The eight Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens did not follow Emperor Shi to reclaim the Holy Domain. On their way back to the Domain Mansion, they happened to see, in the distance, Zhang Ruochen and Ling Feiyu, dressed in a red martial robe, embracing each other.
The scene was quite beautiful.
Wan Canglan’s eyes were as cold as frost. She lightly stomped her foot and said, “See that? What does high cultivation matter, he’s just a scoundrel. Qingmo, go fetch Danqing, she needs to see this man’s true colours and stay away from him in the future.”
Qingmo nodded hurriedly and ran off.
The other Mysterious Maidens all showed cold expressions, feeling that Zhang Ruochen had gone too far, using his powerful cultivation to toy with the emotions of two of Kunlun Realm’s most outstanding women. This was intolerable, especially since one of them was their sister.
Even the notoriously flirtatious Xue Wuye would face their wrath for such behaviour.
Soon after, Qingmo, holding Nalan Danqing’s jade-like hand, hurried to the scene.
“Qingmo, what’s happened?” Nalan Danqing asked.
Qingmo pointed towards Zhang Ruochen, then her small face showed surprise. She looked around, but apart from Zhang Ruochen, where was Ling Feiyu?
Zhang Ruochen walked towards them.
The Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens, with their varied figures and ethereal charm, stood like nine fairies in the wilderness.
Wan Canglan, tall and fiery, strode forward, her long hair burning like flames. She drew her sword, pointed it at Zhang Ruochen, and said, “Don’t you owe us an explanation?”
Zhang Ruochen smiled and said, “An explanation for what?”
“Where did Ling Feiyu go?” Wan Canglan asked.
“Leader Ling has returned to the Domain Mansion.”
“What were you two doing just now?”
Zhang Ruochen paused for a moment and said, “Leader Ling and I reunited after a long time, we were both emotional and shared a lot. Leader Ling was recently injured by a technique from Canghai, and many Great Sages of Kunlun Realm fell because of her or lost their cultivation. She’s under great pressure, so I comforted her…”
“Was that sharing? Was that comforting? It looked to me like you were using the same tricks you used on Danqing to deceive Ling Feiyu, playing with their emotions, right?” Wan Canglan bared her snow-white teeth, her gaze icy.
“They’re both so clever, could I really deceive them?”
Zhang Ruochen looked at Nalan Danqing and said, “The talented lady and I are the best of confidants. As for emotions…”
Zhang Ruochen wasn’t sure if he and Nalan Danqing shared romantic feelings, but being with her was indeed relaxing and pleasant.
However, taking it further might turn that ease into something heavy.
Nalan Danqing walked to Zhang Ruochen’s side, smiling at the eight Mysterious Maidens, and said, “You’ve all misunderstood, we’re just close friends.”
“Is that so?”
Since even the person involved didn’t take it to heart and spoke up for Zhang Ruochen, Wan Canglan felt a bit foolish. She sheathed her sword, a trace of doubt in her eyes, and said, “He’s your close friend, yet he’s so intimate with Ling Feiyu. Who is this man?”
Zhang Ruochen and Nalan Danqing exchanged a glance and said in unison, “An old friend from the martial world.”
Wan Canglan, naturally, didn’t get the answer she wanted.
Zhang Ruochen and Nalan Danqing walked side by side back to the Domain Mansion, talking a lot along the way, but they avoided the topic of their relationship.
In the afternoon, more Great Sages arrived at the Golden Tree Holy Domain from Kunlun Realm.
Among them were Da Sikong, Er Sikong, Yan Liren, the Heavenly Fate Corpse Emperor, and others who came with Sui Han, as well as Kong Lanyou and Great Sages from Ming Sect.
The morale of Kunlun Realm’s Saint Realm cultivators soared, their confidence greatly boosted.
That evening, in the Domain Mansion, Qingmo personally cooked and prepared a grand victory banquet. All the Great Sages of Kunlun Realm gathered, with Sword Emperor and Emperor Shi as the absolute stars of the feast.
Zhang Ruochen stood alone on the walls of the Holy City, listening to the laughter and chatter from the Domain Mansion, his gaze fixed on the purple-hued night sky, lost in thought.
Ling Feiyu, transformed into a red shadow, descended from the sky and landed beside him.
They quietly watched the night.
After a long time, Ling Feiyu asked, “What are you thinking about?”
“The past, and the future,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Ling Feiyu said, “You risked great danger coming to the Heavenly Court just to reminisce about the past and ponder the future? Is reality so hard to face?”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head with a smile.
Suddenly, his expression turned serious, and he said, “Come with me to the Hell Realm, will you?”
In the past, Zhang Ruochen would never have said such a thing, as he lacked the power to protect himself. Now, he was confident he could establish himself firmly in the Hell Realm, even command great influence.
“No.”
Ling Feiyu’s answer was direct and firm.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Why? Were the experiences we shared in the *Seven Lives, Seven Deaths Diagram* just an illusion, so even our feelings were unreal? Or, after a thousand years, have you already moved on and no longer care?”
Ling Feiyu said, “What we went through was far more than just the seven lives in the *Seven Lives, Seven Deaths Diagram*. In this lifetime, no other man could ever enter my heart.”
She, too, spoke words she would never have uttered before.
“You are a feeling, a beautiful memory, the entanglement of seven lives, the lover of one life. But there are other things in my heart, my swordsmanship, my father, the followers of the Moon Worship Sect, the familiar starry sky above, and the familiar earth beneath my feet. Besides, the ideals of the Hell Realm don’t align with mine.”
Zhang Ruochen understood that Ling Feiyu was no ordinary woman. If she went to the Hell Realm, she might only live under his protection, which wasn’t the life she wanted.
Ling Feiyu said, “Let me ask you one question. Am I the most important woman in your heart? If you say yes, I’ll abandon everything I have, even if the Hell Realm’s ideals clash with mine, even if I never see this familiar sky and earth again, I’ll go with you. Can you answer that?”
Her eyes held a glimmer of hope.
Zhang Ruochen’s hand rested on the stone wall. He was silent for a long time, then shook his head, unable to lie to her.
Though Ling Feiyu knew she was asking a question whose answer she already knew, she still showed a trace of sadness.
Moments later, she leapt onto the stone wall, her dark hair flowing, and with a spirited smile said, “Your cultivation seems quite impressive now. Care to let me test it?”
“Alright!”
Ling Feiyu in her red robe and Zhang Ruochen in his white robe, each holding a sword, flew out of the Holy City one after the other.
In the wilderness, they danced with their swords freely.
Under the moonlight, their figures intertwined, saintly energy swirling around them.
…
The next morning.
Zhang Ruochen woke in a sea of purple-green flowers. He glanced at Ling Feiyu sleeping beside him and kissed her smooth, fair cheek.
Then, he picked up the scattered robes from the ground and draped them over Ling Feiyu, covering her snow-white, graceful figure.
Ling Feiyu, eyes still closed, murmured as if in a dream, “Are you leaving?”
“Not yet, at least not until after the Red Dust Assembly,” Zhang Ruochen whispered in her delicate ear.
“If we have a child, what should we name it?” she asked.
“It’s not that easy, is it?”
“What if?”
“Then call it Hongchen.”
“The Sword Emperor’s name?”
“Why can’t our child be the next Sword Emperor?”
Only after Zhang Ruochen left did Ling Feiyu open her eyes, staring at the sky for a long time. She touched her flat abdomen, a faint smile appearing on her face.
…
Zhang Ruochen met the Fallen God Island Master, and it was his true self.
“Has Grandmaster’s injury healed?”
Zhang Ruochen asked, puzzled, curious why his Grandmaster would come to the Heavenly Court in his true form at this time.
The Fallen God Island Master smiled and said, “For a spiritual god, physical injuries no longer matter. In truth, your Grandmaster’s body was long ago refined away in the Temple of Fate. This body was reconstructed from the particles of my former self.”
“Isn’t a physical body a constraint for a spiritual god?”
Zhang Ruochen had fully absorbed the knowledge contained in the Heart of the Divine Tree and had some understanding of the divine realm.
The Fallen God Island Master said, “When spiritual power reaches a certain level, one can indeed abandon the physical body. But without it, one gradually loses humanity, loses all senses, no touch, no smell, no pain, no sorrow… If you lose the seven emotions and six desires, are you still human?”
Zhang Ruochen nodded and said, “So Grandmaster’s injury was mainly to the soul and spirit?”
The Fallen God Island Master nodded, then shook his head, saying, “When your spiritual power reaches that level, you’ll understand. My original plan was to remain in seclusion for about thirty thousand years, but now I had to come out early.”
“Why?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
The Fallen God Island Master’s gaze deepened, and he said, “Something big is happening in the universe.”
Zhang Ruochen’s heart trembled. For an Elder to call something a major event, how significant must it be?
“What exactly is happening?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“I’ve sensed some signs, it should erupt soon, and when it does, no one will be spared. You’ll know then.”
Perhaps thinking Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation was too low, the Fallen God Island Master didn’t want to reveal too much and said, “Are you going to the Red Dust Assembly?”
“I’ll probably go take a look,” Zhang Ruochen said.
“Go boldly, with your Grandmaster in the Heavenly Court, no god can see through your identity. Since you’re at the Thousand Questions Realm, the most important thing is to keep your mind clear. Don’t hold back in your actions.”
“With Grandmaster’s words, I have no more worries.”
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen thought of something and asked, “Where has the Empress gone?”
“Haishi Star Fortress. A god from Kunlun Realm is trapped there, and someone needs to rescue him. This journey is also a trial for her,” the Fallen God Island Master said.
If it was a trial even for a divine powerhouse like the Empress, could there be some extraordinary danger in Haishi Star Fortress?
