After Transmigrating, I Died of Depression Without My Phone - Chapter 94.1
Long Xiang didn’t want to sleep, feeling like if she closed her eyes, she might miss something.
But she was exhausted, utterly drained. Inside the peaceful and still Celestial Ladder, with Beiting Xue by her side, and lying on soft clouds, everything felt like a dream. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.
Her sleep was restless. Even with her eyes closed and her mind foggy, her brow remained tightly furrowed.
Beiting Xue reached out and gently smoothed the crease between her brows. Only when her expression softened and her breathing steadied did he slowly rise from the cloud where she lay.
To make sure she could go home, more than just her own strength would be needed. There were preparations to make—precautions to ensure that nothing and no one would stop her from leaving.
Yes, he was truly Beiting Xue. No one could pretend to be him or deceive Long Xiang.
Everything he had told her was sincere—there wasn’t a single lie.
But the truth of the situation inside the divine pillar wasn’t as simple as it seemed.
The peace and quiet she saw now were the result of Beiting Xue’s constant struggles.
While Long Xiang had been dealing with the Demon Lord and Monster Lord, Beiting Xue had been battling an unseen enemy.
Bai Qingyin had dragged him into the divine pillar, attempting to force him to merge with it, binding him so that he could never return to the world and be with Long Xiang. He had fought back, even prepared to die, rather than be used as a sacrifice.
Bai Qingyin had likely done this to test the depths of his feelings for Long Xiang—whether he would truly forsake the near certainty of power for her. Repairing the Celestial Ladder was something the human race had long dreamed of. If Beiting Xue merged with the ladder, he could master it and become the first god of a restored heavenly realm.
It was a rare opportunity, an unparalleled honor and power that would be his, if only he abandoned Long Xiang.
It was the same choice Beiting Changyuan had faced over and over again, always choosing Bai Qingyin over everyone else.
Perhaps Bai Qingyin didn’t believe that the Beiting bloodline could ever produce a man who would choose love over power.
But Beiting Xue had proven her wrong.
Though he had been forced into the pillar, the moment he was absorbed by the Celestial Ladder, he had sensed a remnant of the world’s divine order.
The biggest problem between him and Long Xiang had always been that she needed to go home, and he couldn’t follow her to another world.
But this divine order—the power of fate—seemed to suggest a way. In a world ruled by demons for centuries, the presence of such a force wasn’t all that surprising.
Long Xiang’s appearance had been orchestrated by fate, and Beiting Xue had briefly wondered if this was the key to staying with her. Even if he couldn’t escape the pillar, if he became part of it, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
Perhaps, by understanding fate, he could…
But that was just a thought. In the end, none of those possibilities had materialized.
The light orb had reappeared before transforming into the golden crow and entering the divine pillar. It had briefly encountered Beiting Xue.
At that time, Beiting Xue hadn’t had the freedom he had now. He couldn’t even manifest his body. He had only a wisp of his soul left, crushed and drained as the pillar used his power to restore itself, slowly transforming it into the grand, beautiful space Long Xiang had seen.
He had left a sliver of his spiritual energy with her, allowing him to sense her, knowing she was in danger. He had tried everything to return to her, unwilling to let her face the danger alone. Even with a powerful enemy inside the pillar and himself half-merged with it, he had managed to pull himself together, regaining control of his spiritual energy.
The inside of the divine pillar might have appeared serene and calm, but it was always on the verge of collapse.
If Beiting Xue lost his fight with the remnants of the divine order, he would truly disappear, swallowed whole by the power of the pillar.
It wasn’t the worst outcome—he would become part of fate itself. But he would no longer be himself, and his consciousness would fade away.
Beiting Xue didn’t care about his own fate.
If Long Xiang left, if everything settled, being consumed wouldn’t matter to him. His life, his death—none of it would matter.
But Long Xiang hadn’t left yet.
The most important thing was that she hadn’t gone.
The fact that the light orb had returned to the divine pillar meant its task was complete.
Now that its mission was finished, what would become of Long Xiang?
If the divine pillar had tried to consume Beiting Xue, Long Xiang’s fate wouldn’t be much better.
She had already defied fate once by not completing her mission. There was no guarantee that fate wouldn’t strike her down a second time.
Beiting Xue knew that powerful forces, whether they be gods or fate itself, would never allow someone who defied them to live freely.
She had to leave now.
Long Xiang had always wanted to go back to where she came from. But now, Beiting Xue was trapped here, a prisoner of the divine pillar, unsure of when—or if—he would ever escape, or if he would simply be swallowed by it forever. With the little strength he had left, it was better to clear the way for her return home, removing all obstacles in her path.
Beiting Xue forced himself to stand, his gaze sweeping across the seemingly beautiful but perilous interior of the divine pillar.
The golden crow in the sky radiated brilliant light, but Beiting Xue didn’t even blink as he gathered his spiritual energy.
Most of his power had been taken, but that didn’t matter. For Long Xiang, he could push himself to the brink and still keep going.
The process was excruciatingly difficult. Blood poured from his mouth as he doubled over, barely able to stand. But each time he faltered, he forced himself upright again, his hands never once ceasing the formation of the spell.
“Why bother?” a voice, both male and female, sighed softly. “Why do this for someone who’s destined to abandon you?”
Beiting Xue knew exactly where the voice came from—it was the voice of the Dao, trying to interfere and prevent him from completing the spell, intending to disrupt his efforts at the critical moment.
Ignoring the voice, Beiting Xue cut off all his senses, blocking it out entirely. Whatever it said, it couldn’t affect him now.