The ancient return was exposed by his sister's live stream.

There was a floor-length jade mirror in the study, but its surface had long since lost any spiritual energy.

On the table next to the mirror was a white jade comb—simple in design, but of excellent quality.

The bookshelf was full.

In stark contrast to Tianpeng Residence, which was empty except for recipes, Yuehua Residence had dozens of documents and several scrolls of stone carvings neatly arranged on its bookshelves.

Yang Wanqing pulled out a document and turned to the first page.

"...The Lunar Messenger, Chang'e, the tenth disciple of the Beichen Immortal Sect."

She screamed.

"Wow! It's actually the residence of Chang'e, the Moon Goddess!"

Chen Siyao followed in, not as excited as Yang Wanqing, but with a slight smile on her lips.

Chang'e, the fairy of the moon palace. One of the most famous female mythological figures in the legends of Earth.

She is now standing in the house where Chang'e has lived for countless millennia.

She took down the materials from the bookshelf one by one and looked them over.

The first section is the personnel file. "Chang'e, the tenth disciple of the Beichen Immortal Sect: Envoy in charge of the Taiyin Realm. Term of stay: three thousand years."

The second order... "Chang'e is hereby ordered to go to the Taiyin Realm to take over the daily maintenance and spiritual energy tide calibration of Jade Rabbit One."

The third piece—a performance review report. Written by Chang'e. The handwriting is beautiful and neat, and the content is detailed.

"First year of stationing in the Taiyin Realm. Jade Rabbit One is operating normally. The spiritual energy tide calibration error is controlled within three per thousand..."

"The Taiyin Realm has been stationed there for five hundred years. Jade Rabbit One has completed its third major overhaul. Seven core array plates have been replaced..."

"The Taiyin Realm has been stationed there for 2,800 years. The spiritual energy concentration in the Nine Provinces continues to decline, and Jade Rabbit One has reached its output limit. We request permission from the Sect Master to activate the backup plan..."

Chen Siyao looked at the pieces one by one, becoming more and more silent with each reading.

Yang Wanqing peeked out from the side: "What did you find?"

"This corresponds to the information from the previous Moon Palace, except that the sect mentioned there is clearly the Beichen Immortal Sect."

"The report didn't mention anyone else with her." Chen Siyao put the report back on the shelf.

Yang Wanqing gasped, "It really was just her who spent three thousand years in seclusion on the moon, cultivating in solitude..."

"It's not just about ascetic training. She's in charge of regulating the spiritual energy tides throughout the entire Nine Provinces."

The comments section is already buzzing with discussion:

"The truth about Chang'e flying to the moon... she didn't run away after a fight with Hou Yi, she was sent on a business trip!"

"Three thousand years of business trips, three thousand years of clients pressuring me to my death."

Chen Siyao continued flipping through the documents. She found a disc with different contents... it wasn't official records, but private notes.

"...I have received the spirit fruit cakes sent by Senior Brother Tianpeng. They taste excellent. I have already given them to the spirit crane to take back."

"...I learned today that Senior Brother Tianpeng has been promoted to the head of the Three Saints of Beichen. Congratulations from afar."

"...At the sect's annual banquet, Senior Brother Tianpeng is the head chef."

Yang Wanqing leaned closer and saw these messages, her eyes lighting up: "Senior Brother Tianpeng? She and Marshal Tianpeng are senior and junior siblings?"

Chen Siyao nodded and said, "The document mentions that after Chang'e returned from the Taiyin Realm, her cultivation level increased greatly, and she was ranked second among the Three Saints of Beichen. She is only one place lower than the eldest brother, Tianpeng."

"Then is she with Senior Brother Tianpeng...?" Yang Wanqing made an ambiguous gesture.

Chen Siyao flipped through the rest of the text and shook her head.

"No. It's all records of official business and sect gatherings. When she mentioned Senior Brother Tianpeng, the thing she talked about most was..."

She read it aloud.

"Brother Tianpeng's Celestial Wine today was excellent; I drank three extra cups."

"The Nine-Turned Dragon Scale Pastries served at the New Year's banquet were much better than last year's."

Yang Wanqing blinked.

"...So she just likes the food her senior brother cooks?"

"It seems so."

The comments section was filled with "hahahaha".

Chang'e: Senior Brother's cooking is delicious. Over.

"Everyone on the internet thought Chang'e and Tianpeng had a story, but it turns out she just wanted to try the cooking of her senior brother."

Chen Siyao did not explain these issues; due to limited information, she had not fully grasped the situation.

But the core information has been clarified: Chang'e and Tianpeng did not have any romantic relationship as legend suggests; they were simply fellow disciples.

Yang Wanqing squatted down next to the bookshelf, helping Chen Siyao organize her documents.

"Yaoyao, what happened to Sister Chang'e after she returned from the Yin Realm three thousand years ago? Is it written out later?"

Chen Siyao found the file with the latest date and opened it.

The content is only a few lines long.

"...The depletion of spiritual energy in the Nine Provinces is now a foregone conclusion. Jade Rabbit One has been shut down. The sect leader has summoned all disciples to return to the Beichen headquarters. We will depart tomorrow."

That's all.

The story of Chang'e ends here.

Yang Wanqing paused for a moment. "She's gone."

"The entire Beichen Immortal Sect has left," Chen Siyao said. "What happened afterward, we won't find the answer here."

Chen Siyao arranged all the documents and discs left by Chang'e in chronological order and took panoramic photos for archiving. Then she returned to the reports about Yutu-1.

The amount of information here is much greater than she initially thought.

She sat at Chang'e's desk, reading carefully, piece by piece.

Yang Wanqing moved a stool and sat down to help, separating the ones she had read from the ones she hadn't.

"Have you looked at this piece?"

"I've looked. That piece isn't there yet."

The two worked together to tidy it up for almost an hour.

After piecing together the key information, Chen Siyao got up and walked to the photo crystal.

"I will now organize the information I obtained from the Chang'e literature."

The live stream room fell silent.

"First, the severing of spiritual energy in the Nine Provinces did not happen suddenly."

"According to the records, the Ziwei Celestial Venerable foresaw this event before the spiritual energy was cut off. He made preparations in advance."

"Secondly, this preparation involves the Jade Rabbit-1. The Purple Star Celestial Venerable himself contributed a precious treasure."

"It also incorporates the most precious treasures from several other sects of the Jade Void Holy Temple, and took more than a thousand years to refine."

"Its purpose is to control the spiritual energy tides of Kyushu."

"Third, Yutu-1 was placed in the Taiyin Realm, which is the moon. Chang'e was sent there to manage it for three thousand years."

"For the past three thousand years, Jade Rabbit 1 has been working hard to keep the spiritual energy of the Nine Provinces from being cut off."

"fourth…..."

Chen Siyao paused for a moment.

"It failed. The depletion of spiritual energy was inevitable. In the end, even when Jade Rabbit One reached its limit, it couldn't stop the depletion of spiritual energy in the Nine Provinces."

The live stream was silent for several seconds.

Then the comments section started flooding...

"Wait a moment."

"So the people of the Thirty-Third Heaven aren't just sitting idly by?"

"They spent a thousand years crafting magical artifacts and then sent people to the moon to guard them for three thousand years, all to save the spiritual energy of the Nine Provinces?"

"But it still failed..."

"No wonder the sects from Kyushu attacked later; they probably had no idea that the people above had already made efforts."

"It's possible that they know it, but they can't accept the outcome of failure. Once the spiritual energy is gone, it's gone. No matter how hard you try, if the people below can't survive, they can't survive."

"This... I suddenly don't know which side to stand on."

The tone of the replies under the previously highly-rated comments from those supporting the Jie Sect has begun to shift.

"The people above did try. They poured over four thousand years of effort into it, but ultimately failed."

"But from the perspective of cultivators in the Nine Provinces, those above have spiritual energy to use, while those below do not. Regardless of your efforts, you have it but I don't, and that is the root of the conflict."

"So this battle... both sides have their own reasons?"