The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

"Junior Sister, it's not dark yet. But it won't be long before it gets dark."

Jiu Fangzhi's voice held a solemnity she had never heard before.

"Look at the horizon."

Tang Xixue suddenly looked up.

The first rays of dawn on the horizon are being swallowed up inch by inch.

The darkness was as thick as ink, surging like a tide, distorting even the light of day wherever it passed.

It is a moth.

They have awakened.

"That crazy woman!"

The old Taoist priest struggled to his feet, staggering a couple of steps before managing to stand up.

He looked up at the Three Lives Tree, where the silvery flames on its crown were still spreading, burning down from the highest branch.

The leaves curled up, charred, and turned to ash, like a torch that had burned for a thousand years finally reaching its end.

"The Three Lives Tree is destroyed. The spiritual essence is severed. Yao Guang City... won't survive tonight."

His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, as if there was a wad of blood-soaked cotton stuck in his throat.

But he kept talking, using the last of his strength to speak.

"Perhaps we'll die here together."

Jiu Fangzhi's voice was calm to the point of being cold; he had already considered dozens of escape routes in his mind.

"Junior Sister, I'll cover the rear, you..."

"unless……"

The old Taoist priest raised his head, and a final ray of light burst forth in his cloudy eyes, like a dying candle flickering before going out.

"Unless someone activates the protective array of the Glazed Immortal Palace. That's the last path that the Flowing Cloud Medicine God left for Yao Guang City."

"The Crystal Palace?"

Jiu Fangzhi interrupted him.

He had already prepared to evacuate with his junior sister. With Bingyou not by his side, he was not entirely confident in protecting her from the unpredictable Silver Dust Gu.

But those four words made him stop in his tracks, his gaze sweeping over the old Taoist priest like a sharp blade.

"What did you say? Could the entrance to the Crystal Palace be nearby?"

"Yes. Now that things have come to this, I will no longer hide anything from you."

The old Taoist priest's voice was as weak as a spider's thread about to break.

"There is indeed something hidden within the Three Lives Tree. It's not an elixir of immortality, but a key left behind by the Flowing Cloud Medicine God."

"key?"

Tang Xixue's pupils contracted.

"What key? Where is it hidden in the tree?"

"That's the key to unlocking the protective array of the Glazed Immortal Palace."

The old Taoist priest spoke slowly, his gaze fixed on the burning tree, as if he were looking at an old friend who was about to pass away.

"The Flowing Cloud Medicine God sealed the key here. She said that when the destined person arrives, the key will naturally appear."

"A destined person?"

Tangxi Xue pressed for an answer.

"What kind of person is considered a destined soulmate?"

The old Taoist priest shook his head, and another trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

The blood was so dark it was almost black, a sign that all five internal organs were damaged.

"She never said it. But the old Taoist knew that now was the time for it to appear in the world."

He staggered to the Three Lives Tree, stretched out his withered hands, and reached into the crack in the trunk that was enveloped in silver-blue light.

His hands were trembling violently, as if all his vital energy had been depleted to the point that even raising his arm had become a form of torture.

He touched it.

My fingertips touched something. It was cold, hard, and shaped like an elongated willow leaf.

He took the key out of the tree hole.

A silvery light danced in his withered palm, faint yet resolute, like a heart that refused to be extinguished even in death.

The light shone on his face, revealing every single wrinkle.

He turned around and handed the key to Tang Xixue.

"Young lady, I beg you, please save Yaoguang City."

He didn't look at Jiu Fangzhi, nor at anyone else.

Those eyes were fixed on Tang Xixue alone.

It wasn't because she was standing closest, but because he saw something in her eyes that was exactly the same as that of the Flowing Cloud Medicine God.

The light of a healer, and the solitary spirit of knowingly doing the impossible.

He would rather die than hand over the key to the Pavilion Master of Fengxiao Pavilion.

The legacy of the Medicine God should be passed on to those who care for all living beings.

Rather than evil spirits that crave immortality.

"Master, why did you give me this key?"

Tang Xixue did not reach out immediately. She looked into the old man's pleading eyes, her voice strained.

"You've guarded it your whole life, and you don't even know who I am."

"The old Taoist priest guarded it his whole life, waiting for this one glimpse."

The old Taoist priest forced a smile that was more like a grimace.

"Girl, take this."

"What should I do?"

Tang Xixue took the key.

It feels slightly cool to the touch.

The key was entirely silver-white, with a faint blue aura flowing around it that was of the same origin as the spiritual essence, as if it were cast from solidified moonlight.

Jiu Fangzhi watched as the key fell into Tang Xixue's palm.

He never expected the old Taoist priest to hand over the key at this critical moment.

He thought the tree keeper would take the secret with him to his death.

"Where is the entrance to the Celestial Palace?"

He asked, his tone brief.

"Right in the center of the Three Lives Tree."

The old Taoist priest raised his hand and pointed to a very inconspicuous crack in the tree trunk.

The crevice was hidden where the gnarled tree roots intertwined, completely concealed by the hanging withered vines; one would not give it a second glance unless looking closely.

"Before the flames burn through the tree trunk, young lady, time is running out, hurry!"

"Enter the Glazed Immortal Palace, inherit the legacy of the Medicine God, and activate the grand formation."

"Master, what about you?"

Tang Xixue paused for a moment.

His body couldn't hold on any longer.

The talismans were exhausted, and his life essence was depleted; he even needed to hold onto a tree trunk to stand.

Without her here, there's only one outcome for him if he stays.

The old Taoist priest chuckled.

There was no fear in that smile, only the calm acceptance of death after accomplishing one thing.

"The old Taoist priest will stay here and hold her off for you."

"Junior Sister, you go first."

Jiu Fangzhi stepped forward and stood beside her, his black robes fluttering in the wind.

"He can't stop that woman by himself."

"With Brother Youwei here, she can't cross this line."

"Senior brother."

Tang Xixue suddenly reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

The force was as light as a leaf falling on a sleeve.

But she held on tight and didn't let go.

Promise me one thing.

"you say."

Jiu Fangzhi looked at her.

The mask covered his face, but something was churning violently in his eyes, which he suppressed with all his might.

Promise me you will live.

she says.

Jiu Fangzhi remained silent for a moment.

"it is good."

He replied.

Then he turned back and didn't look at her again.

He simply spun the mechanism box in his palm, and the sound of the latches snapping shut was crisp and decisive.

The old Taoist priest took out the last three talismans from his sleeve and held them between his fingers.

The cinnabar patterns on the talisman paper had faded to almost invisible, yet he still held them up as if they were three tattered but unyielding battle flags.

"Go ahead, girl."

He said in a hoarse voice.

"The old Taoist's mission in this life is to guard this tree."

"Now that the trees are gone, the old Taoist priest can still protect this city one more time."

Tangxi Xue did not say another word.

She turned around, bent down, and squeezed into the gap.

The passageway was so narrow that only one person could pass sideways, and the four walls were made of tree roots that twisted like dragons.

The tree roots were covered with a thin layer of silver moss, which gleamed faintly in the darkness.

She bent over and walked step by step deeper into the area.

The sound coming from above grew farther and farther away, becoming increasingly muffled and heavy.

The roar of exploding golden flames, the crisp sound of the mechanical shield shattering, and the old Taoist priest's hoarse shouts—each sound was like a heavy hammer striking her heart.

She didn't turn around.

She was going to save an entire city.

It was the panicked faces on the long street, and the bewildered little girl holding a bamboo tube by the pond.

She can't stop.

She simply gripped the key tighter, so tight that the sharp edges of the key dug into her palm.

Behind him, Jiu Fangzhi's voice came from the entrance, its sound drawn out long and distant through the tree hole.

"Junior sister, please be careful."

She didn't turn around, but her steps slowed for a moment.

"I will definitely be back before dark."

The end of the secret passage was getting closer.

The light started as just a tiny point, like the most distant lone star in the night sky.

The further you go, the brighter the light becomes, transforming from stars into lamps, from lamps into lanterns, and finally into a clear and intense white, illuminating the entire dark passage as if it were daytime.

She quickened her pace and bent down to emerge from the end of the dark passage.

"They're finally out!"

Then, she froze.

There is no road ahead.

There was no door, no palace, no magnificent glass palace as she had imagined.

Below us was a precipice.

The cliff face was steep and precipitous, with occasional unknown plants peeking out from the cracks in the gray-blue rock face, their leaves glistening with dew.

At the bottom of the cliff is a sea of ​​clouds.

The clouds were so thick, so dense they seemed impossible to disperse, like a pot of silver soup that had been boiling for a thousand years.

A stone thrown into the abyss leaves only a muffled thud, with no echo.

On the opposite side of the cliff, there is another cliff.

Between the two cliffs lies an abyss of unknown width, shrouded in mist, obscuring the opposite bank.

Only the wind surged up from the valley floor, carrying the damp chill of a thousand years, making her clothes flutter in the wind.

"Where exactly is the Crystal Palace?"

Tang Xixue stood on the edge of the cliff, the wind lifting her skirt and stray hairs.

She looked down at the key in her palm.

The key was still slightly warm.

It's like urging, like guiding.

But there was no way forward.

"Xingmi is seriously injured, I can't call him anymore."

She gripped the key tightly and whispered to herself.

"From now on, we must rely on ourselves."

She knew that since the Flowing Cloud Medicine God had left behind a legacy, it could not possibly be a dead end.

The woman who single-handedly lit up the entire city would not hide her last hope in a place no one could reach.

But where is the road?