The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

The Flowing Cloud Medicine God raised his head and looked at her.

Her soul had been mostly burned away, and even her vision was fading; everything before her eyes was shrouded in a hazy mist.

But she saw Tangxi Snow.

She smiled.

That smile was gentle and compassionate, carrying a sense of peace that comes from finally being able to rest after traversing countless mountains and rivers.

"Good child. It's alright, your grandmaster is still here."

She spoke softly, her voice as light as a feather falling on water.

"I will protect Yaoguang City one more time... and one last time, protect the Nine Provinces..."

She paused, her gaze softly falling on Tang Xixue's face, as if she wanted to etch that face into her soon-to-dissipate soul.

"After our master leaves, you'll have to work hard from now on."

Tang Xixue's eyes could no longer hold back the scalding tears.

Tears silently slid down her cheeks, one drop at a time, falling onto the cold, celestial palace floor.

She bit her lower lip, her heart aching dully, so much so that she could hardly breathe.

"But Grandmaster, you've waited a thousand years, just for this moment? Just to... burn yourself out?"

Her voice trembled, like a string stretched to its limit.

"Don't you want to see what has become of the city you protected, and the world you once cared for?"

The Flowing Cloud Medicine God's gaze flickered slightly, as if touched by those words.

She gently shook her head.

"I want to watch. How could I not want to watch?"

Her voice held nostalgia and reluctance, but not a trace of hesitation.

"But some roads must be walked to the end by one person first. The scenery behind is for you."

The remaining divine thoughts of the Flowing Cloud Medicine God merged into the core of the formation.

They transformed into countless tiny specks of light, like fireflies, drifting and swaying as they fell to earth.

Those points of light pierced through the dome of the celestial palace, through the clouds, through the black mist, and landed on the ruins of Yaoguang City, in the scorched earth.

A tiny sprout rises from the ashes, reborn.

It broke through the soil, its leaves so tender they seemed to burst with moisture, yet it grew upwards inch by inch, under a sky full of black mist.

That is the new Three Lives Tree.

Tang Xixue stood there, tears blurring her vision.

She suddenly understood everything.

It turns out that the Three Lives Tree was a life-saving technique that the Flowing Cloud Medicine God sacrificed himself to obtain.

The power that can soothe the moths does not come from any rare and precious materials, but from the tranquility and beauty deep within the soul of the Flowing Cloud Medicine God.

With the light of her soul, she shielded the city from a thousand years of darkness.

Those Taoist priests who have guarded the Three Lives Tree for generations are not guarding just one tree.

They are guarding the Flowing Cloud Medicine God.

"Grandmaster..."

Tang Xixue's voice choked with sobs.

"Why didn't you tell me? Activating the grand formation requires your sacrifice!"

She couldn't continue.

Because she knew the answer.

If the Flowing Cloud Medicine God were to tell her this secret, would she still activate the great formation without hesitation?

She won't.

She would weigh the options repeatedly, torn between responsibility and reluctance.

The Flowing Cloud Medicine God did not want her to bear the burden of this choice.

The legacy of the Flowing Cloud Medicine God needs to be maintained through divine will.

She persisted until the heir finished reading the text and saw his lamp being handed to her.

At that moment, the joy that welled up in her heart was so pure and peaceful.

Like a flower closing its petals at night, or a drop of dew quietly evaporating in the morning light.

The last vestige of the Flowing Cloud Medicine God's soul was consumed in this world.

The magnificent and spectacular Glazed Immortal Palace Array covered the sky from above.

It turns out that the real celestial palace is in the clouds, but the path to it is deep beneath the lake.

A silvery-blue halo descended to earth like a thousand-foot-long silk ribbon, spreading out layer by layer.

Wherever it passed, the swarms of moths fell silent.

The violent, fragmented flapping of wings gradually subsided.

As if soothed by a silent requiem, it slowly fell back to the ground.

The survivors of Yaoguang City looked up at the sky.

The scene, which resembled a miracle, shocked everyone.

The silvery-blue light shone on every weary face and in every pair of desperate eyes.

The light was not dazzling, but gentle, like an embrace that was a thousand years overdue.

The glass lamp held in the little girl's hands suddenly lit up the moment the silver-blue light swept across it.

It is not the light of spiritual essence, but a light that is warmer and brighter than spiritual essence.

She stared wide-eyed at the lamp that had lit up on its own in her palm, her mouth agape, forgetting to close it.

"The light is on! It really is on!"

"It's a miracle!"

"The gods heard our prayers."

In the crowd, someone knelt down, his forehead pressed against the cold stone slab, tears streaming down his face.

Some people stood still, looking up at the silvery-blue light, their eyes reddening.

"There are no gods in this world...it's just that some people are carrying heavy burdens."

Tang Xixue stood in the celestial palace, tears still clinging to her face.

When the wind blows, it feels icy cold.

She raised her hand and wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve.

He rubbed hard, again and again.

Then she turned around and walked step by step toward the exit of the celestial palace.

She didn't turn around.

Because our master is no longer behind us.

The Grandmaster was in the light above her head, in the land beneath her feet, and in the burning words deep within her consciousness.

In the abyss-like underground palace, Si Xingxuan finished reading the last word.

The spiritual light on the stone wall slowly faded, and the glowing characters dimmed one by one.

Like the night sky returning to silence after a grand fireworks display.

"senior."

He spoke, his voice low and serious, carrying a solemnity quite different from his usual composure.

"You carved all your knowledge into the stone wall, leaving no name and asking for no offerings. Did you ever consider that perhaps no one will ever come here? Perhaps these words will be buried in darkness forever, along with this underground palace?"

Darkness and silence.

Only the words that were dying out flickered with a faint light.

Si Xingxuan looked at the lights and suddenly curved his lips into a smile, a smile filled with respect.

"I know the answer now. You have given us hope."

He lifted his robe and bowed deeply to the stone wall.

"I will never forget your legacy today. If one day I reach the end of my medical career, I will follow in your footsteps and light a lamp for those who come after me."

The moment he stood up, a deep rumble came from the depths of the underground palace.

The stone wall slowly slid away, and a door opened in front of him.

Behind the door was a staircase that extended upwards, each step gleaming with a warm, silvery-blue light.

There was light at the end of the steps, a light that was warm and bright.

"Is this the exit? I wonder where it leads?"

He climbed the steps.

With each step you take, the darkness behind you recedes an inch, and the light in front of you draws a little closer.

He didn't know where the road led, but he walked very fast.

Because he could smell the scent in the wind: the fragrance of herbs, the crispness of spiritual essence, and a trace of the familiar, cool fragrance of crabapple blossoms.

At the end of the steps was a door.

The door was ajar, and light was shining through the crack.

He pushed the door open and entered.

The next moment, the previously calm and composed Divine Physician Zheyue suddenly started running.

His robes fluttered behind him, and his steps were unusually hurried.

Like a star that has been wandering for a long time, it has finally found its own moon.