The other man who had stayed behind wore an expression of indescribable embarrassment as he faced Mulan Qingqing standing before him. He had thought he had done an excellent job of following her "secretly," only to find he was no match for her hair-fine attention to detail. She had discovered their covert pursuit long ago. He did not even know how he would explain this to the person who had given the order.
Qi Ziyuan had no idea what Mulan Qingqing was doing with the two men. He tried approaching again to find out; perhaps there was something she needed his help with.
Just then, waves of startled commotion rose from the crowd gathered on the beach. He turned to look.
With her skirts fluttering in the sea breeze, Mulan Qingqing's beauty rivaled the starlight. She raised a hand to brush the dark strands from her face and looked back as well. Then her gaze lifted, her expression grew solemn, and she turned to stare straight ahead, her robes billowing in the wind.
The humming from the Divine Fire Spirit Gate overhead had noticeably weakened. Its rotation was slowing, and the swirling nebula within the ring was gradually dissipating.
The Flame Aura cast skyward from the summit of Artifact Cloud Valley had withdrawn into the caster's body. The caster had ended the technique.
None of the people exclaiming on the beach knew what was happening. The man standing beside Mulan Qingqing was equally bewildered, before suddenly fixing his eyes on the approaching Qi Ziyuan.
Having received advance word, Qi Ziyuan had a rough idea of what was happening. He walked over to Mulan Qingqing and reminded her, "The Divine Fire Spirit Gate is closing to prepare for reversal. That bastard's death isn't far off!"
There was a note of gloating