âSister-in-law, how did you guess that Yu Buxia didnât want us to find Wuwang Mountain?â
Little White asked in puzzlement.
Ying Huoâs expression dimmed.
âYu Buxia is a good friend, but sheâs too cautious to let me take such a risk,â Ying Huo said slowly. âSo the moment I told her I planned to go to Wuwang Mountain, she would block me. But sheâs forgotten one thing: if we canât find Ye Yu, then my life has no meaning!â
At these words, Ying Huo looked up and spoke earnestly, âI will live on, Little White. Trust meâI will bring you and Ye Yu back to the Divine Realm together!â
Little White nodded solemnly.
They hurried onward and took another path toward the Divine Tomb Forest, determined to enter before Yu Buxia arrived.
But halfway there, they were stopped by someone ahead.
Facing the gaunt, sword-wielding man, Little White instantly revealed his true form and growled coldly, âDog, get out of my wayâor you die!â
The man removed his bamboo hat and tossed it aside, revealing a perfectly ordinary face. âFerocious beast Little White, Star God Ying Huoâam I right? Oh, I forgot to introduce myself: Iâm Cui Sheng of the Extreme Moon Pavilion. You trespassed the Pavilion before, making our Divine Alliance Lord very unhappy. So Iâve been sent to eliminate you.â
Without a word, Ying Huo and Little White charged at Cui Sheng! Vengeance had no need for courtesyâthey still had â§ NĐŸvĐ”Iight â§ (Original source) to reach Wuwang Mountain!
But they underestimated this divine cultivator.
After several hours of battle, Cui Sheng claimed victory at a terrible cost, slaying both Ying Huo and Little White!
In her final moments, Ying Huo felt boundless regret. If only sheâd been stronger... but there was no âif.â
âBeloved husband, I may never find you!â she whispered as tears fell.
Ying Huo died.
Cui Sheng, having done his homework on Little Whiteâs terrifying revival ability, proceeded to incinerate the site with divine flames for three days and nights. Only once he was certain not a single wool strand or drop of blood remained did he depart.
Meanwhile, in the Northern Wilderness of the Mortal Realm, a divine soul slowly awakened.
Ying Huo blinked at the ordinary world around her, astonished. How could this be? Could she too have been reborn?
Noâthat was impossible. If sheâd reincarnated, how would she still possess her current strength? This felt more like returning to the past. Were the prior events merely a dream?
Noâdivine souls do not dream. Surely something transformative had occurred, granting her a second chance.
Thrilled by the thought, Ying Huo immediately traveled to the center of the sea between the Northern Wilderness and Central Continent, probing carefully.
But her brow furrowed. Where was her divine body? Shouldnât Ye Yu have taken it? Or perhaps he hadnât yet arrived?
After much thought, she refrained from retrieving her divine body and waited nearby. She believed her husband would soon come and, by chance, reclaim itâthen they would reunite.
Months passed, yet Ye Yu never appeared, and her burning hope gradually cooled. This was all wrong. By the original timeline, they should have been married in the Divine Realm by now. How could her divine body still linger here? Had everything been a dream?
Reluctantly, she retrieved her divine body. If she could find no answers in the Mortal Realm, she would return to the Divine Realm.
Upon ascending, Ying Huo rushed to Balance City and found Yu Buxia. They gazed at one another for a long moment, then spoke the same name in unison: âYe Yu!â
Ying Huo laughed with unrestrained joy. It hadnât been a mere dreamâsomeone remembered him, someone remembered her husband!
They sat together and recounted the events that had transpired.
When Yu Buxia learned that Ying Huo had been slain by the Extreme Moon Pavilion, she was astonished. Then she shared her memories:
âI reached the Divine Tomb Forest first and used an array to conceal Wuwang Mountain, checking repeatedly to ensure no trace remained before I left. But upon returning to Balance City, Ying Huo and Little White were nowhere to be seen. Only two possibilities remained: either theyâd gone to search for Wuwang Mountain, or theyâd followed me into the Divine Tomb Forest. The latter seemed more likelyâhad Ying Huo merely gone to find Wuwang Mountain, she would have told me. And her Communication Stone wouldnât have gone unanswered otherwise. It meant she was probably no longer in the Divine Realm.â
Realizing this, Yu Buxia sighed deeply and prayed that Ying Huo and Little White would succeed in bringing Ye Yuâs reincarnation back. âYou must return,â she whispered. âOtherwise, the Divine Realm will be truly barren.â
Yu Buxia slumped over her desk, gazing at the Fate Scalesâits balance utterly lostâand felt overwhelmed by loneliness.
Years turned into decades, centuries, and millennia. Over a thousand years later, Yu Buxiaâs eyes had long since lost their light.
At last, she understood the sorrow of hopelessness: when hope dies, oneâs heart truly perishes.
With Ye Yu and Ying Huoâs talents, a thousand years would have sufficed for two returns to the Divine Realm. That they never came back proved one thing: Ye Yu had not been reborn, and Ying Huo and Little White had not escaped Wuwang Mountain alive.
In an instant, the entire Divine Realm seemed unbearably dull. Yu Buxia even questioned her own purposeâBalance? Ever since Ye Yu created the Fate Scales, her life had had nothing to do with balance.
Without balance, what path remained?
Lost in despair, Yu Buxiaâs Dao heart was sullied, and she fell in cultivation.