2 Another chance, no matter the price.

"Li Yang."

As the attacks landed on their bodies and the world around them descended into darkness, Li Yang suddenly heard a booming voice reverberate in the surroundings. Li Yang hurriedly opened his eyes, holding onto the faint hope that maybe the attacks had failed to kill them.

But he was doomed to be disappointed. As he opened his eyes, he could not see anything around him. The hill was gone, the small army of people was gone, but most importantly, she was gone, Fang Ying was gone. Li Yang tried to see if he could spot anything around him, but there was nothing around him, his surroundings were a true void.

"Li Yang."

As Li Yang was inspecting the darkness around him, the booming voice sounded out again. The voice was so forceful that even the surrounding darkness seemed to shake. Li Yang had not sensed it before, but as he listened to the voice this time, a bone-deep terror suddenly filled his body.

He could only hear a voice, but it contained such a tyrannical power that his knees nearly went weak. He had never felt such a feeling before, not even while he was still just a young child. Even when he faced the person who called himself the Thunder God had he felt such fear.

"Where is Fang Ying?"

Li Yang could not see anyone, nor could he even begin to fathom just how powerful the person talking to him was. But the only thing on his mind was to find out where Fang Ying was, everything else was unimportant.

"I can give you a chance, a single chance to chase after her and grab her hand again. I can send your soul into reincarnation and allow you to be reborn, eventually regaining all your memories. If she makes the same choice, then the two of you can meet again."

The voice spoke out again, this time sounding like a soft whisper next to his ear, containing infinite temptation.

"I accept."

Li Yang instantly responded. He did not even stop to think about what would happen if Fang Ying did not accept the offer, nor did he stop to think about what it would cost him. All he knew that he would be given a chance to grasp her hand again.

"Hoh, so quickly? You haven't even bothered asking what I want in return."

The voice rang out inside the void again, sounding rather surprised. It had expected Li Yang to accept his offer, but it had never expected him to accept it so quickly, nor so easily.

"I don't care. You could be the greatest demon in existence and I would still accept your offer. All so that I can hold her hand again."

Li Yang responded with a chuckle. In their last life, he had fought against the entire world for Fang Ying, so why would he care about any type of price now? Even if the voice belonged to heaven's greatest demon, he would still gleefully accept the offer.

"But what if she does not accept the offer?"

Li Yang could not see the owner of the voice, but he had the feeling that whoever was talking to him had just raised their eyebrows at him.

"She will. I have yet to brush her hair enough times, so she will chase after me and make me brush her hair until she is satisfied with it. She will make me brush it a hundred times, a thousand times. As many times as it takes until she is satisfied with it. And then she will make me do it all over again."

As he spoke, Li Yang could not help but grin. He could still remember it vividly. Fang Ying sat on a log, her long hair hanging loosely behind her. He stood behind her with a wooden comb that he himself had made, gently combing her hair under the moonlight, simply wasting the night away. Others feared her poison and it's terrible effects, but to him, it was the sweetest of fragrance.

"HAHAHA. I really wasn't wrong in choosing you! Very well Li Yang! Since you are the only person in this universe to ever manage to comprehend true destruction, you can be considered my successor. I will send your soul into reincarnation, giving you the chance to meet up with your wife again. "

The voice suddenly broke out into a loud laughter, it's laughter causing the void around Li Yang to furiously shake as if it was about to break apart. it's words caused Li Yang's pupils to furiously contract.

The only person who ever knew that he had managed to comprehend true destruction was Fang Ying, other than her, no one else had ever found out. Even when the two of them were besieged and killed, he had not brought out his powers of destruction.

The reason behind this was very simple. What he had comprehended was not just destruction, it was true destruction. If it was normal destruction, it would be things like destroying lives of towns, maybe destroying half a planet.

But true destruction was different. True destruction was the inevitable destruction of the universe, of all creation. Not even the heaven's would be spared once true destruction arrived, everything would cease to be.

If he brought out his powers of destruction, the entire planet they were on would vanish. He was not willing to destroy that planet, after all, that planet was where they had first met, where he first combed her beautiful hair, where he first grabbed her warm hand.

"Since Fang Ying is also the only person in this universe who managed to comprehend true creation, she can be considered my wife's successor. If she accepts the deal, her soul will be sent to reincarnate. If fate wills it, the two of you will meet up again and one day take over this tedious job of ours."

As the loud voice rang out one last time, Li Yang felt a strange power surround his body. The void around him vanished, turning into a large gray wheel, the wheel of reincarnation. The strange power surrounded him and flung him into that wheel, protecting his memories and sending him into his next life.

–

While Li Yang was surrounded by an empty void and was conversing with the booming voice, Fang Ying found herself standing on a peaceful meadow. Countless flowers bloomed on the meadow, a myriad of different animals and monsters peacefully resting around the meadow.

Not far from her stood a small round table that grew out from the ground. Two chairs were placed around the table, a fragrant pot of tea as well as two crystal cups resting at the top of the table. A beautiful white clothed female was sitting on one of the chairs, looking at Fang Ying and beckoning her over with a smile.

"Senior, would you happen to know where Li Yang is?"

Fang Ying walked over to the table and gave the white-clothed woman a short bow before she asked her question. She could see a myriad of different races resting on the meadow, but she could not see the person she wanted to see, Li Yang.

"He should be conversing with my husband right now. There is no need to worry, nothing will happen to him."

The voice of the white-clothed woman was soft and calming as if it seeped into a person's heart and eased all their worries. But despite this, Fang Ying was still worried. She knew that Li Yang had a terrible habit of easily causing trouble, so how could she be at ease if she was not at his side to make sure that he did not start any trouble?

"I will give you an offer. I can send your soul into reincarnation, allowing you to be reborn into a different world a single time, eventually regaining all your former memories. If he chooses to accept the offer of my husband, he too will be reincarnated in the same world as you, allowing the two of you to meet up again."

The white-clothed woman poured some amber colored tea into the two crystal cups, offering one to Fang Ying while she spoke. Fang Ying took the cup and listened patiently, gently sipping the fragrant and mellow tea.

"I accept."

Fang Ying did not stop to think, nor did she hesitate. She did not care what the price would be, all she cared about was that she would be given the chance to stand beside him once again, to see that confident and calming smile one more time.

"As easily as that?"

The white-clothed woman could not help but raise an eyebrow as she sipped her tea, clearly surprised by how easily Fang Ying accepted her offer.

" I want to hold his hand and feel that safe warmth that it always brings. I wish to be with him, no matter what price I have to pay. Did you know? The first time he saw my poisonous Qi, instead of talking about how monstrous it was, he called it beautiful."

Fang Ying shook her head as she spoke. She wanted to grasp the hand of the one person who had never feared her or detested her, the one person who had not called her a monster.

"You seem very certain that he will accept."

The mouth of the white-clothed woman curled into a smile. As she looked at Fang Ying, she felt like she saw her past self, before she had taken on this job.

"I know that he will accept it. I have yet to finish the song he wanted to listen to, so he will chase after me and force me to finish and perfect that song. And once I have finished that song, he will make me create another song about another one of our adventures."

Fang Ying's lips curled into a sweet smile as she spoke, her mind drifting back to those old memories. Li Yang vividly remembered combing her hair, but she had a different vivid memory.

The two of them were sitting in a small pavilion, a pot of fragrant wine placed on the table in front of them. Snow was gently drifting down from the sky, covering the surroundings in a white layer. She had a zither placed on her fang, gently plucking its strings and singing about one of their adventures.

He was simply sitting next to her, sipping the wine as he listened to her play and sing. The two of them simply sat like that for several days, enjoying the rare peace that they had been given.

"I see, then I wish you luck in creating a beautiful song. I hope that you two manage to meet up and take over this job of ours. Since the two of you can be considered our successors, we will make sure that the old geezers do not act against you while you are weak."

Hearing her words, the white-clothed woman let out a clear laugh and waved her hand. Before Fang Ying had a chance to ask who the old geezers the white-clothed woman was talking about, a strange stream of energy surrounded Fang Ying.

The peaceful meadow vanished, replaced by a gray wheel, the wheel of reincarnation. The strange power surrounded her, protecting her memories and sending her into the wheel of reincarnation, into her next life.