Jingtai's Plan

Not long after, in the Heavenly Phoenix Domain, the sun and moon still hung in the sky, and the mountains and rivers remained undisturbed.

The great sun returned to the ancient bronze tree, standing side by side with the moon atop its branches.

The two halves of the Heavenly Phoenix Domain pulled at each other, their clear and turbid energies mingling, and now nothing could stop them from merging into one.

Yet...

The towering manifestation of divine might had collapsed.

Though the sun and moon still shared the sky, without that crimson figure, the heavens and earth seemed dimmer.

Amid Ying Bing’s soft sigh,

both the sun and the moon lost their brilliance, as if all things had frozen in place.

.....

"How is Young Hero Li?"

"We can’t see him now. Who knows if he’s safe..."

"The cost of his technique must have been immense..."

"Because of him, that Celestial City didn’t fall. He saved an entire world—who knows what he sacrificed?"

Of course, no one else knew. The price was another world.

The streets and alleys of the imperial capital buzzed with talk of this. Though many refused to believe it, they couldn’t help but wonder if Young Hero Li had perished.

Yet countless people still hoped he was alive.

"Towering between heaven and earth" had always been just a phrase—until today, when someone truly held up the sky.

And that someone was just a young man.

What kind of conviction had driven him?

Though his figure had vanished from the Scroll of Mountains and Rivers, his image remained etched in countless hearts.

The beauties of Hundred Blossoms Pavilion fell into silence, though the pounding of their hearts seemed deafening.

"How did he go step by step from the Mortal City to this point?"

Tu Yan clenched her thighs, murmuring to herself before letting out a soft moan.

"From the very beginning, he went to the Mortal City on purpose."

"Mmm... He probably believed the path should be walked one step at a time. To truly pass the trial of the Three Cities—Heaven, Earth, and Mortal—he had to start from the very bottom, as a mere mortal."

"Young Hero Li may not lack wives, but surely he needs a maidservant or two?"

"He mustn’t come to harm..."

The girls’ attitudes had done a complete about-face, filled with awe. The sight of a mortal standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the sun and moon was too overwhelming—who could remain unmoved?

They say one should never meet someone too extraordinary in their youth. Today, they had.

Since ancient times, heroes have matched with beauties...

"Weren’t you all saying before that our patron was utterly unremarkable?"

Lan Tian puffed her cheeks, chewing as she voiced her confusion.

"But no matter when, in the eyes of our patron’s lady, our patron always seems to shine. How strange..."

"......"

Her clear, innocent question plunged the Hundred Blossoms beauties into silence.

Lan Tian hadn’t meant anything by it.

But why did it sound like she was saying they weren’t worthy?

......

Beneath the imperial canopy.

"How is that boy Li Mo?"

Emperor Jingtai’s voice strained to remain calm, yet his tone betrayed his shock.

"Your Majesty, this old woman truly does not know."

Old Granny Yantian shook her head. "If we don’t use fate-divination and rely only on our judgment, haven’t you already reached your own conclusion?"

"......"

Jingtai lowered his gaze. Yes, he had his answer—he was merely clinging to a faint, desperate hope.

To his eyes,

even if Li Mo were saved, he would likely only barely cling to life.

In this world, nothing comes without a price.

Old Granny Yantian’s clouded eyes flickered briefly before she spoke again:

"Your Majesty, that boy has always been inscrutable. Our judgment may not hold. As the saying goes, ‘those who survive great calamities are destined for greater blessings.’ A person like him won’t die so easily. As long as he lives, he may yet find his own fortune."

"Let us hope so. The Nine Heavens and Ten Lands are now seething with hidden currents, far more complex than the Celestial City. I don’t know how much time I have left."

Emperor Jingtai wiped the blood from his nose and lips.

The old woman’s voice suddenly grew fervent:

"At the very least, there is one thing you will witness today."

"The Heavenly Phoenix Domain has returned to its rightful place. She has answered the call of the mortal world and will ascend once more. The glory of the Age of Gods and Demons will reappear—you, I, and all under heaven shall bear witness!"

Ying Bing was about to break through.

The entire imperial capital knew it.

By now, the great sun had vanished, the shadow of the ancient tree fading into chaos. The true spirits of all things within the Celestial City manifested.

Buds blossomed across the ancient tree, bursting open moments later like stars and jade, breathtaking in their beauty.

The bronze tree transformed, becoming a tree of jade.

If the Moon Palace truly had a jade osmanthus, it might look like this.

Even those at the Seventh Realm—the Realm of Grasping Mysteries—couldn’t suppress their awe, struck speechless, hearts trembling.

If breaking through the Inner Landscape already brought such splendor, what heights would she reach in the future?

Whoosh—

The light of the Scroll of Mountains and Rivers shattered completely, the depiction of the Celestial City vanishing without a trace.

With the Heavenly Phoenix Domain returned to its master, it had slipped free of the Scroll’s control.

The light was gone, and Ying Bing’s form could no longer be seen.

But the light had become a sky full of stars, and at that moment, a bright moon rose to hang above the imperial capital.

....

Bathed in moonlight, all was silent.

Two women stood facing each other, like twin lotus flowers on a single stalk.

"From now on, I will no longer exist in your life," Ying Huang said softly, her gentle smile unlike that of a deity.

"You don’t intend to revive through me?"

Ying Bing frowned.

She remembered her past life, how she had gradually become someone else—a stranger. Yet now, Ying Huang seemed ready to let go without hesitation.

The other was but a remnant of will, yet she couldn’t help but wonder.

Ying Huang smiled faintly.

"Congratulations. You’ve reclaimed the Heavenly Phoenix Domain and passed my trial."

"I know what troubles you."

"Without my power, you cannot save him. But if you let me revive, you cannot stay by his side."

"Because he exists, I believe you won’t become another version of me, retreading the path of my failure."

"And I believe you and he can walk the road I left unfinished."

What unfinished road?

Even the foremost of the Nine Immortals couldn’t complete it?

Ying Bing had no time to ponder, for her thoughts were consumed by another matter.

The Ice Fairy’s jade-like face seemed on the verge of shattering:

"Where is he?"