Burying the Dao Across the Heavens

The Demon Venerable descends upon the world, bathing the heavens in blood and leaving billions of lives as withered bones. Ling Tian destroys the demon, but cannot bring back the life of a single person by his side. A mysterious voice whispers, “With your soul, transform into the Dao and be reborn. You can save all living things, but the price is that you will vanish completely, and the name Ling Tian will be erased from the world.” He smiles, offers up a soul lamp with one finger, burns away his very essence, buries the old world, and transforms into the Dao to be reborn. Billions of years later. An unnamed colossal statue stands in the world. The nine heroines weep before its stele, and the memories of billions of living beings awaken in that moment. At last, they remember the man who once stood atop the heavens and sacrificed himself to the passage of time for their sake. The heavens are buried with the Dao; all things vanish through the ages.