The sky above Xuliang City had returned to calm, but the heart of the Fourth Elder was still in turmoil.
He stood amid the small ruins left by the earlier clash of divine aura, his breathing still heavy.
Behind him, the guards and other elders waited for clarity.
The Second Elder stepped forward with a serious expression.
"Fourth Elder… where has the Holy Lady gone?"
The Fourth Elder slowly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with a mixture of anger, helplessness, and reverence.
"She… was taken by that Ancient God."
The crowd was shocked, but the Fourth Elder raised his hand, stopping their questions.
"I briefly fought with that being."
Silence immediately enveloped the area.
The Fourth Elder clenched the arm that was still bruised by the remnants of energy impact.
"I only saw golden light swirling around Yunxihua, and I reflexively attacked, thinking it was a threat."
He swallowed, recalling the power he had faced.
"A single gaze… just a single gaze from him was enough to make the city's entire protective formation tremble."
The other elders widened their eyes.
The Fourth Elder continued, his expression turning grave:
"He did not intend to harm Yunxihua.
Even in the middle of that brief clash… he protected Yunxihua's body with a layer of light."
He drew a long breath, remembering the moment when the world itself seemed to stop.
"When I attacked, he merely raised one finger.
My attack… vanished like dust blown away by the wind."
The Second Elder looked at him in horror.
"So his power is at a level… equal to a god?"
The Fourth Elder nodded slowly.
"Not just equal. He is an Ancient God."
He looked up at the sky, watching the remnants of a spatial rift slowly close.
"And before leaving, he looked at me and said—"
The Fourth Elder mimicked the deep, resonant voice:
'This human child is entrusted to me by an old friend.
Do not worry about anything. She will return stronger than you can possibly imagine.'"
The guards lowered their heads, fear mixed with awe.
The Fourth Elder clenched his fists.
"So I know Yunxihua was taken not as a kidnapping. She… was chosen. Because of the legacy of that ancient dragon."
He lowered his head, his voice softening yet still heavy:
"I could not stop that Ancient God. Not even if I were to stake my life."
He looked at the elders and guards with full authority.
"From today onward, no one is to search for the Holy Lady. We will guard the city until the day she returns from the realm of the gods."
The Fourth Elder closed his eyes for a moment.
"As long as I still live, Xuliang City will continue to stand, waiting for the Holy Lady's return."
Back to Yunxihua.
Back to Yunxihua, who was training in the Immortal's residence…
In the silent Immortal residence, gentle light from an ancient formation slowly rotated around Yunxihua.
The air around her body vibrated subtly, as if holding its breath, as though the entire residence understood that the figure at the center of the room was no longer the ordinary girl who once slept for seven years—but the heir to the primordial dragon's legacy, now fused with her soul.
Yunxihua's aura was stable, yet her newfound power had not been fully tamed.
Each time she drew a deep breath, the surrounding space seemed to bend.
The primordial dragon soul that had fused with her occasionally resonated, providing faint guidance within her consciousness.
"Control your spiritual flow… Do not let the power of the Soul Formation realm run rampant," the dragon's voice echoed gently.
Yunxihua slowly opened her eyes.
Golden light flickered for a moment before returning to clarity.
On the floor, the ancient formation pulsed in rhythm with her breathing.
However, before she could fully stabilize her technique, a faint wave of aura slipped into the residence.
Yunxihua turned her head.
A figure stepped inside with a face filled with worry mixed with relief—the Fourth Elder.
The Fourth Elder froze when he saw the changes in Yunxihua, but he quickly bowed respectfully, his voice trembling with emotion.
"Holy Lady… thank heavens you are safe. After… the incident with the Ancient God, I feared something might have happened to you."
Yunxihua blinked.
In Yunxihua's heart…
"…Wait."
The spiritual flow in her body halted for a brief moment.
Yunxihua carefully surveyed her surroundings—the wall carvings, the scent of incense, the protective formations, even the arrangement of the furnishings. Everything… was far too familiar.
"This… is my residence."
Her heart beat softly.
Yet she clearly remembered herself training in the Immortal Residence, a place filled with ancient aura and far heavier spiritual pressure.
There, she had stabilized the Soul Formation realm after the fusion with the primordial dragon soul. But now—
The floor beneath her feet was the blue stone floor of her private residence.
The air here was gentler.
There was no ancient Immortal formation pulsing beneath her as there should have been.
"How is this possible…?"
Even the voice of the primordial dragon, usually vivid within her mind, was now faint, as if asleep or… drawn to another place.
Yunxihua frowned.
There was a gap in time. Or there was someone—or something—that had moved her without her noticing.
The Fourth Elder, standing not far away, noticed the change in her expression.
"Holy Lady, is something wrong?"
Yunxihua did not answer immediately. She looked at the elder with slightly narrowed eyes.
"I… was training in the Immortal Residence. But now I am here. So how could I have returned without sensing anything at all…?"