Three years passed since the founding of the Frozen Heaven Empire.
The landscape had changed. The lush green forests around the sect were gone, replaced by
crystalline ice gardens. The architecture had shifted from wood and stone to jade and cold steel.
Li Wei lived in a small, functional courtyard near the logistics warehouse. He had been
promoted. He was no longer a floor-sweeper. He was the "Chief of Supply." It was a
high-ranking position for a mortal, granting him authority over hundreds of disciples.
But he was forbidden from entering the Inner Palace without a summons.
Today was the 7th day of the 7th month. The Qixi Festival. Their wedding anniversary.
Eleven years.
Li Wei had spent six months saving his salary (now paid in spirit stones, which he converted to
gold, then to Support Points) to buy a gift. He had bought a Memory Echo Stone. It was a rare
artifact that could record a sound and play it back forever.
He had recorded the sound of rain falling on the roof of their old shop in Cloud Sparrow City. He
had found a similar tin roof in a mortal village just to get the acoustics right.
He stood at the gates of the Inner Palace. The guards, two Core Formation cultivators in ice
armor, crossed their spears.
"Halt," one guard said. "Administrator Li, the Empress is in seclusion. No disturbances."
"I know," Li Wei said, clutching the box. "But today is... a special date. She told me I could
request an audience on this date."
The guards exchanged glances. They knew who he was. The "Mortal Husband." The open
secret. They pitied him, mostly.
"Wait here," the guard said. "I will send a transmission."
Li Wei waited. Snow gathered on his shoulders. He stood there for four hours.
Finally, the gates groaned open.
"Enter," a voice echoed from within.
Li Wei walked through the long, frozen corridors. The air was thin. He had to use a breathing
talisman just to stay conscious.
He reached the throne room. Su Mei was there, reviewing scrolls floating in the air. She didn't
look up.
"You have five minutes, Administrator Li," she said. "The Southern supply lines are lagging. I
assume you are here to report on the grain shortage?"
Li Wei froze. Administrator Li.
"No, Your Majesty," Li Wei said softly. "Today is... do you know what day it is?"
Su Mei frowned, her concentration broken. She waved her hand, and the scrolls rearranged
themselves. "Tuesday? The cycle of the minor moon?"
"It is the 7th of the 7th," Li Wei said. "Our eleventh anniversary."
Su Mei stopped. She looked at him. Her eyes were confused, searching for the relevance of this
information.
"Eleven years?" she repeated. "Has it been that long?"
"Yes."
"It feels like days," she murmured. "Time flows differently when you touch the Dao."
She looked at the box in his hand. "What is that?"
"A gift," Li Wei walked forward and placed it on the floating table. "Open it."
Su Mei opened the box. She touched the stone. The sound of rain—gentle, rhythmic, tinny rain—filled the vast, silent hall. Patter. Patter. Patter.
Li Wei closed his eyes, smiling. "It sounds like the Golden Phoenix, doesn't it? Remember the
leak in the corner? Remember how we used to cuddle under the quilt?"
He waited for the nostalgia. He waited for the smile.
Su Mei listened for ten seconds. Then, she tapped the stone, silencing it.
"It is noise," she said.
Li Wei opened his eyes. "What?"
"It is the sound of water hitting metal," Su Mei analyzed coldly. "It is erratic. Unharmonious. Why
would I want to listen to this? I listen to the music of the spheres now."
She pushed the box back toward him.
"Li Wei, you are sentimental. Sentiment is a rust that corrodes the will. I have told you this."
"I just thought..." Li Wei's voice trembled. "I thought you might want to remember."
"Why?" Su Mei asked genuinely. "Why would I want to remember being weak? Being poor?
Being mortal?"
She stood up. "I summoned you because I have news. I didn't realize you came for this... trivia."
"Trivia?" Li Wei felt like he had been slapped.
"The neighboring Thunder Sect has proposed an alliance," Su Mei announced. "Their Ancestor,
Lei Zhen, is a late-stage Nascent Soul. He is powerful."
She paused, watching Li Wei's reaction.
"He has proposed a Dual Cultivation ceremony. A marriage alliance."
The world stopped. Li Wei felt his knees unlock. He grabbed the table to steady himself.
"But... you are married," Li Wei whispered. "To me."
Su Mei sighed. It was the sigh of a parent explaining taxes to a toddler.
"Li Wei, look at yourself. You are thirty-nine. You have gray hair. Your skin is wrinkling. You are
dying. Slowly, but you are dying."
She pointed to herself. "I am eternal. Lei Zhen is eternal. In the eyes of the cultivation world, our
marriage... it is a childhood game. It is not recognized by the Heavens."
"So you agreed?" Li Wei asked. The pain was so intense he couldn't feel his hands.
"I am considering it," Su Mei said pragmatically. "His thunder technique complements my ice. It
would increase my cultivation speed by 20%. And it would secure our southern border."
She looked at him, not with cruelty, but with a terrifying practicality. "You are my husband in
name, Li Wei. I will always protect you. You will live in luxury. But for the Empire... I need a
partner who can fly beside me. You cannot fly."
"I gave you the wings!" Li Wei screamed. It tore out of his throat. "I gave you the System! I gave
you the pills! I gave you the blood from my veins! I built you!"
Su Mei's expression hardened. The room shook.
"You gave me tools," she said icily. "A farmer gives water to a seed. Does the tree owe the
farmer its life forever? Does the tree refuse to grow tall because the farmer is short?"
She sat back down.
"Take your rain stone, Administrator Li. Leave. Do not speak of this again. I will make the
decision that is best for the Empire."
She waved her hand. A gust of wind pushed him toward the door.
Li Wei stumbled out into the hallway. He clutched the box to his chest.
He didn't cry. He couldn't. He was hollowed out.
He walked back to his warehouse. He sat on a crate of spirit grain.
He turned on the stone. Patter. Patter. Patter.
He listened to the rain of a dead world.
"System," he whispered. [Yes, Host?]
"She forgot."
[Clarification?]
"She didn't just forget the date," Li Wei said, staring at the wall. "She forgot me. She looks at me
and she doesn't see Li Wei. She sees a defect. A mistake in her perfect life."
[Observation: The Beneficiary is considering a new primary partner. This threatens the
Host's status.]
"No," Li Wei said, closing his eyes. "It doesn't threaten my status. It clarifies it."
He turned off the stone.
"I am not her husband anymore. I am her ex-husband. She just hasn't filled out the paperwork
yet because she's too busy being a god."
Li Wei stood up. He took the Memory Echo Stone and placed it on the floor. He lifted his boot
and stomped on it.
Crunch.
The rain stopped.
"Happy anniversary, Su Mei," he whispered to the silence.