The unusual activity of the Tree of Chaos began with a rare "Primal Tide".
That night, golden raindrops fell from the sky over the Co-Prosperity Zone, each drop carrying the Origin Qi of the Tree of Chaos. When these drops fell upon living beings, they evoked their most precious memories; when they fell upon Symbiosis Grass, past scenes would appear on the blades. And the gray-black fruit at the treetop slowly cracked open in the tide, the crack not radiating chaotic energy, but a faint yet resolute golden light.
"It's... Lord Xiao Yan's aura!" Xiao He stood guard under the tree, and the moment her fingertips touched the golden light, a blurry image suddenly surged into her mind—a figure draped in a gray-gold robe was pressing a crystalline fragment into Chaos Anchor, and the figure's profile was none other than Xiao Yan!
When Qing He arrived, the crack in the fruit had widened to the size of a hand. She infused it with Power of Chaos, and golden light surged instantly. Inside the fruit, a curled-up golden remnant soul emerged, surrounded by countless tiny points of light, each a fragment of memory: the shock of Xiao Yan's first encounter with the Chaos Anchor, his resolute fight against the Those Who Return to Silence, and his last glance at this starry sky before he vanished.
"His remnant soul... has always been hidden within the Tree of Chaos." Qing He's voice trembled. She could feel that this remnant soul was closely connected to the essence of the Tree of Chaos, and was one of the keys to the Tree Spirit's ability to resist the Bottom of the Void. " The Tree of Chaos nourishes him with its own essence, like a mother guarding her sleeping child."
The Star Patrollers quickly brought back a new discovery from the Star Domain of Oblivion —the " Cornerstone of Time " engraved with Xiao Yan's aura. The stone was an irregular hexagon, its surface covered with flowing golden patterns that perfectly resonated with the aura of the remnant soul within the fruit. As the stone approached the fruit, an ancient line of text suddenly appeared on the patterns:
"The power of the three realms gathers, the remnant soul returns to its rightful place; chaos serves as the guide, the cycle of life and death begins."
"The power of the three realms..." Meng Ke stroked his chin, dark red energy dancing at his fingertips, "The faith of the living, the embers of the dead, the rifts in nothingness... Aren't these the three extreme forces we can currently access?"
The Dream Guardian confirmed this conjecture through a dream. "In a deep dream, I saw the outline of the ritual—it requires the memories and beliefs of all living beings in the Co-Prosperity Zone as 'fuel,' the Embers of Return to Quiescence as 'spark,' and the Origin Power of Oblivion leaked from the Bottom of the Void as 'fuse.' Only when these three are combined can the remnant soul be ignited, allowing Lord Xiao Yan to reunite in his physical form."
However, the risks of this plan are obvious. The Embers of Return to Quiescence and the Origin of Nothingness are mortal enemies, and forcibly fusing them could very likely trigger an explosion; and extracting the beliefs of all living beings is equivalent to temporarily depriving the Co-Prosperity Zone of its "memory defense line." If the Bottom of the Void were to gaze upon them again at this time, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Worth a try." Xiao Yan's remnant soul suddenly transmitted a faint thought, the first time he had actively "spoken": "The threat at the Bottom of the Void will not disappear; only complete Power of Chaos can completely seal it."
Qing He looked at the Tree of Chaos, and the Tree Spirit conveyed a firm will: it was willing to sacrifice half of its origin as a "container" for the ritual, to buffer the conflict between the three forces.
Three days later, the ceremony began Tree of Chaos.
All living beings in the Co-Prosperity Zone stood beneath the tree, transforming their deepest memories and beliefs into specks of light that flowed into the River of Light in the sky—some cultivators recalled the excitement of first joining the Alliance, some Star Patrollers remembered their determination to defend the front line, and some children recalled the legends of Xiao Yan told by their parents... The River of Light, like a warm tide, enveloped the Chaos Fruit.
Meng Ke took out his treasured Embers of Return to Quiescence and scattered them into the River of Light. The gray-black embers met the golden River of Light and did not cause any conflict. Instead, they turned into countless tiny sparks, which merged into the River of Light, adding a touch of "rebirth" heat to the light.
The most crucial step was completed by Qing He. Holding the Cornerstone of Time, she guided a wisp of Origin Power of Oblivion leaking from the cracks in the Bottom of the Void —something the Dream Guardian risked his life to capture from the gaps in the dream world, like a black thread, cold and eerie.
"With faith as a shield, embers as fire, and nothingness as a gap..." Qing He recited the words on the Cornerstone of Time, gently placing the black thread into the River of Light.
In an instant, the three forces collided violently around the Chaos Fruit. The golden river of faith boiled, the gray-black sparks leaped wildly, and the black threads of nothingness tried to devour everything. The Tree of Chaos trembled violently, half of its branches withered rapidly, and it poured its essence into the fruit, forming a gray-gold barrier that forcibly locked the three forces within.
Within the barrier, the golden remnant soul slowly unfolded amidst the tri-colored light. Fragments of shattered memories, like birds returning to their nests, merged into the remnant soul. The remnant soul's outline became increasingly clear, gradually solidifying from a blurry silhouette into a physical form—a grey-gold robe, short black hair, and eyes filled with a calm that had witnessed countless vicissitudes—it was Xiao Yan!
As the last glimmer of memory merged into his body, the barrier shattered with a deafening roar. A beam of tri-colored light shot into the sky, tearing a brief rift in the darkness of the Bottom of the Void. Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes, looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar faces around him, a slight smile appearing on his lips.
"I'm back."
His voice wasn't loud, yet it clearly reached the ears of every living being, like a spring breeze sweeping across the frozen earth. The withered branches of the Tree of Chaos began to sprout new buds, and in the sky of the Co-Prosperity Zone, a golden bridge of light connecting the past and the present slowly emerged, flowing with all the bonds between Xiao Yan and this starry sky.
Xiao He looked at the figure before her, her eyes welling up with tears. "Lord Xiao Yan, do you... still remember me?"
Xiao Yan smiled and nodded, reaching out to ruffle her hair in the exact same gesture as he remembered. "Of course I remember, that little girl who always followed me around, asking all sorts of questions."
Qing He stepped forward and handed over the longsword that had once belonged to him. "Welcome back. The current Co-Prosperity Zone needs you."
Xiao Yan took the longsword, feeling the familiar Power of Chaos within it, a sharp glint in his eyes. "I know. The gaze from the Bottom of the Void is just the beginning. And this time, we will not allow any threat to harm this starry sky."
From the Bottom of the Void, it seemed as if the Power of Chaos of rebirth was being sensed, a muffled tremor echoing through the darkness. But the creatures of the Co-Prosperity Zone felt no fear, for they knew that the hero who had once protected them had finally returned.
A new battle, one that will determine the fate of the entire multiverse, is about to begin with Xiao Yan's return.