Chapter 83: Extra 9
After the upheaval in the Heavenly Court, Chu Yi became incredibly busy.
She could temporarily set aside the matters of the Heavenly Prosperity Department and the Celestial Pivot Department, but the Heavenly Mechanism Department’s issues demanded immediate attention. The cracks on the Merit Mirror were an ominous sign. The Heavenly Court had been lax in allowing human immortals to ascend, repeatedly violating the Heavenly Dao’s decree. If the mirror shattered completely, the consequences would be dire. Fortunately, they could still use magic power and their Mandate of Heaven to mend it, but who knew how long that would last? Therefore, the ascension of human immortals at the various Heavenly Gates couldn’t be delayed, and they couldn’t afford any mistakes.
With the former Heavenly Gate guardians gone, the Heavenly Court was severely understaffed. The Celestial Pivot Department’s officials were overwhelmed, and she couldn’t be everywhere at once. She had to request assistance from the White Tiger Department, the Celestial Feather Ministry, and the Four Seas, finally managing to maintain order. However, this wasn’t a long-term solution. Those immortals weren’t exactly eager to serve as Heavenly Gate guardians. Therefore, an official assessment was necessary. The position was crucial, demanding impartiality and preventing any single individual from controlling a gate.
After finally catching up on her work, Chu Yi was exhausted.
She wanted to visit the East Sea, but as she was leaving, she ran into Ming Jian Su and Feng Chiyue, strolling leisurely. It wasn’t that she begrudged them their carefree life, but they were clearly trying to provoke her. There were countless places to visit in the vast Immortal Realm. Why did they have to come here?
She was indeed infuriated, but she also learned something from them: Ying Cunxin wasn’t in the East Sea.
The Heavenly Net was still unstable, the name seals on the Chaos Mirror flickering, appearing and disappearing. Ying Cunxin, eager to watch the latest immortal plays, couldn’t rely on the Chaos Mirror anymore.
Didn’t the East Sea have any pressing matters? Why was the East Sea Dragon Princess so idle? If she had free time, why wasn’t she helping out in the Heavenly Court? The Dragon Princesses from the South Sea and the West Sea were both here.
Most of the immortal plays were staged by wandering immortals, who had more free time than officials. These wandering immortals, mostly ascended from the lower realm, had brought their “entertainment” with them. Apart from their simple dwellings, they enjoyed drinking, listening to music, and living a carefree life.
When Chu Yi arrived, the play was already nearing its end.
The gathering wasn’t large, and she easily spotted Ying Cunxin, standing in a corner, her arms crossed.
She certainly knew how to find a good spot.
They hadn’t seen each other since their last encounter in the Heavenly Court. She had gone to the Demon Abyss, and Ying Cunxin had returned to the East Sea. When she heard about the Heavenly Court’s attack on the East Sea, she had been worried, but the Chaos Mirror’s communication was unreliable, and she couldn’t leave the Demon Abyss. She had probably been the only one worrying. She suddenly felt a wave of melancholy, unsure why she had come here. She glanced at Ying Cunxin, then turned and left.
Ying Cunxin had noticed her arrival. She had been waiting for her to join her, but Chu Yi simply left. She frowned, confused, then, withdrawing her lingering gaze, transformed into a beam of light and gave chase. Perhaps she was grieving over Tian Yuan’s death, after all, he was her father. That was the only explanation she could think of.
Chu Yi wasn’t flying particularly fast, and when she noticed Ying Cunxin following her, she accelerated slightly. But she didn’t want to leave her behind, and she soon slowed down. When Ying Cunxin’s deceptively innocent face appeared before her, she raised an eyebrow and said coldly, “Why are you following me?”
“Are you in a bad mood?” Ying Cunxin asked. Given their relationship, it was only appropriate for her to express concern.
Chu Yi chuckled. “Now that everything is back to normal, why would I be unhappy?”
Ying Cunxin thought for a moment. “Then congratulations?” she said tentatively.
Chu Yi: “…”
She could see through her insincerity. Noticing her cold expression, Ying Cunxin said thoughtfully, “You could go to the Ethereal Spirit Realm.”
“Are you coming with me?” Chu Yi asked immediately.
Ying Cunxin’s expression remained calm. “The Heavenly Mechanism is still unstable,” she said casually. “The Heavenly Net hasn’t fully recovered.”
Chu Yi wasn’t letting her off the hook. A glint of mischief flashed in her eyes. “It’s fine,” she said slowly. “It will recover eventually. I’ll come find you then.”
Ying Cunxin had no desire to enter the Ethereal Spirit Realm. The Four Seas were peaceful. Why should she subject herself to such torture? She preferred watching from the sidelines. She pretended not to hear and changed the subject. “How are you?” she asked.
Chu Yi glanced at her. “It’s been a while since the war,” she said. “If anything had happened to me, my reincarnation would probably be a baby by now.”
Ying Cunxin felt a twinge of guilt. It wasn’t difficult to find out about Chu Yi’s situation. She had known she was safe. But with the Chaos Mirror’s communication unreliable, she hadn’t bothered contacting her. “Aren’t you busy?” she asked, offering an excuse.
“You could help out,” Chu Yi said bluntly. “Didn’t the Dragon Princesses from the other seas come to assist? Why didn’t you join them?”
Ying Cunxin lowered her gaze. She had intended to, but hearing that they had to be stationed at the Heavenly Gates, sitting there endlessly, judging the merits and demerits of ascending cultivators based on the Merit Mirror, she had changed her mind. If she had the Chaos Mirror to entertain her, it wouldn’t have been so bad, but the Heavenly Net hadn’t recovered yet. There was plenty of time. She didn’t need to rush. “I’m here now,” she said softly.
Was she here to watch the play or to see her? Chu Yi was even more annoyed by her evasiveness. On the Chaos Mirror, Ying Cunxin could twist words, making it impossible to tell what she truly meant. Chu Yi walked ahead, and seeing that Ying Cunxin wasn’t following, she turned back and smiled. “Aren’t you here to see me?” she asked.
Ying Cunxin: “…” She followed.
The Azure Monarch Palace had been destroyed along with Kunlun Mountain. Chu Yi hadn’t moved to the Great Yin Palace but had instead, in a moment of leisure, used her magic power to relocate a mountain and hired Chang Huai and the others to build a new palace. She didn’t care about the palace itself. She was only interested in the dragon pool in front of it and the underwater palace modeled after the East Sea’s Crystal Palace. A blood-red coral tree stood beside the pool, its branches adorned with various wind chimes, their tinkling melodies carried by the gentle breeze.
Chu Yi sat by the pool and, looking up at Ying Cunxin, asked, “What do you think? Is there anything else that needs to be changed?”
Ying Cunxin was speechless. After a moment, she glared at her. “It’s your dwelling,” she said. “Why are you asking me?”
Chu Yi smiled. “I want my guest to be comfortable, of course.”
Her smile dazzled Ying Cunxin. She composed herself. “Then ask your guest,” she said.
“Aren’t you my guest?”
Ying Cunxin’s heart skipped a beat, and her ears turned red. She looked away. “I have matters to attend to in the East Sea,” she said. “I won’t be staying.”
“What matters require your personal attention?” Did she think she was unaware? Ying Cunxin rarely had any real responsibilities in the East Sea. Unless absolutely necessary, she always found ways to avoid them.
Ying Cunxin couldn’t answer.
Chu Yi stood up and walked towards her.
Her sleeve brushed against the coral branches, and the wind chimes tinkled.
Ying Cunxin’s eye twitched, a sense of unease washing over her. She looked at Chu Yi warily, her lips pursed. “I’m not transforming into my dragon form,” she said. She had been caught off guard last time, but she wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
“What a pity,” Chu Yi said casually. She reached up and plucked a pine needle from Ying Cunxin’s hair, a playful smile on her face. “You seemed to enjoy that play. Why didn’t you remember your urgent matters then?”
Ying Cunxin: “…” She was annoyed. Chu Yi was doing this on purpose. She dropped her facade of aloofness and, her expression now blank, asked, “What do you want?”
Chu Yi threw the question back at her, her smile tinged with amusement. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?” It was Ying Cunxin who had deleted her name seal and then added it back, who had chatted with her every day, and then suddenly abandoned her. She was truly heartless.
Ying Cunxin frowned, wanting to argue. “I…” she started to say, but then she stopped.
“You admire strength,” Chu Yi said, looking at her. “You love excitement. You only want to play. But then you met me.”
“Ying Cunxin, you can’t just play. Not anymore.”
Perhaps to eliminate any possibility of excuses, Chu Yi sent someone to the East Sea.
The old Dragon Lord, upon hearing that Ying Cunxin wouldn’t be returning, was overjoyed.
The emissary, upon returning, vividly described the Dragon Lord’s reaction. Ying Cunxin, her face cold, had nothing to say. She had to stay in Chu Yi’s dwelling.
Chu Yi’s mountain still didn’t have a name, and she enthusiastically involved Ying Cunxin in choosing one.
Ying Cunxin listened to her suggestions, such as “Playing Dragon Mountain” and “Coiling Dragon Mountain,” then, unable to bear it any longer, said, “Did you rename Dong’e Mountain to Morning Phoenix Mountain just to imitate them?” This infuriated Chu Yi, who promptly named the mountain “Azure Monarch Mountain.” Ying Cunxin didn’t care. She had been exposed. She would do as she pleased.
The underwater palace was similar to the one in the East Sea, and it even had Ying Cunxin’s favorite seashell bed.
Having settled in, she wasn’t unhappy. After all, it didn’t really matter where she was. Her only regret was that the Chaos Mirror was still unreliable, but that had nothing to do with Azure Monarch Mountain.
However, this belief wavered one day when she saw Chu Yi using the Chaos Mirror to handle Heavenly Court matters.
Chu Yi explained that the Heavenly Mechanism was still unstable and only allowed brief communication with officials.
Ying Cunxin was skeptical.
But she soon noticed something was wrong. During her brief access to the Chaos Mirror, she saw many new immortal plays, with numerous immortals leaving their marks. If the mirror was malfunctioning, this wouldn’t be possible. This time, she didn’t bother asking Chu Yi.
She first inquired with some of her fellow Daoists, then left Azure Monarch Mountain and tried using the Chaos Mirror elsewhere.
It wasn’t the Heavenly Mechanism that was unstable, nor was it the Heavenly Net. It was Chu Yi who was using her magic power to interfere with the spiritual energy on Azure Monarch Mountain, suppressing the Chaos Mirror.
She confronted Chu Yi, who, with a calm and self-righteous expression, said, “I did it. I was afraid you would become addicted to the Chaos Mirror and neglect your duties.”
Ying Cunxin: “…” How could such a person exist? What were her duties? Eating, drinking, and having fun, of course!
Ying Cunxin returned to the East Sea.
The Chaos Mirror was now fully functional, and she didn’t completely sever her ties with Chu Yi. They occasionally chatted through the mirror, and she listened to Chu Yi’s updates on the Heavenly Court, but she wasn’t as enthusiastic as before.
She had wanted to ignore Chu Yi. Her feelings were a tangled mess, and the best solution was to pretend she didn’t exist. But after only fifteen minutes, she abandoned this plan.
The North Sea Dragon Princess visited while she was lounging on her seashell bed, watching a play.
“I came by a few days ago, but I didn’t see you,” the North Sea Dragon Princess said, her voice filled with confusion.
Ying Cunxin put away the Chaos Mirror and, propping her chin on her hand, said, “I was in the Heavenly Court.”
“Helping out at the Heavenly Gates?”
Ying Cunxin shook her head. “The Heavenly Princess detained me.”
“Detained?” The North Sea Dragon Princess studied her for a moment, then chuckled. “Why are you back now?”
“I’m not a prisoner of the Heavenly Court. I can go wherever I want,” Ying Cunxin said.
The North Sea Dragon Princess laughed. “What kind of detention is that?” She looked at her listless expression, then raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t want to come back, did you?”
Ying Cunxin scoffed. “Who said that?” What was so great about Azure Monarch Mountain? That dragon pool was tiny. She couldn’t even stretch out her true form. It was nothing compared to the vastness of the sea.
The North Sea Dragon Princess studied her for a moment. “Have you seen the changes in the Ethereal Spirit Realm?” she asked.
Ying Cunxin shook her head. She had no desire to cultivate there and naturally didn’t pay attention to any developments.
“The demons have joined the Chaos Mirror, and there’s been a lot of arguing. But they can’t exactly challenge each other to duels on the battlefield, so they’ve turned their attention to the Ethereal Spirit Realm. Perhaps they felt that fighting without recognition was pointless, so a ranking system has been introduced. The demons, being warlike, initially dominated the rankings, but the immortals, feeling humiliated, have been challenging them, trying to push them down.”
Ying Cunxin listened patiently, then, when she finished, asked, “And?”
The North Sea Dragon Princess clicked her tongue. “Don’t you admire strength?” she asked. “The Ethereal Spirit Rankings make it clear who’s powerful.”
“I see,” Ying Cunxin said, realization dawning.
The North Sea Dragon Princess studied her. “Something’s wrong with you,” she said after a moment.
“No, there isn’t,” Ying Cunxin replied, her expression unchanged. She didn’t know when this had started, but she felt no excitement towards the Ethereal Spirit Realm, despite the North Sea Dragon Princess’s description.
After her guest left, she had nothing better to do and, focusing her consciousness on the Chaos Mirror, glanced at the Ethereal Spirit Rankings.
Most of the names were unfamiliar. Those who had shone during the war weren’t listed. After all, they were all busy now, except for those two from Morning Phoenix Mountain.
What was the point of these rankings? She wondered.
She couldn’t remember if she had mentioned the Ethereal Spirit Realm to Chu Yi, but one day, when she checked the rankings again, she saw the Heavenly Princess’s name at the top. Countless challengers had tried to defeat her, but they had all failed.
With her status, she had no need to participate in these battles. Maintaining her position at the top meant dedicating a significant portion of her time and energy to fighting challengers.
Why was she doing this?
Chu Yi sent her a message. “What do you think?”
Ying Cunxin was distracted. After a long moment, she replied, “I only managed to defeat you in the Ethereal Spirit Realm because of Feng Chiyue’s guidance.” She couldn’t understand her own feelings, but she suddenly wanted to bring this up.
“I guessed as much,” Chu Yi replied. Ying Cunxin had always lost to her initially, but then one day, her power had suddenly surged, and after that, she had refused to fight in the Ethereal Spirit Realm.
“I’m sorry,” Ying Cunxin said.
“What are you apologizing for?”
“Many things.”
“That’s not enough. And through the Chaos Mirror? Don’t you think that’s insincere?”
Ying Cunxin: “…”
She didn’t go to Azure Monarch Mountain.
Chu Yi didn’t mind. She went to the East Sea and brought the mountain to her.
She gave Ying Cunxin an exquisite pearl hairpin. “I took something from you before,” she said. “Now I’m returning something.”
Ying Cunxin didn’t accept it. “Does this mean we’re even now?” she asked.
Chu Yi: “…” She composed herself. “You owe me many apologies,” she said.
Ying Cunxin frowned, reluctant to apologize. What was the difference between one apology and a hundred?
Chu Yi didn’t press her. “You can take your time,” she said casually. “If you can’t do it in a day, then take a hundred years, a thousand years.”
Ying Cunxin glanced at her.
Chu Yi walked towards her, her steps light, and placed the hairpin in her hair, brushing aside the seashells. She sat beside Ying Cunxin and asked eagerly, “What do you think?”
Ying Cunxin pursed her lips, then, after a long moment, replied, avoiding the question, “Perhaps it’s just an inexplicable attachment born from years of interaction.” She couldn’t define her feelings for Chu Yi. Sometimes, she felt a fondness for her. Other times, she was annoyed. She would miss her if they stopped interacting, but it wasn’t something that consumed her.
Chu Yi understood what she was saying. She met her gaze. “Do you think you’re the only one I interact with?” she asked.
Ying Cunxin felt a surge of displeasure. She glared at Chu Yi and moved away. “You’re not,” she said. “But I am.”
Chu Yi pondered this. After a moment, she said, “Then, as long as we continue interacting, won’t all these problems resolve themselves?”
Ying Cunxin felt something was wrong, but she couldn’t articulate it.
Chu Yi settled the matter. “Then that’s settled,” she said. She lay down on the seashell bed, closed her eyes, and murmured, “I’m tired.”
Ying Cunxin looked at her, her heart skipping a beat, sinking, disappearing for a moment. When she felt it again, it seemed to be carrying something else, a restless fluttering. “You brought this on yourself, didn’t you?” she thought. The Heavenly Court was already busy, and Chu Yi was also participating in the Ethereal Spirit Realm battles. What was the point of being at the top of the rankings? If she fell, it would only invite gossip. But meeting those calm eyes, she changed her words. “Then rest well,” she said.
Chu Yi smiled and drifted off to sleep.
Later, whenever she had some free time, she would visit the East Sea, doing nothing but napping beside Ying Cunxin.
Then, one day, Ying Cunxin asked her not to come anymore.
Seeing her expression change, she quickly took out a drawing and handed it to her.
It was a plan for renovating the dragon pool and the Crystal Palace. She had even visited the Celestial Feather Ministry to consult with Chang Huai.
“A mountain without height, a pool without depth… will never attract a dragon.”
“What do you think?”
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