By the time their group returned to the academy, it was nearly curfew.
After parting at the dormitory building, Xuan Xi and the other went straight upstairs, pushed open the door of Room 404, and placed the two jade pendants side by side on the desk.
One was carved with a yang pattern, the other with a yin pattern; when combined, they formed a complete Azure Dragon totem.
She reached out and gently touched the gap between the two jades with her fingertip.
She aligned the two jades and pressed lightly.
Click.
No sound, no light, nothing happened.
Xuan Xi froze. Not believing it, she pressed again, but still nothing. She picked up the two jades and examined them closely.
The edges fit perfectly, the patterns flowed seamlessly—they were clearly one piece. Why did it feel like something was still missing?
“It’s probably missing a third piece.” SigrdrÃfa’s voice came from beside her. She had somehow circled around the folding screen and was now standing behind Xuan Xi. H
er silver-white hair hung over her shoulders, and she wore a light-colored nightgown, a faint, subtle fragrance emanating from her.
“There’s a piece between the yin and yang that locks the two together.”
“A third piece?”
SigrdrÃfa reached out, her fingertip touching the seam between the two jades.
Xuan Xi followed her finger.
There was an extremely thin gap there, finer than a strand of hair, barely visible unless you looked closely.
On either side of the gap, on the surface of each jade, was a small recess, as if something had once been embedded there.
Sig lowered her head to get a closer look at the jade. Her silver-white hair slid from her shoulder and brushed against Xuan Xi’s cheek.
A few strands gently grazed Xuan Xi’s ear and landed on her shoulder.
The strands carried Sig’s characteristic cool fragrance, drifting into Xuan Xi’s nose one lock at a time.
Her hair was still slightly damp from her bath, and when it touched her skin, it felt a little cool and a little ticklish—so ticklish that Xuan Xi’s neck involuntarily shrank, and her heartbeat quickened by half a beat.
Xuan Xi’s face began to burn. The heat started at the base of her neck, flared to the tips of her ears, then spread across her cheeks.
She could feel her ears hot enough to fry an egg, but SigrdrÃfa was still bent over, focused intently on the two jade pendants, completely oblivious to her discomfort.
“There’s a recess here.” Sig’s fingertip gently tapped the edge of the recess.
“It means something was once embedded here, locking the two jades together.”
Xuan Xi didn’t hear a word. All her attention was captured by the strand of silver-white hair hanging in front of her.
She saw the tips of Sig’s hair slightly curled, illuminated by the desk lamp like individual threads of silver.
She wanted to reach out and touch them, but the thought struck her as absurd.
“Three pieces together—yin, yang, and this central lock.” SigrdrÃfa continued analyzing.
She straightened up, turned to look at Xuan Xi, and was about to ask if she understood—when she paused.
Amethyst-colored eyes met a face as red as a boiled shrimp. Amber-golden eyes darted away: glancing at the jade, then the desk, then the ceiling—anything but her.
SigrdrÃfa was silent for a moment, her amethyst eyes blinked. Then she raised her right hand, fingers pressed together, and delivered a precise light chop to the top of Xuan Xi’s head. The force wasn’t heavy, but it carried an educational purpose.
Smack.
“Ugh, that hurts!” Xuan Xi covered the top of her head, her voice muffled.
“What were you thinking?” SigrdrÃfa’s tone was as flat as usual.
“N-nothing at all—”
“Then why is your face so red?” Sig’s tone betrayed no emotion, but her eyes gave her away. Her amethyst pupils quivered slightly, as if she were holding back laughter.
“That’s, that’s the desk lamp! The desk lamp is warm yellow!” Xuan Xi’s voice cracked.
SigrdrÃfa looked at her, at that face so clearly lying. This time she didn’t speak. Instead, she reached out and pried apart Xuan Xi’s fingers, one by one, from the hair she was gripping.
“Listen carefully.” Her voice softened a little.
“The third piece is crucial. Without it, the yin and yang are just two fragments pieced together—not a complete whole.”
Xuan Xi bit her lip and nodded, forcing her attention back to the jade pendants.
“Then where would it be?” Her voice still hadn’t fully recovered.
SigrdrÃfa looked at her profile. Though she was still flushed all over, her eyes had cleared.
“I don’t know. Maybe in Echo Valley, among your mother’s belongings, or maybe it’s been lost to time.”
Xuan Xi took a deep breath, suppressing the embarrassment.
“Okay. I’ll remember that.”
SigrdrÃfa looked at her, the amethyst eyes reflecting the desk lamp’s light. She reached out and straightened the crooked jade pendant on Xuan Xi’s collar.
Her fingertip grazed Xuan Xi’s collarbone—cool.
“Go to sleep.” Sig turned and walked back to her own bed, rounding the folding screen. She lay down on the other side.
Xuan Xi stood at the desk, touching her neck. The skin still held the lingering coolness of Sig’s fingertip.
She curled the corner of her mouth, pulled the two jade pendants out from her collar, glanced at them under the light, then turned off the desk lamp and lay down on her bed.
It was late at night.
Xuan Xi lay in bed but couldn’t fall asleep, tossing and turning. So she pulled the two jades out from her collar and held them up to the moonlight.
She felt the temperature of the jade begin to rise, growing warm.
The heat seeped out of the jade surface, passing through her fingertips and traveling up her arm. Xuan Xi froze for a moment.
She wanted to let go, but her fingers seemed glued to it, unable to release.
The Azure Dragon totem on the jade began to glow. Golden light rose from the surface, drawing arcs in the darkness.
Then the light surged into her body.
A warm and heavy force rushed into her chest, spreading through her limbs and bones along her blood vessels. Xuan Xi was forced onto the bed, unable to move. Her body was being cleansed by this power. She could feel it flowing through her, passing through every meridian, every joint, every inch of skin.
She closed her eyes. Images surfaced in her mind—a palace built of jade, nestled against a mountain, tier upon tier, extending from the foot of the mountain to the peak.
Four dragon pillars stood before the hall, carved with coiling dragons.
Inside the hall stood a woman. Ink-green hair. Amber-golden eyes. Multiple Destiny Marks beneath her right eye.
It was her mother!
“Ying’er.” The woman looked at Xuan Xi, extending her hand.
“Time to come home.”
Xuan Xi tried to grab that hand, but her fingers passed through her mother’s palm, catching nothing. The image dissolved, replaced by darkness.
In the darkness, a voice spoke—not from outside, but from inside her own body.
“Direct descendant of the Azure Dragon, born with the Destiny Mark. The Mark is the proof of your bloodline, the lock that guards your body. Now that four marks have opened, your bloodline has begun to awaken. From now on, each time a mark opens, your bloodline will advance one realm. When all nine marks are fully opened, that will be the day the Dragon Emperor returns to his throne.”
Xuan Xi’s eyes snapped open.
She looked down at her hands—her fingers could move now, with no abnormality. She touched the jade pendant beneath her collar. It was still there, warm, carrying her body heat.
She sat up, found a mirror, and saw her fourth Destiny Mark. It was thinner and paler than the first three, dark gold in color, coiled beneath the corner of her eye like a newly awakened young dragon.
“What happened to you just now?”
“How did you know?”
“Your aura changed. Even through the screen, I could feel it.”
“The power of the jade entered my body. The fourth mark appeared.”
A long pause. “Then… is anything abnormal?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Mm. That’s good.”
“Sige.”
“Hm?”
“Thank you.”
“Sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow.”
Xuan Xi curled her lips. She placed the mirror beside her pillow, turned over, and faced the folding screen. Under the moonlight, a blurred silhouette was on the screen—lying on its side, facing her direction. The same posture as hers.
The next morning, when Xuan Xi woke up, she found the two jades quietly hanging around her neck. No longer glowing, no longer hot, as if nothing had happened.
But she knew something had happened. She could feel an extra power inside her—not elemental power, not the power of Spiritual Qi, but more like the bloodline power that Sig’s father had displayed.
She walked to the mirror, turned her face to the side, and looked below her right eye. Four Destiny Marks glimmered faintly in the morning light.
The fourth was paler than the first three, but it was definitely there.
Morning. Library.
Veralis had arrived earlier than the agreed time. She sat at the long table in the corner, with a thick notebook spread open in front of her. She held a pen in her hand, drawing something on the paper.
Xuan Xi and the others walked over and sat down across from her. “You came really early.”
“You came late.” Veralis looked up, her ice-blue eyes glancing at her.
“And this isn’t the first time.”
Xuan Xi opened her mouth, then looked at the clock on the wall. Ten-oh-one.
“…Mm. I had something come up, so I was a bit late. Sorry about that.”
Veralis didn’t say anything else. She just pushed the notebook over to her, flipping to a certain page.
On it was a topographic map of Echo Valley. Three layers—entrance, passage, valley floor. Every node was marked with notes.
“Echo Valley’s terrain is divided into three layers.” Veralis’s finger moved across the map.
“The outer layer is forest, the middle layer is the valley, and the inner layer is caves. The seven nodes are distributed across these three areas. The academy hasn’t revealed the exact locations, but according to records from upperclassmen, the nodes are arranged along a depth line.”
“What’s a depth line?” Elsa’s voice came from behind. She was carrying a tray with five cups of tea. Reggie followed behind her, holding a stack of maps.
“It means from the outside in.” Reggie answered for Veralis.
“One node at the entrance, three along the passage, two deeper inside, and one at the valley floor.”
Elsa handed out the tea to everyone and sat down next to Xuan Xi.
“So we have to fight through all of them?”
“We don’t have to fight through.” Veralis closed her notebook.
“We just need to reach the deepest point. The academy only requires us to visit each abnormal area and collect samples.”
“What about monsters?”
“Then we’ll have to fight.” SigrdrÃfa sat at the other end of the long table.
Her silver-white hair gleamed coldly in the morning light. She held a pen, twirling it in her fingers.
Veralis nodded, then spread out a larger map, securing the four corners with pushpins.
The map was marked with different colors for the seven nodes’ positions, terrain features, and known danger zones.
“Node one: Energy Turbulence Zone.” Veralis pointed at the outermost red dot on the map.
“The academy requires us to collect samples from the abnormal area. The sample for this node is a fragment of the energy turbulence core. In that zone, our elemental output will go out of control, and Spiritual Qi perception might be disrupted. Xuan Xi, how will your water attribute be affected there?”
Xuan Xi thought for a moment.
“My power system is based on Spiritual Qi, not elements. Energy turbulence should affect me less than it affects you.”
“Then you’ll be in charge of collecting the sample.” Veralis made a note in her notebook, then moved her finger to the second red dot.
“Node two: Marsh Dragon Python Habitat. Although the academy claims the monsters there have been cleared, as far as I know, that information is outdated. That’s enough time for a high-level monster to reclaim the territory. So this is our best spot for hunting. A high-level monster will satisfy the assessment requirements.”
“So we’re hunting here?” Elsa asked.
“Yes.” Veralis nodded. “When we get there, you stay at the rear. Your flames will be suppressed near the lake. Don’t stand on the front line.”
Elsa nodded.
“Node three: Stone Forest.” Veralis moved her finger to the third red dot. “The academy didn’t give details, only saying ‘abnormal energy fluctuations exist.’ But my mother’s notes mentioned a stone forest in Echo Valley with pillars that might be inscribed with Eastern Dragon clan runes. Xuan Xi, if we encounter runes there, you’ll be responsible for recording them.”
Xuan Xi nodded.
“Node four: Echo Illusion Realm.” Veralis moved her finger to the fourth red dot.
“Apparently, the energy field there records sounds and replays them under certain conditions. Upperclassmen who lost contact in Echo Valley were linked to the Echo Illusion Realm—they heard things they shouldn’t have heard and saw things they shouldn’t have seen.” She paused.
“So we’ll just complete the task there. Don’t go deeper.”
Xuan Xi tapped her finger lightly on the tabletop.
“Node five: Beast Nest.” Veralis moved her finger to the second-to-last red dot. “There are high-level monsters here too. If we don’t complete the hunt at node two, this can be a backup location. As for the others—” She closed her notebook. “Whatever the academy didn’t mention, we don’t do.”
The long table fell silent. Elsa took a sip of her tea. Reggie stared at the route marked on the map.
SigrdrÃfa sat beside Xuan Xi, her silver-white hair hanging beside her face, her amethyst eyes fixed on the deepest point on the map.
“That’s all?” Elsa asked.
“That’s all.” Veralis folded the map.
“The assessment has only two requirements: hunt one high-level monster and collect samples from an abnormal area. Completing any two nodes will suffice. If we come across the others and want to do them, fine. If not, no pressure.”
“And what about the Eastern Dragon clan carvings?” Xuan Xi asked.
“If we encounter them, record them.” Veralis hugged the notebook to her chest.
“If we don’t, don’t bother. The academy doesn’t require it, and we won’t get extra points for it. That’s your own business. You decide.”
Xuan Xi touched the two jades under her collar. She thought of the dream about her mother, and of those carvings.
This wasn’t just about the assessment—it might be crucial information about her own origins.
“Okay,” she said.
Elsa raised her teacup.
“Then we set off tomorrow. We’ll hunt monsters, collect samples, and get the job done! Let’s aim for first place in Class A!”
Reggie raised his teacup. “To first place in Class A!”
Xuan Xi and the others raised their teacups too. Five cups clinked together with a crisp sound.
The sunlight in the library corner was especially bright at that moment.
In the distance, someone was flipping through books. Someone else was whispering.
Someone was organizing a bookshelf. No one noticed the five-person team in the corner.
When the sun rose tomorrow, they would walk into Echo Valley and face the Energy Turbulence Zone, the Marsh Dragon Python, the Stone Forest, the Illusion Realm, and a series of challenges.
Maybe they would even meet an old acquaintance deep in the valley floor.
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