Before the last thread of consciousness faded away, Er’er thought that the Nine Heavens was truly a detestable place.

Since arriving here, she had been enduring various kinds of pain without respite, as if making up for all the suffering she had missed in her several hundred years of existence. It was most unwelcoming.

Moreover, Supreme God Li Ye was truly unreasonable, cold-blooded, and inhumane.

Kan Ze was right; she had been too naive.

Darkness surged up like a tide, and Er’er’s pupils gradually dilated. In less than a moment, she fell from the stone pillar like a withered leaf, swaying as she descended.

…

“Baseless fury. You lost control.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Whatever you say. I’m leaving, and she should go back too.”

…

…

“…”

“You truly are a madman.”

Fragments of conversation drifted to her ears. Er’er found it noisy and couldn’t help but frown, turning over and pulling the blanket over her head.

Soon after, the voices disappeared completely, and familiar bird songs and the sound of a stone mill turning came from around her.

Her heart inexplicably settled, and Er’er slept peacefully.

By the time she woke up, dawn was breaking outside.

Er’er clutched the unfamiliar bedding, bewildered for quite a while before realizing she was still alive.

After being burned inside and out by Supreme God Li Ye’s divine fire, she was still alive?

She examined her divine consciousness in astonishment. It seemed Kan Ze’s voice was gone. Although her internal organs showed traces of being scorched, the injuries weren’t fatal.

“Kan Ze?” she called out instinctively.

No one answered her.

Belatedly recalling Kan Ze’s earlier words, Er’er felt stunned.

Had Li Ye detected Kan Ze’s presence and become so enraged that he directly controlled her and destroyed the core element by brute force?

But why? She had been concealing it well all along. She had even set up barriers while cultivating, and the master hadn’t discovered it before. How could he possibly make his move at this time?

Unless he had known from the beginning, and then something angered him, making him feel that Kan Ze could no longer remain.

In other words, all her cautious probing and concealment had been completely unnecessary. The master had treated her as Kan Ze’s vessel from the start, striving to make her cultivate the fire path. When her immortal power was sufficient to suppress Kan Ze and trap him, he would be able to close the net.

As expected of a master, what a formidable scheme.

She weakly applauded him, feeling sad.

Despite all her efforts, she still couldn’t be the cat in the master’s arms. After a hundred years, she would still vanish like smoke and ashes, becoming just a speck of dust in the world.

Had she known earlier, she wouldn’t have roasted corn for him!

Her cheeks puffed up as Er’er threw back the covers, intending to get out of bed.

“You should rest a while longer,” suddenly came the voice of the tongue spirit bird from beside her.

Er’er retracted her leg in fright and turned to look to her left, only to see Kan Qi sitting quietly beside her, gazing at her with gentle eyes.

“Your injuries are severe. You almost fell from the Nine Heavens,” the tongue spirit bird imitated its master’s tone exactly. “I happened to be passing through the cloud sea, so I brought the young lady back.”

That meant the master had thrown her out of the Upper Bing Palace.

The tip of her nose felt slightly sour, and Er’er tried hard to sniff it back, mumbling: “Thank you.”

Seeing her gloomy expression, Kan Qi tactfully refrained from asking more questions and simply placed a token beside her hand: “This belongs to you.”

A jade-green tablet with the character “Kan” on it—how could this possibly be her possession?

Er’er honestly shook her head: “I don’t recognize it.”

Kan Qi paused, and the tongue spirit bird on his shoulder tilted its head: “This is the jade pendant of the Kan clan’s leader. Naturally, you wouldn’t recognize it, but it should be yours.”

Er’er: ???

Had the Kan clan gone mad? If their leader were gone, they should simply choose another. How desperate would they have to be to choose her?

“Miss, please don’t misunderstand,” said the tongue spirit bird. “The jade pendant chose its own master. The Kan clan already has a candidate for leadership, but this jade willingly follows you, and we have no way to prevent it.”

As it spoke, those tiny black sesame seed-like eyes seemed to roll at her, full of disdain.

Er’er raised an eyebrow as she examined the jade pendant.

Kan Ze was no longer within her, so why would it recognize her? However, the jade was of excellent quality. If she ever faced difficulties, she could exchange them for something valuable.

As if sensing her thoughts, the jade pendant trembled, then transformed into a beam of light that flew into her chest and disappeared.

Er’er felt a coolness in her heart, and when she tried to grab it, she was too late.

“Eh? It can do that?” she complained, scratching her chin in dissatisfaction.

Kan Qi smiled, and then the tongue spirit bird asked her: “Young lady, you should be from the Upper Bing Palace, but you’ve been sleeping here for over two days. Why hasn’t anyone come looking for you?”

This reminder only made Er’er hang her head again.

“It’s nothing,” she said with feigned indifference. “The Upper Bing Palace doesn’t suit me. I’m thinking of joining another immortal sect.”

Kan Qi sensed she wasn’t telling the whole truth. His shoulder moved, and the tongue spirit bird flapped its wings and landed on her.

Then Er’er heard the tongue spirit bird roar in a voice three times louder than before: “Who would stay in the Upper Bing Palace if not to save their life? Li Ye, you *#&…!”

Quick as lightning, Er’er pinched the tongue spirit bird’s beak shut.

Kan Qi stared at her in astonishment.

Laughing nervously, Er’er held the tongue spirit bird and placed it back on his shoulder: “Small matter, small matter.”

The tongue spirit bird had been with him for several hundred years, but this was the first time Kan Qi discovered it could speak so loudly. He couldn’t help but look at this young lady with fresh eyes, smiling slightly.

“The Kan clan’s immortal sect is a good place,” the tongue spirit bird, back on Kan Qi’s shoulder, said in an instantly gentle and peaceful voice. “If the young lady wants to transfer, you might consider it.”

Yeah, right. A sect without a leader—what kind of good place is that? Er’er muttered to herself as she patted her shoulder, vaguely saying: “I’ll wander for some time. There’s no rush.”

Kan Qi nodded without pressing further, and rose to leave: “Young lady, please rest for now. I have to visit Supreme God Chu Yuan’s immortal residence for a consultation.”

“Oh, alright,” Er’er casually responded, starting to examine the room.

Just as Kan Qi was about to cross the threshold, she suddenly realized something was wrong and scrambled to grab him: “Wait!”

“Did you say Supreme God Chu Yuan?” she stared.

Kan Qi didn’t understand why she was so agitated, but patiently explained: “Supreme God Chu Yuan was also severely injured a few days ago and cannot regulate his breath. He’s about to enter seclusion and has specially requested me to diagnose him before he does so. I promised them that as soon as you woke up, I would fulfill the appointment.”

Calculating the dates, Er’er’s expression changed.

Hadn’t she already warned Supreme God Chu Yuan not to go to the Ten Directions Cloud Sea? How could he still be injured and entering seclusion? Although it was delayed by a few days, this meant he would still be unable to save Taihe Xianshi.

“I’ll go with you,” Er’er looked up.

Kan Qi wanted to refuse—why would he bring a young girl along when he was going to examine a patient?

But her expression was too serious, so serious that he couldn’t refuse, and could only nod.

Two days had passed, and nothing had changed in the Nine Heavens. Er’er sat on Kan Qi’s traveling cloud as they passed over the Ten Directions Cloud Sea, vaguely sensing Li Ye’s lingering aura there.

A feeling of helplessness suddenly arose in her heart.

She had come to the Nine Heavens with such enthusiasm, tried so hard to change the fate of the Taihe Immortal Sect, but how had she circled only to end up back where she started?

Could it be that she could only accept fate?

The scenery rapidly receded, and the traveling cloud quickly stopped in front of Supreme God Chu Yuan’s immortal residence. When Er’er dismounted, she twisted her ankle but, for the first time, didn’t cry out in pain. Gritting her teeth, she limped along behind Kan Qi through the door.

A wound stretched from Chu Yuan’s left shoulder to his right ribs, the wound open and horrifying to behold.

Er’er hadn’t even had time to bow before her eyes reddened.

Wounds left by the Phoenix-Slaying Blade were often difficult to heal and caused a burning sensation. Only someone as kind as Supreme God Chu Yuan could endure such pain and still smile at her.

“You’ve recovered well,” he said.

These words shouldn’t have been directed at her. Er’er was confused until the tongue spirit bird explained beside her: “When the young lady was severely injured and about to fall from the Nine Heavens, Supreme God Chu Yuan pulled you back, and it was precisely because of this that he was injured by Supreme God Li Ye.”

“…” What was going on?

Er’er was shocked.

In her original prophetic dream, Supreme God Chu Yuan had been injured because he was lured away by immortals pretending to be disciples of Zhen Huan Gong, and accidentally trespassed into Li Ye’s formation when the latter harbored killing intent. How had it now become because he saved her?

If that was the case, wouldn’t the one who harmed her sect be herself?

Her heart sank, and Er’er’s lips turned pale.

“The Way of Heaven has its cause and effect,” Supreme God Chu Yuan sighed with a forced smile. “I don’t know if the Immortal Master has told you that those who know the mandate of Heaven cannot forcibly change cause and effect.”

“He has,” blinking her rabbit-like eyes, Er’er gritted her teeth. “The Immortal Master has told me more than once.”

From the moment she decided to ascend to the Nine Heavens, old Taihe had nagged endlessly, saying her cultivation was insufficient, saying she was inadequate in various ways, saying she would never succeed.

She knew he was afraid she would sacrifice herself, suffer retribution, and never be reincarnated.

But if after a hundred years, no one was destined to be reincarnated anyway, what did it matter if she suffered retribution? At least she could exchange it for several decades of life for so many people in the immortal sect.

The old man couldn’t calculate clearly, but she could.

This fate, she would not accept, not even for all the malt candy in the world.

“Is Supreme God about to enter seclusion?” Er’er asked.

Chu Yuan nodded helplessly.

“Very well.” She clasped her hands and bowed to him three more times. “Please bestow upon me an object containing your immortal power.”

This was easy enough. Chu Yuan immediately removed his ring and handed it to her.

“This object is not an immortal artifact, and its spiritual power is limited,” he coughed twice, his voice growing fainter. “It may not be of much help.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Er’er clutched the ring tightly, then turned to Kan Qi and said, “Take his pulse now. I must leave first.”

Chu Yuan frowned, wanting to say more, but when he opened his mouth, blood gushed out. Kan Qi hurriedly supported him and used acupuncture to stop the bleeding.

***

A great fire had raged through the Upper Bing Palace, leaving nothing but cold black stone after it burned out.

Li Ye sat in the shadow of his throne, silently holding that piece of Water Moon and Flower.

He felt very tranquil, with no chickens, ducks, geese, or donkeys, no one jumping about. This kind of peace felt long overdue.

He should have done this earlier. He didn’t know what had bewitched his heart to delay until now.

But it was fine. He had crushed Kan Ze’s core element and thrown the person out. From now on, he could concentrate on cultivation again without needing to think about miscellaneous things.

This was the state of mind he should have had.

It just.

Li Ye thought listlessly; he probably hadn’t thrown her far enough, and he didn’t know if that little creature would suddenly scurry back again.