The sunset clouds on the horizon resembled shimmering reddish-brown silk. Er’er sat on the soft, fluffy traveling cloud, glanced at the person standing rigidly beside her, and tugged at his robe.

“Sit down.”

Li Ye glanced sideways and said irritably, “Have you ever seen any immortal who lazily sits on a traveling cloud while touring around?”

Er’er thought seriously for a moment, then answered, “Guanyin and Buddha.”

Li Ye: “…”

He swept his sleeve and sat down beside her with a gloomy face, saying, “That’s why when they faced me, they didn’t even have the strength to fight back.”

Seeing the hidden fury flickering in his eyes, Er’er took his hand and gently squeezed it: “Since you’ve already accomplished what you wanted to do, why are you still unhappy?”

Li Ye pressed his lips together and remained silent.

He had killed tens of thousands of immortals, and even though they had attacked him first, he still felt uneasy.

If it were before, he wouldn’t have had such concerns. Those who opposed him perished, regardless of whether they were immortals or ghosts. But now, perhaps influenced by this little creature, the more he killed, the more troubled he felt.

Before coming to the Immortal Island, he had killed Gen Qi.

The Gen clan had no mutual generation or restraint relationship with his Li clan, but Gen Qi was the last living authority among the immortal sects. When he crushed Gen Qi’s core element, the other elders and supreme gods of the Gen clan were watching nearby. They did not move against him and even voluntarily submitted after Gen Qi’s core element had scattered into dust.

“As long as the Supreme God spares our clan’s lives, we are willing to support you as our leader.”

Who would care about that worthless position?

Gen Qi attacked first, so why did they make it sound as if he was the bloodthirsty one?

Li Ye was thoroughly displeased and turned to leave.

When he saw Er’er, his heart softened a little, but when he thought of her immortal sect still in the mortal realm, he couldn’t bring himself to smile.

Sitting stiffly beside her, Li Ye remained silent for a long while before finally speaking: “If you were only with me, with no one else around, would you be unhappy?”

Her eyelashes trembled, and Er’er said softly, “Of course not.”

She looked up to study his expression, then smiled gently again: “What about you? Would you be unhappy?”

“No,” Li Ye uttered these two words coldly, staring straight ahead.

The wind on the Immortal Island carried the fragrance of flowers. Er’er took a deep breath and adjusted her hair at her temples.

She was lying, and so was Li Ye.

But it didn’t matter; there were other things to be honest about now.

Catching a wisp of clear breeze in her hand, Er’er tied it into a beautiful butterfly knot, placed it on his shoulder, then peered at him: “You were angry with me before, but now that you finally have some free time, why aren’t you asking me anything?”

“If I ask, will you tell me?” He glared at her coldly.

Nodding seriously, Er’er cupped her chin with both hands, waiting obediently.

Li Ye snorted lightly, looking at the distant mountains with arrogance for quite some time before speaking with feigned indifference: “Did you know all along that I would destroy heaven and earth?”

“Yes,” she nodded sincerely.

“And you clung to me just to save your life?” He narrowed his eyes.

“Yes,” she nodded even more quickly.

His chest heaving, Li Ye stood up, his red robe sweeping out, the hem fluttering like flames in the wind.

He suppressed his anger, his voice becoming even colder and harder: “Did you want to be a savior?”

“Yes.”

“Did you want to change the fate of this world?”

“Yes.”

“You never truly cared for me?”

“No.”

The last two words were answered as quickly and crisply as before, causing Li Ye to freeze momentarily.

He turned to look at her and found her looking up at him, her eyes twinkling with starlight, gentle yet resolute.

“I adore you,” she hooked her finger around his hanging hand. “But my immortal rank is low, and if I said it, you would think I had ulterior motives, seeking a shortcut, so I had to hide it.”

“But if you truly asked, I would answer.”

“I like you, I really, really like you.”

His fingertips trembled. Li Ye’s face remained tense, showing no expression, but points of light escaped from his misty eyes. He pressed his lips together, disdainfully snorting, then swept his sleeve and sat down.

“You female immortals are accustomed to deceiving others with sweet words.”

Embracing his arm, Er’er smiled until her eyes curved into crescents: “I don’t know about other female immortals, but I don’t deceive you.”

He snorted lightly, ignoring her.

Who knew whether a mere minor immortal’s words were true or false? Though he was happy to hear them, he’d just listen and that was all. He certainly wouldn’t be happy about it.

“You’re finally smiling,” Er’er said joyfully.

Who’s smiling? Li Ye lifted his chin: “I’m just looking at the immortal mountains over there.”

This excuse carried no convincing power whatsoever, but Er’er didn’t intend to argue with him, simply following his gaze to look ahead.

Before them were the seven-colored immortal mountains on the Immortal Island, looking as if rainbows had fallen and dissolved across the peaks, incredibly beautiful. Li Ye gazed at them, unable to resist conjuring up brush and paper, thinking of painting the scene to take with him.

But when he turned his head, he saw the little one beside him enthusiastically taking snapshots of the seven-colored mountains with her Mirror of Flowers and Moon.

“…”

Li Ye threw away his drawing paper with an expressionless face and looked at her with disdain: “No sense of aesthetics.”

“This treasure is so useful—it can capture both images and sounds. Isn’t that more aesthetic than a mere flat painting?” Er’er retorted, withdrawing the Mirror of Flowers and Moon and shouting into it, “When everything is over, I’ll take you to become immortal lovers!”

She smiled brilliantly, making a fist to encourage herself.

The smile in his eyes uncontrollably rose to the surface, and Li Ye coughed lightly, mumbling, “Everything is already over.”

Smiling without speaking, Er’er continued photographing the immortal mountains.

Many mortals lived on the Queen Mother of the West’s Immortal Island; there were even mortals cutting firewood on the mountains. As the traveling cloud drifted several dozen li forward, a city appeared in the mountain valley.

However, even in this immortal realm, under the current tense atmosphere, the town streets were completely deserted. Wind blew tumbleweed through the alleys, tavern banners swayed in isolation, and at a glance, all doors were tightly shut.

The smile on Er’er’s face dimmed slightly, but she continued to smile.

She knew that the real mortal world was far more tragic than this, and she also knew that even this tranquility would not last much longer.

No matter where these people hid, they would ultimately be unable to escape the calamity.

Withdrawing her gaze, Er’er pointed to a mountain peak ahead: “Let’s land there.”

Li Ye nodded, gently sweeping his sleeve.

A palace rose from the ground at the spot she had indicated.

Majestic walls, beautiful upturned eaves, blue tiles, and red bricks—identical to her residence in the mortal realm nine hundred years ago.

Er’er was momentarily dazed, then laughed: “Before, you criticized my magic as flashy, saying I only knew how to conjure showy but impractical things.”

“You didn’t properly cultivate your serious magic, so practicing these things is naturally flashy,” he justified as he led her to land in front of the palace. “I’m different.”

Even when he was flashy, it was powerful flashiness.

Er’er was stumped. She rolled her eyes on the spot, then let go of his hand and ran into the palace.