After rebirth, the eldest sister voluntarily abdicated and gave way to the wise.

My birth was so that heaven and earth would never fall apart again, and that gods and demons would never perish together. Heaven sent me down with the clearest purpose from the very beginning.

My name is Zhao Li, and I am the holy son of the gods.

They call me.

Lord Zhaoli.

I have no father or mother, and was born from a cluster of heavenly fire lotus leaves. I was raised and nurtured by the divine shepherds of the divine race. Because of my special nature, even among the divine race, few dare to speak to me, look me in the eye, keep me company, or call me brother or friend.

Even with a divine priest by my side, I grew up almost alone in the desolate realm of the gods, waiting for that destined moment to arrive.

I rarely feel emotional fluctuations. The joys and sorrows of the gods seem to be buried deep in ruins, while my own joys and sorrows are like the moon reflected in water, rarely seen.

I rarely feel regretful about this.

If my sorrow and joy are too intense, I will not be able to stay in the realm of the gods, and no one can bear the loneliness here.

In the first half of my life, I also met a very special person, or rather, a little flower demon.

Flower demons rarely develop sentience, making her quite unique. Her rosy cheeks always carried an inappropriate fiery passion from the divine realm, and her almond-shaped eyes often held a mischievous glint in them.

She must have been very beautiful. Every god who saw her would subconsciously mistake her for a newly born goddess and subtly avoid her gaze.

Perhaps it was because I couldn't bear to see her perish in this calamity that I helped her out. Since then, she has always loved to stay by my side, greeting me every morning, noon, and night, and sincerely praying to heaven that I may be happy every day, for thousands of years, and that Chang'an may always be there.

As a deity born of the Heavenly Dao, I should understand her actions, comprehend her heart, and pity everything about her. Yet, as I gaze upon her kneeling in worship amidst countless lights, I am filled with doubt.

I can't understand where her obsession comes from, or why it's focused on me. Even gods can't have an easy life; there will always be people who lend a helping hand. Does she have to cling to everyone who helps her and worship them with such devotion?

The priest said she was a demon, and that gods and demons are irreconcilable, so I shouldn't let her come to see me again.

She quietly stopped me and said, "My Lord, let's elope together? Let's go to a place where there's no distinction between gods and demons, and live our own lives."

Their words made me think for a very long time. I realized that I couldn't feel the anger and sadness when the priest said that gods and demons were irreconcilable, nor could I feel the trepidation and anticipation when she told me about eloping.

I told the priest that hatred that cannot be resolved will only destroy everyone involved.

I said to her, "The last people from the God-Demon Clan who eloped were just executed on their respective execution platforms. Do you want to follow in their footsteps?"

The priest said that if we don't hate them, they will devour us; we hate in order to survive.

She said she wasn't afraid; even if she died in the end, she would have lived a fulfilling life.

I looked at them with eyes that were calm to the point of pity.

The priest smiled bitterly and said, "I am a true god, and I cannot comprehend their love, hate, and grudges."

She cried in despair.

She was silent, yet everyone who saw her could feel her sadness.

"You never had any feelings for me, did you?"

I am completely lost.

The gods born of Heaven are destined to bless all living beings and have great love for all spirits. I don't understand what she meant by "being moved".

The Little Flower Demon is gone.

It has been three thousand years.

Just when I thought she wouldn't come back, she dragged herself, covered in blood, and with her last breath, she came to me.

She placed a shard of glass into my hand.

The ancient legend of the Dust-Removing Mirror can reflect the faces of those who have passed away in the mortal world.

She stared intently, trying to see whose reflection was seen in the shards of glass.

I was shocked.

It also felt absurd.

Just as he was about to advise her not to be so stubborn and trapped for life, he inadvertently glanced up and saw a beautiful pink and white figure, like a bell in a dream, striking the depths of his soul with a loud "thud." For years afterward, he could not get what he wanted, he was saddened by separation, and he could not find relief from love, resentment and hatred.

The little flower demon was both crying and laughing.

She cried because the person in the mirror was not her face.

She laughed, realizing that I was just an ordinary person, a pathetic one who didn't even know why I was pathetic!

She died in front of me.

I stared blankly at the person in the mirror, forgetting even to brush away the dust from my sleeves as the wind blew them.

I know perfectly well that the person in the mirror doesn't exist, or rather, hasn't existed yet. But that soul-shaking tremor, that strange feeling of our destinies being intertwined and ultimately destined for each other, is pulling at my nerves and focusing all my senses.

Jiang Liqian may never know that before she was even born, someone had already placed their heart on her, a bond that remained unbroken even after she was separated from the world.

It was at that moment that I suddenly realized my incompleteness.

As a god, as a holy son bearing a mission, "incompleteness" must never appear in my life.

I know what I should do, and I understand the meaning of Heaven's will in having this little flower demon appear before me.

He suffered a devastating blow in the new world, fell into the mortal realm, underwent a complete transformation, and realized his mistake.

From the moment I saw her through the Mirror of Dust to the first time I saw her in person, even without any memory of her, even with my divine essence completely sealed, my heart, still pounding, told me who she was.

On the Xuanwu Platform, jade branches fall like snowflakes, and flying gauze turns to frost. The young girl is like the bright moon, with a sword in hand, looking down upon all before her with an awe-inspiring and unapproachable air.

I stared at her, as if gazing upon a sublime god.

The red thread of fate binds her and me tightly; she is my destined wife. On the Stone of Three Lifetimes, our love is sealed for three lifetimes, inseparable and unbreakable.

But I was never in her eyes from beginning to end.

I was just an obstruction on her path of pursuit.

I've struggled, suffered, been sad, felt resentful, and been angry.

I struggled with this too, resorting to any means necessary, even standing against her until my death, thinking that I must make her taste my pain as well.

She defied the will of Heaven and abandoned me; she was too cruel.

We were both born in accordance with the will of Heaven. Responsibility and fate have bound us together. We should have lived and died together and swallowed the bitter fruit of our destiny!

Why was she so resolute, turning away without even giving me a chance to understand?

I hate her.

I hate that she had the courage to defy fate.

I hate that she dared to risk everything to walk her own path, follow the principles in her heart, and protect the world she wanted to protect.

What I hate most is that in the world she wants to protect, there is no place for me.

The moment she awakened my divine nature, a surge of sacredness and profound hatred welled up within me. I knew the time had come for me to fulfill my mission. I would sacrifice myself to transform heaven and earth, to fight for the last chance for gods and demons to survive.

From this day forward, I will cease to exist; I will become one of countless worlds, and I will return to the place of my birth.

But never before had I hated her more, hated her more intensely than I have now.

Does she know that I've already given up on the so-called "fate"? I just want to know how she is doing, and that's enough for me to stay far away and see her occasionally. That's my biggest wish in this life.

But she still couldn't tolerate me.

She didn't want me to continue being "Gu Chengxue," she didn't want me to exist in this world.

She told me that I shouldn't be so stubborn.

Ah, how absurd.

Despite the intense hatred, at the moment of leaving, as Zhao Li Shenjun's last selfish thought and Gu Chengxue's last sorrow, I couldn't help but turn back for one last look at her.

It was in that instant that I understood what this so-called "hatred" was all about.

I love her.

That's it.

They originated from the same root and the same source, and they perished from the same root and the same source.

Existing before the beginning of time, it eventually came into being amidst the hustle and bustle.

(End of book)