"How do we awaken him?" Bibi Dong asked, while repelling a monster.
"Use what he cares about most... memories, feelings, promises... anything..."
Qian Renxue understood.
She withdrew her sacred domain, disregarding the danger, and charged toward Tang Wulin.
"Wulin! Wake up!" she shouted, grabbing his arm, "You said you would control it! You said we would return together! You said no one was allowed to die! You promised me!"
Tang Wulin's movements paused.
The indifference in his eyes showed a crack.
"Qian... Ren... Xue..." he said with difficulty, these three words, as if using all his strength.
"Yes, it's me!" Qian Renxue's face was streaming with tears, "Look clearly, it's me! And Bibi Dong, Dai Chengfeng, we're all here! You said you would protect us, you said we would close this gate together, you can't break your promise!"
More memories flooded his mind.
Shrek Academy, Sea God's Fate, the wedding, the birth of their children, the bits and pieces of the Divine Realm...
Those warm, beautiful, worth-protecting memories.
"I..." The gold in Tang Wulin's eyes was fading, human rationality returning.
But the Golden Dragon King's instinct was unwilling.
"No! This body is mine! I will destroy everything! Devour everything!" It roared in Tang Wulin's sea of consciousness, trying to seize control again.
The two wills clashed fiercely.
Tang Wulin's body trembled, sometimes dragonizing further, sometimes returning to human form. His expression twisted, switching between pain and violence.
"Wulin, listen." Bibi Dong suddenly spoke, her voice calm but carrying some kind of magic, "You're the most foolish person I've ever seen—clearly there were easier paths, yet you insisted on choosing the hardest. But you're also the most reliable person I've ever seen—as long as you promise something, you will definitely do it. Now, you promised to close this gate, so do it. Don't make me look down on you."
"In the name of the wind." Dai Chengfeng only said one sentence, but it contained all his trust.
Tang Wulin's trembling stopped.
He slowly raised his head, gold and black interweaving in his eyes, finally settling into deep dark gold. That was no longer the pure Golden Dragon King's color, nor pure human color, but the color after the two fused.
"I understand." he said, his voice calm but carrying incomparable majesty, "I am me, Tang Wulin. The Golden Dragon King's power is my power, but my will is controlled by myself."
He raised his hand, pressing it against the Tree of Life's trunk.
"In the name of the Dragon God inheritor, by the authority of creation and destruction, by my blood, my soul, my power—"
The Dragon God Wings fully spread, the golden light wing on the left sprinkling the radiance of life, the dark red wing on the right releasing destructive fluctuations. The two forces intertwined, fused, and injected into the Tree of Life.
"—Purify the Abyss, recast the seal!"
Golden light and dark red light flowed along the trunk, injecting into the root system. Where they passed, the black roots began to fade, that dark red viscous liquid forced out, evaporating in the light. The Tree of Life trembled, emitting joyful groans—its polluted parts were being purified, its eroded parts recovering vitality.
But the Abyss would not sit idle.
"ROAR—!!!"
From behind the Abyss Gate came furious roaring. That was the will of the Abyss's main body—it sensed the threat. It would crush this insect that dared to challenge it.
Endless darkness surged forth from behind the gate, transforming into a heaven-obscuring, earth-covering giant hand, slapping toward Tang Wulin.
"Don't even think about it!"
Qian Renxue, Bibi Dong, and Dai Chengfeng acted simultaneously.
Sacred flames, death aura, wind blades—the three forces intertwined, welcoming that giant hand.
BOOM—!!!
The shockwave from the collision sent everything flying, even the Tree of Life trembling. The three—Qian Renxue, Bibi Dong, and Dai Chengfeng—spat blood and flew backward, heavily crashing to the ground, unable to stand for a moment.
Though weakened, the giant hand still slapped down.
Tang Wulin didn't dodge.
He didn't even look at that giant hand, only focusing on purifying the Tree of Life. Because the purification had reached the most critical moment—once interrupted, all previous efforts would be wasted.
Just as the giant hand was about to strike him, a figure blocked before him.
It was Isis.
Her phantom grew solid, spreading her arms as if to embrace that giant hand.
"My mission should end." she said softly, then turned, revealing a smile to Tang Wulin, "Thank you, child of prophecy. Thank you for letting me see hope at the end."
She transformed into a light, merging into the Tree of Life.
The next second, the Tree of Life erupted with unprecedented light.
That light was pure, warm, filled with vitality. It dispersed the darkness, purified the contamination—even that Abyss giant hand dissolved in the light.
On the canopy, those semi-transparent Abyss embryos shattered one by one, transforming into light points that dissipated. The darkness in the root system was completely cleared, and the entire tree regained its vitality. White trunk, golden patterns, emerald leaves, and at the canopy's peak, a pure white flower blooming.
"That is..." Qian Renxue struggled to stand.
"Isis's final gift." Tang Wulin said. He withdrew his hand—the purification was complete.
The Tree of Life had recovered, even stronger than before. It took root in this land, using life power to resist the Abyss, forming a permanent seal. Though the Abyss Gate wasn't closed, it was firmly sealed by the Tree of Life, never to be opened again.
But the price was that Isis's consciousness dissipated.
She merged into the tree, becoming a tree spirit, but that was no longer her—a new consciousness.
Tang Wulin's body swayed.
The power of the eighteenth seal began to backlash, his body collapsing. Draconic characteristics were fading, but vitality was also rapidly draining. He could feel his lifespan burning, power dissipating, even his divine soul beginning to destabilize.
"Wulin!" Qian Renxue rushed over, supporting him.
"I'm fine..." Tang Wulin said weakly, but the blood at the corner of his mouth betrayed him.
"You're lying." Bibi Dong came to his side, checking his condition, her expression growing increasingly grim, "Your vitality has less than ten years left, divine power completely lost, Golden Dragon King bloodline... completely sealed. The backlash from the eighteenth seal, plus the consumption from purifying the Tree of Life, you... became a mortal."
"Being a mortal isn't bad either." Tang Wulin squeezed out a smile, "At least, we're all still alive."
Dai Chengfeng looked at the Tree of Life that had regained vitality, at the sealed Abyss Gate, at the surrounding land gradually returning to normal, and let out a long breath.
"It's over."
"No, it's not completely over." Tang Wulin looked at the Abyss Gate, "The gate is only sealed, not closed. The Abyss's main body is still on the other side of the gate—it will eventually find a way to break the seal. But that's a matter of long, long afterward, long enough for us, or our descendants, to find a way to completely close it."
He looked at Qian Renxue, his eyes full of tenderness.
"Now, let's go home."
Qian Renxue nodded forcefully, tears flowing uncontrollably.
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