Dan Feng stood there in a daze, his eyes vacant for a brief moment before clarity rapidly returned to them.
"Dan Feng?!"
Blade's grip around the Shard Sword tightened until his knuckles nearly turned white. Every muscle in his body tensed as killing intent surged from him. He looked as though he might charge forward at any second and strangle the man where he stood.
Jingliu and Baiheng were equally stunned.
"It really is Dan Feng!"
Baiheng's fox ears shot straight up in disbelief, while her tail stiffened behind her as she stared at the familiar face before her.
Jingliu merely narrowed her eyes slightly, showing surprisingly little reaction to Dan Feng's resurrection.
It was only natural.
After being bathed in Lucian's affection, the bitterness, resentment, and lingering emotions she had once carried toward the past had gradually faded away. Now, the obsessions that had bound her heart for centuries no longer held the same weight they once did.
Dan Heng, however, was completely dumbfounded.
'Is this... the previous incarnation that had haunted me all this time?'
As he stared at the Vidyadhara High Elder before him—a man whose appearance resembled his own by nearly seventy or eighty percent, yet possessed a far greater air of dignity and elegance—an indescribable sense of dissonance rose within Dan Heng.
It felt as though he were looking into a mirror that reflected a completely different life.
Lucian looked over his 'masterpiece' with obvious satisfaction before clapping his hands together, drawing everyone's attention.
"Alright, the protagonist's finally here. Whatever old grudges, unfinished business, or messy love stories you've been carrying around all these years, go settle them face-to-face."
Lucian's casual tone made it sound as though he were merely inviting everyone to catch up over tea rather than bringing together people whose fates had been hopelessly entangled for centuries.
Meanwhile, Dan Feng slowly swept his gaze across the crowd, his expression still carrying an unusual innocence, as though he had yet to fully process everything happening around him. His eyes briefly lingered on Blade, Baiheng, Jingliu, and Dan Heng before finally stopping on Lucian.
As soon as he saw him, he instinctively called out.
"Teacher? What's going on right now?"
Dan Feng's sudden form of address made Lucian pause.
Clearly, only the Dan Feng from Jingliu's script had ever addressed him as 'Teacher.'
If that was the case, was this Dan Feng also affected by the script?
Before Lucian had the chance to answer, realization suddenly dawned upon Dan Feng.
He remembered that he had already been forcibly reincarnated after committing a grave crime. Yet at the same time, he also remembered living peacefully with Lucian as teacher and student, spending ordinary yet joyful days together, training, talking, and enjoying a tranquil life that had never truly existed.
Suddenly, the two entirely different sets of memories collided within his mind, leaving him thoroughly confused.
Neither memory felt false.
Both felt vivid.
Both felt undeniably real.
With Lucian standing before him, it should have been the second set of memories, but judging from the murderous hatred burning in Blade's eyes, it also seemed to be the first.
For a brief moment, even Dan Feng could no longer distinguish which life truly belonged to him.
"Well, the current situation is..."
Lucian briefly explained everything from beginning to end, covering the cause, the events that followed, and how things had ultimately arrived at their present state.
Dan Feng listened quietly without interrupting even once before finally nodding in understanding.
"I see... I truly did commit a grave crime. My reincarnation was hunted down by Yingxing in pursuit of revenge, Baiheng has now been resurrected by you, and I myself have also been brought back by you..."
Dan Feng let out a slow breath before straightening his posture. His expression gradually regained the composure and dignity expected of the Vidyadhara High Elder.
"In that case, I should bear the responsibility myself."
Right after saying that, Dan Feng turned toward Dan Heng and spoke solemnly.
"From this day onward, you're free. You are you, and I am me. Dan Feng's sins will never affect Dan Heng again."
Dan Feng's voice was calm, yet every word carried undeniable resolve.
Hearing those words, Dan Heng remained frozen.
Honestly, everything had happened so suddenly that his mind simply couldn't keep up.
Was this the great gift Lucian had promised him?
It was undoubtedly far greater than he had ever imagined.
Calling it the grace of being given a second life would not have been an exaggeration.
"I'm finally free..."
The more Dan Heng thought about it, the more he felt that, somewhere beyond his understanding, the debt of gratitude he owed Lucian had only continued to grow.
Again and again, Lucian had reached out and changed the course of his fate—it had already reached the point where it could never truly be repaid.
Maybe the only thing he could do was devote the rest of his life to serving him.
"Good. Very good..." Blade slowly smiled, though the expression looked disturbingly twisted. "Imbibitor Lunae, it's good that you still remember what you've done."
He slowly raised the Shard Sword, its cold blade reflecting a chilling glint beneath the light.
"Let's settle everything... right here, in front of Baiheng."
At those words, Jingliu and Baiheng both rose to their feet without hesitation.
Neither of them intended to stop Blade, and neither of them intended to help him either, since this was something that Dan Feng himself needed to face.
Needless to say, at this moment, the High-Cloud Quintet was only missing one final person before they could truly be reunited.
"Lucian, I brought some fine wine. Let's have a drink."
Speak of the devil, Jing Yuan arrived.
Carrying two large jars of wine over his shoulders, he leisurely walked into the courtyard with his usual relaxed and cheerful smile, completely unaware of the atmosphere awaiting him.
"So many guests? Jingliu, Baiheng, Dan Heng, Kafka, Yingxing, Dan Feng... What a lively gathering..."
Jing Yuan casually spoke the names one after another until his smile abruptly froze.
'Stellaron Hunters? Dan Feng?'
As that thought crossed his mind, the relaxed expression on Jing Yuan's face instantly disappeared. He frowned and carefully swept his gaze across the courtyard once more, making sure his eyes weren't deceiving him.
Dan Heng...
And Dan Feng...
Both of them were standing there at the same time?
"Imbibitor Lunae... you're alive?"
At Jing Yuan's question, Dan Feng gave a calm nod.
"Yes. Thanks to Teacher, I was able to return and atone for my sins."
Upon hearing the word 'Teacher,' Jing Yuan instinctively turned toward Lucian.
Among everyone he knew, only Lucian possessed the ability to bring the dead back to life. Moreover, within his dream, Dan Feng had always addressed Lucian as 'Teacher.'
For a brief moment, Jing Yuan genuinely couldn't tell whether he was standing in reality or still trapped inside the dream.
"As you can see..." Lucian said with a faint smile. "The High-Cloud Quintet's all back together today. Whatever old scores or new grudges you guys still have between you, take your time settling..."
As he spoke, he casually reached over and removed a bracer from Dan Heng's arm. Immediately afterward, he also took the jade pendant hanging from Dan Heng's waist.
"This Roaming Dragon Bracer was forged by Yingxing. He and Dan Feng agreed to each keep one, so they could sense each other's presence."
Holding both items up for everyone to see, Lucian calmly explained to everyone.
"They could tell where the other was and even sense each other's body temperature and life force."
"As for this jade pendant, it was another token meant just for the two of them. Jingliu, Baiheng, and Jing Yuan never had one."
As the words fell, everyone's gaze instinctively shifted toward the two items in Lucian's hands. Even after hundreds of years, they had remained with Dan Heng, silently carrying memories that no one else had ever known.
Lucian then turned toward Dan Heng.
"It's time to return someone else's keepsakes to the person they really belong to."
He gently placed both the bracer and the jade pendant into Dan Feng's hands before continuing.
"From now on, you're just Dan Heng. Dan Feng's past doesn't belong to you anymore, and neither do his sins. Whatever debts he owes, he'll pay them back himself."
Lucian's words weren't spoken solely for Dan Heng.
They were also a public declaration, a declaration that, from this day onward, Dan Heng's life would truly begin anew.
Of course, they were also meant for Blade to hear and equally meant for Jing Yuan.
Dan Heng immediately felt his eyes sting.
For years, he had carried burdens that never truly belonged to him. Now, with only a few simple words from Lucian, those invisible chains that had bound him for so long had finally been severed.
At this moment, he genuinely wanted to kneel down and kowtow to Lucian.
Honestly, calling Lucian his reborn parent would not have been an exaggeration.
"You even knew about something like this..."
Blade gently rubbed the bracer on his own arm as his thoughts drifted back to long-forgotten memories.
The promises he and Dan Feng had exchanged.
The days they had run beneath the evening sun together.
The countless hours they had spent forging weapons side by side.
The battles where they had fought shoulder to shoulder desperately.
One memory after another resurfaced before his eyes with startling clarity, as though the centuries separating them had never existed.
"So Bladie and Dan Feng really did share a past like that..." Kafka said with an unmistakably amused smile. "Fufu, that's honestly touching. No wonder Lucian ships the two of them. I completely understand now."
As she spoke, she looked at Blade with the indulgent expression of an older sister watching her awkward younger brother finally confront his feelings. Although their circumstances might not have fit conventional expectations, genuine feelings couldn't simply be dismissed.
"...I seriously had no clue..." Baiheng's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "They seriously had keepsakes that intimate? They could even sense each other's location... body temperature... even life force? Jingliu, did you ever have anything like that?"
"No..." Jingliu calmly shook her head before glancing toward Blade and Dan Feng. "So they're actually each other's true love? What he owed you was only guilt."
With Lucian's explanation, everything suddenly seemed to fit together.
Dan Feng slowly looked toward Baiheng, his eyes overflowing with guilt.
"Baiheng... I'm sorry. I—"
Before he could continue, Baiheng hurriedly waved both hands.
"It's fine, it's fine! I'm alive again now, and my husband's been taking really good care of me."
As she spoke, she naturally leaned closer to Lucian.
Her heart now belonged entirely to him.
Although she understood the tragedy that had unfolded in history, she could no longer truly empathize with those emotions, because that grief belonged to another version of herself, while the Baiheng standing here now had already found her own happiness.
Lucian walked over, wrapped an arm around Baiheng's slender waist, and smiled.
"Dan Feng," Lucian called out, looking Dan Feng straight in the eyes. "Tell everyone something. Back when you first created the Transmutation Arcanum... who was the very first person you planned to use it on?"
Hearing the question, Dan Feng froze, clearly not expecting Lucian to ask him something like that.
After several long moments of silence, he finally answered.
"...Yingxing."
Dan Feng's voice was low, filled with complicated emotions.
"He's one of the short-life species. No matter how unparalleled his craftsmanship became, he still couldn't escape the limits of his lifespan."
Dan Feng slowly lowered his head.
"I... wanted to share immortality with him..."
""!!!""
In an instant, the entire courtyard fell deathly silent.
Everyone—including Blade himself—felt as though a bolt of lightning had struck them squarely in the head.
"Y-You... What... did you just say?"
Blade's head snapped upward as he stared at Dan Feng in utter disbelief, his voice trembling uncontrollably.
"My original plan... was to wait until that secret technique had fully matured..." Dan Feng gave a bitter smile filled with regret. "Later, I would reconstruct your body and transform you into a bidyadhara, allowing you to share immortality alongside us."
Right after saying that, the pain on his face deepened even further.
"I just never imagined that before the technique could be completed... Baiheng would be the first to meet with disaster."
"I panicked."
"And in that moment... I committed an unforgivable mistake..."
Silence immediately fell across the entire courtyard once more.
No one spoke.
No one interrupted.
Only Dan Feng's quiet confession continued to echo in everyone's ears.
"Hmm, so that's how it was..."
Kafka's eyes lit up slightly as she quietly folded her arms, her lips curling into a knowing smile that practically screamed realization.
"Secretly saving the chance to share immortality for the person you love... even exchanging keepsakes that only the two of you possessed... Mm, that's romance on a truly cosmic scale..."
Now, the way Kafka looked at Blade and Dan Feng instantly changed, her eyes filling with the unmistakable expression of, 'I understand everything now.'
Jingliu also revealed a look of realization.
Her gaze shifted back and forth between Blade and Dan Feng, her expression growing increasingly complicated.
"If Baiheng had died a little later..." Jingliu paused before letting out a quiet sigh. "There never would have been the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae..."
"Hey! Wait a sec!"
Baiheng immediately protested and pointed at herself in disbelief.
"Why does that make it sound like my death was the tragic thing that came between them? Like I was the one who tore Yingxing and Dan Feng apart?!"
Right after saying that, she puffed out her cheeks indignantly.
"I was the victim here, y'know!"
===
[A bonus chapter for reaching 400 Power Stones]
[Support and get early access to upcoming chapters at: patreon.com/VALRRR]