He gazed at the face he had yearned for through countless ages. A thousand years of guarding her since she had emerged into the world again suddenly seemed worthwhile in this very moment.
Yet he keenly sensed that although she smiled and spoke pleasantly, her attitude as cordial as it had been in the Primordial Era,
that cordiality carried an even more exquisite sort of distance.
Unlike the dependence and vulnerability she had occasionally revealed in the past, she now resembled an empress gracefully receiving a meritorious subject, or rather...
an "old friend" who still had some use.
That was it. The news that the Undying Heavenly Emperor might still be alive must have left her with no room for distractions, making her restrain every thought that might cross the line...
His thoughts churned, and bitterness filled Ning Fei's heart.
The fingers around his teacup tightened slightly, but he showed nothing, merely drinking his tea in silence.
The Undying Heavenly Empress keenly noticed his subtle reaction. Thoughts also flashed through her mind, but her expression became even more natural.
Suddenly, she set down her teacup and sighed softly. A faint sorrow and reluctance appeared on her peerlessly beautiful face at precisely the right moment.
"Though I was fortunate enough to survive this Variable, there is already a Dao Attainer in this world. The Great Dao lies before me, yet I shall never have any hope of attaining it."
As she spoke, her jade-like fingers unconsciously played with the rim of her teacup. Her gaze drifted toward the endless starry sky beyond the hall, and her voice carried a heart-wrenching melancholy.
"All these years, whenever I think of the long years ahead, of being able only to remain trapped here and watch that younger girl eternally press down upon me,
in