Empress Qingtian had just departed, but not without leaving careful instructions behind. She spoke to the two girls who had been chit-chatting for hours, giving them a soft reminder to stay focused. But more importantly, she activated a talisman for voice transmission, a secret message directed only to her daughter.
"From now on," she said through the talisman, "wherever Grandfather goes, you must follow. Stay close to him until your skill is fully mastered. And Mei'er... I want you to ask Grandfather some important things about Yue Ling. It may not be obvious now, but I need you to understand—one day, you must protect her. That moment will come. Always have it in your heart."
The girls remained in the courtyard where they'd been left, sitting beneath the hanging spiritual lanterns. They had been chattering non-stop about everything and nothing. Their voices were light and easy—clearly bonding.
Out of nowhere, Yue Ling shifted the topic. She rolled on her side and looked at the princess beside her with a mischievous glint in her eye.
"I need to change my look tomorrow," she said. "What disguise do you think would be better, Mei Mei?"
Princess Mei blinked at her in disbelief. "What did you even gain from all that lazy, lackadaisical behavior today? Ling'er, you didn't take anything seriously!"
Yue Ling stuck out her tongue playfully. "Mei Mei, I just wanted to confuse them, you know? Besides, I don't like it when people guess right about me immediately. Where's the fun in that?"
"You..." Mei rolled her eyes. "You really can't be understood."
Still, she laughed. Somewhere between the mischief and frustration, a new bond had formed. They'd started calling each other sweet names—Mei Mei, Ling'er—a sign of affection that came naturally during their shared time.
They continued chatting like that, their voices carrying through the wind. Time slipped past unnoticed, until the stern but familiar voice of Grandfather Yue interrupted them.
"It's time to sleep," he said from the doorway, eyes narrowed. "If you two don't get to bed now, I'll personally separate you."
Both girls froze, then burst into giggles.
"Okay, okay!" they chorused, waving their sleeves. With a quick hand gesture, they created an extra bed opposite Yue Ling's, tailored to Princess Mei's taste—graceful, soft, with embroidered heavenly silks and a faint peach blossom scent. Grandfather Yue turned to leave, letting out a long, exhausted sigh.
"Training these two girls... feels like raising newborns. Mischievous newborns," he muttered. "Thank the Ancestors they at least have different personalities."
And with that, silence fell.
But while everyone else in the realm slept, Yue Ling was far from resting.
Within the depths of her consciousness—an endless ocean of still, radiant water—Yue Ling had entered a meditative trance. The world within her was calm and serene, yet brimming with power. This was her cultivation space, a reflection of her spiritual state. The surface of the ocean-like sea shimmered under a pale moon that did not exist in the real world, and floating gently upon it were hundreds of delicate flower petals—each one resonating with her inner energy.
Tonight, her cultivation was guided by the presence of her ancestors—silent, watchful, and waiting.
In the depths of that ethereal sea, her energy began to surge, pulsing in waves. She had reached the Peak of Substage Three in Spirit Element Affinity, a crucial turning point. This was the realm where one's spiritual energy must harmonize with a chosen elemental affinity—where the body, spirit, and nature must flow as one.
As her energy stabilized, the calm waters around her began to ripple. The flower petals that once floated harmlessly began to swirl together, drawn by an unseen force. They circled above the sea, combining with the water below. A vortex formed, pulling light, essence, and even fragments of consciousness into its center.
Then—woosh!
<
With a loud crash, the petals and water merged into the form of a massive humanoid figure. Its body was made of liquid and petals, swirling and reforming with each breath. It stood like a guardian—an opponent sent by the ancestors not to kill her, but to refine her.
This was her trial.
Without warning, the creature struck.
Yue Ling reacted instinctively, dodging back as a wave of force swept over her. Her bare feet skidded across the ocean's surface like glass, and droplets of glowing water splashed upward with each movement. She formed a blade from spirit energy and charged.
The clash began.
Each time she struck, the elemental figure countered with water whips and blocks of earth summoned from the ocean floor. Her arms bled, her ribs cracked, but she didn't retreat. Her mind was locked on the breakthrough.
"If I could just use the venomous array technique from the Snake Tribe…" she thought, breathing hard, "or combine it with the Yue Art of Refinement, I'd defeat this thing in an instant!"
<
But she couldn't.
Her ancestor had sealed those techniques temporarily. This trial had to be passed without shortcuts—only with her raw spiritual affinity. She had to prove she could stand on her own.
The water that had been clear and luminescent now churned with red. Her blood dyed the sea, the petals turned deep crimson, and still—the elemental figure showed no mercy. In fact, it seemed to grow stronger. It used all its elemental resources—earth, water, petals, even fragments of spiritual memory—to fight her, pressing her to face one-on-one combat with no aid.
Each time she reached her limit, her body trembling and breath ragged, she somehow broke through it again. Again and again. Her spiritual energy expanded, recoiled, then exploded in luminous waves.
She wasn't just enduring.
She was evolving.
From the mist surrounding the sea, the blurry silhouettes of her ancestors stood watching, murmuring among themselves.
Her body had collapsed once, then twice. She had no strength to rise. But her will did not yield.
"I'm Yue Ling," she whispered through gritted teeth. "Even if I'm locked away… even if the world calls me useless—I will not kneel."
With that declaration, the air around her fractured like a shattering mirror. Her spiritual veins ignited, streaking her body with radiant light—five different hues twisting together in harmony. The ocean beneath her roared, reacting to the resonance of something ancient—something long buried.
The swirling petals beneath her surged upward, encircling her in a glowing storm. The elemental figure paused mid-attack, trembling as if recognizing something sacred. The battle ceased—not from her opponent's defeat, but from reverence. A force older than the consciousness realm itself pulsed through her being.
The petals formed a spiral, then a lotus, lifting her body gently above the blood-tinted sea. Her aura shifted completely—no longer wild and unstable, but deep, commanding, primordial.
It wasn't just a breakthrough.
It was a reawakening.
In that moment, Yue Ling's ancient bloodline stirred awake, intertwining with her cultivated spiritual veins. Her affinity, once thought unstable and unshaped, now harmonized in perfect rhythm with the Five Elements. The hidden legacy within her—passed down by forgotten generations—cracked open at last.
But even within the brilliance of that awakening, a faint pressure lingered—like a door half-opened, a flame not yet fanned.
Something was still sealed.
A sliver of her true power remained dormant, coiled in the depths of her spirit like a beast in slumber. Watching. Waiting.
And her ancestors, still veiled in mist, stood frozen—silent for the first time in centuries.
"It can't be... the Hong Bloodline?"
"No…it's two bloodlines… I didn't see this coming—"
Their whispers were cut short as Yue Ling's consciousness collapsed from exhaustion. Her body sank slowly into the still ocean, which no longer resisted her. The crimson water turned clear once more, the petals floating peacefully around her. If Grandfather Yue had seen this moment, he would have pulled her away instantly. He would've silenced the ancestors, and locked the realm itself, afraid that she was too unprepared for what had awakened.
But he hadn't seen it.
No one had.
Yue Ling lay motionless in the sea of her soul, breathing faintly. Above her, the moon in her consciousness sky turned golden, as though bowing in reverence.
Something had changed forever.