"Sister Yunwei, we're back!"

Xue Kui came running cheerfully into Hongxiu Palace.

"So you do know how to come back. Look at the time. Go eat your meal. Starting today, we are going back to your reading and writing lessons. You cannot let your cultivation fall behind either."

Hearing Xue Kui's voice, Yu Yunwei came out from her room and spoke to her but the next instant, Yu Yunwei stopped dead where she stood.

For trailing behind Xue Kui, dressed in palace robes, was Bai Ruxue.

"What are you here for?"

Yu Yunwei yanked Xue Kui behind her in a single motion, looking at Bai Ruxue with sharp wariness.

"Sister Yunwei..." Xue Kui tugged gently at Yu Yunwei's sleeve. "I was fishing on the lake just now and fell through the ice. Elder Sister Ruxue saved me. If it weren't for Elder Sister Ruxue, I would already be an ice sculpture by now."

Yu Yunwei was briefly at a loss for words, and looked at the woman before her with an expression of some complexity.

"Senior Bai saved Xue Kui. The Ten Thousand Dao Sect will remember this." At last, Yu Yunwei said.

"It was a small matter." Bai Ruxue spoke without making anything of it. "Today I came to return Xue Kui, and also to say something to you, Miss Yu."

"Senior Bai actually has something to come and say to me?" Yu Yunwei said with a cool smile.

"Miss Yu need not look at me with such wariness. I come to you in genuine good faith, wishing to cooperate. If I intended you harm, you would most likely be in a rather poor state by now."

"Ha, what arrogance, being at the Ascension realm!" Yu Yunwei gave a cold laugh, her eyes still guarded. "But given that you saved Xue Kui, I will hear you out. Speak. What is it?"

"This matter will benefit the Western Region as well."

Bai Ruxue did not argue with Yu Yunwei. From her storage bracelet she produced a small totem roughly three chi in length and gave it a light push, letting it hover in the air between them.

"If my information is correct, the Western Region has not been particularly peaceful of late. That demonic sect called the Return-to-Heaven Cult has been growing more powerful by the day, its membership swelling considerably, with no small number of Upper Three Realms cultivators anchoring its ranks. I imagine it has been giving your people a considerable headache," Bai Ruxue said, meeting Yu Yunwei's eyes with a composed smile.

"And if it has?" Hearing this, Yu Yunwei's brow furrowed. "That is a matter for the Ten Thousand Dao Sect. It should have nothing to do with Senior Bai's Four Seas."

"If it had nothing to do with me, I would not have come to find you." Bai Ruxue shook her head. "According to intelligence gathered by the Four Seas, that Return-to-Heaven Cult is very likely connected to the ancient divine spirits."

"Ancient divine spirits? Ha ha ha... the Lord of the Four Seas truly knows how to jest. The so-called divine spirits exist only in legend. Who has ever truly laid eyes on one?"

Yu Yunwei said with a smile, wearing the air of someone who found the idea entirely far-fetched. But in truth, the moment Bai Ruxue mentioned the ancient divine spirits, Yu Yunwei felt a sharp jolt run through her.

She thought of the time she had returned to the Ten Thousand Dao Sect and heard from her senior brother that their master had been killed by a divine spirit. She thought of her senior brother using his divine sense to bring those scenes directly into her mind, letting her watch what had unfolded.

Even her senior brother, when facing the cult leader possessed by a divine spirit, had felt genuine fear. The pressure of that divine power had been suffocating beyond all description.

"Believe it or not, the choice is yours. But if you have any regard for Xiao Mo, I hope you will accept this totem."

Bai Ruxue's voice remained calm.

"This totem is the symbol of the Alliance of the Myriad Races from the era of the ancient divine spirits. It has been soaked in the blood of countless ancient forbearers, and carries an innate sensitivity to divine spirits. Even the faintest trace of spiritual power will allow it to follow that thread and locate the divine spirit's position."

"The divine spirits are still very weak at present. I hope the Ten Thousand Dao Sect can use this totem to locate the sealed ancient divine spirits and inform the Four Seas. I will deal with them personally."

"I have said what needed to be said. I hope Miss Yu will give it serious consideration."

With those words, Bai Ruxue bowed with composed grace and turned to take her leave.

Yu Yunwei watched Bai Ruxue's graceful figure as she walked away, and only once she had passed through the courtyard gate did Yu Yunwei slowly draw her gaze back, her attention settling once more upon the small totem.

After a moment's internal struggle, Yu Yunwei extended her hand, and the totem drifted down to rest in her palm.

"Sister Yunwei... what are divine spirits? Are they very powerful?" Xue Kui grabbed at Yu Yunwei's sleeve, blinking up at her.

"Children should not ask about things they have no business asking about!" Yu Yunwei put the totem away into her storage pouch. "As for you, just what were you thinking? Running all over the palace every day is one thing, but how did you end up fishing at Ten Thousand Carp Lake? And did you even catch anything?"

Yu Yunwei produced her ruler and gave Xue Kui a couple of firm swats on the backside. "You are not to go out for the next two days! Starting today! I am going to teach you to study properly. Is that understood?"

"Yes... Sister Yunwei..." Xue Kui sniffled, wiped at the corners of her eyes, and muttered under her breath, "How come Elder Sister Ruxue feels so much nicer and gentler..."

"What was that?" Yu Yunwei raised the ruler again, making as if to bring it down once more.

"I didn't say anything. I didn't say a single word."

Xue Kui gave a startled yelp, wrapped both arms around her head, and bolted toward her room as fast as her legs could carry her, terrified that Sister Yunwei would follow through.

"That child..."

Yu Yunwei let out a sigh and shook her head.

Composing herself, she took the totem out from her pouch once more and turned it over in her hands, studying it from every angle, her brow drawn together.

"Could it be that she, too, has encountered the divine spirits?"

After leaving Hongxiu Palace, Bai Ruxue walked along the red walls of the palace grounds.

As she passed the square before the imperial study, she stopped, turning her gaze toward it.

She could sense that Xiao Mo was currently meditating in cultivation within the imperial study.

Without quite meaning to, the vision she had seen through the Dao Mirror at the bottom of that abyss surfaced in her mind.

She had seen Little Qing run through by a sword.

She had seen Qin Siyao fallen in a pool of blood.

She had seen Wangxin pass away in peaceful meditation.

She had seen Yu Yunwei destroyed, body and soul alike.

She had seen Xiao Mo, covered in blood, collapse into her arms, and slowly cease to breathe.

"Consort Xue." A maidservant who was on her way to deliver tea to His Majesty noticed Consort Xue standing in the square before the imperial study and called out softly. "His Majesty is in the imperial study now. Does my lady wish to go and see him?"

"No. I will not disturb His Majesty today." Bai Ruxue shook her head. "Go on, and take good care of His Majesty."

"Yes." The maidservant bowed and walked quickly away toward the imperial study.

"Husband, this concubine will not allow that to happen."

Bai Ruxue's fingers pressed tight, and she spoke each word slowly, as though making a vow.

"Never. Not ever."

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