After skimming through the Heavenly Art Codex, Song Miaozhu spent some time touring each of the immortal palaces within the Hundred Crafts Heavenwork Realm. Just like that, a year had passed.
As the time of her meeting with the Sovereign of Ten Thousand Spirits and Sovereign of the Sovereign of the Nether Passage approached, she raised her hand and summoned a realm gate.
This gate was not only the main entrance to the Heavenwork Realm but also the easiest way to travel to other domains. Whether it was the Vital Essence Realm, the Nether Spring Underworld, or the Mortal Realm, she only had to speak the name of the destination. Once the gate opened, she would arrive directly.
Of course, the Vital Essence Realm and Nether Spring Underworld had their respective lords. She could only stop outside their domains and wait for permission before entering. But the Mortal Realm was different. She could go anywhere she pleased.
"Take me to the Celestial Shrine at Xiaozhu Mountain" she said and stepped into the gate.
The flagstones outside the Celestial Shrine shimmered faintly gold in the sunlight. The place was bustling, shoulder to shoulder with tourists, thick with the scent of incense and clamor. Coins overflowed from the temple's donation box.
Song Miaozhu appeared among the crowd with a strange sense of dissonance, as if time had folded back on itself. Only a year had passed, yet the shrine seemed even more popular than before.
She could sense two spiritual signatures inside the temple, both matching the aura on the invitation seals she had received. She stepped toward them.
Her figure drifted through the crowd, the hem of her robe brushing lightly past kneeling worshippers. Not a single person looked her way.
Inside the Celestial Shrine, no one noticed that two figures stood before the statue, quietly chatting and gesturing at it for quite some time.
"You're finally here! Come look, the mortals actually made a statue of you! It's so much better than the old one, practically identical to the real thing!"
The speaker was slender as paper, with skin so pale it was nearly translucent. A red cinnabar mole bloomed at the corner of her eye like a drop of blood. One eye was silver like a moon reflecting over a forgotten river, the other black as a bottomless well.
Her long hair flowed like a waterfall, loosely tied with a red silk ribbon. She wore a black dress that looked like ink spreading across parchment, with faint traces of distorted human faces shifting across the fabric.
Barefoot, the copper bell around her ankle gave a gentle chime as she arrived at Song Miaozhu's side, took her hand, and gave her an appraising look.
"No wonder they call you the Divine Artisan Sovereign."
To her, Song Miaozhu stood tall and graceful, skin white as snow, brows arched like distant mountains under mist. At the center of her brow shimmered a radiant trace of multicolored divine light. Her eyes were clear as glass, the left reflecting towers and pavilions, the right flowing with strands of rainbow silk. Countless crafted artifacts seemed to bloom and vanish within her gaze.
Her cloud-like hair was swept into a high bun, a Flying Immortal style paired with a Moon-Gazing knot. Her robes were sky blue with a cascade of seven-colored hues flowing along the hem, embroidered with every craft and art of the mortal world.
"It's like all the spiritual elegance of heaven and earth gathered into one person. You're the living embodiment of the phrase 'graced by heaven and nurtured by beauty.'"
Song Miaozhu grew a little flustered from the praise. "It's all thanks to the power of Hundred Crafts Immortal Force. You must be the Sovereign of the Nether Passage?"
"That's me!" the figure grinned. "But just call me by my mundane name. I'm Xie You."
She turned to introduce the other person beside her. "And this is Su Changsheng, the Sovereign of Ten Thousand Spirits."
The other Sovereign stood nine feet tall, wearing a crown of green vine. His robe was embroidered with a grand scene of all beasts gathered in reverence.
He gave Song Miaozhu a gentle nod and smiled. His aura was as soft and nourishing as spring rain.
"I'm Song Miaozhu," she responded in turn.
"We've had our eye on you for a while," Xie You said with a sly gleam in her eye. "When the power of the Hundred Crafts descended upon the mortal realm, Changsheng and I observed everything from the shadows. Among all the cultivators, you had the highest chance of achieving ascension. Not to mention…"
She gave a knowing smile.
"You've had quite the karmic tie with my Nether Spring Underworld. Your Anshou Hall, and that ghost shop you co-founded—we've both paid a visit."
Song Miaozhu bowed respectfully. "If not for the fortune from that top-grade ghost shop, I wouldn't have—"
"Afraid you're misremembering," Xie You chuckled, cutting her off. "That ghost shop was your own doing. Song Qingdai is you. Song Sangyu is also you. And that stubborn girl Song Hengwu, yes, she's you too."
She counted off each name on her fingers.
"When you were Song Qingdai, your Secret Art of Paper Crafting helped the underworld refine the hell coin system and stabilize the rules of Fengdu City. That shop wasn't a gift. It was a small repayment for all the lives you've touched across your reincarnations."
Song Miaozhu was left speechless.
So the founder of the Secret Art of Paper Crafting, the woman who once bought the top-tier ghost shop... was herself?
She had become her own ancestor.
No wonder Xie You treated her so intimately.
"When you have the time," Xie You said with a wink, "you should visit the Three Lives Stone in the Nether Spring Underworld. Everything will become clear. But for now…"
Her tone suddenly shifted. "Friend Song, why don't you give us a tour of this little town? You lived here for a full mortal lifetime, after all. Surely you know the best spots to explore. The Mortal Realm is constantly changing, and the two of us are far too old to keep up with the trends."
Su Changsheng nodded with a smile, eyes full of quiet anticipation.
"Please, follow me," Song Miaozhu replied with a bright smile, raising a hand in invitation.
The three of them concealed their presence with immortal force and strolled leisurely into town.