Goddess Yunxi's First Rain - Cloud splendor entered dreams, lingering between heart and water

My apologies. Let me explain why updates have been slow lately. There are two reasons:

1. My girlfriend and I have been having a spat, and I've been feeling down.

2. Research has kept me busy. December 14 is the second of the two assessment presentations in my doctoral coursework, rather like a mini dissertation defense, so I've been occupied with preparations.

So, whether because of work or personal matters, I really haven't been able to update quickly lately-though I suppose I never have. :p

This weekend, my girlfriend has invited me to Kobe to see the lights. Naturally, I must charge ahead without hesitation and cannot shirk my duty, so the next update will have to wait until next Tuesday, barring anything unexpected. As for the novel itself, I've reflected on quite a few things in my spare time lately, but I won't say much here. In the end, I realized that thinking too much was no use; I still had to buckle down and write.

Alas, these slow updates leave me terribly uneasy, so please accept the apologies above. There's nothing else I can do but release a chapter to the public-edition readers before I leave for Kobe. I hope you'll understand. :(

The cold, boundless starry sky seemed to awaken the sorrow Lingyi had buried deep in her heart, until her tears soaked her robes.

Seeing the usually strong-willed Dragon Maiden suddenly weep, Xing Yan felt a pang as well. Though easygoing by nature, he had a keen and perceptive mind. At the divine banquet in the South Sea, he had been the one found to possess "ghostly energy," but he had clearly noticed the dragon general's imperious manner and the South Sea Water Marquis's treatment, polite on the surface but dismissive beneath. In the end,