White...
Walking up to the summit pavilion, the first thing Lucas Reeve saw was infinite, pure white. Long, slender legs like polished jade, absolutely perfect, without an ounce of excess fat.
Shoes were scattered messily on the ground.
Ling's nearly perfect feet were also exposed.
Ling's appearance was also exceptionally beautiful. Her skin was snow-white, like fine jade. Her sea-blue, waist-length hair was also somewhat disheveled. With every breath, her full chest rose and fell rhythmically.
"She's really sleeping, huh?"
With Nian's lively and fiery personality, Lucas originally thought she would deliberately go up and play a prank. Unexpectedly, in front of Ling, Nian—who was usually so energetic and active in Columbia—was as well-behaved as a naughty child meeting their parents. She was extremely proper, even though Ling was asleep.
Dusk asked in a low voice from the side.
"Nian! Should we wake Sister Ling up?"
Nian also fell into deep thought..
To wake her or not to wake her.
To be honest. Nian was still a little afraid of Ling in her heart. This fear wasn't about Ling hitting her; it was the natural fear a child has for a parent. An elder sister is like a mother. Even Sui Beast Fragments couldn't escape this rule.
"Hehe... how about..."
Nian walked over and poked Lucas's waist with her elbow.
"How about... you wake Sister Ling up, Lucas?"
"Huh?" Lucas was stunned for a moment, then immediately said, "She's *your* older sister. What place does an outsider like me have to wake her up?"
"Outsider?"
"What outsider?"
Just then. A strange and pleasant female voice sounded from behind the group.
The voice was so sudden, it startled everyone. Not just Skadi and Laurentina; even Nian, Dusk, and Lucas hadn't sensed this voice at all.
Everyone quickly turned around.
A slender blue figure stood behind them. At this moment, Ling was casually standing behind the group, tipping a wine gourd to her mouth. But after tilting it for a long time, only a few drops came out. It must have leaked out earlier. Finding it boring, Ling pouted, made a grasping motion with one hand, and instantly, a new wine gourd appeared in her hand. She immediately tilted her head back and began to drink, guzzling it down like water.
"Ha!"
Taking a big gulp, Ling let out a satisfied sigh, her cheeks slightly flushed as she looked at the group.
"Yoho, my two dear little sisters. Long time no see. As your big sister, I missed you dearly. And you."
Suddenly. Ling pointed the wine pot at Lucas and said.
"It's been a long time since I saw you, too. I thought your soul had scattered to the winds. I didn't expect, just as I said back then, that we would meet again one day. As expected... fate is a wonderful, wonderful thing. However, since you've appeared, it means great chaos might be coming to Yan. Alas... As they say, a cup of wine in the spring breeze of friendship, a hundred years of light in the stormy night of the world."
Ling muttered to herself, then started guzzling wine again.
This whole thing just confused Lucas even more.
"Um... do we... know each other?"
Lucas looked at Ling, confused. Ling raised an eyebrow, her cheeks flushed from the alcohol, and looked at him.
"Oho... looks like you've lost your memory."
"But, it's not surprising. After all, your soul had already dissipated back then. It'd be strange if you *did* have memories."
"???"
Lucas was extremely confused right now. It seemed he was missing a lot of memories...
He was missing his memories as the Doctor on Rhodes Island. There was a soul fragment of him with the Abyssal Hunters, and he didn't know why. And here in Yan... both the Grand Tutor and Ling seemed to know him...
???
What the hell?
Lucas was just about to ask for some details, but after muttering her riddle, Ling ignored him and turned to question her two lovely little sisters.
"Sister Ling... are you dreaming right now, or are you awake?"
Dusk frowned and asked, because behind them, there was *another* Ling. This Ling was the one they had first seen sleeping soundly when they arrived.
"Hm?"
Ling smiled.
"Is there a difference?"
"For me, there is no difference between dream and reality. The dream *is* reality. Just like your paintings, Dusk... However. I can feel that your paintings are losing their soul... hehe. You talk tough, but in reality, you're terrified of that old geezer, aren't you?"
Dusk frowned and retorted stubbornly.
"No! I'm not!! For me, as long as my consciousness exists, I..."
Ling transformed into a flowing cloud and drifted in front of Dusk, pressing a finger to her lips.
"Stop deceiving yourself with such lies. Do you even believe it yourself?"
"I!!" Dusk bit her lip, speechless.
Then, Ling flashed in front of Nian. "I know why you're looking for me. You want to fight that old geezer together?"
"Yes... Sister Ling."
Nian was unbelievably well-behaved at this moment, causing her companions' eyes to widen.
Laurentina said with some surprise, "Is Miss Nian always this obedient and proper? This is the first time I've seen Miss Nian so well-behaved. This must be what Yan calls 'all things have their nemesis.' However lively Miss Nian is in the outside world, that's how well-behaved she is around her big sister."
Skadi and Surtr nodded in agreement.
"Sorry, my little sister, I'm not very interested."
Lucas originally thought Ling would agree at once, but he didn't expect her to refuse.
Nian, however, didn't seem surprised, just a little disappointed.
"But... Sister Ling! The old geezer is about to revive, you should be able to sense it. If us siblings don't unite, what if..."
Nian wanted to say more, but Ling interrupted her. "What 'old geezer'... Is the old geezer not also us?"
"In the end, what are you all so afraid of?"
"You're afraid of the old thing's revival, but don't forget how we came to be. We were split from the old thing. You must understand one thing: we and the old thing... are fundamentally one and the same person."
"So, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid of yourselves?"
Ling's tone was somewhat ethereal, as if she hadn't yet sobered up. The Ling lying in the pavilion behind them was still sleeping.
"But...."
Suddenly, the weather changed in an instant.
The dark sky outside the pavilion suddenly lit up with an orange-yellow halo. The dark clouds in the sky cracked open, layer by layer, as if the world was about to end.
"Oh~"
Ling stood in the pavilion, watching the spectacle in the sky with great interest.
The people in the pavilion could see it.
Everyone in Shangshu could naturally see it too. Many people in Shangshu who were out for a walk or shopping raised their heads to look at the change above. Besides curiosity, many felt a little scared. After all, it was night, but it had suddenly become as bright as day. Such an abnormal change would worry anyone.
"This!!"
"Not good!!"
This aura!!
The two Celestial Masters who had already retreated, upon seeing the change in the sky, had their expressions change drastically. They both rushed towards the mountain peak where Ling was hiding. And it wasn't just them; all the soldiers and various city defense weapons in Shangshu, already on standby, were readied, as if they had long anticipated this situation.
At this moment, on the mountain peak.
The sky nearby seemed to have been torn open. In that rift, light continuously burst forth, turning the dark night into day.
RUMBLE!
A massive dragon claw stretched out from the rift, followed by another. Accompanied by a terrifying, world-ending pressure, a gigantic dragon head emerged from the rift.
The moment the dragon's head emerged.
The entire space froze. The terrifying pressure even distorted the surrounding air.
"This!! This!!!"
Along with a dragon's roar, the surrounding space itself seemed about to shatter. A majestic pressure swept over them.
Upon seeing this shadow she never wanted to see again in her life, Dusk's face turned pale. She subconsciously retreated a few steps, falling back behind Nian and Ling. Her previous stubbornness was completely gone.
"Oho..."
Ling smiled. She raised her wine gourd and shook it.
"Divine Will Manifestation?"
"Not bad, not bad..."
Beside them, Lucas also frowned. "Divine Will Manifestation? Isn't that Dusk's Rule?"
Ling smiled at Lucas. "Hehe, who said Dusk is the only one of us siblings who can do it? Don't forget, there's someone else..."
"Second Brother!"
"That 'Number Two' guy?"
"Your Number Two?"
The three of them expressed their impression of this Second Brother with different names.
Ling burst out laughing.
"As expected, Second Brother's popularity is just so-so. And... he's still so annoying. So annoying I want to beat him up..."
"Nian! Hurry up and think of something!! You wanted to resist that old geezer, didn't you!"
Dusk-bao was scared and pulled on Nian's sleeve. Her stubbornness from Mount Huiqi and Columbia was gone, leaving only a pitiful and timid Dusk-bao. Perhaps to save face, Dusk was still forcing herself to calm down and imitate Ling's leisureliness, but she couldn't pull it off, only managing to look even more pitiful.
"This..." Nian looked at Ling beside her. In truth, she had no solution either.
She was also a little scared...
It was a fear engraved in her bones. Even though Nian talked a big game about uniting the siblings to resist the old geezer, when truly faced with it, Nian felt more than a little intimidated.
"Sister Ling!!"
Dusk grabbed Ling's sleeve and wouldn't let go, as if it were her last straw.
"Hm? What is it? Don't ask me. I don't want to get involved..."
Ling looked at the two of them, confused, then ignored them and continued to drink her wine.
"Lucas! I remember when we were climbing the mountain, didn't the Grand Tutor have someone give you a brocade pouch?"
Nian looked at Lucas at this moment.
As if looking at a lifeline. Dusk did the same.
"The pouch?"
Lucas took the brocade pouch the Grand Tutor had given him from his pocket. He slowly opened it. Inside was a slip of paper.
[Long time no see, Lucas Reeve]
"!!!!"
When Lucas finished reading the words, his eyes widened. This... the Grand Tutor really knew him? And just then, it felt as if many extra memories were inserted into his brain. Lucas saw the northern border of Yan. He was on a huge city tower, and in the distance, there were endless Demons...
This memory wasn't complete.
Because there was only this one memory fragment, the memory felt somewhat unreal.
What's going on... What's going on....
Lucas tapped his head with his finger, as if trying to sort out this memory.
These mottled and fragmented memories...
The Doctor of Kazdel... the General on Yan's border...
What... exactly had he experienced in the past?
Wait... Lucas suddenly thought of a problem...
Two unrelated memories. How were they so similar to his current self...
Each soul fragment experienced something completely different, which led to different memories...
Could it be...
Lucas realized a tricky problem. Beside him, Ling laughed.
"It seems you've remembered something. In the past, you also helped me deal with Sui-Xiang. Now, I see through it all and no longer fear Sui. I'll entrust my two unlucky little sisters to you. I think the Grand Tutor probably thought the same."
"If I'm not mistaken, from beginning to end, this has always been a game between Old Two and the Grand Tutor. Everything here, including this Sui-Xiang, is a move in the game designed by Old Two. Both Old Two and the Grand Tutor are betting, betting on their own philosophies."
"Old Two definitely thinks Nian is arrogant and overestimates herself, and that Dusk is a timid coward, while I remain detached. The appearance of Sui-Xiang will inevitably crush the weak Dusk and Nian."
Dusk felt a little uncomfortable hearing this.
"Sister Ling... I'm not actually afraid..."
"Oh... then let go of my sleeve..."
Dusk pouted and said nothing.
"However, I have to say, Old Two wasn't wrong about one thing. I really do choose to stay out of it. That is my Rule. At most, I'll give a verbal reminder... But... it's different now. With you here, I can drink in peace. Hey, where did my other wine go?"
Lucas couldn't help but smile bitterly. As the memory fragments sorted themselves out, he seemed to remember something else.
"You really think highly of me. I'm just an ordinary soul fragment."
"Haha~ If you're ordinary, then there's no one special left in the world."
——————————
As soon as the celestial phenomenon began.
As the two Celestial Masters guarding Shangshu, Celestial Master Bai and Celestial Master Li had immediately rushed to the mountain where Ling lived. However, when they reached halfway up the mountain, a figure blocked their path.
"It's you?" Celestial Master Li frowned. He recognized this person. This was the person who had delivered the Grand Tutor's decree.
"Who are you?! Why did you deliver a fake decree from the Grand Tutor?"
Celestial Master Bai instantly understood everything.
The Grand Tutor's decree was fake.
This person had deliberately allowed the three Sui Beast Fragments to meet.
But that person didn't speak. Instead, his lips curved up, and with a wave of his hand, a scroll flew over, transforming into a world that enveloped them.
"Don't be nosy..."
After entering the painted world.
Celestial Master Bai and Celestial Master Li didn't seem surprised at all. They frowned, then took out another brocade pouch. On it was written: [No Need].
As expected... exactly as the Grand Tutor had predicted.
Long before Celestial Master Li came to Shangshu, the Grand Tutor had given him three brocade pouches, to be opened respectively when Nian, Dusk, and their helper arrived in Shangshu. The instruction in the first pouch was:
[Meet change with constancy]
The meaning was clear... Let nature take its course.
No need for excessive speculation. Just proceed naturally, follow one's duties, and don't overthink or use any clever tricks.
That's why he left immediately without any hesitation after receiving that fake decree.
As for the second pouch, the Grand Tutor had said to open it when there was a crisis and help was needed.
The word written on it was [No Need].
That meant... their intervention was not needed, for now.