi Yi directly summoned six Cavern Heavens, tossed the Beast Bone and Beast Hide beside the Runic Bone Fragment, then began pulling things out one after another.

He took out several wooden barrels, each filled with alluring, bright-red beef. The muscles on the surface of the meat were still twitching, showing just how fresh it was.

Then he brought over the Black Cauldron that Old Clan Leader Shi Yunfeng had given him. With a snap of his fingers, the Cavern Heavens floating behind him sprayed out clean water.

The water continuously washed away the dust left inside the Black Cauldron. No one knew how long it had been left unused, but the dust inside was thick enough to scrape off in a layer like mud.

But that did not matter. Shi Yi had stored large amounts of water, firewood, and other daily supplies in his six Cavern Heavens. Washing a cauldron clean was no problem.

There was no need to worry about the water used to wash the cauldron either. Shi Yi's house was near the stream, and he had specifically dug a drainage ditch. All this water could flow back into the stream.

After Shi Yi had thoroughly cleaned the Black Cauldron.

He reached his hand into a Cavern Heaven, rummaged around for a while, and pulled out a large pile of bright-red chili peppers along with some fresh edible vegetables.

Actually, he did not need to reach inside. Shi Yi could have used his divine sense to retrieve things from the Cavern Heavens, just like how he had snapped his fingers and made clean water gush out.

But it had to be said.

Cavern Heavens were simply incredibly convenient.

Not only could they draw in the world's energy to replenish one's own consumption, but they could also be used as portable storage spaces. Whoever had first developed the Celestial Passage Realm must have been a genius.

In Shi Yi's heart.

Cultivation was not only for fighting. It was for living better—for protecting himself while also protecting those around him—not merely for fighting and killing.

Perhaps this was also one reason why Shi Yi's Dao heart was unsteady. His Dao was too small, too selfish. He completely lacked the great courage to sacrifice himself in order to save All Heavens Myriad Realms.

For example.

A dark upheaval?

As long as Shi Yi had the ability to protect those around him and preserve himself, what did darkness or no darkness have to do with him? Unless he could casually crush those troublemakers to death, he would never risk his life for outsiders.

There was an old saying in Huaxia: when poor, cultivate oneself alone; when successful, aid the world.

Without that ability, there was no need to take everything upon oneself.

This family, this nation, this world—it was not only mine. It was yours too.

Shi Yi did not know much about other matters, but he knew a little about the Willow Deity. He knew that she had been betrayed by her own people and had fallen to her current state.

She could only barely survive in the small Stone Village within the Eight Regions of the Lower Realm.

Even an existence of her level had been sold out and betrayed by her own people.

The so-called Upper Realm and Nine Heavens Ten Earths were no good places.

Half an hour passed.

"Gurgle, gurgle!" The sound of bubbles bursting.

The water in the Black Cauldron boiled, oil splattering everywhere. The fragrance drifted through the window and even reached Aunt Hu's house next door. Unfortunately, Hu Niu would not be enjoying this meal today.

Although she had not eaten much the night before last, it was Ancient Descendant meat. Even a small piece contained enormous energy, and she had not finished digesting it yet.

On top of that, she had undergone an Ancient Descendant True Blood Baptism today. Her little body contained too many things waiting to be absorbed, so she temporarily could not share a bed and meal with Shi Yi.

This was a matter of physique. Shi Yi had possessed a hundred thousand jin of divine strength in the Blood Moving Realm, comparable to the strongest cub of a Pure-Blooded Ferocious Beast. His ability to absorb and digest was many times greater than Hu Niu's.

"Willow Deity, would you like to have some too?"

Shi Yi prepared two sets of bowls and chopsticks and extended an invitation to the void. He did not think the Willow Deity was likely to agree, but this step was indispensable.

Since she had agreed to Shi Yi's invitation last time and eaten his food, it meant that she could accept the warmth of mortal life and was not some aloof being standing above the Nine Heavens.

Simply put.

The Willow Deity could choose not to come, but Shi Yi could not choose not to invite her.

At this moment.

The Willow Deity found Shi Yi's invitation irritating, but she was not truly angry. The feeling of being remembered at all times was rather pleasing to her.

If Shi Yi had forgotten her and merely used her, she might not have felt irritation, but in her heart, she would have gradually grown distant from him.

Once, she had.

Fought in blood for this world and for the Common People behind her, killing until the Foreign Realm Kings trembled in fear, until no one dared step into the Nine Heavens Ten Earths. But who had ever cared about her sacrifices?

Now, this child with an unsteady Dao heart might harbor unrealistic fantasies and imaginings about her.

But he knew gratitude, and that stirred unfamiliar feelings upon the still lake of her heart.

After several breaths.

At the very center of the crown of the great willow tree in the heart of Stone Village, a jade-green light flickered. Soon, the willow tree became empty, leaving behind only a hollow trunk.

"Use fewer chili peppers next time!"

Without any elaborate knock at the door, the Willow Deity's human Law Body appeared directly beside Shi Yi. Calmly picking up the bowl and chopsticks, she lifted beef and dipped it into the Black Cauldron to cook in the hotpot.

"Understood!"

Shi Yi looked at the Willow Deity beside him and felt that she seemed truly lonely.

Had she always been alone?