“Master.” Zhou Yuan attempted to rise to his feet when he saw Cang Yuan suddenly appear.

Cang Yuan waved his hand to stop his disciple and seated himself at the tea table. He glanced towards the giant tower in the distance and smiled. “What a piece of work. Even those guys in the Omega Shrine were sighing in amazement at your boldness when they heard of it.”

Zhou Yuan had used countless resources from Cangxuan Heaven to build the Nine Nine Blessings Tower. More importantly, he had decisively extracted Genesis Qi from Cangxuan Heaven’s other regions and focused all of it into the tower. The boldness needed to make such a decision frightened even the numerous Saint experts.

Zhou Yuan helplessly said, “It was already in shambles anyways. Without such meticulous and careful planning, I don’t think there will be any chance for a comeback.”

Saint experts from the other heavens might be amazed by his work, but that was because they were not from Cangxuan Heaven. Hence, they did not properly understand what a tough spot Cangxuan Heaven was in.

Cang Yuan nodded and said, “It’s no problem. These aren’t ordinary times after all. Even prime sovereign Jin Luo and the others were in approval when they heard of this.”

Zhou Yuan chuckled. “I should thank the prime sovereigns for being so understanding.”

Although the Omega Shrine did not belong to any faction, they represented the will of the all-heaven numerous Saint experts. Moreover, they were the highest authority and power in the resistance against the Sacred Race. Hence, even though Zhou Yuan was the master of Cangxuan Heaven, he still had to respect the Omega Shrine’s opinions.

After a short conversation about the Blessings Tower, the place fell silent once more.

Zhou Yuan glanced at the calm-looking Yaoyao before he took a deep breath and asked Cang Yuan, “Master, is there news from the Omega Shrine?”

Prime sovereign Jin Luo and the others had brought along a wisp of the God Annihilation Curse Poison with them when they left with the goal of analyzing it with the Omega Shrine many Saint experts. Since a few months had passed since then, there should be some findings.

Cang Yuan nodded. “I believe Yaoyao has changed over this period?”

Zhou Yuan was silent for a few seconds before he replied, “She seems to have returned to when I first met her.”

Cang Yuan let out a bitter laugh as his voice grew heavy. “That’s because the God Annihilation Curse Poison is devouring the divinity in her body. When her divinity weakens, her human side will naturally rise up.”

Zhou Yuan’s eyes widened a little. So that’s why. To think that the God Annihilation Curse Poison was so terrifying that it could devour even divinity.

“There’s nothing to be surprised about. The Sacred God was gravely injured by the Ancestral Dragon’s will, and its power tortured him for thousands of years. However, because the Ancestral Dragon was already dead, it’s will power was not enough to destroy the Sacred God. As such, the Sacred God managed to endure and ultimately survived.

Yaoyao suddenly interjected, “In the end, he finally forced out the Ancestral Dragon’s will and fused it with the pain and darkness he had suffered for thousands of years, creating the God Annihilation Curse Poison. In a certain manner of speaking, the curse poison contains a twisted form of the Ancestral Dragon’s power.

“It’s a poison created specially for me.”

Yaoyao was the Third God that was born from the Ancestral Dragon’s will, and the Sacred God was using a twisted form of the Ancestral Dragon’s power against her.

Zhou Yuan asked in a somewhat soft and gloomy voice, as if afraid to know the answer, “I only want to know whether this poison will harm her in any other way besides devouring her divinity.”

Cang Yuan and Yaoyao fell silent.

“Don’t hide it from me!” There was a sliver of anger in his voice.

Cang Yuan glanced at Yaoyao and sighed softly. “The God Annihilation Curse Poison will gradually strengthen as it devours her divinity, while also corroding her body. Once it grows to a certain level, it will become a true threat towards Yaoyao.

“However, from what we’ve discovered, we believe that when the curse finally becomes a genuine threat to her, she will enter a self-preservation hibernation state.”

“A self-preservation hibernation state?” Zhou Yuan frowned slightly.

Cang Yuan had a complicated expression as he looked towards Zhou Yuan. “Simply put, she will lose control of her body, because the slumbering divinity within will fully awaken when it is threatened and expel the curse poison in order to protect itself.

“When that happens...she will become the true Third God.”

Zhou Yuan’s hand trembled, spilling the wine in his cup as he lifted his head and stared at Yaoyao. How could he not understand what Cang Yuan was saying? Once Yaoyao’s divinity fully awakened, her human side would be erased and she would become the Third God.

When that happened, she...would no longer be Yaoyao.

A heart-wrenching pain assaulted him from deep inside, making it difficult to breathe as his hands trembled faintly.

The truth was that Zhou Yuan knew he had been avoiding this matter all along. He honestly did not know what he would do if Yaoyao became the Third God and forgot everything that had ever happened between them.

While accompanying her over this period of time, Zhou Yuan had experienced her growing more human with each passing day. As such, he could not help but let himself indulge in a certain selfish thought: to stop caring about the Sacred Race and the Sacred God, he even did not mind throwing everything else away as long as they could continue living these happy days.

However, there was still nothing he could change, even though he had already advanced to the Saint stage, and even became the master of Cangxuan Heaven...

He was perhaps the only one in this world who wished for Yaoyao to stay.

The Omega Shrine’s many Saint experts would obviously prefer to see the Third God emerge into this world.

In their eyes, only the Third God could stop the Sacred God. If the all-heaven could gain an ally in her, even the Sacred God would not dare to invade them after he fully awakened.

With regards to his standpoint on Yaoyao, he was likely in opposition to the rest of the world.

Zhou Yuan could not utter a single word as a bone-deep tiredness soaked into his body. He stared at the spilled wine on the table with glazed eyes as if he had fallen into an eternal state of muddle-headedness.

Cang Yuan’s heart ached at the sight of Zhou Yuan in this miserable state. He understood better than many how tenacious Zhou Yuan was. Despite this, the unfortunate turn of events had still managed to mercilessly crush the spirits of the young man who had always courageously forged ahead.

Cang Yuan sighed and turned his head to look at Yaoyao. “I suddenly regret putting you in his care all those years ago.”

He never imagined that a seemingly inconsequential decision back then would lead to such a tragic outcome.

It should have been impossible for Yaoyao to develop such feelings. Hence, it had been unthinkable for her to forge such a deep and strong bond with Zhou Yuan.

It truly felt as if fate was playing a cruel joke on them.

Yaoyao did not say anything. She merely reached out and very gently grasped Zhou Yuan’s hand.

She looked straight into Zhou Yuan’s red eyes as a smile that made the rest of the world lose color blossomed on her beautiful face.

It was a smile that would take away the breath of even time itself and etch itself into anyone’s soul.

Her gaze was fixed on Zhou Yuan as she softly said, “Zhou Yuan, marry me.”

Before Zhou Yuan could respond, she looked towards Cang Yuan and displayed a charming smile that had not been seen for many years. “Grandpa Hei, will you preside over the wedding for me?”

In this moment, even Cang Yuan could not help but tear a little as his heart twisted in his chest. This was the first time he had heard Yaoyao address him in this manner again since they parted all those years ago.

As he gazed at Yaoyao, he seemed to see the girl he had brought along with him as they hid from both the Sacred Race and the all-heaven. Back then, she was still a little girl that only knew how to tug at the corner of his clothes and had full trust in him.

Cang Yuan rubbed his eyes and smiled as he nodded, “Of course.”