"Leave this world?"
Baima was startled, then quickly asked Ye Ling, "Is benefactor's business in this world finished?"
"There's no need to do it anymore."
Ye Ling smiled at Baima, then created a spatial portal for her, saying, "Walk through this door and you can return to the Heavenly Wheel Kingdom. I won't accompany you any further."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Baima was shocked and quickly called out, "Benefactor, wait!"
But before Baima could even finish her sentence, Ye Ling had already disappeared, leaving only the portal in its place.
Baima could no longer sense Ye Ling's presence.
"He's really... gone?" Baima was somewhat dazed seeing Ye Ling leave so abruptly, feeling an inexplicable sense of loss.
Although she knew clearly that Ye Ling would leave, and she herself lacked the means or ability to keep Ye Ling by her side.
However, Ye Ling leaving so suddenly now, and giving her such a great gift before departing, made it feel too unreal, filling her with melancholy.
In just a few short days of meeting Ye Ling, she had gone from a daughter of a fallen kingdom to the Empress of the Heavenly Wheel, and then witnessed the demise of the Ji family and the decline of the Great Yan Kingdom... Everything that had happened these past few days was too much, too dreamlike.
"Forget it, I'll just treat it as a dream..." Baima sighed softly, deciding to bury Ye Ling deep within her memories and prepare to step through the portal, leaving the Great Yan Kingdom.
Her brief story with Ye Ling could only be marked here.
"Miss, do you wish to find Ye Ling?"
At this moment, a magnetic voice suddenly sounded behind her, making her entire body tremble.
"Who?"
Baima immediately turned around, only to see a figure shrouded in black mist appearing behind her at some unknown time.
"Don't worry, I am not your enemy. On the contrary... I am Ye Ling's friend," the shadowy figure chuckled.
"You... are benefactor's friend?" Baima's eyes were filled with caution, not believing a word the shadowy figure said.
The shadowy figure's strange demeanor did not earn her any trust.
"Heh heh... I know my current identity is suspicious, but I don't seek your trust."
The shadowy figure let out a sinister laugh and continued to ask Baima, "All I want to know now is, do you still wish to see Ye Ling?"
Baima retreated towards the portal Ye Ling had created for her, saying to the shadowy figure, "I know I am not qualified to be by benefactor's side, and benefactor wouldn't care about a small character like me. I don't wish to see benefactor, you don't need to waste your efforts on me."
The shadowy figure laughed, "Miss, you underestimate yourself and misunderstand Ye Ling too much."
"From what I know of Ye Ling, he is extremely protective of those he considers his own. Even if he has only met someone once, as long as he regards them as his own, he will never let his companions fall into danger."
"And even though Ye Ling decided to leave the White Feather Continent, he left so many treasures for you. This is enough to show that Ye Ling already considers you a companion. If you go to find him, he will definitely accept you."
Baima frowned, "You've said so much, what is your ultimate goal?"
"I merely pity you."
The shadowy figure chuckled lightly, then tossed a jade token to Baima, saying, "Whenever you wish to see Ye Ling, you can contact me through this jade token. I can take you to see him... whether it's in a hundred years or a thousand years, my promise is always valid, heh heh..."
As the shadowy figure finished speaking, it dissolved into black mist and disappeared from the spot.
"This strange person, what do they mean by a hundred years, a thousand years? Can I even live that long?" Baima's confusion deepened as the shadowy figure appeared and disappeared inexplicably.
She glanced at the jade token in her hand and, without hesitation, threw it on the ground, saying, "Only a fool would accept something so suspicious... That guy is clearly benefactor's enemy."
Discarding the shadowy figure's jade token, Baima walked into Ye Ling's portal without looking back, returning to the Heavenly Wheel Kingdom.
However, upon her return to the Heavenly Wheel Kingdom, Baima discovered that the jade token she had just discarded was once again hanging from her waist.
"Didn't I already throw the jade token away?"
Seeing the jade token at her waist, Baima's pupils constricted sharply, and a sense of unease immediately arose in her heart. She quickly pulled off the jade token, threw it into the portal, and immediately closed the portal.
But, after the portal disappeared, the jade token given by the shadowy figure reappeared at Baima's waist!
"What, what is going on?" Baima's heart filled with immense fear as the jade token reappeared.
She had a premonition of something ominous...
She had been cursed by that shadowy figure.
In the following period, Baima tried various methods to destroy the jade token, but whether it was cut by a sharp blade or burned by fire, the jade token remained unharmed!
Baima even tried having someone take the jade token into a sealed secret room, with several people constantly watching the jade token...
But the jade token would ultimately reappear by Baima's side in the blink of an eye.
After countless attempts, Baima, realizing she could not get rid of the jade token, resigned herself to fate, deciding to bury both Ye Ling and the mysterious shadowy figure deep within her memories and act as if nothing had happened.
Subsequently, Baima, wearing the jade token, began to cultivate according to the techniques Ye Ling had given her, while also recruiting soldiers and preparing to attack the Great Yan Kingdom.
To Baima's surprise, the jade token could also accelerate her cultivation.
The Great Yan Kingdom, due to the destruction of Luocheng, the accidental deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ji family soldiers, and the deaths of the Grand Eunuch Huang Kui and Long Quan Ji Yan, left the Great Yan Emperor without high-level protectors. Ultimately, the Great Yan Emperor was assassinated by Mo Ke, the Cangying Saber, who had harbored rebellious intentions.
Cangying Saber Mo Ke ascended the throne of the Great Yan Kingdom, but he was merely a martial man, brave but foolish. Not long after his regicide and ascension, he died from poisoned wine served by his own subordinates.
Finally, the entire Great Yan Kingdom fell into a chaotic civil war among various warlords.
With all three of the Great Yan Kingdom's top experts perished and the entire nation in disarray, Baima seized the opportunity. Using the great divine abilities from Ye Ling's cultivation techniques, she led the Heavenly Wheel Kingdom's soldiers across the desert, descended upon Huoluo City like fire from the heavens, and then advanced towards the capital of the Great Yan Kingdom.
With the help of Ye Ling's cultivation techniques, Baima annexed the Great Yan Kingdom with almost no effort, thereby occupying the northwestern part of the White Feather Continent!
It was precisely because of Ye Ling's cultivation techniques and the shadowy figure's jade token that Baima became the only cultivator on the entire continent, where others were still practicing martial arts. Her cultivation progressed at an astonishing rate, and she became unrivaled in a very short period.
Subsequently, Baima's ambition rapidly expanded. Using the northwestern part of the continent as a base, she marched towards the central plains, igniting a continent-wide war.
When Fei Xue, the greatest swordsman in the land, ventured alone into the Heavenly Wheel Imperial Palace, only to be repelled by Baima with a single palm strike, the entire continent fell under Baima's shadow.
Countless nations surrendered, willing to be annexed by the Heavenly Wheel Kingdom.
As Baima became the greatest in the land, her subsequent conquest was a relentless push forward.
In less than thirty years, with her decisive leadership and formidable strength, Baima planted the flag of the Heavenly Wheel Kingdom across the entire continent.
Baima became a true emperor of all ages, and her legend was carried by bards to every corner of the continent.
However, what puzzled everyone was that during these years, Baima had never accepted any romantic pursuit from any man, nor had she had any offspring, as if she had no consideration for her imperial succession.
There were many legends circulating in the common folk about Baima's choice to remain single, the most widespread of which... originated from the Heavenly Wheel capital:
"A god from the heavens fell in love with the Empress of the Heavenly Wheel, thus descending to save the Empress, and bestowing upon her supreme power, allowing the Empress to achieve all she has today.
However, because the laws of heaven do not permit gods and mortals to love, the god from the heavens, after saving the Empress, had to leave reluctantly, only able to watch over the Empress from the sky.
It is precisely because of this divine love that the Empress of the Heavenly Wheel cannot accept any man in this world..."
The legends of Ye Ling and Baima spread to every corner of the White Feather Continent, even spawning various romantic tales that were sung by bards everywhere.
As for these legendary stories, although Baima never officially confirmed them, she also never refuted them, which made the people of the world believe the legends even more, firmly convinced that the Empress of the Heavenly Wheel was the lover of a god.
With the embellishment of various legends, the Empress of the Heavenly Wheel almost became a spokesperson for the divine, enjoying extremely high prestige among the continent's populace, easily consolidating her imperial throne.
On this day...
Having obtained everything, Baima stood atop a tall tower she had specially built in the center of the continent, gazing at her vast territory below, toying with the jade token in her hand, her eyes deep.
"Thirty years... Benefactor has truly never returned, and this jade token... has shown no special properties... Who exactly are Benefactor and that shadowy figure?"
Baima murmured, recalling everything she had experienced thirty years ago.
Both Ye Ling and the shadowy figure felt too mysterious, so mysterious that it didn't feel real at all.
If it weren't for this jade token always being by her side, she would have doubted that everything she experienced thirty years ago was just a dream.
After conquering the continent, Baima had gathered all the craftsmen, eccentrics, and jade merchants from across the land, asking them to study the jade token given by the shadowy figure.
But in all the lands, no one recognized the origin of the jade token.
And after Baima conquered the entire continent, reaching the pinnacle of power and martial prowess on the White Feather Continent, she had no further pursuits, and an infinite emptiness arose in her heart.
The more empty she felt, the more she longed for Ye Ling, who had appeared like a fleeting blossom.
Every night, she could only lie alone on her large, soft bed, relying on her memories of Ye Ling's appearance to satisfy her own needs, before finally falling asleep in exhaustion.
Whether it was the influence of the jade token or her own emptiness, as time passed, her longing for Ye Ling grew stronger, and she felt as if she was going mad!
"He said that as long as I rely on this jade token, I can find him, and he can take me to see Benefactor."
Baima held the jade token given by the shadowy figure and recalled the shadowy figure's words from that year.
"He is Benefactor's friend... these many years, this jade token has never harmed me... His words, should be trustworthy, right?"
"Moreover, Benefactor is so powerful... even if that guy has ill intentions, he wouldn't be able to harm Benefactor, right?"
Baima muttered to herself, beginning to deceive herself, her heart wavering.
Thinking of Ye Ling's appearance, Baima pursed her lips and, as if guided by a demon, asked, "Jade token, how do I find Ye Ling?"
"Heh heh... Miss, I knew you would come looking for me," at this moment, the shadowy figure suddenly appeared behind Baima and said with a smile.
Baima turned to look at the shadowy figure, startled, "Have you been lurking around me all these years?"
"I'm not that idle. I only came when I heard your call," the shadowy figure smiled, then asked Baima, "How is it? Do you want to see Ye Ling now?"
Baima swallowed and asked the shadowy figure, "How will you take me to see Benefactor?"
The shadowy figure extended a pitch-black claw, pointing at the jade token in Baima's hand, and chuckled, "It's very simple... Drip your blood onto the jade token, sign a contract with it, and become... the Chosen One!"