Chapter 327: My lifelong beloved, Jinli

Xiao Qidi looked at her big eyes full of curiosity, curled his lips and said, "Why don't you guess?"

"If I haven't guessed wrong..." Ning Jinli said while thinking, "You and Ning Hai used the same spacetime dislocation theory, and judging from your recent behavior, your world has developed for many more years than the world Ning Hai is in—he's been there a hundred years, so your world... could it have been two hundred years?"

Saying that, Ning Jinli let out a sound, pinched Xiao Qidi's cheek, and said, "I can't tell—you're already over two hundred years old."

Xiao Qidi laughed and said, "You only got half right."

"Only half right? Which half is right and which half is wrong?"

"Hmm..."

Xiao Qidi pondered briefly, "The correct part is that my side indeed used the spacetime dislocation theory; after technology advanced enough to open a spacetime portal, we located your current time period. The wrong part is—it's not just two hundred years."

Ning Jinli asked, "Three hundred years?"

Xiao Qidi shook his head.

"Tsk... could it be five hundred years?" Ning Jinli continued guessing.

Xiao Qidi looked into her eyes and said word by word, "It's two thousand years."

"Two thousand years!?" Ning Jinli exclaimed in shock, "You... aren't lying to me, are you? Could it be that you've lived two thousand years?"

Xiao Qidi said softly, "In the ten years after you closed the spacetime portal—"

"Stop!" Ning Jinli emphasized, "I already told you, it wasn't me who wanted to close it; after I fell unconscious, all the portals disappeared."

"Sorry," Xiao Qidi continued, "In the ten years after the spacetime portal disappeared, based on the large amount of historical data you left behind and referencing the advice of hundreds of research experts stationed in Daxuan, I fundamentally changed Daxuan's system. With the support of science and technology, I directly propelled Daxuan into an era-defying development."

"Later, I unified the world and established the Super Huaxia Civilization; social productivity and technological level continued to leap forward. I also incorporated the Tian Xuan Heart Method you taught me into textbooks, so everyone could learn it, especially the later generations, who could start learning from kindergarten."

"Thus, humanity's physical fitness grew stronger, and combined with advances in medical biotechnology, the average lifespan kept increasing."

"As the Super Huaxia Civilization grew, humanity's moral quality and physical fitness underwent earth-shaking changes, thereby providing a better environment and more time to continue researching technology."

"After two thousand years of development, our population reached the hundreds of billions, and several other planets in the Solar System were developed into thriving homes. Moreover, we have developed space jump technology; before long, we will be able to explore outer space beyond the Solar System."

After hearing this brief description, Ning Jinli was so astonished she couldn't close her mouth.

No wonder Xiao Qidi could casually deploy a mere mining spaceship and wipe out the Descending Legion's ten-million-strong army without losing a single soldier.

No wonder he could easily defuse the self-destruct crisis of a mothership capable of destroying Earth, and even just towing that mothership to his scrapyard would be enough to handle it.

If one were to say this world facing the Descending Legion is like an ant facing an elephant,

then, before the two-thousand-year technological level of World One, the Descending Legion's gap is like a grain of sand facing the sun.

If ants were numerous and united enough, they might still have a slim chance to bite the elephant to death.

But a grain of sand doesn't even have the qualification to approach the sun.

"What would a highly developed world that has continued to develop for two thousand years look like?" Ning Jinli's eyes filled with endless longing.

Despite Xiao Qidi's rough description and personally seeing him casually reveal his strength, allowing one to glimpse a leopard through a tube, the actual situation has already surpassed her imagination.

Xiao Qidi gave a faint smile, "You will find out."

Ning Jinli snapped back to her senses, "Wait! Then you aren't... already over two thousand years old?!"

Xiao Qidi smiled without speaking.

That mysterious smile left Ning Jinli unable to make heads or tails of it, and she suspiciously said, "No, even if your world's technology keeps advancing and is aided by the Tian Xuan Heart Method, allowing generation after generation to live longer, that would still take a long time, right? In the early stages of development, how could a few generations manage to make people live two thousand years?"

Xiao Qidi listened to her muttering, and his smile grew richer.

Ning Jinli furrowed her brows, "Could you be using some technology that lets people hibernate for a long time? Oh right, what about those several hundred top scientists from Huaxia Guo I sent over back then?"

Xiao Qidi rubbed his nose, suddenly sighed, a look of sorrow on his face, "Actually... I am not Xiao Qidi; Xiao Qidi died over a thousand years ago."

"What?!" Ning Jinli's pupils trembled.

Xiao Qidi added, "I am Xiao Qidi's direct descendant, and I look most like him—almost as if carved from the same mold. You see, even you couldn't tell the difference. Alas, poor my ancestor, who missed you all his life and died without ever seeing you... I am merely fulfilling his last wish, pretending to be him to come see you."

Ning Jinli's mind went blank in an instant, "You... you're saying all of this is true?"

Xiao Qidi pulled out a yellowed letter from his pocket.

"This is a letter he handwrote two thousand years ago, instructing future generations to keep it. Fortunately, we have researched mature Time Travel technology based on the spacetime dislocation theory, so we can find this world while you're still alive and deliver this letter to you; otherwise, we would truly only be able to follow his words and burn this letter before your tombstone."

Such sudden news struck Ning Jinli like a thunderbolt.

She found it hard to believe deep down, but upon taking the envelope, she saw the text Xiao Qidi had left on the back, instructing future generations—

"If, in my lifetime, technology has yet to find that world, I ask that future generations, after a hundred years, keep my ashes safe until the day they succeed, then bury my ashes in the land of that world. I suppose Ning Jinli will no longer be among the living by then, so please have them burn this letter before her tombstone."

This is indeed his handwriting.

Ning Jinli's mind was a tangled mess, tears blurring her vision.

"Take a look," Xiao Qidi said, "my handsome and great ancestor wrote down the words he wanted to say to you and his longing, all inside."

Ning Jinli trembled all over, tears streaming as she opened the letter.

The first line of the letter reads—

"My lifelong beloved, Jinli."

Just those few opening words already carry a longing that spans two thousand years, striking straight at Ning Jinli's heart.

Ning Jinli burst into tears, too weak to read further; she held the letter to her chest and slowly squatted on the ground.

Xiao Qidi's eyes panicked; he quickly reached out to hold her back, infusing gentle Internal Strength to protect her heart meridian, "Um... Jinli, I..."

Ning Jinli kept her head down and sobbed aloud.

Xiao Qidi became even more flustered, hurriedly crouched down, and said, "Jinli, actually—"

"Slap!" Ning Jinli suddenly lifted her head, slapped him hard across the face, her tear-filled eyes glaring at him angrily, "Since you're his descendant, pretending to be him to see me and fulfill his wish is one thing, but you also hugged and kissed me?! What audacity!"

"Huh?!" Xiao Qidi was dazed.

Ning Jinli slapped him again, "I am his lover, which makes me your ancestor! You actually disrespected your ancestor—don't you deserve to die?"

Xiao Qidi's cheeks twitched; for a moment he truly couldn't retort.

Ning Jinli said with a stern face, "You damn thing, slap yourself until I'm satisfied!"

Xiao Qidi was now dazed, "No, listen to me..."

"Fan it! Talk after you finish fanning!" Ning Jinli commanded firmly.

Xiao Qidi was helpless, put on a bitter face, and raised his right hand.

Just as he was about to slap himself, Ning Jinli suddenly burst out laughing.

Xiao Qidi's hand froze beside his cheek, and a question mark popped up in his head.

"Hahaha!" Ning Jinli laughed, doubling over.

Xiao Qidi instantly became as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, thinking he had gone too far and had driven Ning Jinli to madness.

He immediately spoke frankly:

"Jinli, sorry sorry! I just wanted to tease you; actually I'm not some descendant of Xiao Qidi—I am Xiao Qidi himself!"

"Back then I truly thought I wouldn't live to see that day, so I wrote that letter."

"I never expected that after I mastered the Tian Xuan Heart Method, my lifespan greatly increased, and then, relying on advances in biomedical technology, I further extended my lifespan, thus living to the present."

"Now the average lifespan in my world has reached over four thousand years; moreover, the hundreds of scientists I left behind there also achieved lifespan breakthroughs in their lifetimes, and as technology continues to advance, their lifespans keep extending, so they are still alive."

After he finished speaking in a rush, he suddenly noticed Ning Jinli tilting her head to look at him, her big, tear-glinting eyes clearly showing a mischievous meaning.

"Jinli, you..." Xiao Qidi began to realize.

Ning Jinli snorted, "You're allowed to tease me, but I'm not allowed to tease you? Do you know you're wrong?"

Xiao Qidi's pupils gradually dilated, his face full of delight as he said, "You scared me to death! So you've already figured it out?"

"Of course," Ning Jinli wrinkled her nose, "you greatly underestimated me."

"Jinli..." Xiao Qidi felt relieved, hugging her tightly, "Sorry, I was wrong; I shouldn't have teased you like that... When did you figure it out?"

Ning Jinli said, "The moment I saw you, I knew it was you, so when you later claimed to be Xiao Qidi's descendant trying to fulfill his wish, that nonsense, I didn't believe it at all; I just wanted to see what tricks you were up to."

Xiao Qidi gave an embarrassed laugh.

Ning Jinli leaned against his chest and softly said, "The man I love most, the man I've constantly thought about... how could I not recognize him..."

A soft sentence, directly piercing the softest spot in Xiao Qidi's heart.

Even after living over two thousand years, he still couldn't hold back tears streaming down his face.

"Jinli, I miss you so much, really, really miss you; I... I have always done everything I could to stay alive, always done everything I could to advance technology, and have always been waiting."

"Two thousand years have passed, and spacetime travel technology has finally matured, enabling cross-temporal search and precise positioning, finally allowing me to open a spacetime portal right beside you, and I have finally seen you again..."

He spoke while tightly hugging Ning Jinli.

The weight of over two thousand years of perseverance and endless longing could hardly be borne by just a few short words.

Ning Jinli felt moved and heartbroken, "Damn... you can see me now, and you even showed me that letter—are you trying to make me cry to death..."

"I want you to know that my love for you has existed since long ago and has never changed."

"Me too," Ning Jinli gently cupped his tear-streaked, stern cheek, "I have also been trying to find you, but since I woke up until now I've only spent a few months trying, while you have devoted two thousand years to this... I can imagine how you feel."

"Jinli..." Xiao Qidi once again teared up uncontrollably.

Ning Jinli tilted her head up and kissed him, saying while kissing, "From now on, we will never be separated again."

——

A few days later.

The legions of various civilizations from other parallel universes that had come to support began to withdraw one after another.

Before withdrawing, they also signed a friendly agreement with Huaxia Guo, promising to stay in touch, exchange resources, and develop together.

And Xiao Qidi also brought back the hundreds of Huaxia Guo's top scientists he had left in that world.

They too had waited two thousand years, finally returned to the original world, and reunited with family and friends; fortunately, for the original world only fifteen years had passed, so their relatives and friends were still alive.

Next, Xiao Qidi dispatched large numbers of personnel and equipment to begin helping Huaxia rebuild.

The Huaxia leadership collectively, representing the tens of millions of surviving Huaxia people, expressed gratitude to Xiao Qidi.

"No thanks needed, because over two thousand years ago in my world, it was Jinli and the Huaxia Guo that continually supported her who gave him tremendous help, enabling his world to become so advanced and beautiful; now it's his turn to repay the favor."

Thus, in this world, Huaxia, which had nearly suffered annihilation, once again stubbornly survived and will also usher in a greater rebirth.

The aftermath for the heroes who sacrificed in this battle is being handled in parallel.

Amid the ruins, homes are being rebuilt, world order is beginning to restore, and the heroes' cemeteries and memorial monuments are also being constructed one after another.

However, Shangguan Ying's situation is not optimistic.

Her body is at the point of total collapse, so severe that even the medical technology of Xiao Qidi's world cannot improve her condition.

The only option is to place her in a hibernation chamber before she dies, preserving her last vestige of bodily function, awaiting a medical breakthrough that can cure her, then awaken her.

However, given her condition, the probability of being awakened after entering hibernation is also minuscule.

But this is already the only hopeful method.

In the few minutes before preparing to place her in the hibernation chamber, she requested to see Ning Jinli.

When Ning Jinli arrived at a specially made ward and saw the inhuman Shangguan Ying, even though she tried hard to control her emotions, she still couldn't hold back tears streaming down her face.

"Jinli..." Shangguan Ying's eyes slightly opened, and she uttered an extremely weak voice.

Ning Jinli knelt beside the bed, getting as close as possible, "Elder Sister Ying, I'm here."

"Don't cry..." Shangguan Ying said softly, "I... I have actually... already lived over a hundred years; for me, I have experienced and... witnessed Huaxia... twice reborn from desperation... even if I die, it... it doesn't matter, because I... I have also fulfilled the... historical mission you entrusted to me..."

"What?" Ning Jinli froze, wiped her tears, and exclaimed in shock, "Elder Sister Ying, you're over a hundred years old? And... when did I ever entrust you with a historical mission? What does this mean?"