The sea mist had yet to fully disperse in the early morning.
The many islands of the Cangming Divine Palace hung above the Eastern Sea, moisture clinging to the eaves of every pavilion.
Jiang Qingwan, however, did not return to her quarters to continue meditating.
The Grand Ceremony of the Myriad Phenomena of the Void had already ended, and the final rankings had been decided. Naturally, she had no reason to pass up the rewards offered by the Cangming Divine Palace.
She took out the Void Token.
The token was a deep blue throughout. The front was engraved with the moon pattern of the Mirror Sea, while the back bore a relief of an ancient tower.
Once she infused it with spiritual power, watery light began to flow slowly across its surface, pointing toward the eastern side of the divine palace.
That was where the Sea-Treasury Tower stood.
Jiang Qingwan crossed the seaside bridge alone and followed a white-jade staircase suspended along the edge of a sheer cliff.
The Sea-Treasury Tower was located atop a lofty cliff overlooking the sea on the eastern side of the Cangming Divine Palace.
From outside, it appeared to have only nine levels. The entire structure had been built from deep-blue ancient wood and white jade.
The grain of the ancient wood was dark and profound, like water veins that had lain beneath the sea for thousands of years. The white-jade walls were warm and spotless, faintly reflecting the distant shimmer of the waves.
Strings of transparent water bells hung from the corners of the eaves.
When the sea wind passed through them, the bells made no sound.
They merely stirred up one tiny ring of ripples after another.
The Sea-Treasury Tower housed a vast collection of water-element spells, records of sea beasts, secret texts on tides, as well as ancient histories of Cang Province and the publicly available scriptures of the Water-Worshipping Sect.
The sections that truly concerned the divine palace’s core inheritances were naturally not open to outsiders.
But even the highest-level texts within the public collection were already rare opportunities for ordinary cultivators.
Jiang Qingwan’s purpose here was simple.
Since she possessed a Void Token, there was no reason not to claim whatever benefits came with it.
When the Void Token lit up, the watery restriction before the entrance of the Sea-Treasury Tower slowly parted.
Jiang Qingwan was just about to enter when she saw a white-clad figure standing before the door.
Tantai Jingyue.
She stood before the Sea-Treasury Tower in white robes, barefoot, her expression cool and distant.
The sea wind swept across the high cliff, stirring her broad sleeves without disturbing even the slightest trace of her aura.
She was like a moon fallen beside the water—
solitary, cold, and quiet, yet naturally blending with the watery radiance of the entire Cangming Divine Palace.
Jiang Qingwan stopped and glanced at her.
“You were waiting for me?”
Tantai Jingyue did not deny it.
She merely said, “I wanted to see you.”
The words were rather direct.
Jiang Qingwan’s brows lifted slightly.
Tantai Jingyue continued, “Before the Grand Ceremony of the Myriad Phenomena of the Void, I had never heard your name.”
“And I never thought I would lose.”
Jiang Qingwan’s expression remained calm.
“And now?”
Tantai Jingyue looked at her, her tone as faint as ever.
“Now I find you interesting.”
It did not sound like praise.
It was more like a direct and detached assessment.
She bore no hostility toward Jiang Qingwan, nor any resentment at having lost the championship.
She was simply curious.
Curious about why this disciple from an outside sect had managed to surpass her at the final step.
Jiang Qingwan studied her for a moment.
“You’re more composed than those priests from your divine palace.”
Tantai Jingyue did not seem surprised that she would say this.
“They care about whether the divine palace wins or loses.”
“I only care about my own.”
With that, she turned and walked into the Sea-Treasury Tower.
“Come with me.”
Jiang Qingwan paused briefly before following.
Inside the Sea-Treasury Tower, countless volumes surged like a tide.
Layer upon layer of bookshelves floated amid pale-blue radiance.
Jade slips, shell-books, water-patterned stone inscriptions, and ancient bamboo scrolls drifted through the tower like schools of fish borne aloft by the tide.
Each volume was protected by an independent restriction, which displayed its name, category, and the level of access granted to those permitted to read it.
The moment the Void Token entered the tower, a ring of watery light spread across Jiang Qingwan’s palm.
The light flowed along the bookshelves, filtering out the selections available to her.
Tantai Jingyue seemed extremely familiar with this place.
She walked ahead at an unhurried pace, avoiding the irrelevant texts with pinpoint accuracy without even needing to examine their restrictions.
The two of them moved one after another between the floating bookshelves.
Jiang Qingwan suddenly asked, “You don’t mind losing to me?”
Tantai Jingyue’s footsteps paused for a moment.
“I do.”
Jiang Qingwan looked at her.
But Tantai Jingyue added, “A loss is still a loss.”
“If refusing to acknowledge the result simply because I dislike it were enough, that would be even more boring than losing.”
Her tone was perfectly even, without the slightest hint of reluctance.
“Besides, I’ll win it back.”
A faint smile appeared between Jiang Qingwan’s brows.
“Now?”
Tantai Jingyue shook her head.
“My master said it isn’t time yet.”
Jiang Qingwan gave a soft laugh.
“You’re quite obedient.”
Tantai Jingyue turned to look at her.
“Listening to words that make sense isn’t a bad thing.”
Jiang Qingwan did not argue.
The second level of the Sea-Treasury Tower was much quieter than the first.
There were fewer texts here, but their auras were clearly deeper.
Faint sounds of the tide lingered around some of the jade slips, while other shell-books opened and closed on their own in the watery light, revealing ancient characters as fine and dense as fish scales.
Jiang Qingwan appeared to be casually scanning the texts, but in truth, she had been observing Tantai Jingyue the entire time.
After the Mirror Sea of the Void, her feelings toward Tantai Jingyue had become somewhat complicated.
This person was powerful, cold, and pure.
There was an indescribable sense of loneliness about her.
Not because no one approached her.
Rather, it was as if she had never belonged to the mortal world in the first place.
Thinking of Shui Hua, Jiang Qingwan suddenly spoke.
“Tantai Jingyue.”
“Do you have any sisters?”
Tantai Jingyue did not turn around.
“No.”
Jiang Qingwan watched her back.
“Are you sure?”
Only then did Tantai Jingyue stop.
She turned around, her expression still calm.
“I grew up in the divine palace.”
“I have no parents.”
“No brothers or sisters.”
“Only my master and the Sea Mother.”
She said these words with far too much composure.
Jiang Qingwan did not continue questioning her.
“I was only asking.”
Tantai Jingyue looked at her.
“You don’t seem like someone who would ask that casually.”
Jiang Qingwan’s expression did not change, and she offered no explanation.
Tantai Jingyue did not press her either.
The two continued upward.
The watery light on the third level of the Sea-Treasury Tower was deeper still. The bookshelves were no longer packed closely together, and many texts were displayed individually upon floating platforms of water.
Anything kept here was no ordinary spell.
Tantai Jingyue stopped before a row of deep-blue jade slips.
She raised a hand.
One of the jade slips slowly flew out from the shelf and came to a halt between them.
Three ancient characters appeared on its surface.
The Water Dragon’s Chant.
Tantai Jingyue handed the jade slip to Jiang Qingwan.
“Choose this one.”
Jiang Qingwan did not accept it immediately.
“Why?”
Tantai Jingyue said, “You primarily cultivate thunder arts.”
“Most of the high-level spells in the Sea-Treasury Tower belong to the water element. There are practically none that truly suit you.”
“But this one is different.”
“The foundation of the Water Dragon’s Chant does not lie in water.”
“It lies in the dragon’s chant.”
“It uses a breath of qi as its guide and one’s own will as the command, driving the waters to take the form of a dragon.”
“An ordinary water cultivator can only follow the methods of those who came before and condense water into a dragon.”
“But you may not need to do that.”
Jiang Qingwan’s eyes finally revealed a trace of interest.
Tantai Jingyue looked at her and slowly said, “You can alter it.”
“Replace the water with thunder.”
“Turn the Water Dragon’s Chant into the Thunder Dragon’s Chant.”
Those words made Jiang Qingwan truly pause.
The Thunder Dragon’s Chant.
She cultivated thunder arts herself, with the sword as the foundation of her path.
If she could use the Water Dragon’s Chant as a foundation and change the art of condensing water into a dragon into the art of condensing thunder into a dragon, she might indeed be able to develop a thunder-based offensive technique perfectly suited to her.
This was not mere imitation.
It was borrowing one method to comprehend another.
Jiang Qingwan accepted the jade slip and sent her divine sense into it.
The next instant, the sound of the tide entered her ears.
Before her eyes, it was as though she could see ten thousand acres of water surging skyward.
The sea churned.
Wave upon wave rose and crashed.
Countless water currents gathered under the pull of some ancient force, eventually taking shape as a colossal water dragon.
Its body was formed from water currents.
Its scales were made of waves.
Its roar was the voice of the tide.
With the first chant, it summoned the waters.
With the second, it transformed into a dragon.
With the third, it subdued the sea.
This was indeed an immensely powerful water-based art.
If it were cast in Cangzhou, a land teeming with water currents, its might would be astonishing.
But Jiang Qingwan did not stop at the “water.”
She continued examining the core of the technique.
Drawing in energy.
Gathering momentum.
Condensing form.
Giving voice.
Water was merely the outer manifestation; the dragon was merely its shape.
The true essence lay in using a cultivator’s own will to command the momentum of the surrounding world, condensing invisible power into tangible killing force.
If the force of water were replaced with the force of thunder,
the voice of the tide with the roar of lightning,
and the water dragon with a thunder dragon,
then this art could be transformed from the Cangming Divine Palace’s water technique into a thunder technique uniquely her own.
Within Jiang Qingwan’s sea of consciousness, violet lightning slowly emerged.
At first, it was no more than a single thread.
Then it became thousands upon thousands of fine strands, weaving and spiraling through the empty expanse of her mind.
The distant sound of the tide still echoed in her ears, but it was gradually drowned out by the roar of thunder.
The water dragon’s chant and the low growl of thunder briefly overlapped deep within her soul.
Jiang Qingwan opened her eyes.
“Interesting.”
Tantai Jingyue said indifferently, “What you can turn it into depends on you.”
Jiang Qingwan withdrew her consciousness.
“Does this count as helping me?”
Tantai Jingyue glanced at her.
“It is what you deserve.”
“I am merely following the will of fate.”
After a brief pause, she added, “Besides, it satisfies my curiosity.”
Jiang Qingwan could not help glancing at her.
“Fate?”
“You truly believe in fate.”
Tantai Jingyue replied, “All things under heaven lie within the Sea Mother’s gaze.”
Jiang Qingwan did not continue arguing with her.
She had no interest in debating whether the concept of “fate” was ridiculous with someone who genuinely worshipped a god.
The Grand Void Token lit up in her hand.
The jade slip transformed into a ripple of water and sank into the token.
Then the complete formula for Water Dragon’s Chant turned into a cool stream of water intent and entered Jiang Qingwan’s sea of consciousness.
The third floor of the Sea-Retaining Pavilion fell silent once more.
The surrounding texts drifted soundlessly through the air, while watery light shimmered across the hems of their robes.
Jiang Qingwan looked at Tantai Jingyue and suddenly asked, “Why are you curious about me?”
Tantai Jingyue was silent for a moment.
She gazed out at the sea beyond the Sea-Retaining Pavilion.
In the distance, the Taixu Mirror Sea lay calm and undisturbed. Sunlight fell upon its surface like a layer of shattered silver scales.
After a long while, she said softly, “Because you are not like the people here.”
Jiang Qingwan asked, “How so?”
Tantai Jingyue replied, “Cangzhou.”
“The divine palace.”
She withdrew her gaze and looked at Jiang Qingwan.
“Most people here are born with the currents and move with the tides.”
“When the tide comes, they kneel. When it recedes, they give thanks.”
“They believe that water will bring them everything—and take everything away.”
Her tone remained as faint as ever, yet there was a trace of emotion within it that was difficult to discern.
“You are not like that.”
Jiang Qingwan raised a brow.
“Is that a compliment?”
Tantai Jingyue thought about it seriously.
“Perhaps.”
