The Awakening of Yunxihua
Yunxihua's consciousness finally settled.
Not fully returning to her body.
Nor separating.
But merging at two points at once.
She slowly sat down.
There was no pain.
No injury.
Yet there was an unfamiliar weight within her soul.
She closed her eyes—and the world split apart.
With her main body, she sat within the territory of the Lei Clan.
The ground felt real. The air flowed.
Time moved normally.
Yet with the same consciousness, she also stood in another place.
A place without sky.
Without earth.
Without Dao.
There, a red-haired man stood with his eyes closed.
His body emitted nothing, yet his very existence made the void itself stable.
Yunxihua drew a long breath.
Both bodies inhaled at the same time.
Her heart beat—
once…
then once again.
Not an echo.
Not a reflection.
Two centers of life, one origin soul.
Confusion finally surfaced completely.
This is not an illusion.
I am not dead.
And I am not possessed.
She tried to push the second consciousness away.
She could not.
She tried to pull it closer.
There was no need.
Because from the very beginning, the two had already existed at a single center.
Slowly, understanding arose—not as memory, but as existential awareness:
This body still walks beneath the laws of the world
That body stands beneath Dao, yet is not bound by it
And she herself is the bridge.
The God-Slaying Dragon symbol on her chest pulsed faintly.
It did not glow. It did not activate.
Like a sign that she no longer needed to prove anything.
Yunxihua opened her eyes.
The sky above the Lei Clan was calm.
Too calm.
She tried to sense the Dao of Lightning—a long-held reflex that had always been there.
There was no response.
Not because she had lost the ability.
But because that Dao no longer regarded her as part of its system.
Strangely, Yunxihua did not panic.
She simply… understood.
"I… have awakened," she said softly.
That voice did not call upon the heavens.
It did not shake the earth.
Yet at that very moment, the red-haired man opened his eyes as well.
Their gazes met—
not physically,
but at the deepest layer of the soul.
There was no dialogue.
No pact.
Only silent acknowledgment.
I am you.
And you are the path yet unnamed.
Yunxihua stood up.
When her feet touched the ground, the world did not react.
And that—
was what marked her awakening.
Because ordinary cultivators shake the world.
Gods force the world to submit.
But Yunxihua…
no longer required the world's recognition.
She stepped forward.
Two bodies moved.
One visible.
One unseen.
And from that moment on, Yunxihua no longer walked toward the peak of cultivation—
but toward something that even Dao was not yet ready to name.
Yunxihua's Descent from Mount Qingshui
Thin mist over Mount Qingshui slowly parted.
For the first time in ten years,
Yunxihua descended the mountain.
There was no burst of aura.
No pressure from the heavens.
Yet Xubailong and Xufangyu—waiting at the foot of the mountain—straightened immediately.
They felt the same thing.
Yunxihua had changed.
Not becoming more cruel.
Not becoming more arrogant.
But becoming deeper.
Xubailong looked at her, then chuckled softly in relief.
"Ten years… you finally came down."
Xufangyu said nothing.
But his eyes shone, as if seeing that the pillar of hope for this world still stood firm.
Without unnecessary words, Yunxihua stepped forward.
When she stood before them, the two finally realized—
Her realm had leapt dramatically.
Soul Formation.
Not early stage.
Not middle stage.
But late stage… perfection.
Yet what made their scalps tingle was not the realm itself—
but the fact that her aura felt empty.
As if that realm were only an outer layer,
and behind it existed something they could not touch.
Yunxihua looked toward the east.
In the direction where the Sacred Tianlan Sect stood.
"It's time to start moving," she said calmly.
Xubailong and Xufangyu immediately bowed.
"SAINT LADY."
The command came without pressure,
yet carried absolute resolve:
"Xubailong. Xufangyu.
You will lead ten thousand cultivators of the Devouring Star Alliance.
Move east.
Toward the Sacred Tianlan Sect."
Xubailong was startled for a moment.
"The Sacred Tianlan Sect…?
Aren't they one of the strongest neutral powers in the east?"
Yunxihua nodded faintly.
"Neutral," she said.
"Does not mean uninvolved."
Xufangyu immediately understood.
"Is this… a test?"
"Yes," Yunxihua replied briefly.
"And also a door."
She turned to look at both of them.
"You do not need to destroy the Sacred Tianlan Sect."
A moment of silence passed.
"Make them choose."
That order made Xubailong's chest tremble.
Forcing a sacred sect to choose—
that was far more difficult than a direct attack.
Yet it was precisely there that Yunxihua's power was revealed.
Xubailong clenched his fist.
"We will depart at once."
Yunxihua nodded.
As Xubailong and Xufangyu turned away, leading ten thousand cultivators toward the east—
in the distance, Yunxihua's ancient god body opened its eyes.
It felt the same pulse:
The great game had begun.
Yunxihua stood alone for a moment.
The wind of Xuliang City blew gently.
"The first step," she murmured softly.
And the world…
did not realize that its balance had just been pushed to the edge.