Chapter 98: Heart Opens, Fragments of the Past
The distant palace silhouette resembled a mirage, offering hope yet remaining unattainable. After days of intense trekking and fighting, even Ye Li and Qin Yixuan, with their cultivation levels, felt deeply exhausted. Spiritual energy could be replenished with elixirs, but the mental strain and the toll the soul had on fighting the extreme cold required true rest.
Under a large, sheltered ice rock, the two found a relatively safe temporary base. Qin Yixuan took out several small formation flags and set up a simple concealment and warning formation. The shimmering light slightly blocked out the wind, snow, and cold outside. Ye Li carefully inspected the surroundings, confirming there were no hidden dangers before relaxing slightly.
The space beneath the ice wasn't large, but it was enough for two people to sit cross-legged. A faint bonfire, fueled by a fire-attributed spirit stone, lit in the middle. The flickering flames dispelled some of the chill, bringing a subtle hint of warmth and light.
The two of them sat in silence, each swallowing their own pills and silently practicing Qigong and regulating their breathing. The only sounds in the air were the crackling of the burning spirit stone and the whimpering of the wind and snow outside.
After these few days of sharing life and death, the initial unfamiliarity and wariness had largely dissipated. A tacit understanding flowed in the silence, unspoken. Ye Li could sense that beneath Qin Yixuan's seemingly cool exterior, she concealed a deep sense of responsibility and a loneliness that was unbecoming of her age...?
After regulating her breathing, Qin Yixuan slowly opened her eyes and looked at the dancing flames. Her gaze was a little vague, unlike her usual cold and resolute expression. She sighed softly, the sigh barely audible, but remarkably clear in the silence.
Ye Li also opened her eyes and looked at her. The past few days of getting along had allowed her to see a side of this Fairy from the Bishui Pavilion that was different from what she appeared to others—her tenacity, her attentiveness, and even the occasional hint of confusion.
"Have you encountered any difficulties in your cultivation?" Ye Li took the initiative to speak, her voice calm. She was not one to pry into someone's private affairs, but at this moment, she felt that perhaps Qin Yixuan needed someone to listen.
Qin Yixuan was slightly taken aback, seemingly unprepared for Ye Li's question. She was silent for a moment, her slender fingers unconsciously caressing the smooth surface of the Cang Hai Ming Yue Pearl. Finally, she spoke softly, a rare hint of confusion in her voice: "It's not a specific problem... It's just that, ever since breaking through the late Spiritual Mansion Realm, I've felt... like there's an invisible barrier ahead. It's not a lack of spiritual energy or understanding, but more like a stagnation... at the soul level."
She paused, as if trying to organize her words, and continued, "Moreover, in recent years, I've often had bizarre dreams. In them... there are nine-story palaces, lingering immortal music, and sometimes I see an endless starry sky shattered, and all living things wailing... After waking up, I feel an inexplicable throbbing and... a sense of mission. It's as if some important mission is waiting for me in a distant place, urging me to become stronger."
At this point, she smiled self-deprecatingly. The smile that blossomed on her beautiful face was breathtakingly beautiful, yet also tinged with a hint of fragility. "Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Perhaps it's just my inner demons at work."
Ye Li listened quietly, her heart stirring. Nine-tiered palaces? Immortal music? A shattered starry sky? This description bore a striking resemblance to fragments of legends about supreme beings from her past life! And that stagnation at the soul level and that inexplicable sense of mission...
She recalled her master, Lay Buddhist Muyun, who had hinted at a possibility that Qin Yixuan might be carrying out a special mission. She also recalled the nearly exhaustive resources devoted to her training by the Bishui Pavilion, and the special attention paid to her by the Nine Heavens Palace envoys...
A startling conjecture surfaced in Ye Li's mind: Qin Yixuan was probably not just an ordinary Bishui Pavilion disciple! She was most likely the reincarnation of some ancient powerhouse, or she was carrying a destiny of great importance!
This conjecture left Ye Li with mixed feelings. On the one hand, she felt a subtle pity for Qin Yixuan—carrying an unknown mission, destined to endure more than ordinary people. On the other hand, she also vaguely understood why Qin Yixuan always gave people a cold and distant feeling. Perhaps it wasn't arrogance, but a sense of alienation from the world around her, a loneliness that came from bearing secrets alone.
"It may not be an inner demon." Ye Li spoke in a steady voice, with a convincing power. "The universe is mysterious, and the cycle of reincarnation is unpredictable. Some of these perceptions may not be groundless rumors. I once saw a record in an ancient fragment that some gifted people, either due to bloodline or innate wisdom, can sense the pull of their own destiny in advance."
She did not directly point out reincarnation or destiny, but expressed her views in a relatively tactful way.
Qin Yixuan looked up in surprise at Ye Li. She'd expected some solace or rational analysis, but she hadn't expected Ye Li to say something that almost acknowledged her "absurd" feelings. Furthermore, Ye Li's eyes were clear and profound, without a hint of perfunctory or joking, as if she truly understood the profound feeling she was describing.
This feeling was wonderful. She had always buried these doubts deep within her heart, never even sharing them with her master, fearing they were too vague and illusory, and she feared they would be seen as delusional. But she had never expected that, in this desperate situation of ice and snow, the girl she had once considered her strongest rival could actually understand her.
"You... believe this?" Qin Yixuan couldn't help but ask, with a hint of expectation in her tone that she herself didn't even notice.
"I believe that power doesn't come out of thin air. Cause and effect must have a reason." Ye Li didn't directly answer whether he believed it or not, but instead offered his own interpretation of the Dao. "Since you have a feeling, follow it and pursue it. Whether it is illusion or truth, fate or disaster, only when you reach that point will you know. Before that, adding to your worries is useless. Improving your strength is the key to coping with all the unknowns."
These words not only confirmed the possible authenticity of Qin Yixuan's perception, but also provided a pragmatic direction, full of Ye Li's usual calmness and tenacity.
Qin Yixuan stared at Ye Li in amazement. In the firelight, Ye Li's face was sharply defined, her eyes as firm as a rock. At that moment, she suddenly felt that the girl before her might be even more... extraordinary than she had imagined. Her composure and insight seemed to be the product of countless years of baptism.
Before I knew it, my defenses had been lowered again.
"You're right." Qin Yixuan let out a breath, as if releasing all the pent-up frustration. Her eyes became clear and firm again. "I was mistaken. No matter what, becoming stronger is always right."
The atmosphere became much more relaxed. The gap between the two seemed to have melted away considerably due to this heart-to-heart talk.
After a moment of silence, Qin Yixuan suddenly asked, "What about you, Ye Li? Why are you practicing so hard to become stronger? I can see that you seem to have something very heavy on your mind."
This time, it was Ye Li's turn to be slightly stunned. She hadn't expected Qin Yixuan to question her. The secrets of her past life's hatred, the Samsara Mirror, and her parents' disappearance were her biggest taboos, and she would never share them with anyone easily.
She pondered for a long time, the wind and snow howled outside the ice rock, and the bonfire crackled beneath the rock.
In the end, she chose an answer that was relatively truthful, but did not touch upon the core of her life: "To survive, to control my own destiny. To...find some truths, and settle some grudges."
Her tone was calm, but Qin Yixuan could hear a deep sense of heaviness and determination within it. It was more than just a simple sect rivalry or personal grudge.
Qin Yixuan didn't ask about the specific truths and grudges. Everyone has their own secrets and burdens. She simply nodded and said softly, "It seems we are all striving for our own paths and goals."
These words resonated silently. Two equally talented young women, each burdened with secrets, trudging along the path to immortality, found a strange understanding and connection amidst the desolate isolation of the icy plains.
"Rest." Ye Li ended the topic. "We have to travel tomorrow. I hope that palace can give us clues to leave."
Qin Yixuan nodded, closed her eyes again, and began to regulate her breathing. But this time, her mood was much calmer than before.
Ye Li closed her eyes, her mind swirling with thoughts. Qin Yixuan's abnormality had cast a new layer of mystery over her understanding of this world. And her own secrets seemed vaguely connected to these ancient mysteries. The road ahead seemed increasingly complex and turbulent.
The campfire gradually dimmed, and the space beneath the ice and rocks returned to darkness. But two hearts, once distant and estranged, quietly drew closer at the bottom of this icy abyss. This tiny change might trigger an unpredictable storm in the future.
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