Spring thunder rumbled all night.
Even cultivators who paid little heed to the changing seasons knew spring had arrived when the chilly rain began to fall.
Yes, the Azure Sun Devil Monarch, tyrannical as fire, was leaving. How could spring not have come to the Flying Swallow Islands?
But though he had said he would leave after three months, no one had seen him make any grand departure.
That left the great families uneasy.
Surely the Devil Monarch hadn't changed his mind again!
Every day, Foundation Establishment True Cultivators craned their necks toward the heart of the islands, hoping to see an Evasive Light fly out.
But none ever did.
Among those families, only the Cheng Family was different.
The little estate where the former family head, Cheng Dou, had lived was no longer bustling. Only the woman outsiders respectfully called Moon Invitation Fairy lived there now.
Outside the estate, slow footsteps approached and finally stopped before a waterside pavilion.
The woman inside seemed to hear them, and spoke gently.
"Is that you, Uncle Ji? Please come in!"
White-haired Cheng Ji slowly pushed open the door. He saw a woman's back as she combed her hair before a Bronze Mirror.
Looking at her, Cheng Ji cleared his throat.
"Xiao Qi, you should know why I'm here. I don't have much time left. I can feel my end approaching. It's time for you to take over as family head."
At those words, the woman's hands paused.
But she said, "Let Brother Haichang be the Cheng Family's head."
"But—"
"Brother Haichang hardly goes to sea these days. He teaches the younger generation to cultivate, so he has the standing for it. And there's no need to worry about whether he can manage the family. The Cheng Family faces neither trouble within nor