Li Fei didn't chase after them. She simply stared blankly at this lush green forest. Were these trees all Ge Lin's memories? There must be some about her—were they good or bad?
She approached a small sapling and gently touched it, as if reaching through to the Baili Gelin of four hundred years ago.
She would never see her again. Nor Su Wan, Deng Xiguang, Ye Ye, Baili Changyue... Her own memories remained frozen in that most beautiful period, when Ji Tongzhou was still a naive and hot-tempered young prince, when Ge Lin hadn't yet fallen into such despair. They had been childhood friends who promised to become Celestials together.
How unpredictable life was. What felt like a dream's span to her had been their entire lifetimes—from birth to death, from brilliance to withering.
Li Fei recalled many things, from their days at the Academy to the Eastern Sea, but her thoughts finally settled on that night after they passed the Academy's Second Selection. The five of them had crowded into an inn room, lights blazing, noise and laughter filling the air. Each child's eyes shone brighter than the lanterns. Ten-year-old Baili Gelin, still childish in appearance yet speaking like an adult, declared: "We'll all become the most powerful Celestials in the future."
Now they were all gone. Had she abandoned them, or had they abandoned her? In the blink of an eye, the entire world had become completely unfamiliar—she no longer recognized any of it.
No one spoke. Even Ri Yan, usually so sarcastic and talkative, was uncharacteristically silent. He always exaggerated, predicting the worst outcomes that rarely came true. Who would have thought he'd been right about Baili Gelin? Normally he'd be gloating loudly, but she was dead now—no words could change that. In any case, watching children you knew die was never pleasant.
"There are things you don't understand as clearly as she did, but there are things she couldn't accept as openly as you," Ri Yan suddenly sighed. "Fortunately you're not like her. Fools really do have fools' luck."
He was calling her stupid again in his roundabout way, but Li Fei wasn't in the mood to argue. After a long silence, she finally calmed herself enough to speak: "Let's go. Staying longer might attract more people." It would be troublesome if it turned into another scene like the Sea Fall incident.
She raised her hand as if to absorb this forest created by forbidden water-cutting magic, but paused mid-motion. This was the last trace Ge Lin left in this world—for A Jiao, Shen Xiansheng, and Lu Xiwei, it must be a place worth remembering.
Li Fei slowly lowered her hand and glanced back at Lei Xiuyuan. "Xiu Yuan, can you get us out of here?"
Lei Xiuyuan wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Li Fei felt herself grow light as the scenery blurred before her eyes. In the blink of an eye, they had already left the forest. This was Ri Yan's first time witnessing a Yaksa breaking through a Celestial's Barrier, and he couldn't help but marvel: "Not bad at all! How'd you do that?"
While casting an Illusion spell with one hand, Lei Xiuyuan replied: "Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand."
Ri Yan immediately flew into a rage: "What did you say?!"
"Someone's coming." Lei Xiuyuan pinched the furious Ri Yan between two fingers and stuffed him into his sleeve. "Be quiet and hide for now."
Ri Yan was fuming, but he could indeed hear approaching footsteps. Temporarily unable to speak, he could only vent his anger by biting Lei Xiuyuan's fingers several times.The three of them hid in the shadows. Before long, Shen Xiansheng, the leader of the Myriad Immortals Assembly, arrived in haste, followed closely by A Jiao and another strikingly handsome man who looked very familiar. Li Fei stared at him for a long while before realizing he was Mo Yanfan, one of the former instructors at the Academy. To think he now dressed in Eastern Sea attire—had he left Star Rectitude Hall?
A Jiao was hurriedly explaining the situation to Shen Xiansheng: "I've already trapped the two of them in that forest. They definitely won't be able to get out anytime soon."
But Shen Xiansheng's expression was grave as he said sternly, "You acted too rashly! How can someone your age still act so recklessly? Back then, even the most powerful Celestials couldn't stop those two—what makes you think you could? You dared to act alone without thinking! It's only by sheer luck they had no intention to kill, or you'd already be dead!"
A Jiao stubbornly retorted, "But I really did trap them! If Father doesn’t believe me, go see for yourself!"
Shen Xiansheng snapped, "See? There’s no way you could’ve trapped them! Their spiritual energy is already gone from that forest! You’ve only alerted them—ruining everything with your incompetence!"
A Jiao’s eyes reddened under his scolding. Though she was no longer the willful girl she once was, she had been doted on since childhood, and Mo Yanfan had always indulged her after they met. Rarely had she faced such harsh reprimands from Shen Xiansheng, and now she was on the verge of tears.
Mo Yanfan, standing beside her, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and said gently, "There’s no need for such anger, Sect Leader. It’s only been a short while—they couldn’t have gone far. Their sudden return is suspicious; they must have urgent business. Why not inform the Celestials of both the Mountain and Sea factions and investigate together?"
Perhaps because he no longer practiced the emotion-suppressing Celestial Sound Word Spirit Great Art, his tone and voice no longer carried the bone-chilling coldness of the past, and the layer of indifference that once veiled his face had faded considerably.
Shen Xiansheng’s stern expression softened slightly, though he still glared at A Jiao. "They say one takes on the color of one’s company. After all these years with Yanfan, you still haven’t learned an ounce of his composure. Hopeless."
A Jiao snorted and turned her head away, ignoring him. Li Fei quietly watched as the three of them walked away, still talking, before whispering, "They plan to notify the Celestials of both factions—this will complicate things. We shouldn’t stay here long. Let’s retrieve the spiritual energy and leave immediately."
Ri Yan growled, "Leave so soon? There are still several Ferocious beasts I want to capture! At the very least, we must take back one of those Mirage Dragons—they don’t exist overseas!"
"There’ll be plenty of chances later," Li Fei soothed him. "This time, let’s go back first. Next time you want to come, we’ll sneak in quietly without alerting anyone."
Ri Yan reluctantly accepted this compromise, leaping out of Lei Xiuyuan’s sleeve. Still unsatisfied, he added, "At least let me beat this brat half to death first! That damned brat Lei! You dare come over here?"
Lei Xiuyuan replied calmly, "Senior Ri Yan is peerlessly mighty. I concede defeat."
"You—!" Ri Yan wished he could tear him apart.
"Enough!" Li Fei finally lost her patience, shooting a glare at Lei Xiuyuan, then at Ri Yan. "Xiu Yuan, stop provoking him. Ri Yan, must you always rise to the bait so easily? You’re not three-year-olds—why must you bicker all the time?"She strode forward without hesitation, and the two bickering companions behind her finally fell silent. After winding their way through the streets, they reentered the city. In just this short time, countless Sea Sect Immortals had appeared within the city, coming and going, deliberately or inadvertently scrutinizing unfamiliar passersby, leaving no room for oversight.
"They don’t seem to want to make a scene either," Li Fei murmured, avoiding the probing gazes around her. "Only Celestials from the Myriad Immortals Assembly are here."
Ri Yan snorted impatiently. "Just absorb the Spiritual energy here! Take it all from these damned Celestials! Then we can leave quickly!"
Li Fei smiled faintly. "I already have the best source for Spiritual energy. Follow me."
She quickened her pace and soon arrived near the Spirit Stele. The area was perpetually crowded. Though the stele was tightly shrouded by the Spiritual Qi Net and black cloth, people still strained to catch a glimpse through the suffocating barrier.
Lei Xiuyuan looked surprised. "You plan to absorb this stele?"
Li Fei lowered her voice. "Left here, it’s only gathering dust. Since they don’t dare claim it, I might as well take it back. Better than letting Master’s efforts be buried like this."
She narrowed her eyes, studying the Spirit Stele. Before coming, she had imagined many possibilities—but never that it would be something they feared to acknowledge, something they dared not reveal to the world. Shaking her head, she tossed out the Horn of the Rhinoceros. The small, spinning horn immediately began hungrily devouring Spiritual energy. In an instant, the Spiritual Qi Net was drained completely.
Before the onlookers could grasp what had happened, the dense net of Spiritual Qi vanished before their eyes. Then, the towering black-cloaked stele, several zhang tall, shrank rapidly like a snowman in fire, leaving behind only a fluttering black cloth that drifted to the ground.
"Let’s go."
Seizing the moment before the crowd could erupt in shock, Li Fei turned and left. But as they reached the coast, she noticed countless Celestials hovering over the sea. Slipping back unnoticed would be nearly impossible.
Just as she hesitated whether to reveal her identity outright and charge through, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. A long-unheard, frivolous voice sounded behind her: "Ah, I knew it was you."
This time, not only was Li Fei startled, but even Ri Yan and Lei Xiuyuan nearly jumped. Though Li Fei kept her Spiritual energy restrained, making it hard to sense others’ spiritual energy fluctuations, it was the first time Lei Xiuyuan, a Yaksa, had failed to detect someone. Golden light flashed in his eyes as he struck like lightning, seizing the newcomer by the throat. The man spread his hands, offering a wry smile. "Isn’t this a bit harsh? Four hundred years apart, and the first thing you do is choke me?"
Li Fei took in his flamboyant attire and handsome face—unchanged after four centuries, not a single trace of age. It was none other than Hu Jiaping, who had vanished long ago.
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