After the Silent-Crying Kite Annihilation completely, the entire Blank Rift Valley finally returned to a deathly stillness. The gray-white silence that had once covered the sky and earth began to slowly dissipate, leaving only a large number of collapsed sand dunes and broken boundary markers.
And the Fate String Mystic Liquid Lake, still suspended in the center of the rift, was slowly rotating, with countless fine, thread-like shadows flowing out of the dark silver fluid, like endless "ifs" intertwining with each other in the darkness.
Chi Jun took a heavy breath, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and said in a hoarse but still steady voice, "Everyone, immediately collect the Fate String Mystic Liquid, and be quick!"
As soon as the words fell, the eleven disciples of the Chi Lineage flew up almost simultaneously, each summoning their own Void Evolution Empty Cup. Instantly, more than ten semi-transparent "spatial depressions" floated above the lake. The fragments of the static string net on the edge of the lamps began to glow slightly, resonating with the original frequency inside the Fate String Mystic Liquid.
The next instant, the entire lake began to tremble violently, and a large amount of dark silver Fate String Mystic Liquid rose into the air on its own.
The subtle, primordial essence of heaven and earth trembled slightly, drawn by the same Daoist principles in the darkness, transforming into swirling, flowing streams that drifted towards the Void Evolution Empty Cup. With each drop of the profound liquid touching the lamp, an extremely thin, silver-black membrane would appear within, its surface shimmering with countless blurry illusions: the birth of universes, the collapse of star seas, and beings making different choices amidst billions of "what ifs."
The entire Blank Rift Valley seemed to be simultaneously unfolding countless rivers of destiny. Shen Qingchen stared intently at the empty cup in his palm. He even saw in one of the string shadows that he had not stepped into the Chi Lineage, but was walking alone in another unfamiliar realm. The huge sense of incongruity brought about by that "if" made his sea of consciousness tremble slightly.
Su Qingyuan stood on the other side, holding the Void Evolution Empty Cup in both hands. The dark silver liquid continuously flowed into it, and for the first time, an undisguised look of amazement appeared in her usually cold eyes. "So... this is the Fate String Mystic Liquid..." she murmured softly, as if afraid of disturbing these "possibilities" that had not yet been fully accepted by the Myriad Evolution String Web.
As a large amount of Fate String Mystic Liquid was continuously collected, the entire lake gradually shrank until the last wisp of dark silver fluid was swallowed by the empty cup. The lake surface finally became completely calm, leaving only a deep black vortex slowly rotating in the center of the rift.
Chi Jun looked around at everyone, and after confirming that all the empty cups were filled, he finally spoke in a deep voice, "Alright, mission accomplished. Let's go, we should leave the Desert of Forgetting and return to our clan." The disciples immediately breathed a sigh of relief. After the continuous battles, everyone was exhausted to the Ultimate. If they were to encounter the Divine Beast Supreme again, they would be powerless to fight.
So the twelve of them quickly flew toward the outskirts of the Desert of Forgetting. Along the way, the entire Desert of Forgetting was eerily quiet. The corpses of the Blue Flame Demon Wolf that had once occupied the four directions had long since weathered away. A large number of forgotten ancient boundary markers were tilted and stuck in the yellow sand. The sky was gray and white. There was no wind, no sound, only the fluctuations of the Fate Soul of the group constantly passing over the sea of sand.
Just as they were about to leave the edge of the Desert of Forgetting, Boom! The ground in front of them suddenly shook, and then a huge shadow slowly covered the entire sea of sand. The group stopped abruptly, and the next moment, the desert in front of them suddenly began to slowly rise, and large amounts of yellow sand slid down the sides of the "mountain" at all.
Instead, it was an ancient tortoise of unimaginable size, carrying an entire ruined ancient city on its back. Countless broken flags were planted on the city, and a large number of gray-white chains hung down to the sky. The surface of the tortoise's shell was covered with densely packed ancient names, which were constantly writhing, as if countless creatures were weeping softly inside the shell.
It merely raised its head slowly, and the entire Desert of Forgetting began to tremble violently. Chi Jun's face turned deathly pale, and he almost instinctively took a step back. His pupils contracted rapidly. "Not good..." "It's the Forgetting River Bearer!!" he roared. "Quick!! Everyone, retreat!!!"
The entire Desert of Forgetting suddenly slowed down dramatically. The wind stopped, the yellow sand ceased to flow, and the giant tortoise that had stretched across the heavens and earth finally emerged completely from beneath the sea of sand. It was so large that when the Chi Lineage members looked up, they couldn't even see the end of its carapace. It didn't resemble a living being at all; it looked more like a moving gray-white continent.
Its shape resembles an ancient tortoise whose age is unknown. It has no ordinary flesh and blood body; the entire shell is made of semi-transparent gray-white ancient bones, with massive, powerful bone patterns crisscrossing and covering the entire shell.
Deep within each bone groove, there are delicate, silvery traces of light, flowing slowly and gently, like a long river of memories frozen for eternity, flowing eternally beneath the hard bone body.
Most eerie and terrifying, among those flowing traces of light, mottled phantoms constantly shifted: some people were weeping at their desks, some were fighting bloody battles, some were standing at the end of the starry sea, silently looking back, but all the scenes shattered and vanished in an instant, completely swallowed up by the endless torrent of memories, leaving not a trace.
Its limbs are short, thick, and enormous, like four ancient, withered pillars supporting the heavens and the earth. With each step it takes, the entire Desert of Forgetting trembles, and deep pits constantly emerge in the yellow sand. Inside those pits, blurry human faces, ancient symbols, and even some long-forgotten boundary totems briefly appear, but only for a moment. Then, those traces are quickly swallowed up by the shifting sands, as if they never existed.
It had no eyes or pupils, and its head had only a perpetually half-open mouth. Its lips and teeth constantly dripped fine sand, each grain being the pure essence of oblivion. With each grain of sand that fell, some extremely faint existence in the world would be completely erased. Shen Qingchen only glanced at it, and his sea of consciousness was suddenly filled with excruciating pain.
He abruptly lowered his head, his back soaked with cold sweat. Just moments ago, he had briefly forgotten why he was there. Su Qingyuan was equally pale; the Sheathless Blade in her hand trembled incessantly. Even the divine weapon itself seemed to tremble with fear. This was— the Forgetting River Bearer.
The ancient deity that once tried to measure the boundaries of the Desert of Forgetting has now forgotten who it is, and has become a vessel for "forgetting itself". Just as the Chi Lineage members were so shocked that they were almost suffocating, they suddenly discovered that there were actually people in the ancient city on the back of the Forgetting River Bearer. The entire Chi Lineage group was instantly terrified. It was a dilapidated, almost collapsed, gray-white ancient city.
Numerous broken pavilions lean precariously on the tortoise shell-like structure. Countless black lanterns hang densely around the ancient city, but instead of flames, they burn with blurry human faces. Most terrifyingly, there are real figures walking slowly through the city streets. Some stand on the edge of the city wall wearing tattered robes, while others carry ancient lanterns and move slowly through the streets.
There were even a few child-like figures sitting under the eaves, playing in the sand. But all of them were extremely stiff, like a group of shadows that had died countless eons ago. Moreover, they all had no faces; their faces were just blank spaces. The Chi Lineage members were completely frozen, and one of the disciples' voices trembled. "Those... inside..." "Are they really living people...?" But no one dared to answer.
Even Chi Jun felt a chill run down his spine. Just then, the Forgetting River Bearer slowly lowered its head, its enormous, eyeless head approaching the group. The world instantly darkened, and then a deep voice, seemingly from the deepest part of the world, slowly rang out. "What?" "You took the Fate String Mystic Liquid..." "And you think you can just leave like that?"
Boom! The Fate Soul of everyone trembled simultaneously. Chi Jun's face turned deathly pale, but as a True Annihilation Realm deacon, he forcibly suppressed his fear and immediately clasped his hands in a fist and stepped forward, his attitude extremely respectful. "Senior, we are here to retrieve the liquid on the orders of our Lineage. If we have offended you, please forgive us."
The Forgetting River Bearer remained silent for a moment, its enormous mouth, constantly spewing out grains of sand, opening and closing slightly. "They're quite polite... better than the previous ones..." "Judging from your attire..." "You should be cultivators from the Chi Lineage, right?" Chi Jun immediately bowed his head. "Reporting to senior, I am Chi Jun, a steward of the Chi Lineage, and these are all disciples of my Chi Lineage."
The Forgetting River Bearer slowly raised its head. The silver memory patterns on its shell suddenly accelerated their flow, as if sensing something. After a moment, it spoke again. "Hmm..." "I'm within the aura of your Fate Soul essence..." "I sensed its aura..." "It seems you took these things..." "to nourish it, didn't you?"
Boom!!! Chi Jun felt a chill run down his spine, and even Shen Qingchen and Su Qingyuan were startled. They knew, of course, who the "it" the Forgetting River Bearer was referring to was. The true hidden existence of the Chi Lineage. Chi Jun quickly lowered his head again, his voice becoming even more respectful, "Senior is right. We have indeed come here for this matter." The Forgetting River Bearer remained silent for a long time.
Then, its enormous head slowly turned, as if gazing into the far distance. "So be it..." "Speaking of which..." "I have some connection with it..." "In that case..." "I can let you leave. But..." It suddenly paused, and the air in the entire Desert of Forgetting seemed to freeze.
Chi Jun's heart sank, but he still stepped forward without hesitation, clasping his hands in a fist salute. "If you have any instructions, senior," he said, "as long as it is within our power—" "we will do our utmost."