Zhi Xi was extremely astonished: “At such a young age, to become Wangshu? The Lord Dijuns of Yuhua Hall are actually this reckless!”

Wangshu had now been classified as a warrior position. She simply couldn’t believe how Xuan Yi could become a warrior. Just looking at her outfit today, one could tell she absolutely wasn’t cut out for this. What warrior willing to fight would wear wooden-soled shoes? And hang a cumbersome fox fur stole.

“So they’re finding formidable warriors to teach me martial arts.” Xuan Yi tugged at her sleeve and shook it. “They might even ask Senior Sister to teach me. Senior Sister, you absolutely must not teach me well.”

Zhi Xi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but warmth welled up in her heart. Long ago at Mingxing Hall, this little girl had smiled charmingly by her side just like this, but later for some unknown reason, she stopped coming. Although Yan Xia returned and was also talkative and cheerful, she always felt something was missing. When it came to adorably mischievous charm, Xuan Yi was still number one.

“All those years neither formally withdrawing from study nor attending classes—it’s very improper. Good thing you didn’t run into Junior Brother Gu Ting today, otherwise if you met him, he would certainly nag you thoroughly.”

Zhi Xi tapped her forehead.

It had been a long time since she’d heard this senior sister’s lecture. Xuan Yi smiled as she turned her head to stare at her: “Have all the senior brothers become warriors now?”

Zhi Xi recited them like treasures: “Senior Brother Tai Yao’s constitution is weak, so he couldn’t become a warrior. He now serves at Wenhua Hall. Junior Brother Gu Ting was assigned to Yuhua Hall’s Bingchen Division. Junior Sister Yan Xia is with him. They should be returning these few days.”

She suddenly paused, then continued: “Junior Brother Fucang was assigned to the Dingmao Division, led by Crown Prince Chang Qin. Right now he’s probably in the lower realm dealing with Great Lord Fuquan.”

When Zhi Xi reached this point, she couldn’t help but look carefully at Xuan Yi. Her expression was very calm, showing no emotional fluctuation whatsoever. For a moment, Zhi Xi didn’t know what to say.

The matter of Fucang descending to the lower realm to sever his karmic ties back then hadn’t spread widely. Even within Mingxing Hall, only a few disciples knew the reason. That this little princess could drive Fucang to such obsessive madness—Gu Ting had been furious about it for a long time. But very quickly, Fucang severed his karmic ties. Upon returning to the upper realm, he requested leave for a thousand-year dream and slept for four thousand years. This matter had even caused quite a stir. For this, Gu Ting had specifically written a letter delivered to Zhongshan, the gist being to have Xuan Yi return to Mingxing Hall to continue her studies, but received no reply.

Had Fucang severed his karmic ties so quickly because this little princess had fanned the flames? No one knew. Fucang had always been taciturn by nature, remaining silent even when Gu Ting asked.

The so-called severing of karmic ties meant letting go of past events and former times. Yan Xia was like this. Zhi Xi had once guiltily and quietly probed, and at that time Yan Xia said: It’s like a dark cloud in my heart dispersed. Now when Shao Yi is mentioned, I don’t feel any ripples either.

Whether Fucang had parted clouds to see the sun like Yan Xia, no one could say for certain. Gradually, they stopped mentioning Xuan Yi’s name in his presence. Not long after that came the disaster of the Sea of Parting Regret ravaging everything. The upper and lower realms fell into great chaos. They busied themselves all day training in martial arts and techniques, and this matter was cast even further behind them. If she hadn’t encountered Xuan Yi today, she probably wouldn’t have recalled this past event either.

Should she ask? She hadn’t come to Mingxing Hall all these years—could it be because Junior Brother Fucang was here? Since she was heartless enough to drive him to descend to the lower realm to sever karmic ties, why couldn’t she face him calmly?

Zhi Xi was still hesitating when this little princess suddenly shook her sleeve and asked: “Senior Sister? Where are you going? Can I accompany you?”

She quickly returned to her senses: “I need to go to Lingxi Courtyard. Let’s go together.”

Better not to ask. With Xuan Yi’s temperament, even if asked, she would likely deflect. Moreover, if she had ever felt genuine affection for Junior Brother Fucang, her questions would surely make her secretly sad. She didn’t want to see her unhappy.

She only picked out interesting things to talk about, like how when Tai Yao turned forty thousand years old, the Celestial Emperor arranged a match for him with the eldest princess of the Eastern Sea Dragon God. Because this eldest princess had once been involved with Shao Yi, Tai Yao’s face stayed green for several years. And then there was Yan Xia, who was constantly being matched with various suitors. Probably the Red Emperor felt this youngest daughter was naturally amorous by nature and feared she would get entangled with divine lords similar to Shao Yi, so he was determined to marry her off quickly. During that period, Yan Xia nearly went mad. Fortunately, the Red Emperor’s wife stopped this absurd behavior, ultimately returning Yan Xia her peace.

They quickly arrived at Lingxi Courtyard. Zhi Xi went in to conduct her business while Xuan Yi played idly with her sleeves at the door. Suddenly she seemed to hear some kind of cheering sound in the distance. She stretched her ears to listen, but couldn’t hear clearly no matter how hard she tried. Before long, she saw many warriors rush past Lingxi Courtyard in a flurry, shouting as they ran: “Great Lord Fuquan has been slain!”

This fallen demon clan great lord could be called the thorn in the divine realm’s eye. Over two thousand years, countless warriors had been dispatched to the lower realm to slay him, but not one succeeded. Lord Shenjun Feilian had even perished at his hands. Today he was finally eliminated. The various gods were simply overcome with mixed grief and joy, cheering all along the way, singing loudly all along the way, and not forgetting to inquire about casualties all along the way—creating quite a commotion.

Xuan Yi was stunned for a while, then turned her head to see Zhi Xi emerge from Lingxi Courtyard, her face also filled with mixed grief and joy, tears still hanging at the corners of her eyes, tightly clutching a letter in her hand—she had even crumpled it.

“Senior Sister?” Xuan Yi asked softly.

Zhi Xi quickly wiped away her tears, unable to stop herself from wanting to laugh: “…I can go to the Wuchen Division tomorrow!”

Xuan Yi couldn’t make heads or tails of it for a moment. Was going to the Wuchen Division something to be overjoyed about?

Zhi Xi carefully placed the letter against her chest. After holding it in for a long time, she ultimately couldn’t contain it. She grabbed Xuan Yi’s hand and hopped and jumped. Since knowing her, Xuan Yi had never seen her this happy. Zhi Xi was always mature and steady, rarely showing such an innocent side.

She couldn’t help but smile as well, saying gently: “Congratulations to Senior Sister for having her heart’s wish fulfilled.”

Zhi Xi’s heart had already flown to the lower realm. She couldn’t stay any longer and hurriedly ran forward a few steps before turning back: “I’m going back! Tomorrow I still have to rush to the lower realm. Xuan Yi, cultivate well and don’t be lazy!”

Ah, she was leaving just like that… Xuan Yi waved her hand, watching her depart. She had originally wanted to ask her to stay overnight with her. This Yuhua Hall with gods coming and going, noisy and chaotic—she definitely wouldn’t sleep well tonight.

She counted the paulownia trees along the path one by one as she walked forward, then turned a corner to reach the White Armor Courtyard arranged for her lodging.

Xuan Yi pushed open the courtyard gate of White Armor Courtyard. Before the hall was a patch of grass neither large nor small, with a osmanthus tree neither large nor small. It had been a very long time since she’d lived in such a simple palace.

Inside the hall was empty. The previous Lord Dijuns and Goddess Wangshu had all left. Xuan Yi wandered into the bedchamber and lay down on the bed, groping around at the bedside for quite a while before opening the white jade box containing candied plums and stuffing one plum into her mouth.

She had already decided—no matter who came to teach her martial arts, she only had one phrase: I don’t know how.

That night, Xuan Yi indeed didn’t sleep well. She was always particular about her bed, and it had been over twenty thousand years since she’d left Zhongshan. Coming suddenly to an unfamiliar place, she couldn’t fall asleep no matter what. She kept feeling this place wasn’t as quiet as Zifu, and even the scent on the bedding was unpleasant.

She used her sleeve to wrap her head and face entirely, curling up in the innermost part of the bed. Not until dawn was about to break did she finally fall into a deep sleep.

She hadn’t slept long when knocking sounds came one after another. The female attendant specifically assigned to serve her didn’t even have a voice as pleasant as those at home, calling out incessantly: “Princess! The princess should get up! Time to cultivate!”

Xuan Yi painfully buried her head in the bedding, murmuring: “I don’t know how…”

“Princess! Princess?”

“I don’t know how…”

Someone seemed to say something in a low voice. That ear-splitting female attendant finally stopped calling out. Before long, the bedchamber door was gently knocked on again. Xuan Yi pretended not to hear. After another moment, the bedpost was actually knocked twice. This female immortal was so audacious, actually daring to be this disrespectful.

She waved her hand: “Get out!”

There was no response. The bedpost was gently knocked twice again. Xuan Yi suddenly turned over. What met her eyes was a pair of cloud-patterned long boots. Following them upward was a tea-white long robe with cloud patterns embroidered on the hem.

She didn’t continue looking up any further, using the bedding to cover her face—this was terrible.

After a moment, a familiar, alluring and low voice sounded faintly: “Get up.”