Huang'er gave a gentle nod, as if carefully weighing something in her mind. In that moment, she had already grasped what Jiang Chen meant.
Putting herself in his shoes — if Jiang Chen had opposed her return to the Myriad Abyss Island back then, her heart would have been unhappy forever after. Because that was her fate, and no one could escape fate or dodge its summons. Certain things, certain responsibilities — whether for a man or a woman — had to be faced with courage.
After a moment, Huang'er lifted her face, her clear, luminous eyes meeting Jiang Chen's resolute features. "Brother Chen, are you going alone, or will you bring us with you?"
"This matter is tied to my fate from a previous life. I don't want to drag my present life into it. I can't bring trouble to any of you, much less to the Divine Abyss Continent. So I will only bring the four Divine Beast true spirits, and one other trusted companion."
"Is it that Senior Jiang Huan?" Huang'er asked softly.
Jiang Chen's entire body jolted. "You already know?"
"Ever since he appeared, I've noticed changes in you, Brother Chen. Your moods shift — sometimes you're happy, sometimes grave, sometimes lost in deep thought… The demon race has already been eliminated, so I can't think of anything else that could affect you this way," Huang'er replied earnestly.
A pang of guilt rose in Jiang Chen's heart. "Huang'er, no matter where I go, I will never forget that here on the Divine Abyss Continent, my family is waiting for me to come home."
"Brother Chen." Huang'er nestled into Jiang Chen's embrace, her heart filled with a deep, aching reluctance. This parting was different from every other they had ever shared.
This parting meant so much — so very much.
"Brother Chen, may I know about the circumstances of your previous life?" Huang'er asked earnestly.
"Of course, naturally you may. My fate in my past life was rather complicated. I was fortunate — in my previous life, I was the son of the Emperor of the Heavens. And I was unfortunate, because I was cursed by the heavens, born with the Yin Moon Body, utterly incapable of cultivation. It was my father who defied the will of the Heavenly Dao to refine the Sun-Moon Divine Pill for me, extending my lifespan by a million years. It was also my father who defied the Heavenly Dao to cast me into the cycle of reincarnation. Everything I have in this life — the person I am most grateful to is him. Without his nurturing and arrangements back then, the me of today could never have existed."
There was no longer any need to keep these secrets from Huang'er. They were dao companions as well as husband and wife, bound together through life and death.
Huang'er's beautiful eyes filled with astonishment.
She had always known her beloved's identity in his past life was extraordinary, but she had never imagined it could be so immensely exalted.
The son of the Emperor of the Heavens — that was a status of staggering height.
"Brother Chen, is the Emperor himself… summoning you back?" Huang'er asked curiously.
"No. Father's whereabouts are currently unknown. All I know is that he is not dead — beyond that, I know nothing. But in my previous life, the myriad heavens shattered, and the ruling order of the Grand Primordial World collapsed. So when I go to the Grand Primordial World, I go with the mission of reclaiming the old dominion and rescuing my father."
"What?" Huang'er exclaimed in shock.
"Huang'er, don't worry. Father left behind many treasures for me, and many foundations to build upon. I'm not exactly starting from nothing."
"But the Grand Primordial World — there must be countless powerful cultivators there. And anyone capable of bringing calamity upon the Emperor himself must be incredibly strong, right?"
"Yes, they would necessarily be at the God King level. Emperors emerge from God Kings. However, a God King without the tokens of the myriad heavens is nothing more than a false emperor," Jiang Chen said with a faint smile, trying to bolster Huang'er's spirits.
"God King… God King… that's the pinnacle of the divine path — the strongest of gods? The lord of all deities?"
"You could say that. Of course, the universe is vast, and there are many grand worlds across the myriad heavens. Even an Emperor-God King cannot defy fate or the Heavenly Dao," Jiang Chen reassured her. "Father, as Emperor of the Heavens, still holds the Creation Tokens of the myriad heavens — which proves his imperial destiny has not ended. So while this journey will certainly be dangerous, I should be able to return!"