Clang—
A clear sword cry suddenly tore through the heavy night beyond Luoxia Village.
Purple lightning crashed against the moon-pale blade.
Thunder erupted where the two swords crossed. Tiny arcs of electricity danced across the damp, cold beach, illuminating the seawater that had yet to recede in a sheet of dazzling white.
The hand gripping Tantai Jingyue’s sword jolted violently.
Her mind was already in turmoil, and she had hesitated at the final moment. Most of the force behind that strike had long since dissipated.
Now, with the purple lightning bearing down on her, she was forced half a step backward.
The moon-pale blade veered aside.
The point that had originally been aimed at Shui Hua’s heart grazed past her shoulder and plunged into the beach.
A figure in purple robes descended from above, landing firmly between Shui Hua and Tantai Jingyue.
The lightning on Jiang Qingwan’s sword had yet to fade.
The sea wind lifted the ends of her hair and robes. Purple arcs coiled around the blade, making her eyes appear astonishingly cold.
She first glanced at Shui Hua behind her.
Only then did she raise her eyes to Tantai Jingyue.
“Enough.”
……
Half a quarter of an hour earlier.
Southeastern Cangzhou, on a solitary island near the sea.
Jiang Qingwan, Xie Bugui, and Yun Zhuo had just met.
The island was small, surrounded by jagged rocks. At its center stood an abandoned tide-watching pavilion.
Yun Zhuo was still dressed in blue, his brows and eyes carrying their usual languid air.
He had only just exchanged greetings with Jiang Qingwan when a deep whale song suddenly rang out from the distant depths of the East Sea.
Woooo—
Xie Bugui raised his eyes and looked toward the direction from which the whale song had come.
Jiang Qingwan’s expression changed dramatically.
At almost the same moment, she sensed the strand of sword intent she had left within the sword she had given Shui Hua.
That strand of sword intent had originally been meant to protect Shui Hua once in a moment of danger.
But now, it was trembling violently.
“Luoxia Village.”
Jiang Qingwan rose abruptly.
“Something’s happened to Shui Hua.”
She offered no further explanation and shot off the island in an instant.
Xie Bugui let out a sigh.
“Why is it always trouble?”
He complained with his mouth, but his speed did not slow in the slightest.
Yun Zhuo stood before the tide-watching pavilion, watching the sea mist surge in the distance. He also sensed the excessively ancient aura contained within that whale song.
The languor in his eyes gradually faded.
……
Beyond Luoxia Village.
When Shui Hua saw who was standing before her, the tears she had been forcing herself to hold back finally began to fall even harder.
“Big Sister Jiang……”
Jiang Qingwan did not turn around.
She continued watching Tantai Jingyue and merely asked in a low voice, “Can you stand?”
Shui Hua sniffed and gritted her teeth.
“Yes.”
She braced herself against the sword in her hand and tried to rise.
But the instant she put weight on her knee, the disordered azure divine light within her body surged violently.
Shui Hua swayed and nearly collapsed again.
Jiang Qingwan raised a hand and pressed it against her shoulder.
“Then stop forcing yourself for now.”
Shui Hua lowered her head. Tears fell one after another onto the beach.
Tantai Jingyue stood several yards away, watching Jiang Qingwan.
The two of them had spoken briefly in the Hidden Sea Pavilion.
But now, they stood on entirely opposite sides.
Tantai Jingyue slowly pulled her sword from the beach.
“Jiang Qingwan.”
“This concerns the Divine Palace of Cangzhou.”
Jiang Qingwan glanced at Shui Hua.
“She shouldn’t be one of the Divine Palace’s people.”
Tantai Jingyue’s eyes darkened slightly.
She offered no further explanation.
Because at this moment, explanations were meaningless.
She raised her sword.
Moon-pale sword light shone once more.
The purple lightning sword in Jiang Qingwan’s hand let out a low hum.
In the next instant, the two moved at the same time.
Thunder tore through the night mist.
Purple sword shadows slithered like lightning serpents, crossing several yards of beach in an instant and slicing toward Tantai Jingyue’s wrist.
Tantai Jingyue brought her sword across to block.
Clang!
The two swords collided.
Moon-white spiritual power spread like a frigid tide, while the purple lightning forced its way through the current. Electric arcs and waterlight exploded together.
Tantai Jingyue spun, using the momentum to sweep her blade diagonally downward.
Jiang Qingwan did not meet the blow head-on.
She shifted half a step back and tapped the ground with her sword tip.
The purple lightning instantly split into seven bolts, striking Tantai Jingyue from different directions.
Tantai Jingyue’s white robes billowed.
A watery moon appeared behind her.
The seven bolts of lightning vanished into its reflected image, swallowed layer by layer by rippling waves.
But in the next moment, Jiang Qingwan was already closing in atop the lightning.
Her blade pointed straight at Tantai Jingyue’s brow.
Tantai Jingyue raised her sword in a counterstroke.
The two blades collided again.
This time, purple lightning and moonlight surged outward together.
The beach cracked inch by inch.
Old Jiang shielded Shui Hua as he retreated.
Zhu Changli also raised a hand and formed a curtain of water to block the sword qi scattering in every direction.
In only a few short exchanges, the two figures crossed paths several times.
Though Tantai Jingyue’s heart was in turmoil, her cultivation and swordsmanship remained formidable.
Jiang Qingwan, for her part, had never truly intended to fight her to the death.
Every one of her strikes forced Tantai Jingyue farther away from Shui Hua.
After their sword lights collided once more, both of them retreated a step.
Jiang Qingwan did not press the attack.
She looked at Tantai Jingyue and asked directly, “Do you really know what you’re doing?”
Tantai Jingyue fell silent.
Jiang Qingwan continued, “You clearly can’t bring yourself to strike.”
“Why force yourself?”
Tantai Jingyue’s eyes trembled violently.
The words had pierced the place she was least willing to face.
She truly could not bring herself to strike, yet neither could she retreat.
Tantai Jingyue said in a low voice, “The Sea Eye is stirring.”
“The Sea-Calming Ritual is about to begin.”
“If the ritual fails, Cangzhou will suffer.”
Jiang Qingwan countered, “So she has to die?”
“Then what of the countless people of Cangzhou?”
The night wind passed between them.
Zhu Changli stood to one side, his expression growing increasingly grim.
Shui Hua’s awakening.
The sisters’ clash.
Jiang Qingwan’s intervention.
These events had already gone far beyond what he had initially anticipated.
He had originally intended only to have Tantai Jingyue quickly reclaim the divinity within Shui Hua.
Once Jingyue completed herself, she would be able to preside over the Sea-Calming Ritual and suppress the disturbance in the Sea Eye.
Perhaps no one needed to know about the existence of the twins.
Perhaps the Divine Palace could continue to maintain its original order.
But now, everything had spiraled out of control.
More importantly, the phenomenon caused by Shui Hua’s awakening had been far too immense.
The whale song had echoed across the waters beyond Luoxia Village.
Seventy percent of the Hairuo divinity’s aura had been released without concealment.
The entire water network of the East Sea was responding to her.
There was no way the Divine Palace could have failed to notice.
Zhu Changli finally understood.
This was no longer something a single Fate Priest could suppress.
Nor was it something one goddess, Tantai Jingyue, could decide.
They had to request an audience with Hairuo.
If Hairuo remained silent, then they could only inform the entire Divine Palace.
Tantai Jingyue’s gaze passed over Jiang Qingwan and landed on Shui Hua once more.
Shui Hua was being protected behind Jiang Qingwan.
Her face was pale.
She had just been defeated, and she could barely stand, yet she still looked stubbornly at Tantai Jingyue.
A fresh stab of pain spread through Tantai Jingyue’s chest.
At last, she could no longer deceive herself.
She slowly turned and looked at Zhu Changli.
“Lord of Fate.”
Zhu Changli’s heart sank.
Tantai Jingyue asked, “How much more have you kept from me?”
Zhu Changli’s face went pale.
His lips parted, but he did not answer at once.
Tantai Jingyue closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, her expression had returned to its usual calm.
She sheathed her sword.
The moon-pale sword light dispersed with it.
“Back to the Divine Palace.”
Zhu Changli looked up at her.
“Jingyue……”
Tantai Jingyue’s voice was quiet.
Yet beneath it trembled unmistakable emotion.
“I want to see Hairuo.”
She wanted to ask personally.
Why had she lost her memories?
Why had the divinity been divided?
Why had she been taken to the Divine Palace while Shui Hua had been left in Luoxia Village?
Tantai Jingyue turned and walked away from the beach.
Seeing this, Shui Hua forced herself to go after her.
“Sister!”
But the moment she took a step, the godhood within her fell into turmoil once more, and her body lurched forward.
Jiang Qingwan reached out and caught her.
“You can’t catch up to her in your condition.”
Shui Hua’s eyes were red-rimmed.
She watched the white-robed figure recede farther and farther into the distance, her voice trembling faintly.
“She’s left again.”
Jiang Qingwan was silent for a moment.
She did not say, “She’ll come back.”
Because that was not a promise she had the right to make on Tantai Jingyue’s behalf.
Old Jiang stood to one side, leaning on his worn staff.
The battle just now had caused his old injuries to flare up, and there was still blood at the corner of his lips that he had not wiped away.
He looked at Tantai Jingyue’s retreating figure, then at Shui Hua, whom Jiang Qingwan was supporting.
For a long while, he said nothing.
He knew.
After Shui Hua’s godhood awakened, every disguise had become useless.
The moment the Divine Palace learned that another Hairuo existed, everything would inevitably spiral completely out of control.
The priests would fight over her.
The faithful would panic.
At present, the only person capable of suppressing the matter was Hairuo.
And Hairuo’s attitude had become the most crucial factor of all.
Tantai Jingyue and Zhu Changli left Falling Sunset Village.
On the way back, the two of them remained silent.
