After a while, once everyone had their tasks assigned, they prepared to enter Jiuyou.
Kiana, Mei, Bronya, Himeko, and Fu Hua went into the water and entered the giant beast's mouth to explore Jiuyou. Ryn, Judah, Kika, and Theresa were responsible for standing guard outside, watching over the Herrscher of Corruption, and being ready to support Kiana's group at a moment's notice.
"From the mouth, we entered. At first, it was extremely narrow, barely allowing a person to pass. After walking a few dozen more steps, it suddenly opened up into a wide space."
This was Kiana and the others' most genuine feeling. After entering through Chiyou's mouth, they found themselves in a vast space where many large rocks and landmasses floated, intertwining to form a kind of landscape.
"Are these... Did Chiyou swallow islands and continents? Wow~ How spectacular!" Kiana exclaimed happily, running around, looking at and touching everything.
"Alright, let's take care of business first. We can come back to sightsee later," Himeko said, grabbing Kiana by the ear and pulling her back into the group.
After walking for a while longer, the group discovered a massive stone gate with a stone stele next to it, engraved with text.
"There's writing on the stele! Let me see~ Uh... I can't read it. It's ancient script... Class Monitor Fu Hua, can you read it?" Kiana asked, scratching her head as she made way for Fu Hua.
Fu Hua caressed the familiar characters and softly read aloud the story recorded on the stele.
"O destined one of the future, I am Lianshan, leader of the Shenzhou tribe. My comrade-in-arms, Ji Lin, sacrificed her life to seal the monster Chiyou, which plagued Shenzhou, in this place. The only thing I could do was to record her legend on these steles, hoping that future generations would remember her sacrifice."
"Lianshan? Isn't he a hero from the legends of Shenzhou, from the same era as Ji Lin?" Mei said in surprise.
"It seems this really is Jiuyou. Fu Hua, what about the rest of the text?" Himeko asked Fu Hua.
"The rest of the text should be on other steles... but this reminds me of a story. Do you want to hear it?"
"Sure, let's hear it."
"It was an autumn. Lianshan brought Water-lung Grass for Ji Lin, and the next day, Ji Lin dove into the deep sea to fight a decisive battle with Chiyou in Jiuyou...
After that, neither Ji Lin nor Chiyou ever appeared again... Following that, Lianshan and Jingwei searched ceaselessly for the location of Jiuyou.
But unfortunately, Lianshan and the azure empyrea were just an ordinary man and a bird... The azure empyrea died of old age first, and Lianshan's time was also running out.
After an unknown amount of time, the traveling Azure Empyrea returned, only to find that the people she knew were all gone... She took the now-aged Lianshan and found Chiyou's corpse in the deep sea.
And Jiuyou had already been swallowed into Chiyou's belly.
It was then that Azure Empyrea understood everything... Danzhu, Cangxuan, and Ji Lin had sealed Chiyou with their lives. Azure Empyrea told Lianshan about this. Lianshan then carved all of his longing onto an azure empyrea bird hair ornament that he had never been able to give her. He entrusted the ornament to Azure Empyrea, hoping she could give it to Ji Lin and bury it with her.
But Azure Empyrea couldn't find where Ji Lin's remains were, and in the end, she left, disheartened. Although Azure Empyrea did not find Ji Lin, Lianshan firmly believed that Ji Lin was within Jiuyou.
However, Lianshan searched all over the outskirts of Jiuyou, only to find he couldn't enter. He later learned that because Jiuyou had been sealed by Danzhu and the others, one could only enter using Honkai energy. But, alas, Lianshan was just an ordinary person...
In the end, Lianshan built steles from stones near the outskirts of Jiuyou, recording Ji Lin's story... He never gave up searching for Ji Lin, not until he died of old age outside Jiuyou's gate."
As Fu Hua spoke, her voice grew somber. Finally, she took off the hair ornament tying back her long hair, holding it in her hand without a word for a long time.
Lianshan, Ji Lin, Danzhu, Cangxuan... Fu Hua could no longer remember their faces, but she could still feel the ache in her heart.
"What a beautiful and tragic story..."
Mei and Kiana were deeply moved. Himeko and Bronya were also silent for a moment.
After a brief pause, Fu Hua put away the hair ornament, adjusted her glasses, and walked to the next stele to continue deciphering the text.
"I could not find Ji Lin's remains, and her only relic, the Xuanyuan Sword, is nowhere to be found. The only thing I can do for my wife is to erect these steles here to tell her story, and to carve a statue of her favorite azure empyrea bird to accompany her here forever."
"The azure empyrea was Ji Lin's beloved bird. It is said that this name came from a friend of hers from the past, but no matter how I think about it, I feel this friend must have been Azure Empyrea."
"O descendant from a distant land, the azure empyrea bird will guide your way."
The text on the stele ended, and Kiana's group remained in place, processing the story recorded on the stele and the one Fu Hua had told.
"So Ji Lin's remains have disappeared? Then the Stigmata is gone too. In the end, we've come back empty-handed after all." Himeko sighed with regret. She was angry but also helpless.
Seeing the dejected Himeko, Kiana tried to encourage her. "Don't give up, Himeko! Let's follow the steles and keep exploring. Maybe we'll find something else?"
"Alright..."
Kiana and the others entered the stone gate and followed the guidance of the azure empyrea bird statues until they found a giant one. But behind the statue, it was a dead end.
"Wow, what a huge azure empyrea bird."
"What good is it, no matter how big it is... It's just a statue. Looks like we really have found nothing. Let's go, prepare to head back."
Himeko sighed. Even Lianshan couldn't find Ji Lin. How could they possibly find her by following the clues he left behind?
"No, wait a moment. The Bronya has detected that the wall behind the azure empyrea bird is unusual."
"Is that so?" Himeko curiously poked the wall with her greatsword. "Doesn't seem special."
"Have you finally come for me? Filthy humans."
"Hm? What was that sound?" Himeko looked around in confusion.
"The stone wall is glowing," Mei exclaimed.
Bronya activated her instruments and scanned the stone wall. "Honkai energy reaction is rising. The wall seems to be reacting to the Honkai energy on Himeko's body."
Suddenly, Kiana shouted in a panic, trying to reach out and pull Himeko.
"Get away from the wall! Himeko!"
But it was too late. Himeko was sucked into the stone wall.
"Himeko was pulled into the wall!"
"If people with Honkai energy are pulled into the wall, then so can we. Let's go after her, quickly!" Kiana yelled urgently, leading the charge as she rushed in, with the others close behind.
After entering the stone wall, they found another world. Many different islands floated in the air, connected by strange spatial gates.
Less than a minute had passed between when Kiana's group and Himeko had entered, yet Himeko was already nowhere to be seen.