Another memory flashed through Yun Qianxue's mind.
A young Yun Lintian, his face smeared with dirt, stubbornly picked up his wooden sword despite the bruises covering his arms.
Yun Qianxue sighed. "That's enough for today."
"No! I have to get stronger!" His small hands trembled, but his eyes burned with determination. "I will protect this sect."
That night, she commissioned a real sword for him—one perfectly sized for his small hands.
The boy became a youth. The youth became a man.
She stood frozen outside his chambers one evening, her hand raised to knock, listening to his quiet laughter with another female disciple inside.
Something sharp twisted in her chest.
That night, she sat alone on the sect's highest peak, staring at the moon until her eyes burned.
The mountain peak shattered under her aura.
"Qianxue. Be my woman." Yun Lintian hugged Yun Qianxue from behind.
Yun Qianxue's body stiffened, her mind was in a mess.
She was his godmother and now she actually let him hug her like a lover.
In the end, she finally took that step—walking out of the boundaries of morality.
Since then, Yun Qianxue decided to be honest to herself and accepted her and his feelings.
And… she didn't regret it one bit.
The day before Yun Lintian left for the other timeline.
They sat together on the same peak where she'd once wrestled with her guilt, watching the sun dip below the horizon.
"Come back to me," she said quietly.
Yun Lintian squeezed her hand. "Always."
She memorized the warmth of his palm, the way his fingers intertwined with hers, the scent of his robes—
Not knowing it would be their last moment together.
As the explosion consumed her, Yun Qianxue's final thought was simple.
"How good it would be... to feel his warmth... one more time..."
When the light faded, Nian Shi stood amidst the devastation—his silver robes torn, his perfect face marred by cuts that dripped golden blood.
For the first time in millennia, he was injured.
"What a surprise! To think that she could wound me..."
With a casual wave, time reversed around him. The wounds sealed, the blood retreated into his skin, his robes mended themselves.
But the memory remained.
His silver eyes gleamed with newfound interest as he turned to Lan Hanyu and Yue Yun.
"Hopefully, you two can give me more surprises."
Yue Yun ignored Nian Shi completely. Her golden-tinged black eyes locked onto Lan Hanyu's swollen belly.
"Bing'er," she said softly. "My name is Yue Yun. I'm your elder sister."
"You are really my Big Sister!" Bing'er's voice bubbled with innocent excitement from within the womb. "I want to play with you."
A sad smile touched Yue Yun's lips. "Don't worry. You'll get your chance."
Lan Hanyu's frost-blue eyes flickered with confusion. At this point... why give false hope?
"Really?!" Bing'er cheered. "I can't wait!"
Nian Shi's silver brow arched slightly. His gaze sharpened as he studied Yue Yun, trying to decipher her meaning.
The Moon Staff in Yue Yun's hand erupted with otherworldly light.
"Nian Shi," she said coldly. "Don't think this is your victory. You will lose in the end."
Lan Hanyu didn't hesitate. Frost surged around her as she transformed into her Ice Phoenix form, wings of glacial light spreading wide.
The two attacked together.
Nian Shi's smirk returned. "Let's see."
The Blade of Eternity met Yue Yun's Moon Staff in a shower of sparks. Lan Hanyu's talons raked toward his back, but he twisted time, making her strike pass harmlessly through his afterimage.
The battlefield trembled under their clashes. Yue Yun fought with desperate fury, her staff weaving intricate patterns of moonlight and destruction. Lan Hanyu harried Nian Shi from all sides, her frost slowing his movements.
But Nian Shi was limitless.
"That's it? I thought you had some trump cards left. It seems I am overthinking."
A flick of his wrist.
Lan Hanyu's left wing shattered. She screamed, crashing to the ground in a spray of ice and blood.
"Mom!" Bing'er's panicked voice cried from her belly.
Nian Shi loomed over Lan Hanyu, his blade poised above her stomach.
"An unborn child of Yun Lintian... What a precious ingredient for an artifact." His smile was cruel. "Imagine his face when I show it to him."
Lan Hanyu's eyes widened in horror.
Yue Yun lunged, her staff striking Nian Shi's blade aside.
Nian Shi blocked effortlessly—
But the distraction was enough.
Lan Hanyu's body glowed with desperate light.
"Bing'er... Lintian… forgive me."
She detonated her core.
The explosion was brilliant—a supernova of frost and maternal fury.
Nian Shi was blown back, his temporal shield cracking under the force.
In that final moment, Lan Hanyu's mind was filled with Bing'er's voice.
"Mom! I'll protect you!"
Tears froze on Lan Hanyu's cheeks.
"I'm sorry, my child. Mom can't protect you in the end..."
When the light faded, only half-dead Yue Yun remained.
Nian Shi emerged from the dust, his robes slightly singed but otherwise unharmed.
"Damn it!" he turned to look at Yue Yun. "You have disrupted my plan again."
Yue Yun lay broken on the ground, her body barely holding together. Yet when she lifted her head to face Nian Shi, there was no fear in her golden-tinged black eyes—only a smile.
The kind that shouldn't exist on someone in her condition.
Nian Shi's silver eyes narrowed.
"Still smiling?" he mused. "You truly are Yun Lintian's daughter."
Yue Yun coughed blood, but her grin widened. "I've finally confirmed one thing... You're not as omnipotent as everyone thinks."
Nian Shi's expression darkened. "If you're trying to play mind games, save it. I, who have witnessed the rise and fall of universes, won't be swayed by—"
It was a weak, bloody sound—but it cut deeper than any blade.
She struggled to her knees, swaying unsteadily. "The more you act ... the more certain I am." Her eyes locked onto his. "Tell me... What future did you see... that made you so desperate?"
A flicker of something—unease—passed through Nian Shi's gaze.
Yue Yun's laugh turned triumphant. "I knew it! You saw it, didn't you? A future where my father utterly destroys you!"
Nian Shi's grip on the Blade of Eternity tightened. "Enough!"