For the next month, Gu Jin and Long Yifan traveled across countless lands and countries under the guise of their honeymoon.

They visited scenic mountains, peaceful riversides, and ancient ruins that had long been forgotten by time.

Everywhere they went, a group of Lady Ling's people followed closely behind, pretending to be ordinary travelers but clearly keeping watch.

At first, Lady Ling was cautious. She checked on their every move, constantly sending messages to her subordinates to report even the smallest detail.

But soon, she began to relax.

Her people reported that Gu Jin and Long Yifan did nothing suspicious.

They simply visited temples, took long walks, prayed, and spent hours sitting on benches or meditating near shrines.

Sometimes, they even appeared to be feeding birds or chatting under a tree like a normal couple.

At first, Lady Ling thought they might be plotting something. But after a few weeks, she noticed that their activities were repetitive and harmless.

"They're wasting time," she muttered one night, reading her agents' reports. "Meditating, praying, visiting temples… what can they possibly gain from that?"

When one of her followers hesitated and said, "My Lady, perhaps they are simply… enjoying their honeymoon?" Lady Ling paused.

She read the next line in the report. It described Gu Jin and Long Yifan sitting by a lake, watching the sunset together, holding hands, and occasionally laughing quietly.

For a moment, even Lady Ling couldn't help but smile.

"Perhaps so," she murmured. "Even the strongest need rest before their end."

The more she thought about it, the more at ease she felt. In her mind, Gu Jin and Long Yifan were already doomed.

The Forbidden Land awaited them. If they wished to spend a few peaceful months together before their deaths, so be it.

Gradually, Lady Ling lowered her guard. She ordered her people to reduce their surveillance. "Just check once every few days," she said. "No need to hover around them."

Her subordinates obeyed immediately.

Meanwhile, Gu Jin and Long Yifan noticed the change almost at once. The air around them felt lighter, quieter.

"She's finally relaxed," Long Yifan said one morning, his lips curling into a faint smile.

Gu Jin nodded, her eyes gleaming with quiet determination. "Then it's time to begin."

From that day onward, they started visiting temples more frequently, not just random ones, but the exact temples listed by the Gu family.

Each temple held a fragment of their divine essence, sealed long ago when their celestial forms had fallen.

As they entered each temple, waves of powerful ancient energy would awaken.

When they joined hands and activated the temple cores, a surge of blinding light would fill the hall.

The sealed fragments of their essence merged back into their souls, and each time, their cultivation grew stronger.

After their first temple, their aura reached the Saint Rank Stage 8.

After the third, they touched the Saint Rank Stage 9.

And after the seventh, they broke through the Saint Stage 10, nearing the peak of all mortal cultivation.

But that wasn't the end. Deep within the eighth temple, hidden beneath the ocean's crust, they discovered the final fragment, a seed of divine power glowing with seven colors.

The moment they absorbed it, their bodies trembled, and the heavens themselves seemed to bow.

They had ascended.

By the time their long journey ended, both Gu Jin and Long Yifan had regained Godhood.

Their souls shimmered with divine brilliance, their strength beyond the comprehension of any being in the Mage World.

But that power came with danger. If even a trace of their divine aura leaked out, it would alert not only Lady Ling but also the gods of the Celestial Realm, the very ones who had exiled them.

Knowing this, Long Yifan created a set of divine artifacts to suppress their power.

He forged sacred seals using his divine flame, binding both their auras beneath layers of compressed space. The process nearly destroyed his body, but he succeeded.

When it was done, Gu Jin reached out and touched his hand gently. "You've gone too far again," she said softly.

He smiled faintly. "I promised to protect you, didn't I?"

Gu Jin didn't answer. She just leaned against him, closing her eyes as the wind brushed past. For the first time in ages, peace filled her heart.

Four months passed like that.

When they finally returned to the Gu family mansion, Lady Ling was already waiting, her usual cold smile on her face.

"Welcome back," she said sweetly. "I trust your honeymoon was… fulfilling?"

Gu Jin nodded with a polite smile. "It was peaceful."

"Good," Lady Ling replied. "Because now, it's time to fulfill your promise."

With that, she waved her hand, and a small silver pouch appeared in her palm. "Here," she said, handing it to Gu Jin. "This contains everything you'll need for your journey into the Forbidden Land."

Gu Jin accepted the pouch, but just as she was about to open it, Lady Ling raised a hand.

"Don't," she warned sharply. "The items inside are sealed by my power. They can only be used when you're near death in the Forbidden Land. If you open it now, their destinies will be broken, and the items will turn useless or worse, kill you both."

Gu Jin blinked and quickly closed the bag.

"I understand. Thank you, Lady Ling. Once we return safely, I'll make something special for you as thanks."

Lady Ling chuckled. "Return safely? Good confidence!"

Gu Jin only smiled in response.

"Now then," Lady Ling said, her eyes glinting coldly, "it's time. Let's go to the chaos rift then. Follow me."

Soon, they arrived at the Chaos Rift.

"This," Lady Ling said, raising her hand toward the center of the field, "is where the gate will open. On the fifteenth day of this month, exactly at midnight, a Spatial Rift will appear. That is the portal to the Forbidden Land. When it opens, you must jump in immediately. If you miss it, the next one won't appear until I use my connections again."

Gu Jin and Long Yifan exchanged a calm glance before bowing slightly. "We understand."

Satisfied, Lady Ling smiled faintly and sat down to meditate, waiting for the rift to open.

Days passed in eerie silence. The sky above the Rift never changed, always dark, always trembling.

Then, at midnight on the fifteenth day, the air split apart.

A deafening crack echoed across the desert as space itself tore open, forming a blinding whirlpool of light.

"The gate is open!" one of Lady Ling's guards shouted.

Gu Jin and Long Yifan stepped forward, holding hands. Lady Ling's eyes glowed with anticipation.

"Go," she ordered softly. "Step into your destiny."

Without hesitation, the two jumped in.

The world twisted around them. Light and sound vanished, replaced by endless darkness and the roar of space collapsing.

Then, with a sudden jolt, they landed on soft grass.

When they opened their eyes, they were standing in a land that seemed untouched by time, vast forests, and ancient ruins.

They had arrived in the Forbidden Land.

At first, everything was calm. They set up a small camp beside a crystal lake, cooking simple meals and resting beneath the stars. For the first few days, it almost felt like paradise.

But by the third day, their peace was disturbed.

A group of Supreme-ranked beasts emerged from the forest, their bodies massive and eyes glowing with primal hunger. The ground shook as they approached.

Yet the moment Gu Jin and Long Yifan released even a sliver of their divine aura, the beasts froze. Then, trembling in fear, they turned and fled into the shadows, roaring in panic.

Gu Jin watched quietly as the forest grew silent again. "They're the same beasts that once terrified this world," she murmured. "Now they run from us."

Long Yifan chuckled. "Power changes everything."

Over the next few days, they lived peacefully again. They cooked, talked, and explored the surrounding forests. But something kept tugging at Gu Jin's memory, a faint warmth deep within her heart.

She finally remembered.

The Forest Spirit.

When she had visited the Forbidden Land long ago, before regaining her memories, she had met a mysterious forest spirit, gentle yet oddly familiar. It had claimed to know her but had seemed confused, unsure whether the Gu Jin before it was truly the same one it remembered.

Now she knew why.

That spirit was once a tiny sprout she had blessed with wisdom in the God City, eons ago. She had given it divine energy to help it grow, and it had later become one of the most gifted forest beings in existence.

Back then, she had sent it to cultivate in a fertile land, never realizing that the place she sent it to would eventually become the Forbidden Land.

"No wonder it remembered me," Gu Jin whispered softly, smiling at the memory. "That silly little sprout."

She remembered how it had tried to help her raise her cultivation and how Gu Jin had mistaken its energy for an attack. Because of that, she had fallen into a coma for fifteen days.