deltrittennovels Chapter 488 A Promise Across Time and Space
Chapter 488 A Promise Across Time and Space
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Nine Heavens Continent, Divine Fire Ridge.
Beneath a towering ancient phoenix tree, burning with an inextinguishable nine-colored phoenix fire.
A woman dressed in a crimson, flowing robe stood quietly beneath a tree, gazing at the distant Nine Heavens Continent, where clouds churned.
Five thousand years of time have left an indelible mark on this woman.
She was none other than Jiang Ling, the fierce young woman who once wielded a long spear and dared to launch a desperate charge against the four supreme beings.
However, Jiang Ling of today has long since shed the naivety and impulsiveness of her youth.
Her figure remained slender, and her beautiful face now possessed a maturity honed by the passage of time.
However, upon closer inspection, one will discover...
Among those three thousand strands of black hair that flowed like a waterfall, a few dazzling strands of silvery white had quietly appeared at some point.
Her beautiful, ruby-like eyes no longer held the clear, burning fighting spirit of yesteryear, but were filled with a deep anguish, longing, and an extreme fear of the passage of time.
Jiang Ling is over six thousand years old this year.
As a quasi-emperor, her lifespan has already entered its second half.
In the common knowledge of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, unless one has a special physique with bloodline defying the heavens, the lifespan of an ordinary quasi-emperor is usually between eight and nine thousand years.
"At most... two thousand years left?"
Jiang Ling stretched out her still fair and jade-like right hand and caught a burning leaf that had fallen from the sycamore tree.
She murmured to herself, her voice carrying a heartbreaking sense of loneliness.
Two thousand years is dozens of reincarnations for mortals, but for a powerful being like her, who might need hundreds of years to go into seclusion, it is far too short.
She is not afraid of death.
Five thousand years ago, when she faced the Supreme Being head-on in the desolate wilderness of the universe, she was not afraid.
However, she feared that after her death, only her master would remain in the empty Divine Fire Palace, sitting alone on the cold imperial throne.
She turned her head, her gaze passing over the many palaces and looking towards the imperial palace at the highest point of Shenhuo Ridge.
Over these five thousand years, she watched herself grow from a young girl into a beautiful woman, and watched her peers grow old one by one.
However, the man who was high above, the master who was hailed as the emperor of the world, still looked as young and handsome as he did five thousand years ago. Time seemed to have left no trace on him whatsoever.
This is the most despair-inducing gap between an Emperor and a Quasi-Emperor, aside from combat strength.
"Three thousand years from now, even if I use every life-extending technique I possess, I will eventually turn into a handful of dust. At that time... I won't even have the right to be by your side, pouring you tea and water..."
Jiang Ling smiled bitterly, and two lines of clear tears silently slid down her mature and gentle cheeks.
........
"Why are you sighing? A dignified Quasi-Emperor cultivator, the Divine Fire Quasi-Emperor revered by countless cultivators across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, how come you're crying like a little girl?"
Just as Jiang Ling was feeling downcast, a familiar, gentle voice rang out behind her without warning.
Jiang Ling's delicate body trembled violently.
She turned around and saw that Lin Hanzhou had somehow passed through the void, dressed in simple black clothes, standing with his hands behind his back, smiling at her.
"Master..."
Jiang Ling quickly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, forced a dignified smile, and bowed.
"I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Master. I was just... feeling a bit sentimental about my life as I saw the leaves falling."
Lin Hanzhou didn't speak. He simply walked forward quietly, gazing tenderly at his disciple who had been with him for six thousand years.
As the Great Emperor who controls the laws of time, no one in this world knows better than him that Jiang Ling's life force has begun to decline.
"You must have lived for over six thousand years, right?"
Lin Hanzhou asked softly, his tone carrying a barely perceptible sigh.
"Reporting to Master, I am 6,315 years old."
Jiang Ling lowered her head, her voice trembling slightly.
Lin Hanzhou nodded, turned around, looked at the churning clouds and the vast expanse of the heavens and earth, and remained silent for a long time.
Just as Jiang Ling thought that her master was feeling sorry for his aging, Lin Hanzhou suddenly turned around and stared into her eyes with extremely solemn and profound gaze.
"Disciple, are you... willing to be sealed within the divine source?"
Lin Hanzhou's voice was very soft, but it was like a thunderclap from the heavens, exploding in Jiang Ling's heart!
"Sealing...the source of the divine?"
Jiang Ling suddenly raised her head, her red lips slightly parted, her face full of disbelief.
In the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, divine sources are extremely precious treasures.
It can completely isolate the erosion of time, causing the creatures sealed within to fall into a state of slumber similar to "time stopping".
Those supreme beings in forbidden zones have survived for countless eras only because of divine sources.
"Yes, the source of the gods."
Lin Hanzhou looked at Jiang Ling, his tone extremely serious and sincere.
"If I don't seal your divine source, given your current state of health and vitality, you can only stay with me for two or three thousand years at most. But..."
Lin Hanzhou paused, his gaze seemingly piercing through countless ages, looking towards an extremely distant void.
"The road ahead for me is fraught with danger and uncertainty. I may have to go to a very, very far place to find some opportunities to break the deadlock."
"At some extremely crucial moment in the future, your teacher... may need your help very much."
"So, I don't want you to just quietly pass away in this peaceful and prosperous world. I want you to live on, to live until that great era comes, until the day I need you to fight alongside me again."
Lin Hanzhou's words were devoid of any airs of a high-ranking emperor; they sounded more like someone facing a problem extending a sincere invitation to their most trusted comrade.
"Does my master need my help?"
Jiang Ling's heart, which had been as still as ashes, was instantly revived upon hearing those words, as if it had been infused with the most intense phoenix fire!
Yes! Master has not abandoned me! Master will still need me in the future!
Even a word of comfort, even if it's just an excuse that Master made up to keep her from dying, would be enough!
As long as she could continue to follow this man, even if she were sealed in the dark and sunless divine source and slept for hundreds of thousands or millions of years, she would be willing!
"Your disciple is willing!"
Without any hesitation, without any weighing of options.
Jiang Ling knelt down, raising her stunningly beautiful and mature face, her eyes gleaming with unprecedented determination and fervor.
"If Master needs me, even if it means being shattered to pieces, even if it means crossing eras, I, your disciple, will certainly give my life for you!"
"it is good."
A smile of extreme satisfaction appeared on Lin Hanzhou's face.
He raised his right hand and made a light sweeping motion in the air.
"Buzz—!"
Accompanied by an extremely dazzling holy light, a divine source, more than three zhang tall, crystal clear, and exuding a rich immortal aura, was taken out of Lin Hanzhou's inner world.
This divine source was so pure, without even a trace of impurity. It floated quietly in the void, like a piece of amber that had fallen from the celestial realm.
"Go inside and get some sleep. When you open your eyes again, that will be the day we meet once more."
Lin Hanzhou said gently.
Jiang Ling stood up and looked deeply at Lin Hanzhou, as if she wanted to etch the man's face into the depths of her soul.
Without hesitation, she opened her arms and stepped into the enormous divine source.
"Click—"
As Jiang Ling entered, the crystal-clear divine source seemed to come alive, instantly liquefying and perfectly enveloping Jiang Ling's mature and graceful body.
Subsequently, the divine source quickly solidified.
It can be clearly seen through that transparent crystal.
Jiang Ling remained standing, her hands naturally folded in front of her lower abdomen, her crimson robes shimmering even more brilliantly under the reflection of divine energy.
Her eyes were closed, and a serene, expectant smile graced her lips.
She is like a sleeping beauty sealed in a piece of exquisite amber, breathtakingly beautiful, and also evokes a poignant beauty that transcends time.