On the night after the Taixu Myriad Phenomena Ceremony ended, Cangzhou was still ablaze with lights.
The sounds from outside had long since grown distant, separated from her by the waterfront, the sea breeze, and layers of formations.
Jiang Qingwan sat alone in her room, the door tightly shut.
Suspended above the desk was a silver-white crystal no larger than a thumb.
It was the item the Taixu Mirror Sea had given her in the realm beneath the mirror.
The Taixu Moon Soul.
It did not resemble an ordinary spiritual treasure.
Rather, it looked like a moon reduced countless times in size.
Silver-white radiance flowed slowly within the crystal, sometimes like mist, sometimes like ocean tides. It was almost as though a silent night sky lay hidden inside.
Jiang Qingwan had not told anyone about it.
Even to Su Qianqian and Jin Buhuan, she had only said that she had obtained a wisp of Taixu moonlight in the realm beneath the mirror. She had not mentioned the Moon Soul that had truly fallen into her hands.
It was not a matter of distrust.
The aura of this object was simply too extraordinary.
The less she knew about its origins, the less she could afford to expose it carelessly.
Jiang Qingwan had already studied it for quite some time.
She had tried infusing it with spiritual power.
The Moon Soul had merely emitted a faint layer of light, like someone turning over in their sleep beneath the night sky.
She had extended her soul sense into it.
All she had felt was an expanse of deep, silvery white.
No matter how far inward her divine sense reached, it was as though she had fallen into an endless realm of water and moonlight, never able to touch the true core.
For ordinary spiritual treasures, the most common method of acknowledging an owner was to drip blood upon them.
Jiang Qingwan raised her hand and used spiritual power to open a tiny cut on her fingertip.
A bead of bright-red blood gathered there.
It then fell onto the surface of the Taixu Moon Soul.
The Moon Soul flickered faintly.
The bead of blood slid down the crystal’s outer layer and finally dripped onto the desk. It had not been absorbed.
A faint glimmer passed through Jiang Qingwan’s eyes.
Her own blood would not do.
She was silent for a moment before suddenly remembering something.
Her Second Senior Brother, Yun Zhuo, had once given her a drop of mysterious golden blood.
According to Yun Zhuo, the drop had been taken from an extremely high-grade sea beast of the Eastern Sea.
Its origins were unusual, its aura ancient, and it was connected to sea beasts.
The Taixu Moon Soul, meanwhile, had also come from the depths of the Taixu Mirror Sea.
Jiang Qingwan raised her hand and laid down a layer of isolation formations. She then took a transparent jade bead from her storage ring.
Sealed within the bead was a drop of brilliant golden blood.
Even through the seal, one could sense its surging vitality.
It carried an ancient, heavy pressure, almost like a sleeping abyss beneath the sea.
The Taixu Moon Soul finally reacted the instant the golden blood appeared.
The silver-white crystal, which had been floating silently, trembled faintly.
The radiance within it, resembling a night sky, began to flow. It seemed like the shadow of a moon sunk beneath the sea, suddenly awakened by the sound of the tides.
Jiang Qingwan did not act at once.
She knew very well that once the golden blood was dripped into the Moon Soul, this precious blood from an exotic beast could never be used for anything else.
But the Taixu Moon Soul had responded of its own accord. That already proved she had guessed correctly.
After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Qingwan undid the seal.
The jade bead split open soundlessly along a fine crack, and the drop of brilliant golden blood slowly fell onto the surface of the Taixu Moon Soul.
This time, the Moon Soul did not reject it.
The instant the golden blood touched the silver-white crystal, it silently merged into it like moonlight falling into water.
In the next moment, the Taixu Moon Soul began to hum and tremble.
A ring of silver-white moonlight spread through the room, transforming into faint ripples of water.
The desk, window lattice, candle flame, and walls all blurred the instant those ripples swept across them.
Jiang Qingwan’s vision swayed.
When she could see clearly again, she was no longer in her room.
Beneath her feet stretched a sea so calm that it was almost eerie.
There were no winds or waves. The surface resembled a massive silver mirror laid flat across the world.
There were no suns, moons, or stars in the heavens. Only a full moon was reflected in the water.
Moonlight shone up from beneath the sea, bathing the entire space in a cold, silent glow.
Jiang Qingwan stood upon the surface of the sea.
With every step she took, a small ripple spread beneath her feet.
The water, moonlight, space, and spiritual energy of this place were all stable to an almost tangible degree.
It did not take long for her to realize that this was no illusion. It was a small world within the Taixu Moon Soul.
This space was far more vast and stable than any storage ring she had ever seen.
Ordinary storage artifacts could only contain lifeless objects.
But this place was different.
It was not merely a storage space. It was more like a small world that had yet to fully awaken.
Jiang Qingwan extended her soul sense throughout the surroundings.
Very soon, she detected an even deeper anomaly.
The flow of time here was not entirely the same as in the outside world.
It was slower here—not by an exaggerated degree, but enough to be astonishing.
If she could use this place to recuperate her soul, nurture magical treasures, or even store spiritual medicines that required long periods to stabilize their properties, it would far surpass ordinary storage artifacts.
A ripple finally stirred in Jiang Qingwan’s heart.
The value of the Taixu Moon Soul was even greater than she had initially believed.
And this was merely the first change after its awakening.
Just then, the full moon beneath the water trembled gently.
The moon’s reflection rippled as if stirred by an invisible hand.
An ancient message rose from within the moon’s reflection and entered Jiang Qingwan’s mind directly.
It was an extremely unique Water-Moon divine ability.
Its name was—
Water-Moon Phantom Form.
Its formula read:
The body is like water and moonlight, the form resembling a flower reflected in a mirror.
With a single thought, one enters the void; all techniques pass through the body.
Blades and weapons cannot harm it, lightning and fire cannot invade it. All forms of slaughter are no more than striking at the moon’s reflection in water.
Jiang Qingwan quietly absorbed the formula.
Once the Water-Moon Phantom Form was activated, her physical body would briefly transform into a reflection upon the water.
She would remain where she was, yet no longer exist within the present world.
External attacks could not truly touch her.
But likewise, she could not touch the outside world.
She could not cast spells or launch attacks.
At most, the state could be maintained for ten breaths.
The moment she took the initiative to touch the outside world—or forcibly attempted to launch an attack while in phantom form—the technique would end prematurely.
This was not an offensive divine ability, yet it granted nearly ten breaths of absolute invulnerability.
For cultivators, a single breath was often enough to determine life or death.
Jiang Qingwan slowly opened her eyes.
In the next instant, she returned to her room.
The candle flame on the desk flickered gently.
The isolation formations around her remained intact.
The Taixu Moon Soul rested quietly in her palm, its light dimmer than before, as if it had just completed a breath in slumber.
Jiang Qingwan lowered her head and gazed at the tiny moon-disc in her hand.
For a long while, she said nothing.
Then she placed the Taixu Moon Soul into the storage space closest to her body.
…
The next day.
Cangming Divine Palace, Hall of Fate.
Zhu Changli sat at the head of the hall.
Wu Tingchao and Li Fuyuan sat on either side of him.
The pool at the center of the hall was perfectly still, but the formation patterns surrounding it had already been activated, cutting off all prying eyes from the outside world.
Not long afterward, a woman dressed in pale-blue ceremonial robes was escorted into the hall.
Her features were cool and detached, and a silver hairpin shaped like a water mirror adorned her hair.
After entering the hall, she merely inclined her head slightly toward the three priests.
The Mirror Priestess.
Luo Chenbi.
She was in charge of the manifestation of water mirrors, the Divine Palace’s records, and the many Mirror-Moon formations. Among the nine halls, she was the person most familiar with the records of the grand ceremony.
Zhu Changli dispensed with pleasantries and spoke directly.
“Mirror Keeper.”
“Retrieve the complete water-mirror records of the final trial of Ascending Heaven by Claiming the Moon.”
Luo Chenbi glanced at the three of them.
“Which section do you wish to view?”
Zhu Changli’s voice lowered slightly.
“From the first appearance of the moon stairway to the final ranking announcement.”
Luo Chenbi did not act immediately. She simply reminded them in an even tone:
“The water-mirror records of the grand ceremony can only record what the Taixu Mirror Sea permits to be revealed.”
“If the Mirror Sea does not permit something to be seen, the Hall of Mirrors cannot forcibly trace it.”
Wu Tingchao let out a cold laugh.
“Is Priestess Luo trying to make excuses for Jiang Qingwan first?”
Luo Chenbi’s expression did not change. “I speak only for the record.”
With that, she raised her hand and formed a seal.
The pool at the center of the Hall of Destiny lit up. The scenes of Moon-Seizing Ascension slowly emerged upon its surface.
The initial allocation of moon steps.
Mirror flowers blooming.
Moon beasts reflecting their forms.
Three moon seals taking shape.
Beyond the eighty-first step, endless moon stairs continuing upward.
The waning moon in the heavens gradually growing thinner. The senses of all within being sealed. The path behind them collapsing.
Every scene was perfectly clear.
Until Jiang Qingwan stopped and turned around. With her back to the waning moon above, she leapt into the Sea of Taixu Mirrors.
The instant her violet-clad figure fell into the sea, the water mirror suddenly darkened.
The previously clear image seemed to have been gently wiped away by an invisible hand, leaving behind nothing but a stretch of darkness that could not be observed.
Zhu Changli’s brows drew tightly together.
Wu Tingchao immediately said, “This is the anomaly.”
“After she fell into the Mirror Sea, the record disappeared.”
Luo Chenbi did not refute him.
She merely raised her hand and stirred the ripples in the water, moving the record forward to the moment Tantai Jingyue leapt into the Mirror Sea.
The white-robed figure fell into the sea.
The surface of the mirror split apart, and in the next instant, the water mirror darkened in the same manner.
The records of Tantai Jingyue after she entered the realm beneath the mirror had vanished completely as well.
Then came Chu Tianque.
Lu Changsheng.
The records of everyone who had truly passed through the mirror and entered the realm beneath it were invisible.
Luo Chenbi looked toward the three men in the hall.
“It is not Jiang Qingwan alone.”
“Nor has anyone tampered with the records.”
“This is the Mirror Sea concealing them of its own accord.”
Silence descended upon the Hall of Destiny.
Wu Tingchao could no longer pin the blank records directly on Jiang Qingwan, since Tantai Jingyue’s records were likewise unavailable.
Li Fuyuan stared at the darkness in the pool and asked in a low voice, “The Divine Palace cannot see what lies beneath the mirror?”
Luo Chenbi nodded. “At least during this attempt at Moon-Seizing Ascension, it cannot.”
The moment those words fell, the expressions of the three priests grew grim.
No one had expected the realm beneath the mirror—the place that ultimately determined victory or defeat—to be something the Taixu Mirror Sea would refuse to show them.
Zhu Changli remained silent for a long while.
“Bring up the records of the second trial.”
Luo Chenbi asked, “Which city?”
Zhu Changli slowly replied, “The Ninth City.”
The pool began to glow once more.
The scenes from the first half of the Ninth City appeared one after another.
Jiang Qingwan, the Tide-Suppressing Magistrate.
Jin Buhuan, Lord of Maritime Trade.
Gu Changting, a fisherman from the lower city.
Xu Qinghe, the sacrificial offering sent to the tide.
Shui Lianyi, High Priestess of the Sea Mother.
The ritual, the seven wells, the tide lanterns, the city’s people, and the omens of the coming storm—all were clearly visible.
But as the scenes progressed, they gradually became shrouded in deep-sea mist.
The seven tide lanterns reignited. The city’s fate was rewritten from total destruction, and the souls of all the sacrifices throughout the ages were freed.
Yet the crucial events that truly determined the Ninth City’s final evaluation were not recorded in full.
The water mirror of the Divine Palace showed only the final result.
[The Ninth City ranks first overall.]
[Special Evaluation: All Beings Cross Together.]
Zhu Changli stared at the pool, his voice very low. “Her again?”
Luo Chenbi looked at him.
“It was the Ninth City, not Jiang Qingwan.”
Zhu Changli raised his eyes.
Luo Chenbi’s tone remained calm.
“The core of the anomaly may not be Jiang Qingwan herself.”
“The same is true of the Ninth City.”
“And of the realm beneath the mirror.”
“These two places were both concealed by the Mirror Sea of its own accord.”
She did not elaborate.
But the meaning was already perfectly clear.
If they insisted on identifying an anomaly, then the anomaly was not some disciple from an outer sect.
It was that the Taixu Mirror Sea did not want the Divine Palace to see certain things.
Luo Chenbi put away the records from the water mirror and bowed to the three men.
“I will not retrieve the records of the Tenth City, where Jingyue is.”
“And I will not… take the initiative to inform the High Priest of what happened today.”
“The three of you should stop here.”
Zhu Changli said nothing.
Wu Tingchao’s expression was cold and grim.
Li Fuyuan, meanwhile, gazed at the fading remnants in the pool, lost in thought.
Luo Chenbi turned and left the Hall of Destiny.
After the doors closed behind her, Li Fuyuan suddenly lifted his eyes.
“Lianyi?”
Wu Tingchao looked at him.
Li Fuyuan said, “Lianyi was in the Ninth City. She experienced that missing portion of the record.”
“Why not summon her for questioning?”
Zhu Changli let out a soft sigh.
“We are not investigating Jiang Qingwan.”
Li Fuyuan’s gaze flickered.
Zhu Changli slowly continued, “Since the records of the grand ceremony are unavailable, there should still be other records.”
“For example…” He paused for a moment, lowering his voice further. “The old files from before and after she entered the palace.”
The Hall of Destiny fell silent once more.
Wu Tingchao looked at Zhu Changli. After a long while, he let out a deep sigh.
“I’m withdrawing from this matter.”
