Just as Ye Xishui accepted the God Trial.
Shrek Academy, by Sea God Lake.
Moonlight spread like silk, softly spilling over the tranquil lake and casting ripples of shimmering light.
Xia Ming sat facing Wang Dong'er.
Her features remained exquisite, but deep within those pink-blue eyes lay a complexity and weariness far beyond her age.
The God King Qilin had casually repaired every wound and flaw in her soul caused by its forcible division.
Fragments of memories belonging to Tang Wutong, the little princess of the God Realm, returned like a rising tide.
They slowly and painfully merged with her experiences over the past several years as Wang Dong'er on the Douluo Continent.
She remembered the Cloud Sea Immortal Palace in the God Realm, remembered playing in the Forest of Life, and remembered constantly thinking of ways to pull off Destruction's cloak.
She also remembered her father, Sea God Tang San, who always seemed to wear a gentle smile while keeping everything firmly under his control.
Yet the return of her memories did not bring recognition of that identity.
When Xia Ming asked whether she wished to reclaim the name Tang Wutong, she remained silent for a long time.
In the end, she merely shook her head slowly. Her voice was soft, yet exceptionally resolute:
"Tang Wutong... died long ago. She died the moment her father decided to split her into three and send her into the lower realm as a chess piece.
"She died in every helpless flutter of the heart and every moment of confusion she experienced as Wang Dong'er."
She raised her head and looked at Xia Ming. There were no tears in her eyes, only an almost icy clarity.
"The one sitting here now is merely Wang Dong'er. Someone who wants to truly live for herself