Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
The moment the Snow Phoenix Tail Feather brushed against my Glabella, I shot up from the soft couch. My nightgown, soaked in cold sweat, clung to my Shoulder Blade, where a newly formed ice crystal scab glimmered with a faint blue light. My mother’s wide-sleeved robe, embroidered with cranes holding herbs, still hung in mid-air, a few strands of hair sticking to her Fingertip stained with herbal juice.
"Did you dream again of the Seventy-Two Peaks collapsing?" The silver bells on her wrist jingled softly as she pressed a handkerchief infused with Spirit-Calming Incense against the bleeding corner of my lips. I stared blankly at the swirling Xuan Bing patterns outside the Window Lattice. The ice cracks that spread from the mountain-protecting formation were now creeping up the diamond mirror of my dressing table under the moonlight.
Reflected in the mirror were the unrolled documents on the desk, last night’s words "Anomaly in the Spirit-Bearing Pool" circled in Cinnabar blurred by candle wax. Suddenly, a clang of dark iron chains echoed from outside the courtyard, startling the spirit candle on my desk to flare up three inches high. My mother quickly wrapped my trembling shoulders with a gauzy cloak, but the ice-blue Blood Pearl had already dripped through her fingers, blooming into Frost Flowers on the Jadeite tiles.
"He’s here." My mother’s Fingertip formed a gesture to sweep away the scattered ice crystals, and in the copper mirror, I saw an image of Xuan color brocade boots stepping into the light of Shattered Moon. I frantically grabbed a comb but froze when I touched the broken Snow Phoenix Plume among my hair—the intact Tail Feather from One Hundred Years Ago Spring Festival had long since transformed into stardust when the mountain-protecting formation activated.
At that moment, as the diamond mirror shattered with a loud bang, the Xuanjade surrounding him was already freezing half the room’s candlelight. Instinctively, I pressed down on my left Shoulder Blade, where the contract Curse Seal was emitting a blinding red light through three layers of gauze. His Xuan color cuffs moved like living creatures, perfectly overlapping with the ice cracks of the mountain-protecting formation outside.
"The Immortal Sovereign arrives at an inopportune time." My mother suddenly shoved a blood-stained handkerchief into my Palm and knocked over the spirit medicine box on my desk as she stood up. "Yao’er has recently overexerted herself at the Spirit-Bearing Pool..."
"The hospitality of Linghuan Fairy Realm has become increasingly refined." Xuanjade’s Fingertip formed an Icicle and, while untying my cloak’s knot, caught sight of the ghastly sword wound on my shoulder. "Did you use Shattered Moon sword to break through Xuanbing Spell? No wonder three-tenths of Seventy-Two Peak Lord Palace collapsed this morning."
I clenched a half-bloodied Jade Pendant, a remnant pulled from last night’s teleportation array. The Hexagram emerging from its edge gradually overlapped with the omen formed by Snow Phoenix blood in my dream. Suddenly, my Palm transformed Blood Pearl into an ice spike aimed at Xuanjade’s Glabella.
The spiritual energy erupted just half an inch away from his forehead, and splintered Ice Shards wove around us like a cage. Xuanjade sneered as he tore open my collar; the contract Curse Seal covered by Xuan Bing was spreading spiderweb-like bloodstains: "Do you think severing your life gate’s spiritual vein can dissolve our Marriage Contract?"
My mother suddenly pressed down on my right hand that was gathering celestial power. As her silver bells clashed against the Xuan Bing cage, I heard a familiar infant's cry echoing from within remnants of soul lamps—it sounded exactly like the cries when last night’s teleportation array activated.
"Xuanjade Immortal Sovereign." My mother’s Fingertip brushed against an Icicle melting atop the cage. "Three Hundred Years Ago, when the master of Linghuan Pavilion fell, I once saw that Xuanjie Messenger's Ice Soul sword was inscribed with an omen Hexagram."
Xuanjade's chilling aura suddenly retracted. Seizing this opportunity, I pressed Shattered Moon sword against his throat, but its blade was ensnared by suddenly appearing dark iron chains.
The patterns of the chains were identical to those of the shackles that had imprisoned the Soul Lantern in my memories, and icy crystals crept up my wrist.
"Your daughter trespassed into the Spirit Illusion Pavilion yesterday; I will address this matter later," he said, snapping his fingers, causing the Shattered Ice prison to tremble. As the Xuan Colored Sleeves swept across the ground covered in Frost Flowers, a sudden sting flared at my neck, where the Snow Phoenix Feather had grazed me. "At the hour of Yin, I demand to see an intact diagram of the Spirit Nurturing Pool."
When the echoes of the Xuan Iron chains faded completely, my mother unexpectedly inserted a warm Snow Phoenix Plume into my hair. The base of that feather was stained with icy blue blood, precisely from the first plume I had collected from the Snow Phoenix during the Spring Festival one hundred years ago.
"Do you still remember, Yao'er?" she asked, brushing her fingers over the faint seal at my nape. "When the Snow Phoenix bathes in fire, it is always its most cherished tail feather that is burned first."
Amidst the humming sound of the vanity mirror's automatic repair, I felt the hidden spiritual patterns within the Snow Phoenix Plume—the very core symbol missing from the Spirit Nurturing Pool. The ice cracks had unknowingly crept to the corners of my mother's eyes, shattering into sparkling powder as she turned to fetch medicine.
Suddenly, a scarlet dew drifted in from outside, carrying the unique chill of Xuanbing Palace. I crushed a scab on my palm and watched as icy blue mist coalesced into a fragmented Hexagram in the air. My mother lightly tapped her medicine bowl against the Kan position of the unfulfilled hexagram, and the brown concoction suddenly reflected images of the Spirit Illusion Pavilion's collapse.
"Some fates," she said as she scooped up a spoonful of golden-hued medicinal liquid and blew on it, "must be severed personally to be reborn."
As the burning pain of the medicine slid down my throat, I caught sight of a dark blue Xuan Iron pattern slowly emerging at the bottom of the bowl. The chain patterns that had once imprisoned the Soul Lantern now flowed through my meridians toward the Heart's contract Curse Seal.
The tinkling sound of my mother organizing her medicine box suddenly felt distant; in a daze, I heard again the clear cry of the Snow Phoenix as it burned its essence, mingled with an infant's wail echoing from fragments of the Soul Lantern.
The Xuan Iron patterns at the bottom of the bowl glimmered with a dark azure glow under candlelight. I stared at those wandering chain designs and suddenly felt an intense heat from my Heart's contract Curse Seal. My mother's fingertip paused as she arranged her medicine box; the crisp sound of a gilded clasp hitting against jadeite tiles startled a hanging icicle at the eaves.
"You should understand better than anyone why the Snow Phoenix bathes in fire," she said, stirring the remaining medicinal liquid with a silver spoon. A few grains of Star Sand surfaced in the brown whirlpool. "Back then, your father..."
"So you want me to burn myself with my Tail Feather?" My grip on the Snow Phoenix Plume trembled slightly; spiritual patterns pressed painfully against my palm and aligned perfectly with the Kan position of the unfulfilled hexagram.
Outside, scarlet dew suddenly froze upon impact with window latticework, causing another crack to form in the vanity mirror. My mother abruptly grasped my right hand that was gripping an ice crack; her silver bells brushed against my Curse Seal: "The Xuanjie Immortal Lord's Xuanbing Spell shares its origin with our mountain-protecting formation. If we can transform this Marriage Contract..."
"Transform?" I jerked my hand back sharply; shards of ice fell onto my gauzy cloak. "Did you not see how he locked my spiritual veins with Xuan Iron chains last night?" A wound on my shoulder blade suddenly oozed Blood Pearls; icy blue liquid dripped along Shattered Moon’s blade patterns and pooled on jadeite tiles in a representation of Li Fire from an unfulfilled hexagram.
The icicles at the eaves shattered simultaneously; a distinctive clang from Xuan Iron chains mixed with a clear cry from the Snow Phoenix burst through the window. My mother quickly stuffed a blood-stained cloth into my sleeve; what remained in my medicine bowl suddenly reflected ice crack patterns swirling across my Xuanjade robe—perfectly matching those spreading from our mountain-protecting formation.
"The hospitality of Linghuan Fairy Realm has indeed improved." The voice wrapped in Xuanjade's coldness penetrated through doors; a burning pain flared at my neck where my life gate seal was located. "I have been made to wait outside your Snow Phoenix Feather's barrier for half a tea time."
My mother pressed down on my fingertip that was gathering Shattered Moon's sword energy as her wide sleeves brushed past me, carrying remnants of Spirit-Calming Incense: "Immortal Sovereign understands; Yao'er just..."
"Mother!" I shook off her hand, the tip of the Snow Phoenix Plume suddenly piercing my fingertip.
An ice-blue Blood Pearl formed a phantom of the Snow Phoenix in the air, which was crushed into ice crystals the moment it collided with the door. The patterns on those chains were identical to the ones that had imprisoned the Soul Lantern last night, even down to the hexagram at the bifurcation of the tips.
As the bolt of the door slid open automatically, I grabbed a blood-stained fragment of the Jade Pendant from the table. The sharp edges I had clutched in last night's teleportation array pierced my palm, and suddenly, mist from the Kan position of the Unfinished Hexagram spilled out, dyeing the entire inner chamber a ghostly blue.
When Xuan Yu stepped onto the ground covered in ice crystals, the dark patterns on Xuan color's brocade boots trembled in sync with the cracks in the protective mountain formation. His gaze swept over the bleeding Curse Seal on my shoulder, and he flicked his fingers to release a wisp of dark spiritual energy.
The ice-blue mist coalesced into an image of the Snow Phoenix rising from flames, and as the last tail feather burned away, I heard a shattering sound coming from the direction of the Spirit Nurturing Pool.
"Where is the array diagram for Three Quarters?" His chain of dark iron slithered toward the vanity like a venomous snake but suddenly recoiled upon touching the Snow Phoenix Plume.
The bronze mirror reflected a fleeting red hexagram on his glabella, which perfectly matched the omen of fire formed by blood from my dreams involving the Snow Phoenix.
Mother suddenly cleared her throat, and three golden needles flew out from her medicine box to seal my heart pulse: "The array diagram for the Spirit Nurturing Pool requires resonance between Snow Phoenix Plume and Xuanbing Spell; could you...?"
"No need!" I waved my sleeve to shake off the golden needles, and with a slash of Shattered Moon's sword energy, I severed a falling strand of hair. "The ice cracks of Linghuan Seventy-Two Peaks do not require Xuanjie secret arts for repair." The scab on my palm suddenly split open, and ice-blue mist formed a fragmented protective mountain formation in mid-air, with its missing eye being precisely where my life pulse was locked by dark iron chains.
Xuan Yu suddenly reached out to grasp my wrist at the life pulse point; dark spiritual energy crawled up through the Curse Seal: "Do you think severing your life pulse can stop the spread of ice cracks?" The coldness from his fingertip froze my attempt to gather celestial power. "When the Snow Phoenix Tail Feather burns out, it will be the moment when the protective mountain formation collapses."
A medicine bowl suddenly fell from the table, and brown medicinal liquid twisted into patterns resembling dark iron chains on the jadeite tiles.
Mother paused in her action of picking up fragments; a dazzling red light suddenly shone from the edge of a silver spoon stained with Star Sand.
I broke free from his grip and stepped back three paces, pressing the tip of Snow Phoenix Plume against my heart's Curse Seal: "If you truly wish to help, why did you go to see Wang Xuan when last night's teleportation array was activated?" Ice cracks crawled up my skirt from beneath my feet, forming an Unfinished Hexagram as they reached into the moonlight by the window.
The remaining icicles at the eaves suddenly exploded simultaneously, and splintered crystals scattered around us, weaving into outlines of Snow Phoenix Wings.
Xuan Yu and Xuan color's dark patterns on their sleeves came alive as if moving through air, coalescing into images of when Linghuan Pavilion collapsed. Among those fallen Liuli Tiles, remnants of soul lanterns entwined with dark iron chains could be faintly seen.
"I am quite curious," he suddenly stepped closer; dark spiritual energy froze my toes as I tried to retreat. "Is what you received from Linghuan Pavilion Master before their fall still warm?"
The clinking sounds of Mother tidying up her medicine box came to an abrupt halt.
I felt for an array symbol hidden within Snow Phoenix Plume; ice-blue Blood Pearl seeped into its feather base along spiritual patterns. The bronze mirror at the vanity reflected our overlapping garments; where Xuan color intertwined with ice blue, an Unfinished Hexagram was slowly reversing.
"Rather than worrying about old matters," I pressed down on a blood-stained fragment of Jade Pendant against a crack in the vanity, "why not calculate how many more days Xuanbing Palace can hold out?" A sound of shattering glass echoed again from the direction of Spirit Nurturing Pool, this time mixed with a dying wail from Snow Phoenix.
Suddenly, several burning Snow Phoenix Feathers floated in through the window; as ashes fell onto Kan position of Unfinished Hexagram, I heard clear infant cries emanating from within fragments of soul lanterns.
Xuan Yu's chain within his sleeve suddenly tightened; astonishingly, the hexagram appearing at its end matched perfectly with markings on Mother's silver bell around her wrist.
"Three days later, on the night of New Moon." As he turned, Xuan Colored Sleeves extinguished half of the spirit candles, and Han Shuang formed a chain totem at the doorframe. "I hope Miss Feng's spirit can complete the Fire Position of the Mountain Guarding Formation."
My mother hesitated, pressing down on my trembling shoulder, the scent of medicine mingling with the burnt aroma of Snow Phoenix Feather lingering at my nose.
I crushed the ice crystals formed from the blood scabs on my palm, watching as the unfulfilled hexagram shattered under the moonlight into Stardust.
Amidst the humming sound of the restored bronze mirror, the last icicle from the eaves fell to the ground, and within the shattered crystals reflected the slowly opening scarlet pupils of Ling Huan Pavilion's Underground.
As Xuan Yu departed, the moonlight suddenly tilted westward by three inches. I stared at the ashes of Snow Phoenix Feather frozen on the Jadeite brick, and a new crack suddenly tore open in the Curse Seal at my shoulder blade.
Ice-blue Blood Pearl dripped along the patterns of Shattered Moon sword, congealing on the ground into a fragmented Fire Hexagram.
"His Xuanbing Spell is backlashing." My mother suddenly grasped my trembling wrist, her fingertip brushing over the icy cracks along the edge of the Curse Seal. "Look at these dark patterns; they clearly show traces of forcibly reversing the Yin-Yang Hexagram..."
I shook off my mother's hand and took two steps back, bumping against the dressing table and knocking over half a box of Star Sand.
The silvery powder coalesced into a phantom of Snow Phoenix in mid-air but was suddenly shredded by a surging Xuan Iron chain as it touched the moonlight by the window.
The Hexagram at the end of the chain perfectly overlapped with the patterns on Wang Xuan's earrings from last night, and a sharp pain spread from my heart to my spiritual center.
"Even if all seventy-two peaks of the immortal sect collapse—" I grabbed a blood-stained fragment of Jade Pendant from my desk, and suddenly icy mist poured out from the Kan position of the unfulfilled hexagram. "There’s no need for Xuanjie to bestow secret arts!"
My mother's silver bell around her wrist suddenly fell off on its own, and Snow Phoenix's First Feather traced star trails across the Jadeite brick.
Those shimmering trails gradually overlapped with the missing eye of the Mountain Guarding Formation but were shattered by a flying Xuan color Talisman Seal just as they were about to close.
From the burning talisman paper emerged Xuan Yu's cold brows and eyes; his dark patterns on his robe aligned perfectly with those on Ling Huan Pavilion's collapsing beams.
"I'd like to see how long Miss Feng's spirit can hold out until another Liuli Tile falls." His fingertip condensed Xuan Ling energy into an icicle, revealing contract patterns spreading from my heart as he opened my cloak ties. "Are there still seven Snow Phoenix Tail Feathers left? Or six?"
As I swung my sword to sever the icicle, Shattered Moon's sword energy was suddenly ensnared by Xuan Iron chains.
The Hexagram on those chains matched exactly with my mother's silver bell pendant's engravings; icy cracks crawled up my wrist along with the blade, forming an omen of unfulfilled hexagram at my life gate.
"If Immortal Sovereign is so idle, why not check out Xuanbing Palace's soul-guarding pillar!" I urged forth spiritual patterns from Snow Phoenix Plume, ice-blue mist coalescing in mid-air into a map of Xuanjie. "Last night at midnight three-quarters, Wang Xuan's Phantom Shade lingered around the Fire Position for half an incense stick."
Xuan Yu's Xuan color sleeves suddenly moved without wind; their dark pattern trajectories synchronized completely with those cracks in the Mountain Guarding Formation.
He flicked his fingers to shatter my condensed phantom; however, splintered ice crystals reassembled into a soul-locking formation diagram of Ling Huan Pavilion as they fell: "The Feng family's sky-gazing technique has indeed advanced to penetrate through Xuanjie barriers?"
My mother suddenly pressed down on my right hand that was gathering celestial power, remnants of Spirit-Calming Incense mingling with Star Sand spilling from her sleeve: "Yao'er was last night for nurturing spirit pool..."
"I'm not interested in excuses." The Xuan Iron chain that surged from Xuan Yu's sleeve suddenly wrapped around my ankle; its end Hexagram glowed with blinding red light. "Since Miss Feng is so capable—" He abruptly tightened his chains, causing me to stumble into his embrace, my nose brushing against the cold fragrance of snow lotus clinging to his Xuan color garment. "Why not go complete the Fire Position of the Mountain Guarding Formation now?"
A crisp sound suddenly came from the direction of Nurturing Spirit Pool as a Liuli Tile fell, mixed with Snow Phoenix's dying wail.
I broke free from his grip and stepped back three paces; Shattered Moon's sword tip sparked against the ground: " Immortal Sovereign should worry less about Feng family matters and calculate how much longer your Xuanbing Spell can suppress your life gate’s backlash!"
The icicles at the eaves suddenly shattered in unison, and splintered crystals coalesced under moonlight into a totem of Xuan Iron chains.
Xuan Yu's pupils slightly contracted as Xuan color's brocade boots crushed the ground beneath them. "It seems that before the Master of Linghuan Pavilion fell, he truly left you some good things."
Suddenly, my mother slammed the medicine bowl onto the table, and the brown liquid reflected the image of the cracked Soul-Settling Pillar of Xuanbing Palace. Seizing the opportunity, I pressed Snow Phoenix Plume against my heart, and the ice-blue Blood Pearl seeping from the base of the feather suddenly formed a complete protective array in mid-air—the missing Li Fire array eye was unmistakably Xuan Yu's Xuanbing Jadeite at his waist.
"I see." Xuan Yu suddenly chuckled lightly, his ethereal energy freezing the descending Star Sand. "Miss Feng's method of tearing apart the Marriage Contract is indeed far superior to Wang Xuan's from three hundred years ago."
I swung my sword to shatter the frozen Star Sand, and as Ice Shard grazed my cheek, it carried with it the cold fragrance of snow lotus. "If Immortal Sovereign misses an Old Friend, why not dismantle the Soul-Locking Array of Xuanbing Palace?" The fragments of Palm Jade Pendant suddenly grew hot, and the Hexagram of the unfulfilled divination reversed within the Blood Pearl. "After all, Wang Xuan's remnant soul was still lamenting last night about how cold the Xuan Iron Chain is."
Suddenly, all the spiritual candles in the inner chamber extinguished at once. In the darkness, the clang of the Xuan Iron Chain brushed against my ear as a chill pierced through the seal at my neck.
Xuan Yu's voice, carrying the cold breath of snow lotus, sounded very close. "Do you really think I can't see that there's a fragment of Linghuan Pavilion's Sky-Peering Mirror hidden within Snow Phoenix Plume?"
My mother abruptly overturned the medicine box, and three golden needles shot towards Xuan Yu's vital points, brushing against my hair. In that moment when he crushed the needles with his sleeve's Xuan Iron Chain, I took advantage and thrust my Shattered Moon sword into his left shoulder—at the instant the blade touched Xuan color's fabric, the missing array eye of the protective formation suddenly revealed itself under the moonlight.
The ice-blue Blood Pearl flowed back along the blade, and my celestial power surged uncontrollably toward Xuan Yu's heart. The wandering contract Curse Seals emitted an eerie red light in the darkness, resonating with the Soul-Locking Array beneath Linghuan Pavilion.
A deafening collapse echoed from the direction of the Spirit-Womb Pool, mixed with the clear cry of Snow Phoenix as its burning tail feather ignited.
"Stop!" My mother suddenly ignited her life soul lamp; its warm yellow glow illuminated our wrists bound by Xuan Iron Chains. "You are activating the Symbiotic Curse from three hundred years ago!"
Xuan Yu suddenly formed a seal to freeze my flowing celestial power; his ethereal energy crawled over my entire body through the contract Curse Seal. He pressed his fingertip against my bleeding lip corner, and ice cracks spread from his finger to my forearm. "Feng Yao, are you truly foolish enough to feed blood from Snow Phoenix to nourish a Sky-Peering Mirror?"
I bit through Tip of the Tongue and spat out Essence Blood; ice-blue mist coalesced in mid-air into a complete unfulfilled divination hexagram. "How much more clever can Immortal Sovereign be?" As Blood Pearl fell to the ground, it reflected cracks on the Soul-Settling Pillar of Xuanbing Palace. "Using Xuanbing Spell to suppress Backlash—do you really think you can deceive Snow Phoenix's Li Fire Eye?"
The remaining ice shards at the eaves suddenly exploded into powder; those crystalline fragments coalesced into a map of Xuanjie under moonlight.
I caught sight of a red dot representing Wang Xuan drifting at Kun Position, which corresponded precisely to where the protective formation had suddenly cracked open.
Xuan Yu suddenly grasped my wrist tightly; his ethereal energy forcibly poured into my vital point. "I will say this one last time—" His palm's chill froze my attempt to gather celestial power. "Put away your ridiculous Sky-Peering technique before Yin hour..."
"No need!" I urged forth Li Fire spirit patterns within Snow Phoenix Plume; ice-blue flames suddenly engulfed half of the room filled with Xuan Iron Chains. "Even if every member of Feng Clan dies in battle, it is not for Xuanjie to interfere!"
A thunderous explosion erupted from the direction of Spirit-Womb Pool; shockwaves shattered all Window Lattices.
Amidst flying Liuli Fragments, I glimpsed that Xuan Yu and Xuan color ’s robes were scorched by Li Fire, revealing patterns of their hearts entwined with contract Curse Seal—those were clearly Backlash wounds left by forcibly reversing Yin and Yang Hexagram.
My mother suddenly pressed her life soul lamp against Kan position of unfulfilled hexagram; warm yellow light revealed images of three hundred years ago when Master of Linghuan Pavilion fell.
At that moment when Xuan Yu saw a certain figure, he suddenly withdrew his strength; as he retracted his iron chain, it left ice cracks around my wrist.
"Enough." He waved his sleeve to sweep away all Star Sand in the room; as his Xuan Colored Sleeves passed by, they stirred up a vortex carrying with it snow lotus’s cold fragrance. "Three days later on New Moon night, I will personally repair the Li Fire array eye."
I wiped away the icy blue bloodstains at the corners of my lips. The tip of the Shattered Moon sword etched a Flame Sigil hexagram into the ground. "Wouldn't it be better to keep the spiritual energy to soothe Wang Xuan's lingering soul?" As the blade grazed the edge of his brocade boots, sparks flew. "After all, the Soul Lock Array of Xuanbing Palace let out quite a bit of resentment last night."
Suddenly, the moonlight was engulfed by a crimson mist. In the eerie blue flames reignited by the spirit candle, as Xuan Yu turned, the dark patterns on Xuan color's robe perfectly overlapped with the cracks in the protective mountain array.
He flicked a strand of mysterious spiritual energy from his fingertip to freeze my bleeding wound, but the chill traveled through my meridians toward the contract curse seal at my heart.
"Miss Wind, being so stubborn..." He chuckled softly, shattering the ice crystals scattered on the ground. The lingering sound mixed with the clinking of dark iron chains dissipated into the night wind, "It reminds me of an old friend who was oblivious to danger a hundred years ago."
At the moment Xuan Yu departed, my mother spat out a mouthful of golden blood, and the halo of her life soul lamp suddenly dimmed by a third.
As I supported her swaying body, I caught sight of a star map slipping from her sleeve—the hexagram from three hundred years ago perfectly aligned with tonight's Flame Sigil position in the unfulfilled hexagram.
Burning Snow Phoenix Feathers drifted in from outside. When ashes fell onto the blood-stained remnants of a jade pendant, I heard the sharp sound of chains breaking from beneath Linghuan Pavilion.
Curled up on the Cold Jade Couch, my fingertip gripped tightly onto the silk quilt soaked in cold sweat.
The Linghuan Immortal Technique surged through my meridians like a raging storm; those once gentle spiritual energies transformed into countless silver needles piercing into my sea of consciousness.
"Stop!" I shot up abruptly, still tasting blood from my dreams in my throat.
The image of Xuan Yu standing with his sword amidst the ruins of the immortal gate lingered in my mind. As his Xuan Colored Sleeves brushed past my mother's blood-stained skirt hem, even his fingertips were frosted with ice.
A strange sound came from outside the window lattice, and I instinctively formed a seal with my fingers.
The glass lamp on the jadeite desk suddenly exploded into countless points of light, coalescing into a translucent memory mist in mid-air—my mother’s shadow as she combed my hair last night.
"Yao'er, you must nurture the Jade Sky Hairpin with spiritual essence." In that glowing image, my mother pressed the pin's tail against my glabella. The warm celestial power flowed like a spring stream. "The marriage alliance concerning Xuanjie affects the fate of three realms; you and Xuan Yu, Immortal Sovereign..."
Boom!
The thunderous sound of the barrier shattering interrupted my memories as Xuan color's dark-patterned robe brushed against scattered Liuli Fragments on the ground.
The chilling aura surrounding Xuan Yu froze my unspoken gasp. He held my jaw with his long fingers, yet his fingertips were unexpectedly warm.
"The heart-seeking technique from Linghuan Fairy Realm truly lives up to its reputation." The red celestial patterns at his eyes flickered erratically. Suddenly, my neck’s Jade Sky Hairpin emitted a humming sound as icy blue spiritual energy clashed with his Xuan Color Celestial Power, sparking tiny bolts of lightning between us.
I endured the pain and summoned memories from within my sea of consciousness: " Immortal Sovereign visits at this late hour to assess our marriage alliance's outcome?" The light curtain revealed yesterday’s scene where Heavenly Wedding Wine spilled onto the ground; amber liquid vaporized into strange purple smoke on Xuanbing Jade bricks.
Xuan Yu's pupils constricted sharply as the mysterious spiritual energy coiling around my wrist tightened suddenly.
The Jade Sky Hairpin burst forth with dazzling azure light. My mother's protective spell transformed into vines that wrapped around his wrist, and our entwined spiritual energies coalesced into a twin contract imprint in mid-air.
"I see." He stepped back half a pace after releasing his grip, a smile colder than Han Tan gracing his lips. "It turns out that the spirit medium bloodline of your Wind clan can trigger a Life and Death Contract."
The copper bell at the eaves jingled without wind. I gazed at the intertwined lotus pattern appearing on my hand and suddenly recalled that during the Heavenly Marriage Ceremony, it was not hehuan flowers that fell like rain but rather blood-red mandalas.
Comment 0 Comment Count