Douluo Continent: Peerless Angel Qian Renxue.

Chapter 887 God and Me (4k, two chapters combined)

Qian Renxue's illusory figure opened its mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

……

I remembered.

I remembered why I left without saying goodbye, rushing off to the sun alone, leaving Ye Xishui, Shen Yuanyi, and the two ice and snow emperors—the most important people in this life—in the universe surrounding Douluo Star, or even letting them go back to Douluo Star on their own.

After emerging from the sun, I should have returned to Douluo Star to let them know I was safe.

But I didn't.

Even before taking them to the cosmos for seclusion, he had already secretly left a letter in the Papal Palace.

Looking back now, it's kind of laughable. I wanted them to know, yet I also hoped they wouldn't find out so soon—a foolish and contradictory act.

...Because my humanity is constantly being eroded, it's difficult for me to think and view things from a human perspective anymore.

I knew this day would eventually come. Ever since I returned to the continent from the Star Dou Great Forest a hundred years ago, I knew that this day was destined to come—but I always thought I could postpone it a little longer.

From the moment I embarked on this journey, I began on a path of "abandoning" my human identity.

Looking at Shen Yuanyi now, it's as if I'm seeing myself after I embarked on this journey.

I even dislike her a little, just as I dislike my past self a little.

I once hoped that she could slow down the loss of my humanity, but now she has shown me the things I should have already given up.

A person is most sincere and free of ulterior motives when they are most panicked, most fearful, or most joyful and carefree.

I didn't know how to respond to her enthusiasm.

I can feel it; it's an overwhelming obsession that has driven her to persevere for the past century.

But I still managed to catch her with my own abilities, preventing her from passing through my illusory figure. It was an instinctive, unintentional act.

Or does it stem from that last bit of weakness of mine, from the part of myself that hasn't completely disappeared—my human self?

I looked at her closed eyes, as if she was trying to use her body heat to make me feel what "existence" meant.

Her tail was swaying slightly. The real Ten-Tailed Jade-Faced Green Hill was wrapping me in her fluffy tail, as if that would make me feel what "warmth" was.

That was a posture I had already abandoned, something I had decided to say goodbye to completely before this slumber.

Because I can no longer be touched by anyone, no longer be perceived by anyone.

Are these tears?

I looked down at my chest, where it rose and fell slightly, and seemed to be covered with glistening liquid.

……

Suddenly, the stars around Shen Yuanyi shifted, as if she had traveled through time and arrived in an unknown starry sky.

Beside her were two identical Qian Renxue.

"Where is this?" she thought, startled.

"It's inside my body," the little angel said expressionlessly.

Seeing the expressionless face of the little angel Qian Renxue, Shen Yuanyi was startled.

"Ignore her." The little devil patted Shen Yuanyi on the shoulder. "This guy is almost at the pinnacle of enlightenment, so he's acting a bit strange."

"I'm not abnormal, I'm just..." The little angel closed her eyes.

She sounded weak and listless, as if she had used up all her strength to speak: "I don't know what to say."

The little devil paused for a moment. She could naturally see the problem with the little angel. This guy was becoming more and more ruthless. But the little angel was also deliberately trying to prevent all of this from happening—just like when the other party violently smashed the "mirror" and pulled the little devil out of his divine consciousness plane—at the very last moment before they went to the sun.

It's like the little angel emerging from the sun and the first thing he did was revive Sendou Ryu.

But she seems to have changed since then.

Indifferent, ruthless, cruel, and sharp.

The little devils have a habit of toying with their enemies, while the little angels treat it as a mission: draw their swords, kill people, and then turn and leave.

So the little devil will tease the little angel by calling him "darling," trying to break down the other person's defenses.

"I've traveled a long and arduous journey, all to achieve my goal," the little angel whispered. "It seems like I'm moving forward all the way, but in reality, I'm still blindly following."

Shen Yuanyi gently closed her eyes. She understood what the angel meant. Moving forward for a certain purpose could actually be considered a kind of blind progress.

Just as she has been for the past century.

"So, you mean this is inside your body? How did I get into your body?" Shen Yuanyi looked around.

"Because of Qian Renxue's unique nature, the sea of ​​consciousness in her mind did not stop after evolving into a minor plane. Instead, due to the dual souls of life and death, the chaos of yin and yang, and her own insights and experiences, it became something capable of evolving into a universe," the little angel said softly. "And we, in a great battle, self-destructed with the supreme god-king, the Dragon God, in an attempt to deceive this universe and erase ourselves from it."

"Therefore, Qian Renxue no longer has a physical form; she is merely a concept, an ethereal concept called 'Qian Renxue.' She is like a point, an imperceptible point. She can be any shape, the hair ornament on the Silver Dragon King's head, the pattern on Xu Jiujiu's hairpin, dust, or sand... In short, she is no longer human."

"But hidden within this point is a universe," Shen Yuanyi said calmly. "And humanity, that is a past that you can no longer touch."

"Because I hate the feeling of being bound by rules," the little devil said. "It's not just your angel, it's how I feel too. That's why we embarked on this path, the path called infinity."

"But, by doing this, it's no different from you disappearing completely," Shen Yuanyi said softly. "You can no longer be sensed, no longer touched... and besides me, no one can [prove] your existence."

"You?" The little devil tilted his head and looked at her.

"At least, for the instant my tears fell, I heard my heartbeat." Shen Yuanyi turned her head. "How long has it been since you last heard your own heartbeat?"

"It's been over a hundred years, hasn't it?" the little angel said.

"No, you're wrong." Shen Yuanyi slowly raised her head and looked at the two Qian Renxues. "There has never been."

The two Qian Renxue looked at Shen Yuanyi in surprise. "During your absence, I read through almost all the historical books of the Spirit Hall. From your ancestors establishing the Douluo Hall, to its later evolution into a church, and then to its transformation into the Spirit Hall more than ten thousand years ago, I can recite almost every detail." Shen Yuanyi said slowly, "The Angel Family has the gene of love in its bloodline. Among your ancestors, there were many who were heartless, but they always couldn't help but love others, especially ordinary people."

"Even though you infiltrated the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace for twenty years and seem to have killed a lot of people, and you even jokingly called yourself an executioner... In reality, if the Spirit Hall wanted to conquer the continent at that time, it was entirely possible, but you, and the Spirit Hall, were more or less worried about the issue of civilian casualties."

Qian Renxue's body stiffened. How come they dug up all the past history and even suspected it was an attempt to whitewash her past?

However, what she said wasn't entirely an attempt to whitewash the situation, because there were indeed such concerns at the time; otherwise, war might have broken out much earlier.

"Humans yearn to attain godhood, but after becoming gods, those who possess divine blood yearn to return to being ordinary humans," Shen Yuanyi said. "That's my summary of the angelic family. Otherwise, among your many ancestors, there were many who were more outstanding than your grandfather, yet none of them inherited the divine position again."

"So you've never heard your own heartbeat because you've never lived for yourself." Shen Yuanyi's voice, which had returned to normal, slowed down again. "This so-called living for yourself is just a facade to deceive yourself, because you know your own shortcomings. If you hadn't forced yourself to believe in something, you wouldn't have gotten to where you are today."

The little angel remained silent for a long time, then gave a faint "hmm".

The little devil shrugged; she couldn't be bothered to comment on such a thing.

"Alright, I brought you here because I want you to do something for me," the little devil said at the opportune moment.

"What is it?" Shen Yuanyi asked upon hearing this.

"In this universe, I have divided Tang San's divine consciousness imprint into countless parts to deduce what would have happened if Qian Renxue had not been reborn." The little devil waved his hand, enlarging a star map.

"Among them, one fragment of divine consciousness was the best. He completed many plans, ultimately reaching the level of the Supreme God-King, and forming a divine alliance pieced together from multiple divine realms," the little devil said. "After my mother's observation, she discovered that this fragment is the most primal part of his divine consciousness. I will forcibly reverse time within him, returning the story to its very beginning. Go and bring back the primal source of his divine consciousness for me."

"At the very beginning?" Shen Yuanyi frowned.

"That's right, it's ten thousand years before you were born, the era in which I failed." The little devil patted her shoulder. "We'll wait for you, wait for you to retrieve his divine essence, and then..."

"And then what?" Shen Yuanyi asked.

"Let's talk about it when you get back," the little devil said.

"I'm actually very curious, why are you so obsessed with studying him? He's already dead, killed by you."

"Because there is another person in this universe who looks exactly like him. They don't seem to know each other, but there is a subtle connection between them, just like between her and me." The little angel turned his head. "We need that source to break through [a barrier]."

"Okay, I understand." Shen Yuanyi nodded.

"Remember, you're about to face someone who reversed time from the Supreme God-King back to the past, because this fragment already reached an extremely high level," the little devil said slowly. "Want to brush up on his past?"

"No need," Shen Yuanyi said. "I will help you with this, but you still owe me an answer."

"What answer?" The little angel turned to look at her.

"Let's talk about it when I get back," Shen Yuanyi said, closing her eyes.

"Wait," the little devil called out to her, "I'll give you a different martial soul."

"...?" Shen Yuanyi opened her eyes and tilted her head.

"I'm afraid you'll die." The little devil shone a beam of light on Shen Yuanyi. "The Qian Renxue from ten thousand years ago was an idiot. She didn't know how to look people in the eye properly. If you want to get her attention, you'd better be at your peak right from the start. You need to be stronger than the Angel Martial Soul."

The little angel gave the little devil a disapproving look, but didn't argue.

"If she does something stupid, can we beat her up?" Shen Yuanyi asked casually, sensing the beam of light.

The little angel was taken aback upon hearing this.

"Go ahead and beat her up, beat her hard." The little devil waved his hand. "But don't disturb her when you see her looking in the mirror. She's a bit introverted and gets shy when she looks in the mirror... and if you find out, she might suddenly attack you."

A streak of light flashed by, and then, following the little devil's guidance, Shen Yuanyi transformed into a point of light and flew towards the location of that star map.

The little angel returned to God and then said, "How dare she hit me? Is this brat trying to rebel?"

The little devil hugged the little angel: "How come she speaks so fluently as soon as she's away from you?"

The little angel said slowly, "I don't know either."

The little devil shook his head: "You can be a bit absent-minded sometimes, both in the past and now."

"Because she's right," the little angel said. "That's how the angel family is. They love each other to the bone and believe in the principle that 'the greatest self-interest is altruism.' But unfortunately, in the past, this highest principle did not always apply."

"It's alright, we'll become home itself now." The little devil hugged the little angel from behind, then rested his head on her shoulder. "Then go do what you want to do."

The little angel looked down and saw the little devil with one arm around her waist and the other outstretched.

On that hand, gleaming brightly, was the mark of the divine realm of Chang Gongwei.

"This divine mark contains the aura of the angel of light we slew. Do you remember his name?" the little devil asked.

"I don't remember." The little angel shook her head. "Who would remember the names of the enemies she killed? My brain is precious and can't hold these impurities. Erasing some memories now and then can make me feel a little more relaxed."

"That's not important," the little devil said. "His divine seed was scattered, so it didn't remain in our universe. But luckily, we got this..."

The little angel asked, "Do you think this plan is feasible?"

The little devil shook his head: "I'm not sure, but as the masters of our own universes now, everything we see tells us... the many possibilities of spacetime, doesn't it?"

"Mmm..." the little angel responded softly.

"This time, we need to take the initiative and directly annihilate their spacetime. Otherwise, if they continue to develop there, they might sense that something is wrong," the little devil said. "That God King named Tianhen has a supercomputer that can calculate many things. This is a technology that surpasses ours, which is based on soul power, heavenly power, and so on. I have to worry about it."

"Go to the Underworld and catch that dead rabbit too." The little angel regained his composure and said calmly, "The Tang San divine imprint that Yuan Yi brought back is probably not enough, and with the aura of this angel of light, it will be difficult... They believe that love can transcend time and space and create miracles. We can use this to our advantage."

"A thousand years," the little devil said. "We need a thousand years to use the information from the Angels of Light to locate that elusive parallel world."

The little angel nodded slightly: "He also held a position similar to the leader of some kind of big god circle, so we can pinpoint his location in that time and space."

"Once we have the beacon, we can set off."