The streets of Luolong City bustled with activity, alive with the constant flow of people.
This was one of the few cities explicitly named in the love story of Divine Venerable Lingxiao and Immortal Venerable Qingyan, and as a result, it had grown many times more prosperous than before, with cultivators coming and going in an endless stream.
Some walked hand in hand, hoping to pledge their hearts to their beloved here.
Others came alone, seeking only to refine their cultivation, aspiring to follow in the footsteps of the Divine Venerable and the Immortal Venerable, to attain the Great Dao.
In short, whether in cultivation or in love, all were inextricably linked to the legends of those two.
And now, the legendary Divine Venerable Lingxiao—Xu Wanci—was strolling through the lively streets of Luolong City, holding Xiao Yuyan’s hand with keen interest.
They had concealed their appearances and cultivation levels, so no one around them could discern their true identities.
Xu Wanci glanced at the dazzling array of stalls lining the streets, her gaze drifting past masks and hairpins before settling on a vendor selling magical artifacts.
The artifacts there were ordinary at best, with the highest grade barely reaching the second tier—utterly unremarkable and hardly eye-catching.
That was how most cultivators would see it, at least.
But Xu Wanci spotted a cauldron infused with the essence of heaven and earth among them.
She glanced at the plainly dressed, pale-faced girl sitting cross-legged behind the stall before finally stopping in front of her.
Kneeling down, she picked up the cauldron, turning it over in her hands.
"Esteemed Senior, would you like to purchase this cauldron?"
The girl’s voice carried a lingering frailty, yet her posture remained straight and unyielding, her gaze respectful but not fawning.
Xu Wanci handed the cauldron back to her.
"If you wish to become an alchemist, you should keep this cauldron for yourself."
"Otherwise, you may never find it again."
The girl was sharp-witted and immediately grasped the implication behind her words.
"Senior…"
She didn’t understand—why would this stranger offer such advice?
Xu Wanci stood up, making no move to assist her with cultivation, but upon noticing the burgeoning aura of fortune around the girl, she smiled faintly.
"Your luck seems particularly strong today. Do as you wish."
The girl rose and bowed deeply to her.
"Thank you for your guidance, Senior."
After Xu Wanci walked away, the girl packed up her wares and left the street as well.
Not long after her departure, a young man holding a jade pendant arrived in the same spot. He searched up and down the street but found nothing, eventually leaving with a frown.
The stories of the cultivation world continued to unfold.
Only this time, there were no predetermined protagonists.
In the span of a single thought, anyone could become the next to ascend.
Xu Wanci paid no attention to what happened behind her.
She wandered the marketplace with lively curiosity, pausing now and then to admire something, occasionally even offering the stall owners a word of advice.
This time, after correcting an error in a sword manual, she felt the emptiness in her right hand and instinctively turned to look for Xiao Yuyan.
He stood three steps away, silhouetted against the light, watching her in silence.
Xu Wanci quickly walked over to him, her voice tinged with concern.
"Ah-Yan, what’s wrong?"
Seeing his downcast eyes, she tugged gently at his sleeve.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
"Or do you not like it here—"
Before she could finish, he lifted his gaze to meet hers, his eyes filled with suppressed anguish.
His spiritual energy silently enveloped them, isolating the two from the world around them.
Xiao Yuyan recalled how Xu Wanci had moved through the streets—playful, spirited, utterly absorbed in the moment—and his fingers tightened imperceptibly.
Unbidden, his thoughts drifted to the fragments of the past he had glimpsed from the Upper Realm.
Her past.
A Xu Wanci battered and exhausted, struggling just to survive.
A Xu Wanci who could only cultivate, who never had the luxury of wandering the streets like an ordinary cultivator.
Just a few fleeting scenes, yet remembering them now made his breath hitch with a pang of pain.
"Was it hard?"
He steadied his breathing, forcing his voice to remain calm.
"Before we reunited… did it hurt?"
Xu Wanci froze, her mind involuntarily flashing back to her experiences after arriving in the cultivation world.
Had it not been for that lie about him, she would have perished in the Enforcement Hall long ago.
Later, her body became the only proof to convince others of that lie, so she had no choice but to use pain again and again to earn their trust.
And after that, it was a desperate struggle against the Child of Destiny, narrowly escaping death time after time.
How could it not have been hard?
Her lashes trembled faintly, but in the end, she only smiled lightly at him.
"Watching myself grow stronger step by step—that’s something countless cultivators dream of."
She brushed off every scar as if they were nothing.
"Why would it be hard?"
There was no need to dredge up the past and worry him now.
It was all over, wasn’t it?
Xiao Yuyan listened to her answer, knowing she wanted to reassure him. Suppressing the hollow ache in his chest, he managed a faint smile.
But the smile couldn’t mask the lingering sorrow in his eyes.
Seeing him grieve over wounds she had long since moved past, Xu Wanci cupped his face in her hands, her voice soft with exasperation.
"It’s all in the past—why dwell on it now?"
A shadow flickered in her gaze as she added, almost too quietly to hear,
"Besides…"
"I never asked if it hurt when you fought the Heavenly Dao for the Origin after waking up."
The higher one’s cultivation, the more one comprehended the power of the Heavenly Dao—and the more one understood the difficulty of defying it.
The Formless Divine Stone might have brought him back, but from the moment he awoke to the moment he stood before her again—
Every step must have been harder, more agonizing, than she could imagine.
How could his suffering have been any less than hers?
She slowly released his face and took a silent step back.
But in the next instant, his hand caught hers, pulling her firmly into his embrace.
His other arm wrapped around her back, his voice muffled against her.
"It hurt."
"Rebuilding a spiritual core with the power of the Heavenly Dao… requires enduring destruction and reconstruction, over and over."
"It hurt."
Xu Wanci’s hand went slack in his grip.
She knew his spiritual core was akin to a cultivator’s dantian and sea of consciousness.
Once, when her dantian had been drained and cracked, the pain had been unbearable.
What must it have felt like to have it destroyed and remade?
She clung to him tightly, her breath unsteady.
A hand gently stroked her long hair, as Xiao Yuyan seemed to regret something, cautiously adding:
"It hurts a little, but it's bearable."
"Back then, I too was taking steps toward a new life."
"So, it didn’t feel so painful anymore."
Xu Wanci felt the soothing touch on her back, her eyes reddening.
Her voice carried a hint of grievance:
"It’s actually... exhausting."
"Every day, I worry I won’t see tomorrow’s sunlight; every step must be taken carefully, without a single misstep."
"It’s exhausting."
"To survive, I had to endure wounds, to risk my life."
"It’s been... so hard."
For the first time, she confided her vulnerabilities and suffering to another.
It turned out to be far less difficult than she had imagined.
Feeling the sudden tightening of the arms around her, Xu Wanci’s heart seemed to lighten, as if a weight had been lifted. Her body gradually relaxed.
She withdrew her right hand from Xiao Yuyan’s grasp, then wrapped both arms around him, holding him tightly.
Sensing the faint tremble in the man in her embrace, she mirrored his earlier gesture, patting his back reassuringly:
"But it’s also... not so bad."
"Because with every step, I know I’m growing stronger. So really, it’s alright."
Her voice, earnest and tinged with hope for the future, softened:
"Rather than dwelling on the past that brought us sorrow, I’d rather look forward to our future together."
With that, she pulled back slightly from his embrace.
Her hands circled his neck, drawing him closer until their noses brushed affectionately.
Noticing the faint redness at the corners of his eyes, she instinctively lowered her voice:
"For example..."
"Mmm, maybe we could adjust our ‘three-day rule’ occasionally."
Her words were met with a kiss, tender and reverent.
---
Half a month later.
Returning to the Upper Realm once more, Xu Wanci sighed inwardly:
Ever since their heartfelt conversation that day, it seemed Xiao Yuyan had been determined to compensate for her ‘monotonous’ past.
For the past fortnight, he had taken her through bustling streets and quiet alleys, immersing her in the warmth of mortal life.
But...
Truthfully, she’d much rather cultivate!
Had she spent all this time training instead, her cultivation would surely have advanced further by now.
As she sat listlessly by the Mingyu Table, a soft sigh drifted from nearby.
She pretended not to hear, her gaze fixed ahead, expression calm.
Another sigh followed.
Lately, a certain someone had grown increasingly clingy.
Yet this was the first time he had tried so hard to catch her attention—only to hold back.
When the third sigh came, Xu Wanci relented first.
She stood and walked toward Xiao Yuyan, who sat amidst a field of blue Rainbloom Lotuses.
Hearing her footsteps, he shifted slightly but didn’t turn, speaking as if it were nothing:
"Did you enjoy yourself in the Lower Realm today, Wanwan?"
Xu Wanci settled beside him, her right hand playfully hooking around his wrist. Her coaxing words flowed effortlessly:
"Being with A-Yan makes everything enjoyable."
Though Xiao Yuyan had heard similar words countless times, his lips still curled upward.
Yet recalling an incident during their trip, his smile faltered.
Glancing at his wrist—where her fingers now traced idle circles over a small red mole—he lowered his lashes, veiling his emotions.
After a pause, he spoke as if offhandedly:
"Wanwan, I’m actually quite skilled at nurturing spirit plants."
"Most of the Upper Realm’s flora were cultivated by me. What do you... think of them?"
Xu Wanci blinked at his seemingly random remark, then remembered: during their trip, she’d casually praised a Lower Realm cultivator’s garden.
Could it be...?
Realization dawned. She knelt before him, meeting his gaze:
"Your spirit plants are exquisite."
"Whether Rainbloom Lotuses or Jadeheart Lilies—every corner of the Upper Realm you’ve shaped is breathtaking."
At her answer, Xiao Yuyan lifted his eyes to hers and pressed further:
"And the courtyard I designed for you... is there anything you dislike?"
Xu Wanci answered without hesitation:
"I love every part of it."
To her, a dwelling had never required extravagance. Yet Xiao Yuyan had not only modeled it after her old residence in the Taiqing Sect but also woven in countless thoughtful details that brought her comfort.
How could she not adore it?
But then—
She suddenly recalled praising a noble family’s estate days ago.
Her fingers stilled over his wrist.
Today, during the Flower Goddess Festival, hadn’t she also complimented the actress playing the goddess for her striking beauty?
Sure enough, Xiao Yuyan caught her restless hand, his tone carefully neutral yet betraying a hint of vulnerability:
"And me?"
"Compared to those in the Lower Realm... how do I fare?"
Xu Wanci threw herself into his arms, her voice firm:
"My A-Yan is the finest man in all existence!"
Xiao Yuyan instinctively caught her, twirling a lock of her hair as he murmured:
"But you’ve never praised me before."
"Not even my appearance."
Xu Wanci froze.
Belatedly, she realized he was right—she hadn’t.
Perhaps because they were too familiar, or because his beauty was already legendary...
Ever one to correct her mistakes, she pulled back, bracing her hands against his chest to study him solemnly:
"Xiao Yuyan."
"Do you know why I chose to stay when we first met?"
"We were strangers then. With my caution, if escape had been possible, why would I remain beside a potential threat?"
Feeling his body tense beneath her palms, she paused before continuing:
"It’s because someone’s face was too mesmerizing—I threw caution to the wind and stayed."
Watching his eyes brighten, she looped her arms around his neck, her voice tender:
"Xiao Yuyan, you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen."
"The one I love most."
Xiao Yuyan held her close, struggling to maintain composure under her sweet words:
"And if someone fairer than me appears in this world?"
Xu Wanci shook her head.
"Impossible."
"Because there’s only one Xiao Yuyan."
No matter how others looked, he alone could make her cast aside reason.
Xiao Yuyan’s gaze darkened as he thought of his past self from a century ago:
"And if there were a second Xiao Yuyan?"
Once, he had tormented himself over the ‘him’ of the past—believing himself a thief, unworthy of the history they shared.
Even after learning that it had always been him, a trace of wariness toward the "him" from a century ago still lingered in his heart.
After all, compared to the Heavenly Dao, they were the ones who truly shared the same origin.
Xu Wanci had no way of knowing the thoughts in his mind, yet she effortlessly soothed the unease in his heart:
"But my Xiao Yuyan is the only one."
The Xiao Yuyan who had silently helped her after awakening, who had experienced everything with her a century ago, and who had walked step by step with her until this day—there had only ever been one.
"Ah-Yan, I love only you."
Xiao Yuyan kissed her as though she were the rarest treasure in the world, tenderly and reverently:
In this world, he loved only her.
In this lifetime, he loved only her.
