The heavenly dragon could see the approaching supernova of blue light, and so could An Fei. The young girl paid no mind to the streak of azure heading in her direction, lowering her gaze towards the book spayed open between her legs.
She couldn’t feel any aggression or malice aimed towards her from within the blue light, so An Fei paid no such heed. Xilong, on the other hand, had other thoughts in quite the opposite direction as the young girl.
“Down!”
Deciding not to waste even a single iota of time, the heavenly dragon imposed its will onto the handle-less sword flying through the air.
With a gentle press, the enlarged blade plunged into a high-speed nosedive, and the scarlet inscriptions on its surface began to shimmer with an unprecedented urgency.
“…what’s wrong?”
The young girl intoned in a mixture of surprise and annoyance, her fingers scrambling to retain their hold onto the book placed on her lap. The world around her began to reveal faint white cracks as the handle-less sword began to drastically increase its speed.
Overhead, the heavenly dragon heaved a sigh of relief after witnessing the blue streak of light completely fail to strike anywhere near An Fei.
However, as Xilong prepared to command the steel flying sword to return to a normal flying speed, its golden irises froze in shock.
There, standing on the enlarged handle-less sword, was a youth dressed in a cloud azure cloth robe. As the wide sleeves flapped around in accordance to the heavy wind, the youth Immortal stood mere inches before the flabbergasted An Fei.
A smile graced his ephemeral and perfect countenance, and his body bent into a low crouch.
“My, my, your beauty was actually unhindered by the Soul Guiding Orb…”
The azure irises flickered with an austere light, and An Fei stared directly into an azure ocean of life. The young girl’s body slacked as her immediate strength fled from the Immortal youth’s presence.
Within the eternal sea of azure, there were two dark whirlpools surrounding the center. One aggressive and the other passive; the two whirlpools attempted to assimilate the other by their varying attributes, but the result was a perpetual current of tranquility.
Aggression phased into stillness, and stillness erupted into agitation.
From one whirlpool from another, the mere strands of water exhibited an astonishing change as they evaporated to vapor, ionized into high-energy plasma, flourished in their natural state, and solidified into chunks of ice – all exhibited at the same time.
Since there was no concept of time in the endless sea of azure, all possible and observable phases manifested at once, producing a magnificent kaleidoscope the captured life, death, and eternity within a perfect loop.
The transitions were violent, and they were also calm. The mixture of turbid and tranquility brought forth a mesmerizing combination, and a sense of peace and contentedness arose within An Fei’s heart.
At the same time, she felt a large object rest atop her head, blazing with an endless cycle of warmth. It sent microscopic shivers down her spine and throughout her body, but the fringes of the sustained warmth brought nothing but prolonged satisfaction.
Caw!
“Hush, Esteemed Immortal Dongfang,” the young Immortal motioned with a finger placed against his lips.
“I’m just letting the mortal girl relax. Can’t you see how taut and tense her soul is – how many lives of constant terror, sadness, and pain… can this even be considered a human soul?”
As he spoke, the youth moved his palm to gently stroke the young girl’s head. Although the appearance presented to the mortal world was a scraggly young girl with somewhat above average beauty, he could see through the impeccable disguise with a single blink.
He could easily see the beautiful, fragile doll hidden behind the invulnerable barrier, and a deep sense of cherishment arose within his heart.
With a thin sigh escaping his body, the palm gradually ceased stroking the patch of abnormal yet bewitching region of silver hair, and began to move downwards.
Caw!
“I’m surprised, that Esteemed Immortal Dongfang has the nerve to remain as a spectator even after witnessing such scars… perhaps you truly deserve the title of ‘viciousness’, more so than I…”
The little raven shrieked in protest and indignation, spreading its mighty little wings in a fit of anger. A violet rage began to cumulate within the little body no larger than An Fei’s palm, and the atmosphere began to tremble with a fervent, violet pulse reeking of malice and death.
“What will you do? You’re only here as a spiritual body – can that contest against a physical form?”
The youthful Immortal’s smile deepened, and the dual whirlpools increased their speed of circulation. As an unconscious, enticing sigh escaped the young girl’s lips, the Immortal’s palm gently rubbed and teased her cheek.
Bai Xing, you’re courting death!
The little raven released a soundless howl, and the skies broke apart as a pillar of night descended onto the pitiful mortal world. Radiating with the pure embodiment of suffering, malice, and destruction, the intangible pillar ate at the skies and the surrounding environment, causing the colors of the world to distort and crumble into the shadow of the void.
“Esteemed Immortal Dongfang, you’re causing havoc again,” Bai Xing’s smile deepened, and his actions refused to cease.
“Imagine if the Tianzun Imperial Court caught head of this – a Heavenly Immortal ruining an mortal world –“
The youthful immortal only wished to slightly tease the little raven and cajole its feathers for a brief moment, but eventually made a mistake.
Both the silently fuming heavenly dragon and a little raven stared as a slender thumb made its way towards a pair of stunning lips, and just as it was about to press against the scarlet river of affection…
Ahem!
A faint cough echoed within Bai Xing’s consciousness, the mortal world, and the Realm. The disturbance passed through all corners of the endless void and the Realm itself, prompting many reclusive figures to shiver with absolute terror.
“What in the…”
Bai Xing’s body shivered at the seemingly placid yet infinitely lethal cough, and his soul quivered in fear, and his Construct threatened to collapse. An ice-cold sensation drenched his entire state of being as a predatorial stare loomed over his back, and an eternally sharp knife pricked the skin of his soft nape.
Looking down towards the dreamy expression on the young girl’s countenance and noticing that his thumb had yet to touch her lips, the young Immortal heaved a heavenly sigh of relief.
As he patted his chest to console his wildly quivering heart, Bai Xing stepped back and muttered a few words under his breath, and seemed to have fostered some divergent thoughts –
Hmph!
“This junior is leaving, this junior is leaving now! Many apologies to Esteemed Senior for the disturbance!”
The young Immortal, the little raven, and all of the Immortals of the Realm voluntarily tossed themselves off of the handle-less sword. The black pillar vanished from sight in an instant, and the pair of dark whirlpools receded from An Fei’s mind at a swiftness that drove the speed of light mad with jealousy.
The young girl was left alone on the handle-less sword with a snow-white fox sleeping soundly against her back, and a heavenly dragon gnashing its teeth overhead.
As the flying menace of steel rightfully reoriented its direction, An Fei’s mind began crying out in discontent, for the image of the endless azure sea began to distance itself from her perception.
And when the endless sea of azure with the two mutually annihilating whirlpools faded from her perception, so did her sensation of pure content and relaxation. The disconcerting feeling of phasing between dreamland and reality caused the young girl to unconsciously reel back into the comfort and security of the azure sea –
“Enough now. Wake up!”
Xilong coldly snorted as it infused a thread of divine essence into An Fei’s body, thoroughly dispelling the mirage of the infinite sea of azure within an instant.
As the young girl gently rubbed her eyes as she aroused herself from sleep, the heavenly dragon flicked her forehead with a claw.
“Ah!?”
The young girl yelped with pain, and all reminiscence of the dreamlike and ethereal state was chased away. An Fei clutched her head as she groaned in pain, her body swaying and eventually falling upon the snow-white fox’s soft body.
“What do you want?” she pouted with her bottom lip.
“Can you not flick someone on the head when their sleeping!? It really takes the fun away from it!”
“Sleeping? Why don’t you recall what time of the day it is – would you even fall asleep before noon?”
The heavenly dragon’s reply caused An Fei’s excuses to run into an impenetrable dam, and they rammed against the back of her throat in protest. The young girl glanced around to find a perfectly blue sky brimming with vitality and brilliance, and eventually a soft murmur escaped her lips.
“…what just happened?”
“Nothing. Let’s land – you’re going to need to walk on the earth a little.”
Xilong released a sigh, feeling rather conflicted in its heart.
Unexpectedly, the azure-robed Immortal youth’s Construct was rather suitable for freeing the mortal girl from her curse.
And since the scarlet dragon was one who had unexpectedly remained awake during that incident, it knew what An Fei desperately needed most, and soon.
The only question was whether the youth himself had realized such a consequence – though, from Bai Xing’s consequent actions, Xilong was rather certain that the former had indeed realized it.
But the youth had a dual nature of viciousness and kindness – which one was he going to display to An Fei? Of two equally opportune outcomes, which one would fate permit?
