Beneath the Moon Palace, within the drifting clouds, two figures sped by, leaving behind long trails through the thick layers of mist.
The woman leading was tall and graceful, standing as aloof as a solitary moon. Her eyes were closed in meditation, lips unmoving, yet an ethereal voice sounded softly beside her.
“Lan’er, you’ve been learning the myriad arts of cultivation and Dao Discourses from the Palace’s masters for some time now. Now that we finally have a free moment, I’ll test you on a thing or two.”
“Eh?”
Luo Dan’er, who had been distracted ever since she was taken out of the Moon Palace, suddenly raised her head, her eyes full of surprise and panic.
She still hadn’t recovered from the shock of learning that her Mother Superior actually had an elder sister, yet the woman before her—whom she ought to address as Aunt—was already beginning her questioning.
“The Taixi Six Cycles, what are the key points of each?”
“In Qi Refinement, what precautions should be observed?”
“In the Grand Dao, which truths can be attained, and which must not be touched?”
“……”
One question followed another. Luo Dan’er listened in a daze, her head swelling with confusion.
“Hmm, that’s enough for now.”
Feeling that her questions more or less covered everything an entry-level Magical Practitioner ought to know, the mysterious Palace Master finally paused her inquiry.
“Alright, Lan’er. Answer them for me, one by one. I’ll see where your weaknesses lie.”
“Um, um… Taixi Six Cycles…”
Luo Dan’er counted on her fingers, stammering for ages, but not a single word came out.
“You can’t even answer such basic questions?”
The previously ethereal voice now carried a hint of sternness.
“Let’s go to the next one.”
“Yes.” Luo Dan’er nodded sheepishly and continued, “Qi Refinement, um… you have to pay attention to…”
Her bright mind spun in circles.
After a long while, it was as if she suddenly recalled something and looked up in delight. “You have to be careful not to overeat your Qi. Don’t stuff yourself.”
“Nonsense. The key to Qi Refinement is distinguishing so-called impure Qi from proper Qi, and discerning whether the Qi conflicts with your own Grand Dao.”
The Palace Master, eyes still closed, frowned slightly and turned, giving Luo Dan’er a hard flick on the forehead.
“Ow!”
This flick was clearly charged with spiritual energy—swift and heavy. It made Luo Dan’er clutch her head and start rubbing it, her eyes instantly filling with tears of grievance.
But the Palace Master was unmoved, continuing her interrogation:
“Next question!”
“Um… ow.”
“Next!”
“Uh… ow!”
“Is there a single question you actually know how to answer?”
“…”
“Ow, ow, ow—Mother, Elder Sister, please stop hitting me. Lan’er—Lan’er has her reasons for not knowing.”
The repeated flicks left Luo Dan’er utterly miserable, her previously fair forehead now swollen in a lump.
Her eyes brimming with tears, she looked so utterly wronged that she was on the verge of crying aloud.
It wasn’t that she was faking it; she truly felt unjustly treated.
As a spirit born of innate spiritual energy, when she took human form, there was little to tell her apart from ordinary people, but her path of cultivation was wholly different from that of humans.
Things like absorbing spiritual Qi, Qi Refinement—she had never tried them. Each day, all she needed to do was sit inside the Danfurnace, absorbing the medicinal mist that drifted from Luozhilan’s pill refining.
Her cultivation would then grow naturally, without effort.
Thus, when the Palace Master questioned her about these human cultivation matters, she knew nothing at all—unable to answer a single one.
Yet the Palace Master had no inkling of this. Unrelenting, she kept up her flicks and scolding: “These are the most basic cultivation fundamentals. You’ve studied in the Palace for so long, and yet you haven’t remembered even a bit.”
“All you do is skip lessons and wander off into the back hills. Do you think it’s easy for me—on top of bitter cultivation every day—to run around inviting all those famous teachers for you? You’ve really let me down!”
Her voice was tinged with both anger and disappointment, clearly upset by Luo Dan’er’s utter lack of understanding.
“No, that’s not it…”
Luo Dan’er, utterly aggrieved, parroted the excuse Limuqun had taught her: “Elder Sister, I’ve been practicing a Divine Sense Cultivation Method recently, so my consciousness has been a little muddled. That’s why I couldn’t answer.”
“A Divine Sense Cultivation Method?”
The Palace Master stopped her hand mid-air, turning the flick into a gentle caress as she rested her palm lightly on Luo Dan’er’s forehead. The anger in her voice shifted to concern.
“How are you? Is it serious?”
“It’s nothing, I’m almost fully recovered. A couple more days and I’ll be fine.”
“It’s just that, when it comes to the myriad arts of cultivation, I’m afraid I won’t be able to remember any time soon.”
“Heh.” The Palace Master was clearly amused by such an outrageous excuse, yet she didn’t press the issue and silently lowered her hand.
With her level of cultivation, she could easily probe into her little sister’s Divine Sense, but a careless move might leave lasting aftereffects—at best, memory loss; at worst, a mind left blank.
Unless, of course, one were a Qingqiu Fox, skilled at reading the human heart and able to slip into another’s Divine Sense without leaving any trace. But that fox clan always kept to themselves, and were near impossible to find.
“Forget it, I’ll let you off for today.”
She gazed at her little sister’s tear-stained face, her heart finally softening. Sighing, she decided not to pursue the matter.
“Lan’er, you’re grown now. What I’m going to teach you next concerns the forbidden secrets of our clan. Listen closely, and don’t make me angry again.”
“Mm, mm, I’ll listen carefully.” Clutching her swollen forehead, Luo Dan’er nodded repeatedly.
“At least you have some conscience left.”
With a wave of her hand, the Palace Master sent a wave of moonlight-like spiritual power across Luo Dan’er’s forehead. The swelling swiftly melted away.
“All right, sit properly. I’m about to begin.”
Luo Dan’er, feeling the cool, soothing sensation on her forehead, hurried to sit upright.
“Lan’er, do you know why our Luo Clan has never left this remote Moon Palace in the sky, despite all the riches and lands of the Celestial Realm below? Or why we tirelessly hold the Exorcising Sun Ritual, generation after generation?”
“Isn’t it simply because our Luo Clan wishes to keep to itself, and is determined to stay away from the world’s disputes?”
“Hm? Is it not so?”
Luo Dan’er’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Foolish child, all people have desires. Where there are people, there are conflicts.”
“Our Luo Clan hides away in this desolate place, seemingly far from worldly matters and living in tranquility, but the hardships and bitterness we bear—only we know.”
The Palace Master’s face, bathed in a cold, moon-like light, revealed a rare, pronounced shift of emotion.
“It’s not that we don’t want to—it’s that we can’t!”
“Can’t?” Luo Dan’er asked in a daze.
“That’s right, can’t.” The Palace Master spoke softly, “It’s said that in ancient times, a Heavenly Phoenix of Fury was born, transforming into nine suns. These Nine Evil Suns and the original sun refused to give way to each other, so that at times, ten suns would appear in the sky, scorching the crops, burning the grass and trees. People starved, beasts perished.”
“For the sake of all living things, Divine Practitioners used the Heavenly Dao to forcibly break down nine of the Evil Suns, sealing them across the land.”
“Over the ages, the nine Evil Suns were gradually extinguished, leaving only one still struggling, but it too was like a beast at slaughter—at the end of its strength, awaiting its fate.”
“But at that time, there was a Magical Practitioner who, for some reason, lost their mind and, believing in rumors, helped the last Evil Sun break free from its seal, unleashing a disaster that swept both the world of cultivation and the mortal realm.”
As she spoke, pain appeared on the Palace Master’s face.
“Although, in the end, Divine Practitioners stepped in and stopped the calamity, those who died could not be brought back, and the mistakes committed could not be undone.
The practitioner who made such a grave error was ordered to eternally guard the Evil Sun, never to be freed, generation after generation.”
Seeing the pain on the Palace Master’s face, Luo Dan’er’s heart skipped, and she began to piece together the truth.
She whispered, “Could it be… could it be…”
“That’s right.” The agony on the Palace Master’s face peaked. “That sinner was our Luo Clan’s ancestor. This Moon Palace is nothing more than the cage left to us by the Divine Practitioner—a prison without walls.”
“Through the passage of years, the world has forgotten the truth. Everyone thinks that the Exorcising Sun Ritual is some sort of blessing ceremony, and the Moon Palace a place of great renown.”
“But who could understand the suffering within?”
Luo Dan’er listened to this secret, so shocked that she could not utter a word.
But soon, she thought of her own Mother Superior. Since her mother now cultivated at the Cloud Expanse Sect, didn’t that mean the Luo Clan would one day break free from the Moon Palace’s shackles?
A hint of joy flickered across her face, and she was about to offer some words of comfort, when the Palace Master’s voice sounded again at her ear:
“But Lan’er, I will shoulder everything. I’ve already found a way to destroy that Evil Sun. Once I’ve fully merged with the Moon Palace, I will definitely wipe out the Evil Sun!”
She reached out and gently took Luo Dan’er’s small hand.
“You just have to cultivate diligently. When the time comes, go out for your elder sister and see the magnificent lands of the Celestial Realm.”
“This is my mission, and also yours, little sister.”
A vague unease began to well up in Luo Dan’er’s heart. She wanted to say something, but was interrupted by the Palace Master.
“All right, all right, stop pulling such a long face. We’re almost at the Market Street at the foot of the mountain. The reason we didn’t cross the Sea of the Great Void and had to make this tiring trip by flight was just to set their minds at ease—and to receive a bit of their blessing, too.”
“If you keep looking so glum, it’ll make them uneasy when they see you.”
As the two of them began their descent, a raucous wave of noise surged toward them.
“Welcome, Palace Master!”
“Welcome, Lady Xuan Nu!”
The unified cries shot into the sky, shaking the surrounding clouds and mist.
As the two descended from the clouds, the dense crowd below dropped to their knees like a tidal wave.
The Palace Master, flying ahead, was clearly accustomed to such reverence and gave a small nod in reply.
But Luo Dan’er, seeing such a mass of people for the first time, was rather shy and timidly followed behind the Palace Master, unable to stand still beneath the crowd’s blazing, devout gazes.
Yet, as she nervously glanced about, a figure in the corner, stuffing chestnuts into his mouth, suddenly caught all her attention.
Eh?
Limuqun!