Zhang Ruochen stood upon the sea like a banished immortal, graceful and poised, and said: “Lian Xi.”
Upon beholding the man before her, Lian Xi felt her strength ebb away for the most part, as though dragged back to the Seven Star Imperial Palace a millennium past; in her gaze, a complex array of emotions, hard to define, surfaced, leaving her speechless for a long while.
There was no hatred, yet her heart quickened inexplicably from some obscure sentiment.
“It seems this has naught to do with me, I shall take my leave first. Zhang Ruochen, once the affairs of the Heavenly Court are settled, we shall rendezvous at the Boundless Divine Sea.” Yan Wushen withdrew from Zhang Ruochen’s mental domain.
Naturally, he did not depart the Red Dust Archipelago thus, but rather, in the guise of Chi Kunlun, went to fulfil the promise made to Zhang Ruochen.
A cool sea breeze rustled across the waves, lifting the hem of Zhang Ruochen’s long robe, which fluttered with a soft “whoosh whoosh” of folds.
After an indeterminate time, Lian Xi at last uttered: “You are truly still alive.”
“You appear less than pleased by that, which is understandable, for the humiliations you endured in the Infernal Realm were all bestowed by me, so naturally you would not wish to see me, lest the sight of me summon recollections of that dark chapter. The Grand Palace Lord of the Tribunal Palace ought to embody sanctity and radiance…”
Zhang Ruochen trailed off, for he observed that Lian Xi’s eyes had softened into a vulnerable tenderness, utterly unlike the cold and merciless Grand Palace Lord he had encountered the previous day in the Red Dust Sea Market.
Which of them was the true her? Which the mere facade?
Was this a genuine outpouring of emotion?
Or a feigned vulnerability, to elicit his sympathy and secure her escape?
Zhang Ruochen glanced at the resplendent holy armour gleaming upon her form, then to the Sword of Judgement, and said: “Evidently, a millennium ago, upon your return to the Soul Realm, you were truly at the end of your tether, thus bearing the Sword of Judgement as you joined the Radiant Divine Hall?”
Lian Xi fell silent and sheathed the Sword of Judgement.
“Having ascended to Grand Palace Lord of the Tribunal Palace, I presume no cultivator dares to gainsay you now?” Zhang Ruochen said.
“None dare to your face, at least.”
Lian Xi lifted her head, her slender neck pale and graceful; her gaze sharpened once more as she said: “Zhang Ruochen, I may once have harboured hatred towards you, but that was long ago!”
A millennium had allowed Lian Xi to see through many matters.
Back then, she and Zhang Ruochen had been sworn foes unto death; upon her capture by him, could she truly have expected her enemy to repay enmity with kindness?
That Zhang Ruochen had spared her life was plainly because he valued her utility.
At that time, Zhang Ruochen was tormented by heart demons and plagued by flaws in his corporeal form, requiring her aid to alleviate them. And she, desperate to survive, to maintain some semblance of dignity in the Infernal Realm, could only rely on his protection.
She understood better than anyone that Zhang Ruochen, dwelling in the Infernal Realm, had always trodden on thin ice, relentlessly feigning normalcy; a single misstep would doom them both to perdition.
Much like her now, to establish a foothold in the Heavenly Court, to cow those cultivators who mocked and impugned her, she too must don the mask of cold ruthlessness and decisive cruelty.
During her days confined in the Seven Star Imperial Palace, Lian Xi had interacted with Zhang Ruochen extensively and thus gained a clear and profound insight into the man’s inner world.
Zhang Ruochen was not as illustrious as he seemed on the surface; in truth, he was everywhere beset by enemies’ surveillance, shunned by the Infernal Realm’s cultivators, facing gazes of distrust, yet he persisted in that realm, unable to flee its confines.
Such endurance demanded a formidable spirit.
Each time Zhang Ruochen ventured from the Seven Star Imperial Palace, Lian Xi suspected he might never return!
At times, she even felt that Zhang Ruochen was more pitiable than she, bearing a heavier burden.
What truly stirred Lian Xi’s heart was the moment Zhang Ruochen released her to return to the Heavenly Court and bestowed upon her the Sword of Judgement, having already charted a path of retreat for her.
In her confinement within the palace, she had deemed herself merely a tool in Zhang Ruochen’s hands. Only then did she realise his concern for her, his sincerity towards her.
Precisely because her life in the Soul Realm and Heavenly Court thereafter had been so arduous, fraught with the cruelties of reality, she came to comprehend Zhang Ruochen of that era all the more deeply.
Lian Xi roused from her torrent of memories and reflections, a flicker of panic and urgency crossing her features; she glanced at the Red Dust Peerless Tower hovering in the firmament and said: “Hurry, let us depart the Red Dust Archipelago. I shall pretend I never encountered you here.”
“If I leave, how shall you account for this to Shang Zian?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Lian Xi said: “Since you know Shang Zian has taken note of you, why linger? Flee at once. Rest assured, as Grand Palace Lord of the Tribunal Palace, backed by the divine spirits thereof, none dare lay a hand on me.”
Zhang Ruochen remained utterly serene and said: “Has Shang Zian discerned my identity?”
“He should not have, else it would not be I who appeared here, but rather a host of Paradise Realm faction powerhouses, or the divine generals of the Red Dust Peerless Tower,” Lian Xi said.
“If that be the case, why should I fear him?”
Zhang Ruochen adopted an air of indifference and continued: “Lian Xi, I cannot wholly trust you, thus I shall not permit your departure. You must choose now: return with me to the Infernal Realm?”
Lian Xi’s gaze faltered, then she gave a wry, self-mocking smile and said: “To the Infernal Realm? What for? To serve as your Zhang Ruochen’s handmaiden, or a plaything sequestered in the Seven Star Imperial Palace? Since you distrust me, simply slay me with a sword.”
“If I intended to kill you, I would not have waited until now.”
Zhang Ruochen approached Lian Xi and extended a hand, seizing her slender wrist in his grasp.
Luminous power coursed through Lian Xi’s wrist, resisting Zhang Ruochen, but after a mere instant of opposition, she relented her strength, allowing him to hold her.
She was not bereft of the power to resist, yet for reasons unknown, she opted for submission.
Gazing upon her feigned veneer of cold detachment, Zhang Ruochen’s heart too was moved, reminded of his own pretence of fortitude and chill in the Infernal Realm days.
“Mm…”
Lian Xi realised she had been enfolded tightly in Zhang Ruochen’s arms.
All strength fled her body, leaving her limp and enervated; in the end, she even rested her pale cheek against his chest, murmuring in a choked, whimpering tone: “I confess, I harbour a rather warped affection for you. In truth, I yearn to flee with you, to escape all these people and affairs, yet I know full well there is no place for me in your heart. To you, I shall forever be the villain, for in your eyes, I am no good person at all.”
Perhaps she hoped Zhang Ruochen would refute her words.
Yet, to her dismay, he merely fell silent.
“Let us go!”
Zhang Ruochen sealed Lian Xi’s cultivation with his mental power, then bore her away across the waves.
Ere long, Shang Zian, sensing something amiss, arrived in these waters, his gaze grave as he surveyed the surroundings.
Arriving alongside him were the Nine-Tailed Heart Fox and the Primordial Bronze Lion.
The Nine-Tailed Heart Fox said: “Residual mental power lingers in these seas; not long ago, that elder from the Giant Deer Divine Dynasty must have deployed his mental domain here.”
Shang Zian’s heart brimmed with anxiety as he peered into the distance and said: “I underestimated my foe, I should not have sent Lian Xi to track him alone.”
A look of surprise dawned on the Nine-Tailed Heart Fox, for she had never seen Shang Zian so tense; she smiled and said: “Zian need not fret so. The Grand Palace Lord is a semi-divine pinnacle powerhouse, wielding the Sword of Judgement; in this Red Dust Archipelago, no cultivator beneath the divine realm could slay or capture her unbeknownst to all.”
“Unless it be an assassin like Peach Blossom, unleashing a fatal strike. That old man could scarcely be Peach Blossom, could he?” the Primordial Bronze Lion said.
If Lian Xi’s love for Zhang Ruochen was twisted,
Then Shang Zian’s love for Lian Xi was yet more distorted.
He both loathed that she had once been Zhang Ruochen’s woman, deeming her sullied and unworthy of him. Yet he could not quell the sentiments within, still loving her profoundly, fretting over any peril that might befall her.
Shang Zian’s twin pupils gleamed with fivefold radiance; tracing the lingering auras upon the sea, his sight alighted upon a distant isle, and he said: “That is the island housing Qing Li Garden, it seems I was not mistaken, that elder harbours grave issues indeed. Quite possibly, he is the Book Maniac of the Kunlun Realm. Evidently, the assault on Qing Li Garden must be advanced.”
“Zian, pray do not lose your composure; this matter warrants deliberation, the Grand Palace Lord Lian Xi may not yet have fallen into enemy hands,” the Nine-Tailed Heart Fox advised.
Whoosh!
An angelic great saint with eight pristine white wings descended upon the waves, his expression faintly flustered as he hastened to report: “Young Hall Lord, the Foolish Sage Sect Master of the Confucian Realm was just assassinated.”
Shang Zian’s gaze darkened, murderous intent surging from him as he said: “Which faction struck?”
“The assassin of the Death God Hall, Sun and Moon Dark Consort.”
It was then that Michael, with his twelve wings, streaked across the sky like a meteor and said: “A supreme powerhouse of the Kunlun Realm has blockaded the villa housing the Blade God Realm’s cultivators, successively defeating three great saints, and issued a dire ultimatum: tonight, he shall challenge the entirety of the Blade God Realm’s cultivators single-handedly.”
A startled expression crossed the Nine-Tailed Heart Fox, who tittered媚ily: “Who in the Kunlun Realm possesses such audacity? Even if the Sword Emperor and Stone Emperor allied, they would scarce dare such words! Yu Ze ranks thirteenth in the Red Dust, beyond their capacity to rival.”
Michael’s countenance bore an odd cast.
Shang Zian said: “Is it not the Sword Emperor and Stone Emperor?”
“It is Chi Kunlun,” Michael said.
Shang Zian’s gaze held a touch of bewilderment as he said: “Who? Whom did you say?”
“Has the Kunlun Realm birthed another obscure titan?” the Nine-Tailed Heart Fox said.
“No!”
Shang Zian recalled something, his features tightening slightly as he fixed on Michael and said: “The Chi Kunlun you speak of, could he be the son of Kunlun Realm’s divine spirit Chi Yao and Zhang Ruochen?”
“Precisely he,” Michael said.
A flicker of daze in Shang Zian’s eyes, as though the notion too outlandish, too absurd, prompted a laugh: “If memory serves, he was borne to the Infernal Realm by Yan Wushen, no? I heard he trained in the Dark Abyss all this while. How has he returned to the Heavenly Court?”
“Not merely returned, but grown inordinately powerful. With a single fist, he pierced the chest of an unparalleled realm great saint from the Blade God Realm; likely none in that realm can match him,” Michael said. He too found the affair utterly preposterous, more bizarre even than Zhang Ruochen’s resurrection.
