“What’s wrong?” Liuye had barely settled into the water when she noticed Yue Yu’s expression and startled — thinking something must be wrong with her.

“Nothing.” Yue Yu snapped back to herself and waved it off.

“Liuye-jiejie, that golden locket is so pretty!” Bao’er paddled over, eyes lighting up at the runic golden locket resting against Liuye’s chest.

“My master gave it to me. If she hadn’t said never to lose it, I wouldn’t mind giving it to you.” Liuye half-covered herself with one hand and carefully lifted the runic locket with the other.

Bao’er leaned in with curious eyes, though she recognized very few Heavenly Realm runes to begin with, let alone the rune formation etched into this particular locket. It was well beyond her.

Xiayi said nothing. She had no particular interest in the locket itself — it was Yue Yu’s startled expression from moments ago that stuck in her mind. Those two clearly had some kind of connection. But it wasn’t her business, and she saw no reason to pry.

The ever-perceptive Xiao Nu, however, stole a quiet glance at Yue Yu.

On the surface, Yue Yu had already composed herself. But inside, she was anything but calm — a storm was building, wave after wave crashing against the walls she was trying to hold up.

Liuye also had one of these runic golden lockets. What did that mean? Was she her sister? Was she also a child of the Yue family?

What was throwing Yue Yu’s mind into the most turmoil was the sharply conflicting accounts she had heard from her father and Fifth Grandfather. Going by what they had told her, the child born on the battlefield that day… was most likely Liuye. Only she could possess the Purity talent — only she could have driven back the Demon Clan, could have saved their father and his men from being surrounded and overrun in that desperate moment. Afraid of pursuit, her father had not kept the newborn with him — a comrade had carried the baby away, while he stayed behind to cover their retreat, was eventually captured, and only made it back later thanks to a Demon Clan Countess who had saved him.

The truth of what had happened that day could no longer be verified. Her father had fallen in battle, taking the answers with him.

And yet, piecing together all the clues —

I might be a replacement. A substitute who was brought home in her place.

Yue Yu was terrified the others would see the tears threatening to surface. She dove deep beneath the hot spring, settling onto a submerged rock like a mermaid, using the crushing, breathless pressure of the water to bear down on the chaos in her chest and force some stillness into it. Only here, where no one could see her, could her heart find even the faintest trace of quiet.

How am I supposed to face Xiao San from now on?

If he finds out I’m not really his sister — will he still treat me the same?

Will I still be able to look after him the way I always have, help him in the lab, take care of him in all the small ways I do every day?

And if this comes out — what will people think of me? If I dig up the truth, how much will it hurt Liuye? She’s so kind, so pure — every ounce of her heart is devoted to Xiao San as her master. If she finds out… would it break her completely? Would she do something to herself?

But if I say nothing, and she finds out later on her own — wouldn’t that be even worse?

And how long could I keep it hidden anyway, even if I tried?

Father is gone, but Grandfather and Fifth Grandfather know the truth. What happens when Liuye tries to marry Xiao San, and they step in to stop it? Then what?

Would I have to reveal who Xiao San really is then — that he only inherited Third Uncle’s name, that he was a life created by Fourth Elder Sister at the Divine Wish Flower Tree? That would shatter far more people. Fourth Elder Sister would never allow it. And it doesn’t only concern Xiao San — there’s Bing’er and Shuang’er to think about too.

What am I supposed to do? Should I keep digging for the truth? The truth hurts me. It would devastate Liuye. It would be a blow to Grandfather and Fifth Grandfather. And for Xiao San, Bing’er, and Shuang’er — it would be a brutal thing to carry.

What am I supposed to do?

Yue Yu’s thoughts grew more tangled with every passing moment, caught in a trap with no clear way forward and no safe way back. She wished she had never noticed the runic golden locket around Liuye’s neck. Wished she had never learned any of this. At least then she could have gone on as before — living in comfortable obliviousness, unbothered by a reality she couldn’t undo.

Down at the bottom of the hot spring, in the near-suffocating pressure of her own thoughts, Yue Yu felt a sudden, faint thread of calm settle into her mind through the chaos.

Her war beast, Kuangtao, had emerged on her own — quietly channeling a tendril of intent to her master.

Kuangtao had never had a human form before, nor any real intelligence.

But when Yue Yu broke through to the Divine Envoy realm within Yueyang’s energy field, Kuangtao had evolved alongside her in that boundless tide of Law energy. Gradually, she had taken on a human shape — and with it, a consciousness. Perhaps because she had awakened within that extraordinary state, her intelligence, though still nascent, had an uncanny, instinctive grasp of human emotion. Already a near-Sacred Beast, she understood how to tend to her master — and while she couldn’t comprehend what was troubling Yue Yu, she could see her master’s suppressed pain, and so she did what came naturally: she drew close and sealed off the surrounding water so Yue Yu wouldn’t drown.

Looking at this small, water-formed figure who shared seven or eight parts of her own face but resembled a little child made of water, Yue Yu couldn’t help reaching out and resting a hand lightly on her head. “Thank you. I’m alright. Just let me be still for a moment.”

Kuangtao didn’t speak. She simply sat beside Yue Yu in silence.

She didn’t know how to offer comfort — so she just stayed.

Seeing Kuangtao’s quiet worry, something in Yue Yu’s heart hardened with a resolve she hadn’t felt before. Whether or not Liuye was her blood sister, whether or not she herself was the real Yue family’s third daughter, whether or not she was a substitute who had been brought home in another’s place — none of that was a reason to run from who she was.

Long before any of this, she had made a promise to Xiao San. She had sworn to look after him for the rest of her life.

This could not become an obstacle to that.

With that knot loosened — whatever the truth was, whatever the world might say — she was staying by Xiao San’s side. Supporting him. Watching over him.

With that settled, Yue Yu rose to her feet, reached out to gently touch the top of Kuangtao’s head, and her gaze held a steadiness it hadn’t carried before. She swam back to the surface, and under the puzzled stares of the others, rose into the air and drifted away without a word.

She returned to the energy field, where Yueyang still slept and Sick Beauty kept her quiet vigil.

Yue Yu gave her a nod. “Xiao San still hasn’t woken up. You’re here, so that’s enough. I want to use this time to train on the Sky Stairway — try to integrate what I gained and push myself forward while I can.”

Sick Beauty blinked, momentarily surprised. Yue Yu had never exactly been the most driven about training. What had gotten into her today?

But she didn’t ask. She just nodded. “Don’t worry. I’ll stay right here. Go and work hard — once he wakes up, I’ll head up too.”

Yue Yu gave her a brief, quiet embrace, then unfurled the Angel’s Blade wings and rose into the sky.

How to handle the truth she was carrying — she didn’t know yet. She had set that aside for now, choosing instead to pour everything into strengthening her resolve. To stay at Yueyang’s side. To be of real use to him in every way she could. That was why she wanted to grow stronger before he woke — so that when he did, she could be a genuine help rather than another thing for him to worry about.

And yes — it would help to quiet the storm in her mind, too. Set everything else down, and just train.

Yue Yu stepped back onto the Sky Stairway with a focus she had never brought to it before. She had never been the type who loved to fight — she was gentle by nature, and cultivation had never called to her with any great urgency. She had always let things come as they came.

But now, for the first time, she moved forward with a fierce, unshakeable will — and turned it into fuel.

A thousand steps. Fifteen hundred. Two thousand. Twenty-five hundred. Three thousand.

Yue Yu had never imagined she could charge straight through to the three-thousandth step in a single push. When the energy shadow guardian of the three-thousandth step — the Fire Spirit King, a supremely powerful sentinel — appeared before her, she charged in without flinching, swinging the Angel’s Blade with a ferocity and fighting spirit she had never once felt before.

A day passed.

Ten days passed.

Half a month later, Sick Beauty was watching over the still-sleeping Yueyang when Night Empress stirred awake and stepped quietly outside — and in that same moment, both of them felt it. Somewhere high above in the sky, an immense and indescribable energy erupted upward. It was no weaker than when Hong had ascended to Divine Envoy, or when A’Man had inherited the Five Elements Pillar’s divine power and become a Divine General.

Yet this energy carried not a trace of sharpness or aggression. It was as gentle as a calm lake — as still as the open sea.

The feeling it gave in the moment of its birth was like watching a heavenly waterfall pour down from the highest reaches of the sky, hanging suspended over the surface of a lake below — a thousand-foot cascade that somehow didn’t disturb so much as a single ripple, dissolving entirely into the softest, warmest rain.

Even from that incredible height, Sick Beauty sensed it clearly.

She even had the strange, fleeting sense that she could read exactly what the person up there was feeling.

“That’s Yue Yu. She’s become a true Divine Envoy.” Night Empress stepped to Sick Beauty’s side, her Starry Sky Domain shimmering brighter than ever as her graceful silhouette tilted upward. Her voice rang out, clear and musical as wind chimes: “A Divine Envoy ascension before reaching the Innate Sovereign realm? Yueyang has given this world yet another miracle. And miracle or not — looking at this, she must have worked herself to the bone. I honestly thought it would be much longer before she made a true ascension. I didn’t expect her to get there ahead of everyone else.”

“She has always worked hard.” Sick Beauty smiled, and there was quiet pride in it — because she understood Yue Yu better than anyone.

The Five-Thousandth Step of the Sky Stairway.

On her tenth attempt — resolute and unwavering every single time — Yue Yu finally defeated the guardian of the five-thousandth step, the Sea Spirit King, and earned the full recognition of the five-thousandth step’s Law energy. It was as though she could see the traces of the predecessor who had left an energy imprint here — and as she merged with their Law energy and completed her ascension to Divine Envoy, the Sea Spirit King and Kuangtao merged into one, transforming entirely, evolving into a diamond-rank level-five war beast: the Tsunami Witch.

Tsunami Witch: Diamond Rank Level 5 — Humanoid Elemental War Beast, Life Guardian War Beast. Mirrors the appearance and form of her master. Elemental form. Special abilities: Tsunami, Wellspring, Heavenly Cascade, Hidden Current, Whirlpool, Spirit-Master Fusion.

When Yue Yu stepped out of the pillar of ascension energy, two thin trails of tears still traced her cheeks — tears she hadn’t been able to hold back.

The Tsunami Witch, who shared nine-tenths of her master’s likeness, was no longer a small child. She had grown to the appearance of a girl of fourteen or fifteen — not yet fully mature, but her elemental form and features carried a fresh, youthful quality that made her look like Yue Yu’s younger sister, easy to mistake for the real thing at a glance. The Tsunami Witch went down on one knee to receive her master — now a Sacred Beast, she had absorbed enough of her master’s wisdom to learn the grace of proper etiquette.

Yue Yu gathered her into a gentle embrace, as though welcoming a sister home.

Then the Tsunami Witch dissolved into energy and merged back into Yue Yu’s body. Through Spirit-Master Fusion, the Tsunami Witch could learn, mirror, and attune to her master at every moment, growing continuously under her influence. In turn, she could provide steady, seamless support in both daily life and in battle.

Yue Yu descended from the Sky Stairway to find Sick Beauty and the others waiting for her at the foot.

She hugged each of them in turn.

The Yue Yu who returned from that grueling training was unmistakably different from the one who had left. Not only was she stronger — she had also, finally and completely, untied the knot she had been carrying for so long. When she reached Liuye, she held her close and murmured softly in her ear: “Liuye, you keep working hard too.”

Liuye had no way of knowing the weight behind those words. She took them simply as encouragement.

None of them knew the truth. Not even Liuye, the last one Yue Yu embraced, had any idea.

Only Sick Beauty — who understood Yue Yu better than anyone — could guess at a piece of it.

“You’re smiling,” she said, looking at Yue Yu with quiet meaning in her words. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you smile like that.”

“It’s not just me — everyone should smile more.” Yue Yu answered with a smile still on her lips, her bright, warm face more radiant today than it had ever looked before — like a gentle breeze blowing soft and unhurried across the still surface of everyone’s hearts.