When the Dreamweaver's Divine Child made the first move to speak, the Dragon Lord felt a faint, almost pampered surprise.
"Long Jiang?"
After a brief flicker of surprise, the Dragon Lord understood, but did not answer directly. Instead he tested, "I wonder why the Yuan Divine Child asks after this person—do you have some acquaintance?"
"Acquaintance is too strong a word." Yun Che said plainly. "Before I returned to the Web of Dreams, I wandered alone. Once I nearly met disaster and was rescued by someone who called herself 'Long Jiang'; afterwards she vanished."
Since returning to the Web, I've wanted to find her to repay the debt. But among the dragon names recorded in Xuanji Dian¹ there is no 'Long Jiang', so I have had no way to thank her. I hoped, with the good fortune of meeting the Dragon Lord today, to ask for guidance."
"I see." The Dragon Lord relaxed and chuckled. "There is indeed no one formally named 'Long Jiang' among us. However, there is a dragon maiden who often travels the world and calls herself 'Long Jiang.'"
Yun Che's face lit with urgency. "May I ask who this dragon maiden is?"
The Dragon Lord said, "Her name is one the Yuan Divine Child will surely have heard… Long Xi."
A perfectly measured astonishment crossed Yun Che's face. "Long Xi… the scar-faced dragon maiden?"
After that initial surprise, realization dawned: "No wonder—she looked very young, yet her cultivation was astonishingly great. So she is—"
He stopped, then asked in puzzlement, "Her name, the scar-faced dragon maiden, is famous to me. Not long ago Xuanji Dian sent word that the scar-faced dragon maiden had succeeded in breaking into the Shenmie Realm². Is that true?"
"It is so." The Dragon Lord nodded, wearing a little pride that quickly dimmed.
Yun Che marveled, "I've always heard that dragon cultivation is incredibly difficult. Few attain the Shenzhu Realm³ even with ancestral-dragon blood—Long Wangchu, the young dragon lord, possessed that blood and took five jiazi⁴ to reach the Shenzhu Realm; though he has advanced rapidly in recent years, he still did not touch the Shenmie Realm. And Long Xi—she reached demi-god status at barely two jiazi of age."
"In the records of Xuanji Dian this is an unprecedented phenomenon for the dragon clan. Such an extraordinary dragon maiden—why did the Dragon Lord not bring her to this Pure Land meeting?" The faces of Long Chi Xin and Long Qian Xin, behind the Dragon Lord, both shifted with complexity.
The Dragon Lord gave a rueful smile. "You are unaware of some matters. Our dragon clan has always been ruled by the Progenitor Dragon line, and among direct heirs to the Progenitor Dragon, the only one left in my old age is Wangchu."
"Long Xi's genius is peerless, unmatched in my memory of the clan; she even possesses Progenitor Dragon blood. But she belongs to an outside lineage, and I have been unable to determine where her Progenitor blood came from."
His gaze clouded, a self-mocking tone in his voice: "Wangchu's innate path is respectable within the clan, but compared with various divine scions… haha, if I had brought him here, it would have been nothing but ridicule."
"I understand." Yun Che nodded with understanding. "If the Young Dragon Lord is not present, there is no reason to bring other juniors."
"It is embarrassing to say, but that is indeed the case." The Dragon Lord sighed again. He had known countless people in his long life and had long been indifferent to anything beyond inheritance. Yet this man before him—bearing a miracle-grade divine nature, of exalted rank, with a warm, gentle face, graceful and unfussy manners, and a character that prized loyalty and gratitude—had, at their first meeting, strangely pleased him. He said proactively, "If it does not offend the Yuan Divine Child, I confess I have more than once tried to take Long Xi as an adoptive daughter; every time she refused, with no hint of leaving the door ajar."
He laughed at himself. "Had I succeeded, perhaps I could have brought her to the Pure Land as my foster daughter, to let the Yuan Emperor see her. Ah."
"Why would she refuse?" Yun Che asked, genuinely perplexed. "Wouldn't becoming a daughter of the dragon clan be the highest honor for a dragon maiden?"
"For others, certainly. But this child…" The Dragon Lord shook his head. "Her temperament is reclusive to an extreme, and she possesses a kind of stubbornness no one can fathom. She refuses all contact and does not pretend civility to anyone—this has been true for decades, and I am no exception."
Yun Che replied casually, "In that case, she must be unpopular among the clan, and in a difficult position?"
"Not at all." The Dragon Lord smiled faintly. "Because of her strange solitude I provided her a secluded place of her own and forbade anyone from approaching without her permission. So she has either been traveling or residing in her own domain. The clan knows her nature and never provokes her; they leave her in peace."
Whether it was imagination or not, after saying this the Dragon Lord sensed Yun Che's aura soften a degree.
Yun Che raised a hand and bowed respectfully. "Thank you, Dragon Lord, for your kindness in telling me. Now that I know Long Jiang is Long Xi, I must choose a day to go to the Ancestral Dragon Mountain Range to seek an audience. Might that be convenient for you?"
The Dragon Lord hastened to wave it off. "It's a small thing—Yuan Divine Child need not be so formal. Whenever you come, our dragon clan will welcome you; any time will do. But with Long Xi's disposition… you should be psychologically prepared."
"Whether she will see me or not is of course her decision. I would never force her or intrude." Yun Che said simply.
Then, as if naturally, he asked, "By the way—during my brief contact with Long Jiang… well, with Long Xi—it seemed she was searching for something."
The Dragon Lord's brows twitched.
Does the Dragon Lord know anything of that? If she has not found it, I will do everything I can to help her search, to repay her kindness."
The Dragon Lord did not deny it. "Long Xi is indeed searching desperately for certain strange objects, but these matters touch upon some of her secrets. Even as Dragon Lord, I should not speak of them without consent—pray forgive me, Yuan Divine Child."
"I have overstepped." Yun Che caught the flicker of color that passed through the Dragon Lord's eyes and felt a faint doubt, but he did not press the matter.
What he learned from the Dragon Lord matched what Xuanji Dian had long recorded. The Dragon Lord loved Long Xi, had tried to adopt her many times, had given her private ground and forbade others to come near; she was under the Dragon Lord's protection and free enough to be safe. Yun Che's bow to the Dragon Lord was sincere, filled with genuine respect and gratitude.
Suddenly the surrounding atmosphere crystallized; even sounds grew dim. Yun Che's gaze moved through layers of drifting clouds and landed on a cluster of dark silhouettes rapidly approaching. Mengjianxi (Dream-Seeing Brook) hurried to Yun Che's side and whispered, "It's the Yongye Divine Realm⁵. Yuan brother, do not pay formal respects—do not approach; even Wuming Divine Lord⁶ is best left alone."
"…Yuan brother?" Not receiving a reply, Mengjianxi glanced at Yun Che in surprise and found his eyes utterly strange and dazed.
Realizing his condition, Yun Che turned and bowed slightly. "Understood. But the pressure of Wuming Divine Lord is… peculiar."
Thump! Thump! Thump!! He suddenly heard the pounding of his own heart, intensely violent. What was happening—was it the oppressive aura brought by Wuming Divine Lord's arrival?
No—he had felt the Emperor's gaze before, and stood before great priests, yet never like this. His palm unconsciously pressed at his chest. What was it… in this abyssal world, what could set my soul to such tremors? He drew a long breath, but the pounding did not subside—it grew stronger, little by little, more frantic.
"It can be thought of as an aura of hatred that rejects all things; naturally it makes people uncomfortable." Mengjianxi, not sensing Yun Che's abnormality, explained softly.
Where the crowd's gaze fell, the black silhouettes had already reached the summit of Yidian Cloud-top⁷, strikingly conspicuous in this over-pure white. The aura that accompanied them poured like a torrent from the Nine Nether cold springs; everyone shivered, unnerved. Unlike the dark, repressive god-pressure emitted by Qi Heng Divine Lord, this was a chillingness that seeped into one's soul and bone marrow, as though an invisible, venomous fang had been pressed to the throat.
A collective chill ran through the younger disciples. The women of Yongye moved silently and impassively, like black-robed wayward spirits. Nestled among them was the familiar black sedan-chair. Even upon stepping onto the Yidian summit, Wuming Divine Lord remained seated inside, hiding his face as always; the Yuan Emperor never took offense, and the other Divine Lords usually ignored him. But now, almost in the same instant, the gazes of six Divine Lords—Jueluo, Huaxin, Wumeng, Tianxing, Qiong Yue, and Qi Heng—all converged on the woman at the right side of the sedan. The powerful figures from various Divine Realms likewise showed differing degrees of astonishment.
To the right of the sedan is traditionally where Yongye's Divine Maiden sits. Twenty years earlier, Yongye's Divine Maiden Shen Wuqing had been deposed; her successor took the name Shen Wuyi—this fact was known to all nations. But until now no one had ever seen the successor in person; information about her had been scarce and wildly exaggerated, making it impossible to believe. Rumors said the previous Divine Maiden Shen Wuqing had been executed in recent years—this was likely true. Rumor also had it that Shen Wuyi had been found by Wuming Divine Lord amongst an outside lineage when she was only half a jiazi old, yet with cultivation already at the peak of the Shenzhu Realm. Rumor further claimed that Shen Wuyi spent less than three years crossing a half-step of Shenmie to become a demi-god, and that now her cultivation stood at Shenmie Realm level five. Those earliest to know of Shen Wuyi's origins were all silenced by Shen Wu Yanye; the reasons were unknown. The one certain thing was that when Wuming Divine Lord brought Shen Wuyi to the temple, an informant from another Divine Realm did glimpse her, and her cultivation then was indeed Shenzhu Realm peak.
But such cultivation at only half a jiazi of age—impossible. To cross half a step of Shenmie and then four and a half demi-god micro-levels to reach level five of Shenmie in twenty years is beyond absurd. Yet now, appearing after twenty years of hiding, the Yongye Divine Maiden's aura—Shenmie level… six!
"Shenmie level six… how is that possible?" Dream Xuanji (Master of Xuanji Dian), who runs the largest intelligence network of the Web of Dreams, muttered, stunned.
"What—!?" Mengjianxi cried out. Not long before, he had been summarizing intelligence for Yun Che on the cultivations of various divine scions; when Yongye's Divine Maiden came up he had joked that the rumor of her reaching Shenmie level five was likely. He remembered his own smirk and how he had teased Yun Che about the sometimes dubious reliability of Xuanji Dian's reports. He had never imagined that the woman now before them would be even more astounding than the ludicrous rumors.
Could it be that the report of her Shenzhu-peak cultivation back then… was false?" he murmured, as if only that hypothesis could steady his mind. In his stupor, he did not notice Yun Che's uncanny silence or those utterly unfocused pupils.
He stared blankly at the woman in black. The surrounding noises receded; colors quietly paled, warped, then vanished. The world became a chaotic pallor, leaving only a pair of eyes reflecting into his soul. Those eyes—once the most stunning to enter his life, the bitterest, most painful tears in his soul, the perpetual dream that haunted his heart—suddenly reappeared in his sight and in his life without warning.
But now those eyes were like a chill pond: indifferent, untouched, giving no ripple and reflecting none of him. She is—she isn't—he felt his body lose control like never before, his consciousness drifting dangerously.
Yun Che… Yun Che! What's wrong?! Center yourself, gather your spirit!! At no time must you show weakness!" Lisha's voice rose inside his soul, urgent and clearer than ever. Her emotional command was growing more distinct, but it could not quell the storm in his soul. She had never seen Yun Che in such a state—like someone suddenly floating within an impossibly fantastical dream. His reason wanted him to wake; his desire feared that the dream would burst like a bubble if pierced.
"Hmph!!"
Pan Yusheng drooped his eyelids, hiding his strange light, and snorted, "Wuming Divine Lord hid her for twenty years and has been so meticulous—what a 'surprise' he has prepared."
"Surprise? Ha! Servile men like you dare call that surprise?!" The rough voice from inside the sedan made the younger disciples wince, as if they wanted to cover their ears.
"Wuyi, today I will let the world memorize your face and your name! And make sure… they never forget!" Wuming Divine Lord's voice cut through every soul-string—especially those of the younger disciples, many of whom had been mentally prepared but still could not believe the terror a single voice could inspire.
"Yes, Mother." Facing the varying gazes, Shen Wuyi stepped forward, and as she paused a black veil silently fell over her face.
Shen Wuyi of the Yongye Divine Realm, honored to meet the Divine Lords and elders of the Realms—please be so kind as to instruct me." When her true face revealed itself there was a collective audible intake. A thunderclap—Yun Che's world shattered as if billions of stars broke at once.
The women of Yongye wear only the plainest, simplest black clothing, with no ornamentation, no makeup—because in Wuming Divine Lord's eyes, elaborate dress and cosmetics are acts of pleasing men, which he will neither permit nor tolerate. Soft clouds like frost draped over the jet-black sleeves and skirt, throwing back a fringe of silver light. The otherwise plain, even rough black clothes somehow looked rich and luxurious.
But their effect came from their owner, who was as stunning as a celestial painting touched by divine light—so startling as to shame the world. Her skin, like pure cloud, seemed to shimmer; every inch of it was subtly luminous, each thread purer than moonlight. Her eyes were glass-like, as though starshine had been crushed and embedded within—clear, cold, otherworldly, a lonely moon on a chill pond. Even standing before the Divine Lords, she showed no emotion. Without any cosmetics, her lips were the pale cherry that no luxury pigment could emulate—red as blood on snow, striking to the heart, yet the expression was distant and aloof.
So… beautiful…" That was Hua Caili's soft exhale; she stared dumbfounded. Clad all in black, the woman was like an ice-immortal beneath the moon—agonizingly beautiful and utterly unreachable.
"There exists in the world… such a woman…" Dasheng murmured. His pride as a divine scion made him try to turn his eyes away, but his corner of vision betrayed him and he could not.
Gulp! Gulp! Throats swallowed; even the Divine Lords' gazes showed a momentary daze, let alone the younger ones. Before today, none would have believed that a woman existed in this world who could rival a Celestial Consort in beauty.
Meng Kongchan drew back his eyes and said to Yun Che, "Yuan—this woman's beauty is hardly inferior to Caili's; it's astonishing. But she is, after all, Yongye's daughter—you must not be swayed by her looks…"
Before he finished, he suddenly noticed Yun Che. Yun Che's pupils had dilated until they nearly filled his eyes. His aura, soul-breath, and body trembled as if on the verge of breakdown.
Meng Kongchan moved to Yun Che's side and anxiously asked, "Yuan—what's wrong?"
Yun Che struggled out a breath, then reached and grabbed Meng Kongchan's wrist. "Senior, I need a barrier… ten breaths… twenty breaths will do."
In a flash of astonishment, Meng Kongchan asked no more. He flipped his palm and a true-god barrier enveloped Yun Che, completely severing inside from outside.