The Skysea Alliance Tournament Arrives

This beach was not large, only two or three hundred meters wide at most. Jagged black reefs embraced it on both sides, forming a natural crescent-shaped bay. The curve of the shore was graceful and smooth, like a crescent moon cradled in the arms of the land.

The sand was fine and white as snow, soft beneath the feet without swallowing them. Under the midday sun, it gleamed with a gentle luster.

Waves rolled in from afar layer by layer, breaking upon the shore with a low, rhythmic sound—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—like the steady breathing of the earth.

"Wow—"

Na'er was the first to rush onto the beach. She kicked off her shoes in a few quick motions and stepped barefoot onto the sand. Fine grains slipped through her toes and fell away, and the cool, soft sensation made her let out a satisfied sigh. She spread her arms and spun in a circle, her sea-blue dress billowing in the wind until it seemed to blend into the azure sea behind her.

"Gu Yue! Li Chen! Hurry up! This sand is so fine!"

Li Chen strolled onto the beach at an unhurried pace, bent down to pick up the two shoes Na'er had kicked away, then walked over beside Gu Yue.

Gu Yue had taken off her shoes a step before him. When she bent down, her silver hair slid over her shoulders and nearly brushed the sand.

Li Chen instinctively reached out to gather it for her. The instant his fingertips touched her hair, he realized what he had done, and his hand stiffened slightly.

Gu Yue turned her head and glanced at him. She said nothing, but her gaze softened a little more than before.

She set her shoes neatly beside the reef and stepped barefoot onto the beach. The feeling beneath her feet made her narrow her eyes slightly.

"Comfortable?" Li Chen asked.

"Mhm." Gu Yue nodded. "The sand here is finer than in the north, and it has fewer shell fragments mixed in."

"...You study beaches too?"

"When you live long enough, you end up knowing all sorts of useless things."

Li Chen looked at her profile and suddenly realized that Gu Yue had been telling the truth.

As the Silver Dragon King, she had lived far longer than ordinary people. What had settled within her through those years was not merely strength and wisdom, but countless memories that seemed trivial yet had truly existed.

A beach, a gust of wind, a clear afternoon—such ordinary sights to him might carry an entirely different weight in her eyes.

"What is it?" Gu Yue noticed his gaze.

"Nothing." Li Chen turned back toward the sea. "I just think... days like this aren't bad."

Gu Yue fell silent for a moment, then answered softly, "Mhm. Not bad."

"Hey! You two!" Na'er's voice called out from the water's edge. "Stop standing there whispering and come over!"

Li Chen looked up and saw that Na'er had already stepped into the sea.

The water washed over her ankles and soaked the hem of her dress. She did not care in the slightest. Instead, she bent down, scooped up water, and splashed it toward them.

The spray scattered through the air, refracting a tiny rainbow beneath the sunlight before vanishing in an instant.

Li Chen walked over.

His steps were steady, neither deliberately hurried nor intentionally slow. There was a rare ease in his stride.

The seawater rolled up over his feet. Its icy touch traveled upward from his soles, as though something within him had been gently drawn away—the obsessions surrounding cultivation, the ties to the Underworld, the constant tension that had haunted him day and night. At that moment, the waves softly washed them away and thinned them out.

He walked into the water, stopped, and lowered his head to look at his reflection on the surface.

The reflection was broken apart by the waves, like a puzzle scattered and rearranged. Every fragment reflected a different expression—serious, calm, occasionally smiling.

"This water is so cold!" Na'er bounced twice beside him, splashing water high into the air. "It's much colder than lake water!"

"Seawater has a higher specific heat capacity, so it warms more slowly," Li Chen said.

"...Could you not start explaining science at a time like this?"

"I was merely stating a fact."

Na'er puffed out her cheeks. Suddenly, she bent down, cupped a large handful of water in both hands, and splashed it at Li Chen with all her strength.

The water burst beneath the sunlight and drenched Li Chen from head to toe. A large patch of his dark blue robe was instantly soaked.

Li Chen stood where he was without moving.

"Ha! Got y—" Na'er's laughter caught in her throat before it could fully escape.

Because Li Chen raised his right hand.

His fingertips moved slightly. There was not the slightest fluctuation of Soul Power. He merely used the spiritual power of the mid Spirit Sea realm to stir the water beneath his feet.

A column of water rose from the sea, as thick as the mouth of a bowl, crystal clear beneath the sunlight.

The water column paused in midair as though taking aim, then poured down with perfect accuracy over Na'er's head.

Her golden hair was soaked through in an instant, plastering itself to her face and shoulders. Droplets dripped from the ends of her hair with soft pattering sounds.

Na'er froze in place and blinked. The droplets clinging to her eyelashes trembled along with them.

"Li! Chen!"

Her cry was high and sharp, startling two seagulls from the reefs.

Li Chen had already retreated three steps. His expression remained calm, but the faint upward curve of his lips betrayed him.

"Stop right there! You stop right there!"

Na'er lifted her skirt and gave chase, the splashes behind her trailing into a long white streak.

Li Chen did not run very quickly. He always kept roughly three steps between them, occasionally raising a hand to block the water Na'er splashed at him while allowing more of it to land squarely on him.

Before long, both of their clothes were more than half soaked.

Sunlight shone over them, over the water flying in every direction, over Na'er's puffed-up yet uncontrollably smiling expression, over Li Chen's awkward manner of clearly wanting to dodge without truly dodging. It gilded everything with a bright layer of light.

Gu Yue did not enter the water.

She found a dry spot on the beach and sat down, wrapping her arms around her knees as she quietly watched the two people in the sea.

Sunlight spilled over her, warming the pale purple hem of her dress and her silver hair.

She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath—the salty dampness of the sea breeze, the mineral scent of the sand, the unknown fragrance of flowers drifting from afar. Her senses caught every detail.

The Silver Dragon King bloodline flowed steadily within her. After thirty percent of her energy had returned, the source power that had once surged endlessly inside her had finally settled completely, like the sea after a storm—calm, yet profound.

When she opened her eyes, Na'er was being drenched by another water column from Li Chen. She let out an exaggerated shriek, then lunged at him with claws bared.

Li Chen sidestepped, but a wave caught his feet, making him stagger two steps. Na'er seized the chance and splashed a huge handful of water over him.

Na'er laughed triumphantly. Her laughter was carried far away by the sea breeze, mingling with the sound of breaking waves, clear and unrestrained.

Watching the scene, Gu Yue suddenly thought of something.

She had lived for a very long time.

So long that she could no longer remember how many springs, summers, autumns, and winters she had experienced.

Over those endless years, she had watched countless sunsets and tides, crossed innumerable beaches and mountains, yet never before had she sat on a beach as she did now, doing nothing but watching two people play around.

He made her feel that she did not need to carry herself as the Silver Dragon King at all times.

She could sit down when she was tired, laugh when she wanted to laugh, spend an entire afternoon in silence and daydream, she could...

She could be found.

"What are you thinking about?" Li Chen's voice suddenly sounded beside her. Gu Yue came back to herself and realized that he had already returned to the beach, drenched from head to toe, water dripping from the hem of his clothes.

Na'er followed behind him, wringing out her hair while muttering something about definitely getting revenge next time.

"Nothing." Gu Yue took out a handkerchief from her clothes and handed it to him.

Li Chen accepted it, wiped the seawater from his face, quietly thanked her, and sat down beside her.

After wringing out her hair, Na'er sat directly on Gu Yue's other side and leaned against her shoulder without the slightest hesitation.

Her wet golden hair brushed against Gu Yue's collar, cool and damp. Gu Yue did not move away. Instead, she shifted slightly, allowing Na'er to lean more comfortably against her.

"Tired?" Li Chen asked.

Na'er shook her head and said with her eyes closed, "No. I just don't want to move. The sunshine feels so nice, the wind feels nice too. I don't want to do anything. I just want to stay like this."

None of the three spoke. The sound of the waves filled everything—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—the unending rhythm like the oldest lullaby in heaven and earth.

Several white clouds drifted slowly across the distant horizon, their shapes constantly changing like runes that could only be understood from a certain angle.

A seabird flew beneath the clouds and gave two long cries.

Such peace was too precious.

All of them had experienced too much turmoil. From the moment Li Chen began fusing soul rings, he had lived amid cultivation and battle. His identity as the Lord of the Underworld was an even heavier burden.

Na'er's fusion with the Golden Dragon King Divine Core had been long and dangerous. One wrong step would have meant eternal ruin.

There was even less need to mention Gu Yue. The sheer length of her life was itself a weighty history book, every page filled with storms that others could scarcely imagine.

Thus, the quiet at this moment was a gift to them.

After an unknown amount of time, Na'er opened one eye and looked at Li Chen slyly. "Hey, what were you thinking when you first met Gu Yue?"

Li Chen's body visibly stiffened.

The topic had shifted far too suddenly. He turned to Na'er and found that though her eyes were half-closed, the mischievous curve of her lips plainly showed that she was waiting for a show. He looked at Gu Yue again. Gu Yue said nothing, but she tilted her head slightly and looked at him with violet eyes that held a faint, almost imperceptible curiosity beneath their calm.

"...I don't remember."

"Liar." Na'er sat up at once. "At the Spirit Ascension Platform, when you were half-conscious, you clearly called Sister Gu Yue's name!"

A crack appeared in Li Chen's expression.

Gu Yue's brows lifted slightly. Surprise flashed through her eyes before it was replaced by a deeper smile.

"I didn't," Li Chen said, his voice lower than usual.

"You did!"

"You remembered wrong."

"I swear on the Golden Dragon King bloodline that I remember perfectly!"

"Then your bloodline is lying."

Na'er was left speechless by that. She angrily leaned back against Gu Yue's shoulder and announced loudly, "Gu Yue, he won't admit it!"

Gu Yue gently patted the back of Na'er's hand, her voice calm as water. "Whether he admits it or not is unimportant."

"Why is it unimportant?"

"Because even if he doesn't admit it," Gu Yue said, glancing at Li Chen with an indescribable meaning in her eyes, "he has done everything he should have done."

That sentence rendered Li Chen completely silent.

Not because it had exposed his thoughts, but because of the faint, faint smile at the corner of Gu Yue's lips after she said it.

It was not a smug smile, nor was it a teasing one. It was a smile of understanding.

She knew. She had seen everything. She simply never said it.

Na'er clearly understood the weight of those words as well. She quieted down and rested her head against Gu Yue's shoulder again, though a gentle smile curved her lips.

After a moment of silence, Li Chen suddenly rose to his feet, walked to the water's edge, and stretched out his right hand toward the sea.

"What are you doing?" Na'er asked.

Li Chen did not answer. He released a thread of Fate Verdict power—the force transformed into a faint golden stream of light that leaped from his fingertips into the seawater.

After a brief silence, rippling golden light spread across the sea, as if countless delicate golden threads were moving through the waves. Beginning beneath Li Chen's feet, the golden glow spread outward in circles until the entire bay was enveloped in a warm halo.

The light was not dazzling. It was as gentle as the final glow on the horizon at sunset.

It shone into the water, pierced the spray, reflected upon the sand, and touched the two people seated on the beach.

Gu Yue's silver hair was tinted with a faint gold, while Na'er's golden hair became even more dazzling, like two different flames burning within the same radiance.

"Fate Verdict." Li Chen withdrew his hand, his voice calm. "I merely told this sea that three very important people were sitting here today."

Na'er was stunned.

She did not laugh, tease him, or say anything like, "You're so awkward when you talk."

She merely watched the spreading golden light and watched his figure standing at the shore with his back to them. The radiance outlined his tall silhouette, his shoulders straight but no longer rigid, as though he had finally put something down.

Gu Yue stood up.

She walked to Li Chen's side. Without looking at him, she lowered her head to gaze at the seawater at her feet, now dyed gold.

The water flowed over her ankles, and golden light swirled through the current as if dancing. After a moment of silence, she raised a hand and spread her fingers slightly.

A silver glow spilled from her palm—the power of the Silver Dragon King bloodline, pure and vast.

The silver light fell into the water and intertwined with Li Chen's golden light.

Gold and silver spiraled through the sea, merged, spread outward, and finally formed the outline of a giant dragon coiled upon the bay's surface. Its head faced east, its tail wound toward the distant reefs, and every scale along its body was woven from points of light, vivid and lifelike.

Na'er stood as well.

She walked between them, looked to the left, then to the right, and stretched out both hands. Gold surged from her left hand—the power of the Golden Dragon King Divine Core. Silver shimmered from her right—the lingering Silver Dragon King aura deep within her, born from the same source as Gu Yue.

The two streams of light shot from her palms and poured into the dragon pattern in the water.

In an instant, two starlike points of light lit up where the dragon's eyes should have been. The entire dragon seemed to come alive, slowly swimming through the water. It circled the bay once before sinking into the deep sea, transforming into countless points of light and vanishing.

The sea became calm again.

Yet the golden light beneath the feet of the three of them remained, as if engraved into the ripples, unwilling to fade for a long time.

Na'er raised her head and took a deep breath. The sea breeze filled her lungs, cool and carrying a trace of indescribable sweetness.

"Will we come again next time?" she asked.

"If you want to come, we'll come," Li Chen said.

Gu Yue did not speak. She merely tightened her grip on Na'er's hand.

The sun began to sink westward, and the sea slowly shifted from azure blue to orange-red.

The three of them packed their things and followed the path they had taken to return.

When they reached the mountain ridge, Na'er turned around and took one final look at the bay.

The lingering golden halo still remained on the water. Beneath the sunset, it was almost impossible to tell which light came from the sun and which was the Fate Mark Li Chen had left behind.

The waves continued to rise and retreat layer by layer, slowly smoothing away the footprints in the sand while embracing every deep and shallow track without reservation.

"Let's go," Li Chen said from ahead.

Na'er answered and turned to follow him. Gu Yue walked last. At the instant she turned away, her fingertip flicked lightly, and a thread of faint silver light silently sank deep into the sand.

It was not some powerful seal or complicated formation, merely an imperceptible mark. This way, no matter how many years passed, no matter how many tides this beach endured, she would be able to find this place.

Find this sea, find the sunlight of this day, find the three shadows walking side by side across the beach.

Moonlight had just risen, casting the shadows of the three of them onto the blue stone road home.

Na'er walked in the middle, linking one arm with Gu Yue's while tugging on Li Chen's sleeve with the other. She hummed a little tune she had learned from somewhere, simple yet especially pleasant.

In the distance, Eastsea City lit up with scattered lights, like another sea reflected upon the land.

The evening wind blew from behind them, still carrying the scent of that beach.