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..."What? Did you get bitten?" The Ice Dragon King's voice carried a hint of schadenfreude.
Xuan Ming snapped back to his senses and looked at her with some helplessness. "Sister Bing, what on earth did you say to her?"
"Nothing much." The Ice Dragon King spread her hands, looking innocent. "I just analyzed your character for her and gave her a little encouragement while I was at it."
"Encouragement?" Xuan Ming's mouth twitched. "You call that encouragement?"
"What else?" The Ice Dragon King walked to his side and said amusedly, "Do you really think Qian Renxue came looking for you because she truly wanted an answer?"
"She says she wants an answer, but in reality, no matter what answer you give, she won't listen at all."
"That girl is one of the most stubborn people I've ever seen. She only believes what she wants to believe and only does what she thinks is right."
The Ice Dragon King looked in the direction where Qian Renxue had disappeared, her gaze turning profound.
"She made this trip not to get a result, but to seek peace of mind."
"She's reluctant to let you go; that's a fact. But she's also proud and won't resort to pestering. So, she needs a reason—a reason that allows her to keep persisting."
"That reason is your attitude."
"As long as you are also reluctant to let her go, as long as you speak up to make her stay—even if it's just one sentence saying you don't want her to leave—that's enough for her. It gives her the confidence to keep persisting."
The Ice Dragon King turned her head to look at Xuan Ming and pointed out sharply, "Unless one day you can look her in the eye and clearly tell her to her face that you don't want to see her again and tell her to get lost, she will never truly leave."
Xuan Ming fell silent. He knew that he could never say those words.
The Ice Dragon King sighed softly and continued, "To Qian Renxue, you are different from others. You are the friend who accompanied her through her longest and loneliest years, and you are the person with whom she has the deepest emotional entanglement."
"From childhood to adulthood, from Heaven Dou Imperial City to the Spirit Empire, you calculated against each other, guarded against each other, yet also supported and tormented each other. But precisely because of this, neither of you can let go of the other."
"Ultimately," the Ice Dragon King shook her head, her tone carrying a bit of helplessness and a trace of doting, "the two of you are just two equally love-starved, equally awkward children. Expecting any normal emotional development between you is just wishful thinking."
Listening to the Ice Dragon King's words, Xuan Ming's heart was filled with mixed emotions, which finally turned into a bitter smile.
Perhaps she was right.
Just then, the Ice Dragon King changed the subject and reminded him, "Alright, the matters of the God Realm have temporarily come to an end. However... the matters of the Mortal Realm don't seem to be completely resolved yet, do they?"
"Hmm?" Xuan Ming was a bit puzzled.
The Ice Dragon King looked at him, a meaningful light flashing in her ice-blue eyes.
"Don't you plan... to go back to the Douluo Continent and take a look?"
"For example... that lady from Moon Pavilion, Tang Yuehua?"
"Since you came to the God Realm, and then with the expansion of the God Realm, the flow of time has been different. In the Mortal Realm... many years have already passed."
"Some people and some things should eventually have a conclusion."
After hearing the Ice Dragon King's words, Xuan Ming's heart felt as if it had been lightly touched by something.
Tang Yuehua... that woman as gentle as water who had taught him etiquette and tranquility.
Time in the God Realm was not synchronized with the Mortal Realm. He had experienced one earth-shattering transformation after another here, but for the Mortal Realm, how many years had passed?
Indeed, some people and some things should eventually have a conclusion.
"Let's go." Xuan Ming nodded to the Ice Dragon King. "We'll go back and take a look."
The Ice Dragon King smiled and didn't ask more. She knew that this conclusion was a period that Xuan Ming had to draw himself.
The two didn't disturb anyone. With a flash of their figures, they easily penetrated the barrier between the God Realm and the Mortal Realm, quietly descending once again onto the Douluo Continent... The moment he stepped onto this long-lost land, Xuan Ming clearly felt the difference in the World.
The natural energy drifting in the air was more than several times denser than when he had left.
The elemental forces that used to require calm meditation to sense were now almost actively drilling into the human body.
The sky seemed higher and bluer, and the earth was heavier and more full of life.
He could foresee that in such an environment, the cultivation speed of both human Spirit Masters and Spirit Beasts on Douluo Star would receive an explosive boost.
Perhaps in less than a few hundred years, the once-rare Titled Douluo or the terrifying Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Beasts would no longer be anything unusual.
This was a brand new era, a more glorious era opened by the joint efforts of him and Gu Yuena.
Xuan Ming didn't linger in the wild for long. His Divine Thought instantly locked onto the location of Heaven Dou City. In the next moment, he and the Ice Dragon King appeared directly above that familiar yet strange city.
The current Heaven Dou City was no longer the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire.
The Two Great Empires had long since ceased to exist after that earth-shattering 'Divine Punishment'.
The complete collapse of the military had turned all thoughts of war into illusions.
In the long years that followed, the Spirit Empire governed by Qian Renxue completed the unification of the entire continent in a relatively mild manner.
Heaven Dou City had also peacefully integrated into this brand new Empire without experiencing any more major turmoil.
Xuan Ming's gaze finally landed on an elegant courtyard in the city.
Moon Pavilion.
Even with the change of Empires and imperial power, this place remained the school that taught etiquette and music.
Perhaps a significant reason was that the old nobles, whose glory had faded, used this place as a gathering spot to huddle for warmth and reminisce about the past to maintain their last shred of dignity.
Xuan Ming's figure silently passed through the pavilions and corridors of Moon Pavilion, finally arriving outside the familiar room where he had once stayed for a long time.
He didn't knock. Just like many years ago, he gently pushed the door open and walked in.
Inside the room, incense curled up and the sound of the zither was melodious.
Tang Yuehua was sitting upright behind the zither, her eyes lightly closed, her fingers elegantly plucking the strings.
Over ten years of time had eventually left marks on her face.
She was, after all, just an ordinary person without spirit power. No matter how well she maintained herself, she could not resist the erosion of time.
Moreover, over the past years, the Empire had fallen and the World had changed greatly. Every single major event had caused her endless worry.
After all these years, she had clearly become much more haggard. Fine lines had appeared at the corners of her eyes, and a few silver strands were vaguely visible among her once jet-black hair.
Xuan Ming stood there quietly without making a sound, just silently watching her and listening to her play.
In the music of the zither, there was remembrance, disappointment, and a deep, lingering yearning that could not be brushed away.
The song ended, and the melody lingered in the air.
Tang Yuehua slowly opened her eyes and let out a long sigh. Habitually, she raised her head to look out the window, but in the next second, her gaze completely froze.
By the window stood a familiar figure.
Long silver hair and ice-blue eyes, just like back then.
Tang Yuehua's lips trembled slightly, and tears burst from her eyes without warning.
For a moment, she doubted if she was having a hallucination because of excessive yearning.
She didn't even dare to make a sound or blink, for fear that this fragile dream would shatter.
It had been so many years, over ten full years.
Xuan Ming had seemed to vanish from the face of the earth without leaving any news. She had imagined the scene of their reunion countless times, but she had also despairingly thought in countless nights that they might never see each other again.
Just as she was staring blankly with tears flowing, at a loss for what to do, that figure moved.
Xuan Ming slowly walked forward and stopped in front of her. He didn't say anything, but simply opened his arms and gently pulled this woman, who had worried about him for over ten years, into his embrace.
A warm and solid embrace, a familiar and reassuring scent... all of it was so real.
Tang Yuehua could no longer restrain herself. She leaned on his shoulder and burst into loud sobs, turning all the yearning, worry, and grievances of the past ten-plus years into scalding tears.
Xuan Ming didn't speak, only gently patting her back, letting her vent.
A long, long time passed.
It wasn't until Tang Yuehua's crying gradually subsided and she sobbed, raising her tear-streaked face.
Only then did Xuan Ming lower his head and use his fingers to gently wipe away the tear stains on her face, his voice soft yet firm.
"I'm back."
"Just as I said back then."
"I have handled everything."