Chapter 855: Leaving

Resurrecting the heroic spirits buried within the cemetery required a series of steps. However, the most crucial one was refining an imperial-grade Dao pill known as the Sanqing Dahua Pill.

The pill formula and refining method were provided by a residual trace of consciousness left behind by Ximen Qianxue. The primary material for the pill was the vast and boundless life force stored within the Mother of All Beasts, which resided in the Blood-Drinking Sword.

It would then be supplemented by a variety of spirit herbs and precious medicinal ingredients. Every single one of these ingredients was an extraordinary treasure, rarely seen even across the entire galaxy. Under normal circumstances, simply gathering the spirit herbs and divine medicines listed in the pill recipe would take decades, centuries, or even millennia. And even then, it wasn’t guaranteed that all of them could be found.

But, ‘coincidentally,’ every required herb and medicine had already been prepared within the herb garden of the thirty-first level of Doushuai Palace. Moreover, after centuries of untamed growth, each herb had matured to the proper age.

It was clear that the great being who had orchestrated this ancient plan had arranged everything from the very beginning. The divine herbs and spirit medicines in the herb garden had evidently been cultivated for this very purpose from the outset.

The task of refining the pill fell upon Little Aunt. The remnant will of Ximen Qianxue had arranged everything in advance. It was evident that she intended to train Little Aunt as the successor of Doushuai Palace.

Li Xiaofei fully supported this decision with both hands and feet. After all, Little Aunt possessed a natural talent in this area. He remembered that while she was still recovering and lying low back on Earth, she had relied solely on mundane herbs to concoct medicinal juices from random bottles and jars. Those had been potent enough to surpass all kinds of high-tech pharmaceutical compounds.

After a moment of hesitation, Little Aunt accepted the heavy responsibility of pill refinement. To her, this was a task that came with tremendous pressure. But it was also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Tan Qingying and Luo Ge temporarily took on the roles of alchemy assistants, carefully supporting her in every step of the process. Li Xiaofei, on the other hand, became the idle one. His attention soon shifted to the massive golden-scaled hide of the Mother of All Beasts.

Although it had been slashed to tatters by the Blood-Drinking Sword, it was still the hide of a top-tier predator from the Reaper faction. It was undoubtedly an exceedingly rare treasure.

Armor crafted from this hide would possess astonishing defensive power. Li Xiaofei gathered all the pieces of the hide without wasting a single scrap. As he watched Little Aunt and the others begin their earnest preparations for pill refining, Li Xiaofei suddenly smacked his forehead.

Shit, I almost forgot something important.

It was only then that he abruptly remembered that somewhere within the ruins of Heaven, two living people were still hiding in an old dried-up well. He immediately took Black Emperor and rushed back to the ruins of Heaven. Before long, he found the trembling Huang Dinggou and the mute girl hiding in the ancient well, which had been covered by a stone wall.

Huang Dinggou's luck was truly off the charts. In the midst of a blood-soaked battle that could only be described as an Asura hellscape, he and the mute girl had somehow escaped detection by the high-stage mutated Ruos. They had avoided the slaughter entirely and survived unscathed.

“Wuwu, Hall Master, it’s really you? You’re actually still alive?” Huang Dinggou exclaimed loudly upon seeing Li Xiaofei. “I dreamed that you were torn to pieces. I thought I’d never see you again!”

Li Xiaofei was speechless. Huang Dinggou immediately adjusted his expression, trying his best to appear overwhelmed with emotion. With snot and tears flowing, he lunged forward, insisting on giving Li Xiaofei a hug.

Li Xiaofei kicked him away and said in disgust, “Damn it... can you not use this as an excuse to wipe your snot on me?”

Huang Dinggou grinned sheepishly and reluctantly flung his snot to the side.

"Right, it's finally daytime again. We’re safe for now. Hall Master, did you find a way out of Heaven?" Huang Dinggou hurriedly asked, clearly anxious.

In his opinion, it was best to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.

Li Xiaofei replied calmly, "There will never be night again in Heaven."

Everything was over.

Huang Dinggou blinked. "???"

Li Xiaofei then gave a rough account of what had happened. As Huang Dinggou listened, his expression gradually became blank. He slowly turned his head and looked at the manure jar strapped to his back.

He hadn't expected that, after days of risking his life to refine a perfect batch of fermented dung that was powerful enough to knock out even high-stage Ruo creatures, it would suddenly become useless.

What was he supposed to do with that exquisite jar of crap now? There was no greater pain in this world than taking off your pants and straining for ages, only to produce not even a fart, yet still feel just as bloated and miserable as before.

"Let’s go have a look around first," said Li Xiaofei, leading the two of them through the ruins of Heaven.

The great battle had primarily taken place on the Thirty-Third Heaven, so most other areas had not suffered significant destruction. Now, with the eternally burning flames finally reclaimed by the Eight Trigrams Furnace, the true face of Heaven began to reappear before them.

The ruins were still broken and devastated. Yet in the light of day, even the collapsed brick walls and sunken roads seemed to carry a faint trace of life that hadn’t been there before. At some point, fresh green shoots had begun to emerge from the cracks between the bricks. From a distance, the grass looked vibrant, but up close, it was still sparse.

The breath of life was beginning to spread, slowly but steadily, in this sacred land of the human race that had been lost for over three hundred years.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Soon, Li Xiaofei arrived outside the Peach Garden. Vast expanses of peach trees swayed brightly in the wind, vibrant with fresh greenery. There were no visible traces of the battle that had once raged here. Hua Xiangrong’s soul had preserved this place.

When he recalled her heroic figure, Li Xiaofei had to admit, she had been truly exceptional. If she were still alive, she might have stood her ground against the Mother of All Beasts using the power of the Peach Garden, and she wouldn’t have fared any worse. This, precisely, was the significance of reviving the heroic spirits of the Cemetery of the Ancestors.

"So this is the legendary Peach Garden? Hall Master, let’s go in and take a look! If we’re lucky and manage to pick a few ripe peaches, wouldn’t that be our big break?" said Huang Dinggou, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

He was actually thinking about peaches. Li Xiaofei thought for a moment and decided to go along with Huang Dinggou’s suggestion.

The group entered the Peach Garden. In the end, they didn’t find any peaches, but they did run into two familiar faces. The flamboyant red-haired woman Chu Xiang and her lover Hua Dongcheng were also wandering through the peach grove.

To be honest, Li Xiaofei had assumed that the two of them were long dead. Given how mad the Ruo swarm had been, it wasn’t just those two borderline Black Hole level cosmic lifeforms who were at risk, even he and Little Aunt had nearly perished.

And yet this couple had somehow survived unscathed and were now strolling through the woods, hand in hand and all smiles.

Uh... This is absurd. How can these two have such ridiculously overpowered Fate Qi? They’d won just by lying low?

“Ruo swarm? We did run into them, which is why we escaped into this peach grove. Those Ruo didn’t seem to dare come in here...” Chu Xiang beamed when she saw Li Xiaofei and the others. “I was so worried about you all, afraid that you—”

Hua Dongcheng quickly covered her mouth.

She really would say anything, wouldn’t she?

Li Xiaofei was slightly moved and asked, “By the way, have you seen Xia Zi? After entering Heaven, he acted alone the whole time. We still don’t know whether he’s alive or dead.”

That mysterious young man with the compound-eye mask was still missing. Both Hua Dongcheng and Chu Xiang shook their heads in unison. They’d been lucky to avoid disaster and were too focused on staying alive to notice anyone else.

As they chatted, the group searched the entire Peach Garden. But they didn’t find a single ripe peach, not even a green one.

"It's time to leave." Chu Xiang eventually decided to give up.

She wanted to leave with Hua Dongcheng and return to her family clan. They had already found what they were looking for.

"Brother, do you and your group want to leave with us?" asked Chu Xiang, extending the invitation. "Our Chu Family still holds some influence out there. We received a lot of help from you this time. Why not come with us? We can head to our home planet first, and I’ll have the chance to properly show my hospitality."

"That sounds good." Li Xiaofei nodded and agreed.

The matter of Heaven had already come to a close and rebuilding it would take time. Little Aunt's refinement of the Sanqing Dahua Pill would also require a period of preparation and effort. There wasn’t much he could contribute by staying.

It would be better to go out into the galaxy, make a round through the Star Battlefield, and gain a clear understanding of the current situation. That way, he could truly do his part to protect the human race.

So, after returning to Doushuai Palace and saying his goodbyes to Little Aunt, Li Xiaofei left Heaven, bringing along Black Emperor, Huang Dinggou, and the mute girl.