That night.
The stars shone brilliantly, the full moon was bright.
In a garden within the Nine-Hua Alliance of the Four Great Regions, one filled with birdsong and floral fragrance.
A figure in white, pristine as snow, stood beneath the moonlight.
Three thousand strands of black hair stirred with the wind.
A beauty that could topple cities and kingdoms, a countenance peerless in the world.
Transcendent and ethereal, a celestial maiden of the Nine Heavens.
Su Hua stood quietly. The evening breeze came, causing her long hair to flutter gently against her breathtakingly beautiful face. Her deep, misty eyes gazed distantly at the full moon hanging in the night sky, just watching.
More than a month had passed since the incident.
To this day, Su Hua still could not understand why the Taixuan Stele had inexplicably collapsed and vanished, nor why Gu Qingfeng had inexplicably dissipated into nothingness.
Yes.
She could not comprehend it, nor could she figure it out.
A month had passed since the event, and she had pondered it for over a full month, yet she still could not understand. Not only that, but the more she thought, the more doubts arose in her heart. The more she thought, the more Gu Qingfeng's existence seemed too mysterious, too bizarre, and too incredible.
A true body as solid as bedrock, immovable as a mountain.
An absolute force that could shatter anything and shake space itself.
An unparalleled mastery of musical arts, and so on—all of these filled Su Hua with immense curiosity.
Especially Gu Qingfeng's Taiji Golden Core, which she found most unbelievable. That day, she had seen clearly with her own eyes that Gu Qingfeng had personally destroyed his Taiji Golden Core. She truly could not understand why that fellow still possessed one.
There were far too many bizarre aspects about Gu Qingfeng. Had she not witnessed them herself, Su Hua would scarcely have dared to believe it was real.
Su Hua desperately wanted to know just who Gu Qingfeng really was!
Could it truly be as he himself had said, that he had merely glimpsed a wisp of spiritual will left by Monarch Chixiao?
That he had received the so-called spiritual legacy of Monarch Chixiao?
And that was why he had become so bizarrely powerful?
She did not know!
Su Hua truly did not know.
Though she held countless curiosities and doubts about Gu Qingfeng, what she felt more of was regret.
Regret for Gu Qingfeng's immovable mountain-like true body.
Regret for his indestructible absolute force.
Regret for his peerless musical artistry.
And even greater regret for that Taiji Golden Core of his, which possessed the qualifications of a Human King and bore a true mandate.
But what Su Hua regretted most was the spiritual will of Monarch Chixiao.
In Su Hua's view, if Gu Qingfeng had spoken the truth, if he had truly encountered the spiritual will of Monarch Chixiao, then he must have fused with it. Otherwise, the Chixiao Dragon-Elephant upon the Chixiao disciples would not have feared him so, nor would Patriarch Huowu or the five elders of Xiaoxian Valley and Yunxin Hall have been terrified into such a state.
Perhaps only by obtaining the spiritual will of Monarch Chixiao could one defy heavenly might and cultivate two Taiji Golden Cores?
The spiritual will of others might not be so miraculous, but Su Hua believed that the spiritual will of Monarch Chixiao absolutely possessed such capability.
A pity.
He was just... dead.
Died inexplicably, died utterly clean.
"Alas..." Su Hua could not help but sigh.
And this sigh was not just for the doubts surrounding Gu Qingfeng's death, nor merely for curiosity or regret. It also held her own doubts about her karma.
Ever since learning that her karma was connected to Monarch Chixiao,
Su Hua had searched the entire world for news of Monarch Chixiao.
To deduce whether Monarch Chixiao was alive or dead, she had spent these years doing almost nothing else, devoting all her time to investigating every deed of Monarch Chixiao's life.
She personally visited every place Monarch Chixiao had ever been.
She also met every enemy and friend Monarch Chixiao had ever had.
It was no exaggeration to say she had retraced every step Monarch Chixiao had taken in this world.
All to deduce whether Monarch Chixiao was truly dead, and whether there was any possibility of reincarnation.
The more she learned about Monarch Chixiao, the more Su Hua believed he had not been completely extinguished and would surely reincarnate.
She firmly believed in her own conjecture.
For this, she did not hesitate to risk her life, using a heart-omen divination specifically for her own karma. The divination indicated that her karma would undergo a change within the Four Great Regions.
This result delighted Su Hua beyond measure. She knew clearly that her karma was tied to Monarch Chixiao. If her karma was to change, it must be related to him. And the place indicated by the divination was the Four Great Regions—the very homeland of Monarch Chixiao.
Su Hua arrived in the Four Great Regions full of anticipation.
She had fantasized about meeting the reincarnated Monarch Chixiao here.
She had also wondered if she would admire Monarch Chixiao like a young girl.
Before coming, Su Hua had harbored too many fantasies, her mood particularly excited.
But what she never expected was that after arriving in the Four Great Regions, she did not encounter the reincarnated Monarch Chixiao.
This left Su Hua deeply disappointed.
And then Gu Qingfeng's appearance rekindled her hope.
Although that fellow was not the reincarnated Monarch Chixiao, he could at least be considered a successor of Monarch Chixiao.
She had even suspected that her karma might not be Monarch Chixiao himself, but rather his successor.
She truly had such doubts.
Only now, it held no meaning anymore.
Whether her karma was Monarch Chixiao or his successor,
What significance did it still hold?
The last remaining wisp of Monarch Chixiao's spiritual will had dissipated. His successor, Gu Qingfeng, had also inexplicably turned to ashes.
Who the so-called karma was—what meaning could it possibly have now?
Su Hua stood there, gazing at the full moon in the night sky, her expression filled with hesitation and confusion.
She had undergone reincarnation precisely for the sake of her karma.
Now, knowing that her karma was gone, Su Hua felt as if she had lost all joy in life. She did not even know how to proceed on her future path, nor what meaning reincarnation still held, or even what meaning living held.
Cultivating immortality?
Su Hua had been an immortal in her previous life, a celestial maiden of the Nine Heavens, a born immortal from the moment of her birth.
Cultivating immortality held no allure for her, not the slightest bit.
Not cultivating immortality, and her karma gone...
What was there left to live for?
For fate?
Su Hua was well aware of her own fate. She had known it from the moment of her reincarnation.
Originally, she had not resisted this so-called fate. But now, for some reason, she felt a trace of resistance. She even wished to cast aside the so-called imperial decree upon her, the so-called great responsibility of the Dao, the so-called fate... wanting only to stay quietly alone, wishing to do nothing...
"Miss, it is about time we departed..." Qianshan advised from beside her. Since Gu Qingfeng's inexplicable dissipation, this was not the first time Qianshan had urged her, yet Su Hua showed no intention of leaving.
And Qianshan knew the reason Su Hua remained was her doubt about her karma. He advised again, "Miss, the Old Mistress once said that karma is not fate, yet it is fate. It is predestined in the unseen workings of the universe. Do not force it. What is meant to come will always come; what is not meant to come will never arrive. Since Miss's karma has departed, I hope Miss can let it go..."