To the east of the Holy Ancestor Mountain Range lay a vast, boundless desert where yellow sand stretched endlessly under an endless sky. Nie Li and his group ventured deep into the endless expanse of sand.
When the fierce winds rose, the swirling yellow sand surged across the heavens and earth, engulfing the entire world.
The environment here was extremely harsh, and all manner of Demon Beasts roamed about intermittently, making it incredibly dangerous.
The entire main world was impossibly vast. After the fall of the City of Radiance in his previous life, its residents had first fled to the Tianyun Plateau, then traveled eastward. Pursued by Wind Snow Demon Beasts, they crossed the entire Holy Ancestor Mountain Range and entered the boundless wasteland.
Countless people collapsed along the way.
Nie Li still remembered that after entering the endless wasteland, Ye Ziyun had died under a Demon Beast's attack while trying to save him. He had wanted to follow her in death, but her dying words urged him to protect the remaining clansmen. Yet as they pushed eastward into the depths of the desert, one person after another fell along the way, until finally only Nie Li remained, stepping into the Desert Divine Palace alone.
Thinking back on it now, everything from his previous life seemed as though it had been arranged by fate.
Standing amidst the yellow sand, Nie Li's eyes grew moist. Countless images flooded his mind—memories of meeting Ye Ziyun, growing close to her, clinging to life and death together. It was Ye Ziyun who had begun his transformation, turning him from an insecure, timid boy into a resolute and strong young man.
"Nie Li, are you crying?" Xiao Ning'er, standing beside him, noticed his expression and asked with puzzlement.
Nie Li wiped the tears from his face and looked at Xiao Ning'er's breathtakingly beautiful features, then glanced at Ye Ziyun, who stood nearby gazing silently at the endless wasteland. He spoke with deep emotion: "Ning'er, in a person's life, there will always be certain events, certain people—even if they only appear briefly in your life, they become memories that can never be erased. You live the rest of your life for the sake of those memories. No one can take their place. Having once seen the vast ocean, no other water compares; having seen the clouds over Mount Wu, no other clouds impress."
Nie Li murmured these words, his thoughts drifting far away.
Seeing Nie Li so lost in reverie, Xiao Ning'er felt a faint pang of pain in her heart without fully understanding why. She had a vague sense of what he meant. But, Nie Li, do you know? You too have become a memory in my life that can never be erased. If we are fated to go to the Dragon Ruins Domain, fated to part ways—my life, too, will be lived for the sake of those memories. No one can take their place.
Tears shimmered in Xiao Ning'er's eyes, though a smile bloomed on her face despite the quiet ache within. "Nie Li, why are you suddenly saying such far-fetched things? How far is this Desert Divine Palace you mentioned? Let's get moving!"
With that, she turned and walked ahead. Amidst the swirling sand, her lovely figure carried a hint of solitude.
Watching Xiao Ning'er's retreating back, Nie Li couldn't help but sigh. He walked forward.
When he reached Ye Ziyun's side, he found her standing in a daze, staring at the boundless wasteland with her brows tightly knit, seemingly lost in thought.
"Ziyun, what's wrong?" Nie Li looked at her quizzically.
Xiao Ning'er, standing nearby, also turned her curious gaze toward Ye Ziyun.
A look of bewilderment had settled on Ye Ziyun's face. Her brows were furrowed as if she were straining to remember something, yet nothing came to her.
"It feels so strange—why is it that the moment I set foot in this wasteland, my heart starts to ache? Fragments of memories keep flashing through my mind. There's happiness in them, but also sorrow and pain. I don't understand what's happening to me." Ye Ziyun shook her head.
Hearing Ye Ziyun's words, Nie Li felt as though his head had been struck by lightning. This was far too strange. Ye Ziyun had lived in the City of Radiance since birth and had never set foot in the endless wasteland. So why would she experience these feelings the moment she entered?
"Can you remember anything at all?" Nie Li gripped Ye Ziyun's shoulders and asked urgently.
Ye Ziyun shook her head blankly. "I don't know whose memory fragments these are, or why they're appearing in my mind. I'm completely confused. These fragments—it seems like we're being chased by a pack of Demon Beasts."
Nie Li stared at Ye Ziyun in shock. How could she possibly have fragments of his past life's memories? What was going on? Could it be that Ye Ziyun had also been reborn? No—that couldn't be right. Without the Book of Time-Space Demon Spirit, how could she have returned?
Nie Li increasingly felt that all of this was shrouded in mystery, concealing an enormous secret. He looked at Ye Ziyun's beautiful face and asked urgently, "Can you remember anything else?"
Ye Ziyun furrowed her brows and concentrated deeply, fully immersed in the fragments of memory. She tried to peer into those recollections, and her body seemed to produce a peculiar sensation. Through a haze, she saw her own clothing gradually slipping from her body. Bathed in moonlight, her form was like white jade carved by a master's hand, and she walked joyously toward her beloved.