The phoenix carried the two hundred Heavenly Court executive department cultivators as well as the three celestial immortals toward the southeastern direction before disappearing into the distance.
The woman in the jade dress took one last look at the night sky before tearing open a spatial rift and disappearing into it.
The Celestial Thearch and everyone else all turned toward An Lin.
An Lin continued to stare at the spot where Xu Xiaolan had disappeared.
None of them were idiots. Everyone had seen the truth after hearing Xu Xiaolan’s conversation with the others.
A hundred years!
They had already been gone for a hundred years!
No wonder this world had undergone such a drastic transformation. No wonder everyone’s cultivation bases had improved by leaps and bounds!
Everything made sense now!
“Weren’t we only in that strange space for a hundred days?” Meng Zhi was finding it difficult to comprehend the situation.
“Time appears to flow differently in this world compared to that space we were in…” the Celestial Thearch murmured.
Chen Chen nodded in agreement. “I should’ve realized this earlier.”
“When An Lin entered that image, one year in that world was the equivalent to a day in the Heavenly Time God space. The Tai Chu Continent was also one of the images in that world, so one year in there should also equate to a day within the Heavenly Time God space. We are the ones who are out of place, not this world.”
Shangguan Yi was feeling a little depressed. “I had initially thought that we had stumbled upon some great fortune as the rate of cultivation in that space was several hundred times faster than on the Tai Chu Continent. Looking at it now, it makes no difference!”
“There’s still a difference. At least cultivation wasn’t as tiring there,” Meng Zhi offered some words of consolation.
The situation was clear now.
They had spent a hundred days within the Heavenly Time God space, while a hundred years had passed on the Tai Chu Continent! The reality was quite astonishing, but it was reality nonetheless.
“Many things must’ve happened during these past hundred years. I have to make a trip back to the Heavenly Court,” the Celestial Thearch said.
“We should keep a low profile for now. All of us are quite powerful, so we could act as hidden forces to influence this battle in the shadows,” Chen Chen suggested.
Everyone nodded in agreement with his suggestion.
All of them had the power to transform a large-scale battle.
They could reveal themselves when the human race needed them most to completely catch their enemies off guard!
“Celestial Thearch, even though we have worked together during this period of time, we are still going to be enemies from now on,” Chen Chen said again.
“I was afraid you wouldn’t say that.” A faint smile appeared on the Celestial Thearch’s face.
Even though the Heaven Crushing Sect and the Heaven Mending Sect both had the objective of saving the world, they were doing so in completely different ways, so it was no exaggeration to call them enemies.
“I have to go back to the Heaven Crushing Sect. An Lin, would you like to come with me?” Chen Chen offered an invitation. This was an invitation from the second-in-command of the Heaven Crushing Sect.
“I think you should come back to the Heavenly Court.” The Celestial Thearch smiled. This was the smile of the second-in-command of the Heaven Mending Sect.
Shangguan Yi, the Great Empress, and Meng Zhi also turned toward An Lin as they were curious about what decision he would make.
An Lin shook his head. “I’m going to go find her.”
“Her?” Shangguan Yi faltered slightly before realizing who he was referring to. “How are you going to track her down?”
“I know where she went.” A warm smile appeared on An Lin’s face, and he turned to bid farewell to everyone. “I have to go now. I don’t want to keep her waiting for too long.”
He stepped into the spatial gate as he spoke, leaving behind a bunch of confused mighty figures.
In the southwestern region of the Opposite Shore Realm.
This place had been transformed into a vast expanse of glacial plains.
Snow fell year-round here.
Frosty winds blew through the air like icy blades.
An epic, earth-shattering battle had taken place here a hundred years ago.
Mountains had been toppled, abyssal fissures were everywhere, and violent power had annihilated almost everything here.
However, everything had been covered by frost and snow now, with the exception of an extremely massive crater, of which the rough outline could still be seen.
A spatial rift slowly appeared several dozen kilometers away.
A white-robed figure silently emerged with his aura completely concealed, as if he was afraid of alerting anyone who might be around.
An Lin looked around surreptitiously at his surroundings to find that this was a bleak and desolate land devoid of all of the snow maidens’ intricately-crafted ice abodes that had once stood here.
The air was so cold here that even he couldn’t help but shiver.
“The environment seems to be even worse here now. A Soul Formation Stage cultivator or below will probably be frozen to death here before too long,” An Lin mused.
He looked around at his surroundings, as if he was searching for something.
Soon, he discovered a black shadow within an extremely massive crater.
“That looks like the place where the Heavenly Time God self-detonated and also the place where I disappeared…” An Lin slowly approached to find a very beautiful wooden cabin there.
It was particularly eye-catching in this vast expanse of barren, snowy land.
He made his way over to find that there was a plaque hanging from the cabin.
It read: “Lan Lin Cabin.”
Through the wind, he could see flickering candlelight lighting up the room with a warm glow. The cabin looked very snug and cozy, and there were a few photos of himself and Xiaolan hung up along the walls, all of which depicted him and Xiaolan with wide, elated smiles on their faces.
A rush of warmth welled up in An Lin’s heart upon seeing this.
This cabin really did look like a home.
Xu Xiaolan was not in the cabin, so An Lin didn’t go in.
He continued toward the center of the crater, where he finally found the person he was searching for.
She was sitting atop a dead log, staring silently at the snow falling upon the empty landscape.
There was a cozy little cabin for her to return to, but she chose to stand outside in the harsh wind and snow.
She seemed to be waiting for someone, someone who might or might not even come back.
An Lin suddenly recalled that a hundred years had already passed since the Heavenly Time God’s self-detonation, and everyone most likely thought that he was already dead.
However, Xu Xiaolan was still here.
Snow fell upon her hair and shoulders.
She exhaled lightly, sending puffs of white breath floating into the air. She cut an extremely lonely yet determined figure, looking on in anticipation for a miracle.
She presented such a heartbreaking figure.
It was probably unimaginable to everyone in this world that such a revered and sought after goddess would frequent this barren and desolate glacial land, waiting for someone day after day without fail.
An Lin made his way behind her and opened his mouth, but his throat seemed to fail to work.
He suddenly didn’t know how to face the woman before him, and he continued to conceal his presence.
He extended a hand and tried to brush the snow and frost from Xu Xiaolan’s shoulders.
Xu Xiaolan suddenly turned around like a startled cat, drawing her Dragon Sparrow Sword in the process!
Whoosh…
Her sword blade swept through the air and stopped just short of An Lin’s neck.
She stared blankly at the man standing before her, and her right hand began to tremble uncontrollably.
“You… You…” Her voice was tinged with incredulity.
It had been a very long time since Xu Xiaolan had been this worked up about anything. She rubbed her eyes with her left hand as if she was afraid that her eyes were playing tricks on her.
“Long time no see, Xiaolan.” A warm smile appeared on An Lin’s face, and his hands were also trembling as he gently brushed the snow from Xu Xiaolan’s shoulders and hair.
The Dragon Sparrow Sword fell to the ground.
Tears began to flow from Xu Xiaolan’s eyes, and she pursed her lips with excitement and anger before ramming her fists into An Lin’s chest. “You b*stard! Do you know how long I’ve waited for you?!”
“I know. I’m sorry.” An Lin wrapped his arms around Xu Xiaolan in a tight hug, as if he wanted to compensate her for all of the warmth that she had been missing for the last hundred years.
He hadn’t seen her for only a hundred days, but she had been waiting for him for an entire century!
An Lin was unable to imagine just how much torment and pain all of this had inflicted upon her.
“Waah…” Xu Xiaolan returned An Lin’s hug and howled tearfully. “Didn’t I tell you to run if you couldn’t win? Why didn’t you run? Are you retarded?”
“Yes, I am retarded.” An Lin couldn’t bear to argue with the woman in his arms.
“You were gone for an entire century! You’re a heartless, irresponsible b*stard!” Xu Xiaolan continued to hurl abuse at him, and her hands dug into An Lin’s back like claws.
“You’re right, I’m a b*stard!” An Lin immediately conceded.
“Couldn’t you have come back earlier? You made me wait for so long…
“I really want to cut you down right now, waah…”
“You can do whatever you want to me, even if it’s feeding me medicine.”
Xu Xiaolan: “???”
She seemed to have vented out all of her anger, and she no longer dug her nails into his back like a tigress. Instead, she was like a vulnerable little kitten sobbing in his arms.
“Don’t ever do that again.”
“I promise I’ll never do it again.”
“You… How have you been these past hundred years?”
Xu Xiaolan’s tone gradually softened.
“Everything has been fine aside from the fact that you weren’t with me,” An Lin replied in a gentle voice.
Xu Xiaolan held onto him even more tightly. “I’ve missed you so much. Let’s never separate again.”
The two of them held tightly onto one another amid a barren land of snow and ice.
The determined goddess had finally rediscovered the man of her dreams after a hundred years.
