"To my mind, no one compares to Kunlun's Divine Sovereign. I caught one distant glimpse of him at the banquet and was struck speechless—that figure, that face, a feast for the eyes!" The fairy who spoke clasped her cheeks like a girl in the first throes of a crush, eyes brimming with longing.
Another fairy chimed in at once: "You think the Divine Sovereign is some must-see attraction anyone can line up for? Though everyone does say he's a dreadful homebody—he rarely keeps company with the other immortals. To see him once, you might wait a hundred years!"
Master, a homebody? There was no such thing! All these years, the time Master spent on Kunlun could be counted on one hand. He was always off somewhere—attending banquets, calling on immortal friends. When had he ever kept to himself!
Then a third fairy covered her mouth and whispered, "Well, you don't know? The Divine Sovereign never used to be like this! For the past hundred-odd years he's been crossing back and forth between the world of the living and the dead—it's said he's searching for a woman's soul."
Oh? Who had started this rumor? The moment Ling Wu heard gossip about Qingchen, her eyes lit up and her ears stood straight as antennae.
"I know this one, I know this one! I heard it from my master before I ascended!" Another fairy crowded in eagerly. "That woman was a dao-companion the Divine Sovereign chose for himself, but nobody knew where she came from. Some said the Demon Realm, some said the demon clans. Whatever she was, her origins weren't proper—and the Divine Sovereign's own master opposed them more fiercely than anyone."
The first fairy frowned. "So she died in the end?"
"Naturally. Died horribly. Her clan slaughtered, her inner core destroyed too. When the Divine Sovereign reached her, only one breath remained. Before long, her soul had scattered to nothing." The fairy sighed with regret. "After that, the Divine Sovereign never returned to the Celestial Realm. He settled on Mount Kunlun instead."
"But if her soul scattered, how could he ever hope to find it?"
"My master didn't say. The odds of finding anything, I fear, are slim."
Since the beginning of time, no one had ever heard of a scattered soul finding its way back.
By the end, the fairies had talked themselves into sorrow.
So Master had a past like that? For some reason, hearing it made Ling Wu's heart ache dully too.
Did he treat that woman with the same tender care he showed her? If she'd been in danger, would he have rushed to her side the moment it happened? Would he have forbidden her to speak with other men?
Would he... have sulked day after day at the men crowding around her, like the jealous husbands in her storybooks?
Ling Wu had so many questions. But he wasn't beside her, and every one of them dissolved into a sigh.
When Eldest Senior Brother first mentioned that Master had learned the taste of love during his mortal trial, she hadn't taken it seriously. He'd been vague about the whole thing—not like these fairies, who told it in such detail.
So even a man as gentle and self-possessed as Master had a side that would give everything for one woman.
What must he have felt, these past two trips to the mortal realm, facing the stubborn obsessions of mortals?
The more she thought, the sadder she got—Ling Wu nearly wept.
If she'd known the gossip would be this, she never would have listened!
Soon enough, the fairies pulled themselves out of their melancholy and turned to other immortals.
Supreme Immortal Wenyao.
Another familiar name.
"If that woman's death made anyone happy, it was Supreme Immortal Wenyao. Who in the Celestial Realm doesn't know she and the Divine Sovereign grew up side by side? A perfect match, a celebrated pair! If that woman hadn't stolen the match, the two of them would have long since become dao-companions."
Ling Wu had words about this. Wenyao was hardly master's-wife material. Beyond a pretty face, she had nothing to recommend her.
One fairy shared her opinion: "I see it differently. The Divine Sovereign never had feelings for her. She's the one who clings and won't let go, following him wherever he goes. She even insisted on facing her love-tribulation at the same time he did—her heaven tribulation wasn't even due yet, and she begged her master to let her take the love-tribulation early."
"Which just shows you—it pays to have connections," someone put in.
Everyone present nodded in deep agreement.
Even up in the heavens, it seemed, connections were currency.
"Childhood sweethearts lose to the girl who drops out of the sky!" another fairy lamented. "And now that his white moonlight is dead, Supreme Immortal Wenyao will live in that woman's shadow for the rest of her days!"
"Is there truly no chance the two of them end up together?"
Another fairy shot back at once: "They say Lady Wenyao had a hand in that woman's death. The Divine Sovereign not flaying her alive counts as mercy. How could he ever be with her!"
So that was the history between Wenyao and Master? No wonder he'd given her such a cold glare that day. One look at Wenyao's face, and he must think of his lost white moonlight.
"Aiya, enough of these gloomy things. Weren't we supposed to be touring the palace? Where are we now?"
And the fairies chattered on about the palace's architecture instead.
Ling Wu looked at the glorious buildings around her and couldn't muster a shred of interest.
Too much information, too fast—she hadn't digested any of it.
Master's past left her low in spirits. Something felt jammed tight in her chest.
Thankfully, no one noticed her, and no one asked whose disciple she was.
Otherwise these fairies would have talked Master's ear off—well, talked hers off—without end.
Three thousand realms. A hundred million years.
An immortal's love struck far harder than a mortal's.
A mortal's whole life was barely a hundred years—love or hate, gone in the blink of an eye.
Immortals lived forever, and everything about the one they loved stayed with them, remembered long and long.
Ah—what is love in this world? It only gives the listener heartburn!
She shook off the tangle of thoughts. Ling Wu decided she'd go find Qingchen shortly.
She'd been away so long. Who knew how he was faring?
Passing the Treasure Pavilion, her interest finally stirred enough for one look. That look, and she was lost.
Mother of heaven—a mouse let loose in a granary.
If she wasn't mistaken, the characters on the Treasure Pavilion's plaque were inlaid with night-luminous pearls! The rest of it was wrought from pure gold.
Not just Ling Wu—every fairy in the party froze, clearly flattened by the sheer opulence.
They all came from modest little sects and caves. Who among them had ever seen such a sight?
The maid covered her mouth and tittered. "The Dragon King gave orders long ago: I'm to present each fairy with a night-luminous pearl as a gift of first meeting."
With that she raised a hand and formed a seal; a dozen pearls floated up into the air, then drifted gently down into their palms.
Ling Wu stared at hers, eyes glazed.
Round as a pigeon's egg, small enough to grip in one hand, pale blue-green and translucent, with rosy light flowing inside. In the dark it gave off a soft green glow. Truly lovely.
Not a match for the ones on the plaque—but sell it, and it'd fetch ten gold ingots at the very least.
This was an immortal artifact! In the mortal realm it would be wildly popular! Add a little enthusiastic marketing later, and she'd be swimming in profit.
And just like that, Ling Wu developed a deep, abiding interest in the Third Prince of the Western Sea.
Marry him, and the wealth would never run out.
Just thinking about it was delightful!
The day Third Senior Brother came back, she'd pump him for the Third Prince's whereabouts in the mortal realm. At the very least, they'd become friends.
Once he finished his love-tribulation and ascended to High God, she—an old acquaintance—would drift past him now and again. One thing would lead to another. Ling Wu refused to believe they couldn't end up dao-companions!
Even the fiercest man tires before a woman who won't quit. And she had strength and schemes to spare.