Great Emperors Chao Feng and Bi’an were both sons of the Dragon God. Despite both living in the God Realm, due to their statuses, they both had far too many matters to attend to. As such, they rarely got in touch with each other, and when they did, they usually just communicated through divine sense transmissions. It had been over a hundred years since they’d last met in person.
They were currently both visiting the Sea of Innocence, so the two brothers seized the opportunity to meet up in Bi’an’s room and have a drink.
After bidding them farewell, Xuan Ji led Ye Rong to a place surrounded on all sides by flowerbeds.
The air was fragrant and the scenery soothing.
Almost an hour had passed, but Ye Rong didn’t say so much as a single word to Xuan Ji. From the outside, it looked as if she were admiring the flowers, but her Divine Sense was locked onto the place Ye Zichen had gone.
“Isn’t that enough? You have too little faith in your son.” Xuan Ji knelt by a flowerbed and plucked an iridescent yellow four-leaved flower, then placed it in Ye Rong’s hair. “I’ve got good eyes. It really suits you!”
Ye Rong finally looked away, then met Xuan Ji’s gaze. In stark contrast with Xuan Ji’s glee, Ye Rong’s face was a mask of ice. She c.o.c.ked her head, then glanced up at the flower on her head. A hint of a smile flashed through her eyes, but before long, it too froze over. Her icy exterior returned. “You don’t have to play these games. I’m doing just fine.”
“I know you are. I just thought this flower suited you, so I plucked it for you,” chuckled Xuan Ji.
“I know what you want to say.” Ye Rong’s fingers brushed the flowers, and with each one she touched, several pixies flew into their air. They beat their adorable, intricate little wings and landed on Ye Rong’s shoulders. They showed no sign of fear at all.
They blinked their shining eyes. Ye Rong’s gaze was full of kindness.
From her shoulders, the pixies took to the air and danced among the flowers. Ye Rong watched and laughed in delight, then walked up to the pavilion in the center of the garden and sat down.
”Perhaps I was a little overly decisive. I didn’t leave that poor girl any hope at all. Xue Yang and Zhao Qianling will undoubtedly carry a grudge against me for this.”
“Why would they?” When she heard Ye Rong’s sighs, Xuan Ji shook her head. “They’re parents too. They’ll understand.”
“That’s right, they’re parents too.” Ye Rong sighed again.
The fragrance of the flower garden surrounded Ye Rong and Xuan Ji. The aroma was so refreshing that they couldn’t help but smile.
The pixies of the garden seemed to sense Ye Rong’s distress, so they gathered around her and gibber-gabbered in their incomprehensible language. Ye Rong didn’t understand their language, but their kindness was readily apparent.
“Don’t look so dejected. Look, even the pixies are trying to get you to smile,” said Xuan Ji.
Ye Rong reached out and gently patted a pixie on the head. Finally, she forced herself to smile. “Cutting off that poor girl’s last hope of survival was hard on me too. I’m still conflicted about it. She’s about the same age as Ye Zichen, still so young. If it were at all possible to save her, I’d do whatever I could. Unfortunately, she needs imperial starlight. That’s just not doable.”
“I don’t understand the stars as well as you do, but I can tell that imperial starlight is different from the light of ordinary stars. Could you explain? Think of it as expanding on my education,” said Xuan Ji.
“Of course it’s different.” Ye Rong nodded. “You already know that the North Star is the leader of the Milky Way, the Emperor of the Stars.”
Xuan Ji nodded. She naturally already knew all that. If it were any different, people wouldn’t call the North Star the Emperor Star.
“The heavens contain a total of eighty-eight conditions, and countless ordinary stars. All of them enjoy the Emperor Star’s protection and share in its good fortune. If an ordinary star or king star uses their starlight, so long as it remains under the Emperor Star’s protective glow, their light will recover. Only the Emperor Star….”
“The Emperor Star can’t recover it’s spent light?” asked Xuan Ji.
“It’s also uncertain just how much starlight Xue Mo would need, but if a flaw in the starlight leads to the destruction of our era, who will bear that responsibility? Who possibly could? Zichen? What will become of him if he has to live with that kind of pressure? Since that’s the case, it’s up to me to play the part of the villain. I had no choice but to harden my heart and refuse.”
“Ah, so that’s what you were worried about.” Xuan Ji arched her brows.
And here she’d thought Ye Rong was just worried about Ye Zichen getting hurt. She hadn’t realized the risks were so extreme. Ye Rong was concerned, not just about her son’s safety, but about his potential for transcendence and the Third Era’s ability to safely overcome the impending apocalypse.
When she put it like that, even if part of Xuan Ji still wanted to change Ye Rong’s mind, she forced the words back down.
Compared to the entire Third Era, Xue Mo’s life and death were insignificant indeed.
However, she was concerned about what bearing all this pressure would do Ye Rong. She was also concerned about how Ye Zichen would react if he, not even knowing the reason why, was forced to just watch as Xue Mo died. He might very well blame himself.
It was also possible that a rift would form between them, the Sea of Innocence, and the Jade Pool over this.
“I support you.” Xuan Ji smiled and squeezed Ye Rong’s hand. They were friends; all Xuan Ji could do now was support her.
“The Lord of the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper and the Master of the Profound Pavilion are elegant indeed,” said a voice from not far away.
The Hermit Emperor walked up to their pavilion, a huge smile on his face. Ye Zichen, Yang Jian, the Great Sage and the others were beside him.
“Zichen, what are you doing with the Hermit Emperor? You still haven’t given up, have you? I told you already: give up! Don’t even think about it! Understand?”
The flower pixies floating around Ye Rong took one look at Ye Zichen, and their cute little faces filled up with terror. They beat their wings furiously and hid themselves in the surrounding plants. Only their little faces peeked out from behind the flowers.
“Zichen, you're scaring the children!” Xuan Ji frowned. Only then did Ye Zichen realize that he’d scared the pixies. They were all staring at him in terror. He then understood that his overflowing murderous intent was affecting them too.
After learning the truth of this incident from Bai Yulong, he was struggling to restrain his fury.
After bumping into the Hermit Emperor, he deliberately restrained his aura, but he couldn’t fool anyone. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, his gaze and aura had lost their former gentleness.
He glanced coolly at the pixies, and when they met his gaze, they burrowed even deeper into the flowers. “There’s nothing I can do about it. I’ll just have to leave as quickly as possible. But first, Mom, Auntie, I want you to hear what the Hermit Emperor has to say. Then you can decide whether to save Xue Mo or not, okay?”
