Sensing his emotion, Feng Yin tactfully avoided delving into the past and instead asked, “Divine Lord, have you come to Phoenix Island for the Tower of Soul Repose?”
Tian Qi raised an eyebrow. “How did you know?”
Feng Yin smiled. “I assumed the only thing on this island worth a visit from the Divine Lord would be the tower. I heard that you traveled through time and space to seek an old friend. Now that you’ve returned, you must have found some leads?”
Tian Qi nodded. “So the Tower of Soul Repose…?”
Before he could finish, Feng Yin held out a small emerald tower in her palm. “Thanks to your generous gift, Divine Lord, I was able to cultivate my primordial spirit within the tower. Now that I have achieved rebirth, it is only right to return this tower to you.”
Tian Qi accepted the tower, saying, “No need to thank me. Even without this tower, with your perseverance, it was only a matter of time before you would achieve nirvana and ascend to divinity.” He looked at the Tower of Soul Repose for a moment, then glanced at Feng Yin. “You trained under Feng Ran; you must know that the Tower of Soul Repose can nurture souls, including divine souls. Why, then…”
“Why, then, is his soul not within this tower?” Feng Yin finished his question for him. “Is this what you wish to ask?”
Tian Qi’s gaze softened, and he nodded.
“I searched,” she replied quietly. “The three realms, six paths, and all nine regions of the mortal world. Every place you sought your old friend, I have also searched.”
Standing in front of the bamboo pavilion, Feng Yin looked inexplicably lonely. She glanced at the old phoenix tree by the pavilion, her voice soft. “I don’t know if he’s still out there, or when he’ll return. But I believe that if I remain here, he will return one day, if he’s still in this world.”
With that, Feng Yin turned and walked into the bamboo house, her plain clothes and dark hair casting a solitary figure.
Watching her leave, Feng Yun, with red-rimmed eyes, couldn’t bear the sight. But uncertain how to console her, he could only sigh deeply. He turned to Tian Qi. “Divine Lord…”
Tian Qi waved him off, his expression unreadable.
Understanding that this meeting with the Phoenix Emperor had undoubtedly stirred some bittersweet memories for Tian Qi, Feng Yun refrained from further words, respectfully bowing before retreating.
As Feng Yin’s figure vanished into the bamboo house, Tian Qi stood for a long moment, clutching the Tower of Soul Repose. He sighed softly, turning to leave, only to pause as something caught his eye.
On a stone table beneath the phoenix tree, a green stone chessboard and a jug of Drunken Jade Dew sat, with white jade pieces scattered around the board.
A young man in white robes sat by the table.
He was refined and gentle, not the look Tian Qi typically favored, yet his phoenix-like eyes were strikingly similar to those of his mother goddess.
Tian Qi hadn’t seen him in many years, but he knew the boy had grown up, and this was likely how he looked now.
“Uncle Purple-Hair,” the young man called, looking up with a smile.
A lump formed in Tian Qi’s throat.
“It’s been a long time since we played a game together.” The young man gestured to the chessboard, his smile reminiscent of his childhood days. “Do you have time to teach me another round?”
“Yes,” Tian Qi replied.
Tian Qi finally spoke, moving toward the stone table, passing right through the young man’s figure to sit across from him. There wasn’t a hint of surprise in his eyes as he poured a cup of Drunken Jade Dew and set it in front of the young man. The game began, pieces danced across the board, but the cup set before the young man remained untouched.
The two figures, one in purple and the other in white, seemed to return to the countless days spent in Qing Chi Palace, laughing and growing up together. As the game came to an end, the young man’s figure began to fade.
Tian Qi looked at him, then toward the bamboo house in the distance.
“She doesn’t know?”
The young man shook his head. “No, she doesn’t.”
“You never left?”
“Yes.”
“To revive as a living soul will take ten thousand years to gather the soul. Do you understand this?”
“I do.”
“Why not enter the Primordial Soul Pool? You carry the power of chaos; with it, you could regain a divine form within a thousand years.”
The young man smiled, glancing at the bamboo house. His form grew increasingly faint, yet his voice remained steady, resolute.
“In another two hundred years, she’ll be able to see me. I’d rather stay, so she won’t have to live on alone for that thousand years.”
“One day, I will tell her. Though ages may pass and the world may change, I’ve always been by her side, never once leaving.”
Now only Tian Qi remained at the stone table. The aroma of wine and the chessboard faded into the wind. He looked around at the emptiness, then rose and walked away.
“If this is what you wish… so be it.”
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