Seeing Na'er, who had been extremely resistant to returning to her original body, willingly offer herself up to save her lover, while the Silver Dragon King showed not the slightest joy after reclaiming her power and instead sank into unbearable grief, left Gu Yuena deeply moved.
Her cheeks twitched, and her eyes stung.
She curled her tail around twice, rested her chin on its tip, and folded her huge silver wings tightly against her back, curling her entire body into a ball.
From the moment she was born, she had been forced to flee for her life. Afterward, she had hidden for hundreds of thousands of years in this isolated space, where not a single other living creature could be found.
The sky never changed. The ground never changed. The space stretched tens of thousands of feet in every direction, which seemed vast enough, but to her, with her thousand-foot body, it was no different from a tiny cage.
No one to talk to, no one to dispel the boredom, no surprises, no new things at all.
Endless loneliness and solitude had taken root in her heart, spread, and flooded through her. She simply couldn't resist a story like this.
Na'er and Yue'er, Na'er and Huang Tian, Yue'er and Huang Tian—familial love, romantic love, friendship: these were all things she longed for most.
Sometimes, she had even thought about leaving this place, throwing caution to the wind and living a normal life.
But the future of her people and Father God's blood feud had always kept her from acting on a whim. She could only shoulder it all and keep suppressing herself.
Gu Yuena thought to herself,
"Once Na'er is born, I definitely won't think about reclaiming her. I'll treat her like my little sister and love her with all my heart."
"I won't keep Huang Tian at arm's length or put on an arrogant act, either. We love each other so much—what's the point of clinging to all that pointless nonsense?"
"The three of us living well together matters more than anything."
That story ended, followed by a few more short scenes.
[Na'er reunited with her original body, and the Silver Dragon King gained all her memories. She put on Na'er's clothes, acted coy with Huang Tian just like Na'er, and called him Master.]
[After the Silver Dragon King expended her life force to help Huang Tian awaken, the two of them studied the mysteries of the Yin-Yang Great Dao together, speeding up their recovery.]
[Because Na'er was gone, Huang Tian often sank into memories and grief, quietly reminiscing and shedding tears alone.]
[The Silver Dragon King and Huang Tian agreed that on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, she would be Yue'er and wear red; on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, she would be Na'er and wear blue.]
[In red, Yue'er was cool and aloof, like a snow lotus atop an iceberg.]
[In blue, Na'er was gentle, considerate, understanding, and as passionate as fire.]
[Huang Tian continued to perfect his cultivation art and create new Martial Skills.]
[The Silver Dragon King examined Na'er's memories and discovered some interesting things. She should have been angry, but a fond and tender smile appeared on her face instead.]
Na'er's memory, part one:
[On the eve of going to meet her original self in the core area of the Star Dou Forest, Na'er had urged Huang Tian to win her over so she wouldn't have to be reclaimed.
She had told Huang Tian:
"That woman's been locked up for hundreds of thousands of years. She must be unbearably lonely. With your way with women, you could win her over with just a little flirting.
"Then you can let her experience for herself just how wonderful falling in love can be."]
Na'er's memory, part two:
[After the Soul Spirit incident, Na'er had looked at Huang Tian with admiration and said:
"Master, you're so clever! How did you come up with the idea of mistaking her for me so you could openly take advantage of her?
"Hey, do you think my original self might be secretly savoring what happened at noon right now?"]
Na'er's memory, part three:
[In a magnificent palace somewhere, Na'er had complained about how stubborn her original self was, then helped Huang Tian come up with a plan to set up a situation where the two of them could sleep together and become a family.]
At last, the truth was revealed. Gu Yuena's eyes widened, her lips puckered, and she looked thoroughly sulky.
Before, she had only suspected it. Now, the evidence was irrefutable.
*"Well, I knew it! Even though my original self and my clone look exactly alike, their power auras are clearly different when sensed mentally. How could he possibly fail to tell them apart if he paid attention?
"So he'd been up to no good from the very beginning. He never gave up on his wicked little scheme."*
"And Na'er—always taking someone else's side. Are you even my little sister?"
"And you... me, myself! How could I be so stupid? How did I never see through such a simple trick?"
With no divine power to replenish them, and not even any low-grade natural energy, Huang Tian and the Silver Dragon King took over thirty thousand years to recover completely, even with their miraculous cultivation art and the help of the Gold of Life.
The two of them made the most of every last bit of the Gold of Life, always using it as efficiently as they could. Even if it took a little longer, they wasted not a single speck. At last, when it was entirely used up, they had just reached the peak of their strength.
At some point, someone had built a row of houses at the edge of the space, apparently shaping them from earth and then hardening them with Soul Skills.
They were oval, like a row of eggshells standing upright on the ground. Their colors were bright: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. They were quite lovely to behold.
One house had been painted silver, with a few dragon-scale patterns on its roof. Huang Tian wore a regretful, apologetic expression, but deep in his eyes lay profound affection as he said:
"Today, I have two things to tell you. First, I truly love Na'er. I may never forget her gentleness or the happy times she gave me, even until the day I die.
"But what I feel for you isn't simply because I see you as a replacement for Na'er, or because she became part of you.
"Whether it's Na'er, Yue'er, or you after Na'er and Yue'er became one, I've poured the same feelings into all of you. In my heart, I love Yue'er just as much as I love you.
"Perhaps I really am a greedy, never-satisfied man. Yue'er's resolve, Na'er's gentleness, your deep affection—each of you is unique. No one is anyone else, and no one can replace another.
"No matter what happens, remember this: you haven't done anything wrong. You're an innocent victim. The ones at fault are this world and those who want to do evil."
"Second, the Gold of Life has been used up. Without more energy to replenish us, our condition will only continue to deteriorate.
"Right now, we're at the strongest we'll ever be, compared to any time tens of thousands of years in the past or countless years in the future. There's no question about it.
"If there's even the slightest chance of escaping the Divine Realm's pursuit, it's now.
"That one slim chance comes down to four words: divert the tiger from the mountain. Someone has to sacrifice themself to draw the Divine Realm's attention and lure away the Five Great God Kings, giving everyone else a chance to escape.
"You've always been the Divine Realm's number-one thorn in its side, someone it wants to eliminate as quickly as possible. You're also the one among us most skilled at controlling spatial power, so you can draw the God Kings' attention and hold them back to the greatest extent.
"You'd be willing to do it, right?"
"All right."
The Silver Dragon King didn't hesitate at all. Though she was about to sacrifice herself, her joy outweighed her fear.
She didn't notice the strange look in Huang Tian's eyes beside her, nor did it occur to her to wonder how he could bear to let her sacrifice herself.
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