Before dawn, all ten divisions of the Cangming Divine Palace had already sprung into action.
The heavy tolling of bells echoed across the Eastern Sea again and again.
Below the divine palace, the sea—calm only moments before—was now covered by countless enormous ritual patterns.
Deep-blue lines spread outward from the main altar, passing through the suspended palace, the long bridges, and the ritual towers before sinking into the depths of the sea.
Boom—
The surface of the sea shook violently.
Hundreds of Sea-Calming Pillars slowly rose from the depths.
Their surfaces were covered in ancient tide patterns, tangled with seaweed and mottled shells.
As the priests of the ten divisions formed their seals, the dormant patterns gradually lit up, like ancient beasts awakening beneath the ocean and opening their eyes one by one.
Along the shores of the divine palace, ritual lamps ignited in succession.
Deep-blue flames spread along the coastline in an unbroken line.
Far away, the various cities along Cangzhou’s Eastern Sea could also hear the heavy, urgent tolling of the bells.
Before the Sea-Management Hall, High Priest Cang Xuanzi personally presided over the ritual formation.
The ten divisions each took up their positions.
Inside the main ritual hall, Tantai Jingyue had already changed into her divine priestess robes.
Layer upon layer of moon-white fabric fell around her, the hem embroidered with silver-blue patterns resembling tides. Behind her shoulders hung a veil as thin as a shimmer of water.
The divine priestess crown rested atop her dark hair, and the Sea-Moon Jade Pearl at its center radiated a faint, clear glow.
Shui Hua stood to one side, tugging down at the collar of her robes.
She had also been given a set of ritual clothing.
Its style was extremely similar to Tantai Jingyue’s, with a dark-blue jade pendant hanging from the ritual sash at her waist.
Shui Hua had never worn anything like it before.
The sleeves were too long, and the skirt was too heavy.
The layers upon layers of sashes around her waist were so tight that even breathing felt uncomfortable.
Unable to hold back, she asked in a small voice, “Why is this outfit so complicated?”
The attendant priest standing nearby kept his head lowered, not daring to answer.
Tantai Jingyue walked over to her.
Without saying a word, she reached out and straightened Shui Hua’s folded collar, then retied the sashes around her waist.
Shui Hua’s nose stung faintly.
But she did not say anything at a time like this.
Tantai Jingyue tied the final sash into place.
“Don’t keep pulling at it.”
Shui Hua muttered softly, “It’s too tight.”
“Bear with it.”
Tantai Jingyue did not look at her again. She turned and walked toward the hall doors.
“It’s time to go.”
Shui Hua sniffed and followed her.
…
The Sea-Calming Ritual was the most important ceremony of the Cangming Divine Palace.
Jiang Qingwan, Xie Bugui, Yun Zhuo, and Old Jiang were not permitted to enter the main altar. They could only remain outside, on the viewing platforms.
Jiang Qingwan stood beyond the ritual formation.
She watched Shui Hua, dressed in ritual robes, descend the long steps.
Xie Bugui stood beside Jiang Qingwan, but his gaze remained fixed on the two sea-moon patterns at the center of the main altar.
He stared at them for a long while, his brows gradually drawing together.
“What is it?” Jiang Qingwan asked quietly.
Xie Bugui said, “The divine palace believes that three parts plus seven parts makes a complete ten.”
“That doesn’t sound wrong.”
“But people aren’t simple numbers.”
Jiang Qingwan looked toward the sisters walking side by side.
She felt the same unease in her heart.
Divinity could be added together.
But what about destiny?
What about memories?
What about the will?
Tantai Jingyue and Shui Hua had been separated for many years.
They were sisters, yet they had already become two entirely different people.
But now that the ritual formation had begun, the divine palace had no better choice than to have the sisters jointly suppress the sea.
Old Jiang simply kept a tight grip on his Tide-Calming Staff.
He did not say a word.
Yet from the moment Shui Hua stepped into the ritual formation, his gaze never left her.
…
The main ritual bell rang.
Tantai Jingyue and Shui Hua stepped onto the Sea-Calming Altar together.
At the center of the altar, there were indeed two ancient sea-moon patterns.
One bright.
One dim.
The two moon patterns relied upon each other, yet remained distinct.
It was as if the person who had built this altar countless years ago had already foreseen the emergence of twin Hairuo.
Shui Hua walked to the dimmer sea-moon pattern.
The moment she stepped onto it, the lines beneath her feet suddenly blazed to life.
Boom—
Her seven-tenths Hairuo divinity erupted without reservation.
Dark-blue divine light shot into the sky.
At that very instant, the tides across the entire Eastern Sea rose sharply.
Hundreds of Sea-Calming Pillars thundered in unison. Ancient patterns across their surfaces lit up layer by layer, as if bowing before the young woman on the altar.
Shui Hua’s body swayed faintly.
The sudden surge of such immense power made her instinctively want to retreat.
Tantai Jingyue had already stepped into the other sea-moon pattern.
“Don’t be afraid,” she said quietly.
Shui Hua looked at her.
Tantai Jingyue closed her eyes and drew upon the three-tenths of her divinity.
Moon-white divine light rose from the other side.
Two sea-moons—one bright and one dim—appeared above the altar.
The two powers, born from the same source, slowly drew closer.
Jingyue was like the moon.
Shui Hua was like the tide.
One cold, one warm.
One still, one in motion.
The instant the two divine lights truly touched, the entire Cangming Divine Palace began to shake violently.
All ten thousand eternal lamps within the palace flared to life at once.
Every ritual pattern spread across the sea shone with blinding brilliance.
For the first time, genuine hope appeared in the eyes of the priests of the ten divisions.
Cang Xuanzi formed a seal with both hands and issued a deep command:
“Begin the ritual!”
The bells rang again.
The ten divisions formed their seals simultaneously.
Hundreds of ritual patterns rose from every direction. They converged along the surface of the sea and the Sea-Calming Pillars, ultimately descending upon the sisters at the center of the altar.
Tantai Jingyue was familiar with every step of the Sea-Calming Ritual.
She raised a hand and guided the divine light. Her three-tenths of divinity followed the ritual patterns and slowly sank toward the Sea Eye.
“Follow my aura.”
Shui Hua nodded.
But once she truly attempted it, she discovered that it was far more difficult than it looked.
The ritual patterns crisscrossed one another.
Each one connected to a different current of the tide.
She clearly intended to guide the water ahead, yet the tide on the other side suddenly surged upward.
The first stream of divine power nearly went down the wrong ritual path.
Tantai Jingyue immediately intervened, pulling the dark-blue divine light back into the main formation.
Shui Hua’s face flushed.
“I didn’t mean to.”
“Don’t talk,” Tantai Jingyue said. “Watch my hand.”
She raised her right hand.
Moon-white divine light flowed downward along one of the ritual patterns.
Shui Hua struggled to imitate her.
But the tide that Tantai Jingyue had to control through ritual patterns and incantations required no such complexity from Shui Hua.
She merely shifted her thoughts, and the entire current of the sea surged toward her on its own.
The force was so powerful that it nearly shattered the ritual patterns.
Tantai Jingyue could only repair them for her again and again.
At first, the sisters’ coordination was far from smooth.
Shui Hua took the wrong current several times.
And because Tantai Jingyue had to take care of her, she was forced to slow the ritual.
But as time passed, the auras of their two divine cores gradually began to synchronize.
The instant Tantai Jingyue raised her hand, Shui Hua could sense which water vein she intended to guide.
The moment Shui Hua’s thoughts stirred, Tantai Jingyue would already be stabilizing the excessive force of the tide for her.
It was as if they had returned to their childhood.
There was no need for explanations.
No need for reminders.
The two sea-moon lights gradually overlapped above the altar.
The power of their divinity poured continuously into the depths of the Sea Eye through hundreds of ritual patterns.
The black tide, which had been surging madly, finally began to slow.
The cracks spreading across the outer formation around the Sea Eye also slowly closed beneath the divine light.
The sea below the divine palace, which had been shaking violently, gradually returned to calm.
Within the Sea-Management Hall, the priests responsible for monitoring tidal reports from every region continued relaying news.
“The tide lines outside Cloud-Dream City are beginning to recede!”
“The black tide in the southeastern water veins has withdrawn!”
One of the priests could no longer contain his excitement and cried out:
“It worked!”
“The Sea Eye is truly calming down!”
Even the expression Cang Xuanzi had kept tightly strained finally relaxed ever so slightly.
Zhu Changli stood atop the Siming sacrificial dais, gazing at the sisters in the center of the altar, his expression complicated.
If twins truly could suppress the sea together, perhaps there was still a chance to make amends for the mistake he had made.
Old Jiang stared fixedly at the altar as well.
His grip on the old staff was so tight that his hand trembled uncontrollably.
He dared not relax, yet deep in his heart, he still could not stop a sliver of hope from taking root.
Perhaps Hairuo had been wrong.
Perhaps the ancient Ten Offices canon had been wrong too.
But the ritual array continued to penetrate deeper.
The divine power of Tantai Jingyue and Shui Hua was gradually drawn into the deepest reaches of the Sea Eye.
It was no longer merely the black tide on the outer layers.
This was the true core of the entire Sea Eye.
At first, the two forces were indeed able to work together.
But as the Sea Eye’s need for Hairuo’s authority grew stronger, a problem that had been temporarily concealed finally revealed itself.
Tantai Jingyue and Shui Hua were not the same person.
They had different memories.
Different cultivation.
Different personalities.
And two entirely different lives.
The Sea Eye could sense the complete tenfold divine nature, yet it could not find a single Hairuo will within two independent destinies.
Above the altar, the two moons of the sea that had originally overlapped suddenly began to tremble faintly.
In the next moment, the two lunar shadows slowly began to pull apart.
Tantai Jingyue sensed that something was wrong at once.
“Shui Hua.”
“Steady your mind.”
Shui Hua immediately did as she was told.
Yet the more they tried to bring their auras into harmony, the more clearly the two different wills deep within their divine natures emerged.
Shui Hua wanted to protect Sunset Village.
Tantai Jingyue wanted to safeguard all of Cangzhou.
Even their most similar wishes became two different directions once they entered the Sea Eye.
Hum—
A terrifying suction force suddenly erupted from the depths of the Sea Eye.
Both divine natures were forcibly dragged toward it.
Shui Hua had never undergone training in the divine palace’s sacrificial arts, and she was the first to reach her limit.
Her face instantly turned deathly pale.
The faint-blue sea-moon pattern beneath her feet let out a sharp crack.
Tantai Jingyue’s eyes changed.
She immediately redirected her own power, splitting half of the moon-white divine light that had been flowing toward the Sea Eye and forcibly using it to protect Shui Hua’s destiny track.
Shui Hua noticed what she was doing and gritted her teeth.
“Don’t worry about me.”
Tantai Jingyue’s voice turned icy.
“Be quiet.”
“Follow my lead.”
Shui Hua’s eyes reddened.
Daring not to make another mistake, she desperately followed her sister’s guidance and stabilized the seven-tenths of divine nature within her body.
But the difference between their destinies continued to be magnified by the Sea Eye.
Crack.
Crack.
The ritual array began to emit one sharp cracking sound after another.
Atop the Siming sacrificial dais, Zhu Changli’s expression changed drastically.
“Their two destiny tracks are separating!”
Cang Xuanzi shouted harshly, “Lock them in place!”
Zhu Changli formed seals with both hands.
Countless fate-patterns transformed into chains, attempting to bind the two women’s destinies together once more.
But the moment those chains drew near, they were instinctively shaken away by the two divine natures.
They were twins, but they were not the same person.
The sea would not accept two masters.
In the next instant, the black tide that had just been suppressed suddenly surged.
It was as though the Sea Eye had sensed the failure of the sea-suppressing ritual.
The pressure that had accumulated in its depths erupted in a furious counterattack.
Boom—
A pitch-black column of water shot into the sky from the depths of the Sea Eye and slammed violently into the main altar.
The priests of the Ten Offices attacked at the same time.
Countless ritual artifacts rose into the air.
Cang Xuanzi roared, “Hold the ritual array steady!”
Hundreds of sea-suppressing pillars trembled in unison.
But the black tide’s power was far more terrifying than before.
Shui Hua’s body swayed, and the ritual patterns beneath her feet shattered once again.
Tantai Jingyue immediately reached out and grabbed her.
Shui Hua clasped her sister’s hand just as tightly in return.
The two stood amid the churning black tide.
Neither of them let go.
Tantai Jingyue was more familiar with the sea-suppressing ritual than Shui Hua.
From the moment the two lunar shadows began to separate, she had already faintly understood the problem.
Now, as their destiny tracks were rejected again and again, she finally saw the truth clearly.
The Sea Eye needed one complete Hairuo.
And it had to possess a single, unified will.
So long as they remained two independent people, this sea-suppressing ritual could never truly succeed.
Unless—
One divine nature devoured the other.
Until only one person remained.
Tantai Jingyue turned to look at Shui Hua.
Shui Hua was still gritting her teeth and directing her divine nature, completely unaware of this.
Her face was deathly pale.
Yet she had never loosened her grip on her sister’s hand.
Tantai Jingyue gazed at her.
Her eyes gradually grew calm.
Just as they had when she knelt before Hairuo at the age of six.
Shui Hua sensed her gaze.
“Sister?”
Tantai Jingyue did not answer.
She merely drew her sister a little closer into her arms.
Above the altar, the two moons of the sea finally separated completely.
Boom—
The first core ritual pattern of the sea-suppressing array shattered with a thunderous crash.
The black tide surged into the sky.
The terrifying backlash struck Shui Hua, making her body jolt as she spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Shui Hua!”
Tantai Jingyue pulled her tightly into her embrace, shielding her completely.
In the next instant, the black tide crashed heavily into her back.
The moon-white divine light shattered at once.
Tantai Jingyue let out a muffled groan. Blood seeped from the corner of her lips as well, yet she never released Shui Hua.
All the priests of the divine palace changed color at the same time.
Old Jiang took a sudden step forward.
“Yueyue!”
“Huahua!”
Cang Xuanzi gazed at the main altar, now cracked and collapsing, his expression more grim than it had ever been.
His voice was hoarse.
“We failed.”
“Though the tenfold divine nature is present…”
“Twins are twins after all. They are not one person.”
Amid the surging black tide, Tantai Jingyue lowered her head and looked at her sister, who was still coughing blood in her arms.
Her expression was so calm that it was frightening.
