Accompanying the Phoenix

Chapter 47: Remember Me

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[March 1, 2021]

...

Shen Li stared blankly at Xing Zhi. The spiritual shrines for the ancient gods was an extremely sacred place that shouldn't be so easily accessible. Was it really OK to put it so casually in a room like this? People in heaven lived so peacefully that they felt this was acceptable? There wasn't even a barrier at the entrance...

"Have I come too far? Is it too late for me to turn back?"

As a member of the demon race, even though Shen Li disliked the modern heavenly people, she still respected the ancient gods.

Xing Zhi lowered his head and smiled. "It is too late." Then he tilted his head up to look at the shimmering tablets in the sky. "But it is alright. Since we are here, let us pay our respects. They have not had visitors in a long time."

Since he said it was OK, Shen Li decided to remain. She looked up at the sky full of stars.

The tablets seemed to have a will of their own. They shifted, moving to gradually encircle Shen Li and Xing Zhi. It was like the stars were a group of people looking at them.

Xing Zhi smiled. "This place is designed to look like the Heavens Beyond. The constellations are fixed in the order they would normally appear in the sky. They do not move, but today they are excited to have a visitor, so in their happiness they came over."

Shen Li glanced at him. The smile on his face was soft, but genuine, an unusual departure from his usual smiles. His entire expression exuded a certain kind of joy - he was genuinely happy.

Sorrow suddenly filled Shen Li's heart as she gazed at the spiritual tablets.

The names were just words for her, but for him they were more than that. They were old friends who would never return. He watched the world as the years passed by without anyone to accompany him, living a life in solitude amongst a sea of stars.

No one knew how long he had lived. They only knew him as a high god of the three realms, one to be deeply respected and revered, someone beyond their reach.

"Do you... feel lonely?" The words unconsciously rolled out of Shen Li's mouth.

Xing Zhi turned to look at her. He was silent for a moment before asking, "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. But if it was me and I lost the demon emperor, Rou-ya, my generals and subordinates... if everyone turned into silent spiritual tablets, if I had to live in an empty demon realm in solitude, " Shen Li paused, "I wouldn't be able to bear it."

Xing Zhi lost his smile. "One becomes accustomed to it - the responsibility that must be borne. You speak of loneliness, but my time, from life to death, is beyond my control."

"But... doesn't High God have the world in the palm of your hand?"

"To a certain extent." Xing Zhi paused. "The exception is myself. As you know the gods are too powerful to allow personal desires to sway them. As such my time, while alive to the moment I die, is beyond my control. Only when my life force is dispersed to the heavens and earth, settled into the mountains and lakes, can I truly die."

Shen Li was shocked. "Gods can die?"

"Of course. All living things perish eventually. Even gods cannot escape that fate. Although I have lived for a long time, eventually I too will die. When that day comes, I will follow the natural law of the world; my life force will turn into a ray of energy that will disperse between the heavens and earth. That energy will become a part of the natural world again. Although my physical divine form will no longer exist, my divine power will always be here to guard the world and stars for eternity."