Chapter 720: Pass Away

The first and second phases of this cycle were unprecedentedly calm.

From the get-go, Li Pin had acted swiftly and decisively, leading a group of pioneers to suppress the top forces of the Celestial Barren Domain. In the following century, the entire divine treasure world fell into an unparalleled state of tranquility.

Of course, war still broke out in the Twin Moon Domain.

Mu Yunsheng led a group of elite pioneers to drive out the Violet-Silver Twin Moons and the Scorching Sun. He also assisted Baili Zhu, the divine treasure world's owner, in refining the Immortal God Emperor and solidifying her formidable reputation in the Twin Moon Domain.

Perhaps due to the presence of Mu Yunsheng and Li Pin, the mysterious and unfathomable leader of the Celestial Barren's World Martial Association. Or perhaps Baili Zhu was simply never the ambitious type. Even after becoming a top-tier powerhouse, she never stirred up trouble in the Twin Moon Domain.

Instead, she devoted herself to maintaining order, bringing peace to the Twin Moon Domain much like what had happened in the Celestial Barren Domain.

Especially in the later years, the Celestial Barren, Twin Moon, and the Blue Planet managed to establish a certain degree of connectivity, developing and advancing together.

This calmness... felt unsettling for those who had experienced previous cycles, where nine out of ten pioneers would perish at the very start.

However, whether they could adapt or not no longer mattered.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

As time passed and figures like Ya Suo, Shou Zhen, Baili Changkong, and Li Xian gradually passed away, the Void Divine Treasure World, which was supposed to last for 111 stellar years, seemed to be approaching its conclusion ahead of schedule.

***

Outside a courtyard at the foot of Mountain Qingyuan.

Li Pin, Fang Chunyang, Xu Anping, Lie Qingqing, and a few others stood at the entrance.

The courtyard was already filled with people.

They were the family of the courtyard's owner, Baili Qingfeng: his daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even great-great-grandchildren.

Soft sobs and muffled cries could occasionally be heard from inside.

Li Pin gazed inside.

In the corner of the courtyard, on a wooden reclining chair that had seemingly been repaired multiple times, sat two elderly figures.

Leaning against each other, they had already lost all signs of life.

The sight... left Fang Chunyang, Xu Anping, Lie Qingqing, and Shi Keqing wide-eyed in shock.

"D-dead...?"

Just like that?

They had simply grown old and passed away... like ordinary people?

Li Pin cast a solemn glance at Shi Keqing, who was murmuring in disbelief, visibly shaken by the scene.

She quickly fell silent.

Yet, the disbelief in her eyes, which the others shared, lingered, impossible to shake off.

A long moment passed before Li Pin finally spoke. "By my calculations, Baili Qingfeng would be 132 years old now. A Tier Ten Supreme Expert theoretically has a lifespan of 160 years, but very few actually reach that age. Passing away at this time isn't unexpected."

After a brief pause, he added, "This is a joyous passing."

A joyous passing? What joyous passing? That wasn't the point at all!

The Void Emperor... has actually died!?

What kind of ending is this!?

At that moment, an elderly woman emerged from the courtyard.

She was Baili Qingfeng's daughter.

"Principal Li."

"My condolences," Li Pin responded. "When did it happen?"

"This morning.... Mother said she wanted to hear Father sing one last song... He was halfway through when she passed away... Not long after, he followed..."

Li Pin offered some words of comfort, "At their age, with their family by their side, I imagine they left with smiles on their faces."

The elderly woman nodded. Despite her sorrow, she had indeed seen the smiles on their faces before they passed. It made her grief a little easier to bear.

This indeed could be considered a joyous passing.

After a moment, she composed herself and said, "Principal Li, before Father passed, he specifically asked me to deliver a message to you."

"What did he say?" She looked at Li Pin and said, "He said... 'Thank you.'"

Li Pin was momentarily stunned. Then, he smiled. It was a genuine, heartfelt smile.

The elderly woman was puzzled.

Just two simple words—thank you.

Most people wouldn't even understand what they meant.

After all... for decades, Li Pin and Baili Qingfeng had hardly interacted. Aside from Li Pin being the principal of Shire University when Baili Qingfeng was a student, they had little connection in recent years.

Even she, his daughter, had no idea what the words meant. And yet, for some reason, Li Pin looked so happy upon hearing them.

He smiled and repeated, "Good, good, good."

After a long pause, he spoke once more. "I accept this 'thank you.'"

Although Baili Qingfeng's daughter didn't understand, she had still carried out her father's last wish, and that was all that mattered to her.

She handed Li Pin a small booklet. "This is something my father left for you...."

Li Pin glanced at it.

It looked familiar. Then it hit him.

A martial arts manual from Blue Planet? Or perhaps a technique passed down in Baili Qingfeng's family? Baili Qingfeng... had chosen to leave this for me?

He flipped through two pages.

It was indeed a martial arts manual passed down in Baili Qingfeng's family.

Li Pin remembered seeing it before, more than once, even.

Though he didn't quite understand, he still accepted the manual.

After inviting Li Pin to attend Baili Qingfeng's memorial, the old woman returned to the courtyard.

Seeing this, Li Pin didn't linger and turned to leave.

Fang Chunyang, Lie Qingqing, Xu Anping, Shi Keqing, and the others quickly followed, despite having countless questions.

The group moved forward in silence.

Only when they were about to leave this district filled with near-ancient buildings from the "Xiya Era" a century ago did Lie Qingqing finally break the silence.

"What is this supposed to mean?"

Fang Chunyang, who had been just as shocked earlier, seemed to have figured something out by now.

At Lie Qingqing's words, he smiled.

"It doesn't mean anything."

"Then... the Void Emperor... is really dead?"

Lie Qingqing voiced the question but immediately contradicted herself.

"But that's the Void Emperor. In this divine treasure world, in the eyes of Baili Zhu, he was invincible."

"The divine treasure world's owner, Baili Zhu..." Fang Chunyang muttered the name.

He looked at Li Pin with newfound reverence.

"Have you still not realized? If Baili Zhu were the sole owner of this divine treasure world, then how could it evolve into a forbidden world so impenetrable that even Cosmic Radiance cannot breach it?"

His words sent shockwaves through Lie Qingqing, Xu Anping, and Shi Keqing, who had yet to grasp the full implications.

"Could it be...?"

Just then, a faint tremor spread through the void.

Buzz, buzz!

It wasn't coming from the ground beneath their feet, nor from this planet. It was the world itself.

The entire divine treasure world was trembling, and the intensity was only increasing.

The sudden change snapped them out of their shock, and realization struck like lightning.

"This... this world... it's about to break apart!?"

"It's really collapsing!?"

"The key to breaking the divine treasure world... was Baili Qingfeng's death? And for Baili Zhu, who believed the Void Emperor was invincible, there was only one way for Baili Qingfeng to die... by willingly aging to death?"

"Making the Void Emperor choose to die of old age... This method of breaking the divine treasure world... it's just... just..."

Shi Keqing, Lie Qingqing, and Xu Anping felt as if their entire understanding of the world had been overturned.

Who could have figured out such a method to break the divine treasure world!?

Yet, no matter how hard it was to believe, the world was already collapsing.

With each tremor, space itself was crumbling.

Through Li Pin's senses, a lingering presence—reduced to its final remnants—was slowly awakening.

She needed to gather the divine treasure world's power to sustain her fleeting existence.

As she pulled in that power, the sky, the earth, everything, faded into a vast, white void.

The restraints and veils that had bound the pioneers also began to dissolve along with the world's collapse.

Li Pin focused his attention on a spot not far away. It was... the direction towards the courtyard beneath Mountain Qingyuan.

A figure in flowing white stood there, her beauty unparalleled, gazing toward that courtyard with a lost expression.

"The master of the divine treasure world, Baili Zhu." Lie Qingqing whispered.

But she was not the same Baili Zhu they had seen within the divine treasure world. The aura around her, the weight of time that had settled upon her, everything was different.

For the Gold Pioneers, even a single glance at her filled them with a deep, instinctive reverence.

Li Pin watched as she stared at the collapsing scene of Mountain Qingyuan, then gestured for the others to stay where they were.

He stepped forward, one step at a time, until he reached her side.

And at that very moment, the divine treasure world fully collapsed.

The courtyard beneath Mountain Qingyuan, along with the lifeless, white-haired figure within it, vanished into nothingness.

Yet, even as that figure disappeared, Baili Zhu—now carrying a faint air of sorrow—still kept her gaze fixed on the spot.

Li Pin stood beside her in silence, waiting for her to accept reality.

After a long time, Baili Zhu, whose lingering presence still exuded unmatched grace and independence, finally turned to Li Pin.

"Why...?" she asked, her eyes lost and confused, filled with a deep, hollow despair.

It was as if everything she had upheld for countless years had crumbled in an instant.

Li Pin answered calmly, "You, all of you... perhaps, none of you ever truly asked what he wanted."

He paused. "Or maybe he told you. Not just once, but over and over. And you never listened. You never took it to heart."

He looked at the empty space she had been staring at.

"Because... he didn't want to disappoint you. So whenever you asked him to do something, he did it. And when your wishes clashed with his own, all you had to do was insist a little, and he would give in. That's why, over time, you convinced yourselves that what he wanted never really mattered."

"No! No! That's not true, it's not true!" Baili Zhu retorted repeatedly, as though unwilling to accept the reality before her. "I loved him so much... I gave him everything... I waited for him for hundreds, thousands of years, without regret... I was willing to destroy the world itself just to bring him back... So why... why..."

Li Pin's voice remained steady. "Your love, your patience, your devotion... to him, they were nothing but responsibility—a burden. Did you ever stop to ask if he even wanted your love? If he needed your patience? If he desired your devotion?"

His words struck like a thunderclap.

Baili Zhu stood frozen. Her aura wavered, teetering on the verge of collapse.

After a long moment, she finally managed to steady herself. Yet an overwhelming sense of defeat, dejection, and helplessness settled over her.

She turned to Li Pin, her voice hoarse. "Then... what did he truly want?"

Li Pin sighed deeply. "You already know the answer."

He let out a long sigh. "To live like an ordinary person, without any burdens, or responsibilities... to simply be born, grow old, and die."