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As the Ice Crystal Window Flower formed into a frost blade at my Fingertip, I faintly heard my mother’s sigh, tinged with the fragrance of peach blossoms, on the day she was married off. The ethereal escape technique, wrapped in the silver threads of my garments, shattered the moonlight filling the room. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself seated on the cloud-patterned mat of Linghuan Xian Pavilion.
The millennium shark pearl in the glazed lamp reflected the remnants of red at the corners of my eyes, while countless Star Seed floated in the mist rising from the Jadeite incense burner on the table. This had once been my favorite place of tranquility, but now even the drifting spirit mist had transformed into the chill of Xuanjade nestled between my brows.
On the night of our wedding six months ago, he had gripped my Wrist and splashed Heavenly Wedding Wine at the edge of the Joyous Couch. When the ice crystal formed Joyful Scale lifted my veil, Shattered Snow fell softly onto the nape of my neck. “The daughter of Linghuan Fairy Realm is so weak that even her protective celestial barrier is as thin as paper,” he said, using his Fingertip to sever the red thread in my hair, watching as the beads tumbled to the ground. “Such frailty is hardly worthy of being my Soul Contract partner.”
Suddenly, ripples spread across the starry gauze hanging from the pavilion’s ceiling, and Wang Xuan’s familiar Peachwood Incense mixed with a scent of blood wafted in. I instinctively tightened my grip on the remnants of my soul-restraining bell hidden in my sleeve; memories of that day when I accidentally stumbled into Xuanbing Cave pierced through my mind—Xuanjade had pinned a blood-stained Peach Blossom Hairpin to the cave wall, while a black iron chain coiled around half a Apricot Grove embroidered handkerchief.
It turned out he had long since sealed away all remnants of our past here, just as he had locked our bridal chamber with a Xuan Shuang barrier. “Are you hiding here again to shed tears, Young Mistress?” The gilded mirror revealed Wang Xuan’s phantom, twirling a Peach Branch. The dual lotus hairpin in her hair resonated with my Lingxi pendant. “Last night, the peach blossom forest in the southwest corner of Xuanjie bloomed exceptionally vibrant. Honored One specifically picked the most flourishing branch to brew this year’s first batch of He Huan wine.”
The glazed lamp suddenly shattered, and shark pearls rolled to the edge of a fragment of The Book of Taiyin. The star chart on its yellowed pages overlapped with Yang Lin’s drawing on my Palm’s Release Talisman; I could still feel his warmth as he held my hand to complete the formation—the temperature still lingered around my wrist where our Soul Contract lay—Xuanjade claimed this was a secret technique to stabilize celestial souls, yet every star pattern he taught me was now channeling spiritual power for Wang Xuan’s Peach Blossom Calamity.
Outside the pavilion, thunder suddenly split open the clouds, and torrential rain pelted down like Peach Petals against the carved Window Lattice. I formed a seal to freeze the crimson mist seeping in, but ice crystals began to crystallize into images from that night: Xuanjade used his Xuan Shuang sword to sever a strand of Wang Xuan’s hair, carefully avoiding her Apricot Grove birthmark around her neck as he did so.
It turned out that beneath his cold gaze towards all living beings lay old scars he dared not reveal. “Are you wasting spiritual power again, A Yao?” Yang Lin’s phantom emerged from The Book of Celestial Constellations. His Fingertip warmed up and melted away the ice crystals on my eyelashes. “In three days, when the Milky Way hangs upside down, your Xuan Shuang Seal on your Soul Contract will temporarily hide Three Quarters.” He grasped my trembling hand in mid-air and sketched out a vision; shadows of Apricot Grove collided violently with those of Peach Blossom Calamity in a starry trajectory. “At that time, using Reincarnation Spring to reveal what Xuanjade’s emotional soul is bound to will surely…”
A sudden cry from a mysterious bird tore through the rain curtain; I hurriedly waved away Yang Lin’s lingering shadow. The Lingxi pendant in my sleeve suddenly felt scalding hot; a list of dowries prepared by my mother inside the Liujin Box began to flutter without wind. To my astonishment, it was Wang Xuan’s Birth Chart that appeared on its last page.
Amidst the shards of exploding ice crystal lamps, I saw an image from when I was fifteen—Xuanjade pouring peach blossom wine at Xuanjie Stele Realm while Wang Xuan hid behind an Apricot Grove tree, her skirt embroidered with intertwining patterns identical to those on Yang Lin’s sleeves.
The torrential rain ceased at midnight as moonlight spilled over towards Reincarnation Spring. I traced over the dimming star chart on Jade Register and suddenly discovered that within that formation completed by Xuanjade lay half a Apricot Grove -shaped Star Map—exactly like what Yang Lin had drawn today on my Palm as part of Release Talisman's beginning.
As Fingertip pressed into the remnants of soul-restraining bell, I suddenly noticed that the star chart reflected in my Palm was quietly shifting. The drifting spirit mist solidified into an ethereal image of Xuan Shuang sword that cleaved Wang Xuan’s smiling reflection in half within the gilded mirror.
In those fragments refracted by ice crystals under moonlight floated unique intertwining patterns from Yang Lin's sleeves. “Are you looking at Reincarnation Spring's reflection again, Young Mistress?”
Wang Xuan's maid's soft laughter drifted from outside Window Lattice as several Peach Petals scented with He Huan wine passed through walls. I waved my sleeve to freeze that crimson hue; yet suddenly ice crystals exploded into countless tiny mirrors—each reflecting that moment when Xuanjade severed Wang Xuan's hair last night while deliberately avoiding her neck's Apricot Grove mark.
The Jadeite incense burner emitted a resonant hum as if struck by Goldstone. Stumbling against the cloud-patterned table for support, I saw smoke rising from within it coalesce into half an image of Xuanjie carriage map. The position of peach blossom forest in the southwest corner glowed with an eerie golden-red hue that echoed with Xuanjade's imprinting of Xuan Shuang Seal upon my Soul Contract.
Three months ago when he taught me how to repair star formations, he had pointed this area with his sword sheath and said: "This place conceals Xuanjie’s spiritual pivot; only pure celestial souls can guard it."
Suddenly shards from glazed lamps spiraled through mid-air; within blue light bursting forth from millennium shark pearls appeared images from our wedding night. When Xuanjade splashed Heavenly Wedding Wine onto Xuan Bing screen, droplets fell precisely extinguishing the candle flames guarding southeastern corner's formation.
The candle holder's intricate carvings resembled the dual lotus style found in Wang Xuan's hair.
"Do you know the solution to the Apricot Grove calamity?"
Yang Lin's phantom seeped from the remnants of the Taiyin Record, a warm, sun-like fingertip touching the Soul Contract on my wrist. The star patterns, once referred to as the Soul Binding Secret Technique by Xuanjade, now entwined around Wang Xuan's life palace like a spider's web, wrapping around the Peach Blossom Seal within.
Three days ago, while he was completing the Release Talisman by the Reincarnation Spring, the dew on his fingertips shared the same origin as the cinnabar on Wang Xuan's Birth Chart. Suddenly, the starry veil hanging from the pavilion's peak was sliced apart by Xuan Shuang's sword energy.
Instinctively, I formed a protective gesture over my heart vein, only to see the trajectories of falling Star Seeds perfectly align with the defensive formation techniques taught to me by Xuanjade. The star paths he had drawn on my palm had already connected the Linghuan Fairy Realm's protective mountain barrier with Wang Xuan's life palace.
"Young Mistress, your complexion looks poor; did you get caught in last night's peach blossom rain?"
Wang Xuan's voice echoed, shaking the crystal lamp above me, and suddenly, a red wedding gown prepared by my mother flew out from the Liujin Box. The wide sleeves embroidered with ethereal totems moved without wind, and from their cuffed vine patterns seeped Cold Pine Resin, identical to that of Yang Lin's sword.
I finally discerned the direction of those golden threads embroidered with star patterns—every twist and turn matched perfectly with the old formation map locked away in Xuanbing Cave. A clear call of a mysterious bird echoed from the direction of the Reincarnation Spring as I stumbled towards the carved window.
As moonlight spilled over the spring, the reflected star paths suddenly split open into an Apricot Grove-shaped Star Map. This was clearly an opportunity left intentionally during this morning’s lesson with Yang Lin on completing the Release Talisman.
As my fingertip brushed against my icy eyelids, I suddenly recalled that when Xuanjade returned last night, his lapels were stained with peach juice. He had always despised floral and fruity scents but allowed that crimson hue to seep into his spiritual patterns at his chest. At that moment, I thought it was merely Xuanjie’s unique Cinnabar Seal; now upon closer inspection, it matched both in color and origin with Wang Xuan's blood mole on her Glabella.
"Have you ever heard of the technique of flower transposition?"
Yang Lin's residual image solidified slightly as he virtually grasped my hand and pointed to a page in the Star Constellation Record. On that yellowed page floated a star map where a light point representing my celestial soul was being entwined by countless Peach Branches leading towards Wang Xuan’s life palace.
The soul-binding techniques that Xuanjade personally taught me transformed into nourishment for the Peach Blossom Calamity at this moment. The spirit pendant in my sleeve suddenly burned with an incredible heat. I pressed it against the cloud-patterned mat; its embedded shark pearl reflected back to me a scene from fifteen years ago at Xuanjie Stele Forest—Wang Xuan hiding behind an Apricot Grove tree, her skirt fluttering while her Jade Pendant pattern matched exactly with what Yang Lin wore today.
Meanwhile, Xuanjade’s peach blossom brew spilled onto the boundary stone, seeping along the earth veins towards Linghuan Fairy Realm. As another downpour approached, I gazed at my reflection in a gilded mirror and noticed a remnant red at the corners of my eyes; I suddenly realized this hue resonated with the Xuan Shuang Seal on my Soul Contract.
My fingertip brushed over the Frost Mark left by Xuanjade around my neck last night; what I once thought was an unwelcome touch now revealed itself under starlight as a protective formation gesture. When the last piece of ice crystal formed into an Apricot Grove shape in my palm, I finally saw that Xuanjade’s completed formation map aligned directly with my heart.
The surface of Reincarnation Spring suddenly reflected a complete view of Linghuan Fairy Realm—within those cracks eroded by Wang Xuan’s Peach Blossom Calamity floated faint traces of ice-blue light unique to Xuan Shuang’s sword energy. My palm’s star pattern suddenly glowed with an Apricot Grove-shaped Warm Light as I pressed against the icy window lattice and watched raindrops weave countless Hexagrams across Reincarnation Spring’s surface.
Those star paths once severed by Xuan Shuang’s sword energy began to slowly heal, while Wang Xuan’s life palace’s strange Peach Blossom Calamity light resonated subtly with Linghuan Fairy Realm's damaged barrier.
"Young Mistress, it's time for your soul-soothing soup."
As a maid knocked at the door holding an Azure Jade Bowl, I was pressing fragments of a soul-stabilizing bell into a missing formation eye within Taiyin Record. Suddenly, half-transparent earth vein maps floated up from those yellowed pages—the peach blossom forest in Xuanjie’s southwest corner connected unmistakably to Linghuan Celestial Realm’s eastern damaged barrier through an Apricot Grove-shaped spiritual bond.
The star array that Xuanjade taught me to repair over the past three months was, in fact, transforming two critical points into a duality of Yin and Yang.
I lowered my gaze to the swirling moonlight in the medicinal concoction, suddenly realizing that the reflection on the water was not my own—fifteen-year-old Wang Xuan was tiptoeing to place the Peach Blossom Branch on the Xuanjie Stele. The apricot-red ribbon entwined around her wrist was unmistakably the soul-binding silk used in forbidden techniques of the Linghuan Fairy Realm.
At that moment, hidden among the clouds, I failed to notice the dark patterns swirling in her hemline as she turned; they were precisely the intertwined lotus designs newly embroidered by Yang Lin on her sleeves.
Suddenly, shards of a glazed lamp began to piece together in mid-air, and within the ethereal blue glow emitted by a millennium-old shark pearl, the torn wedding quilt from that fateful night appeared—split by Xuan Shuang's sword energy.
The scattered golden threads began to reorganize in the void, outlining the central diagram of the mountain-protecting array of the Linghuan Fairy Realm.
I finally understood why, on that night when Xuanjade spilled wine, he specifically extinguished the guarding candle at the southeast corner—corresponding directly to Wang Xuan's calamity eye within her fate palace.
"Are you willing to gamble on a cycle of reincarnation, Ah Yao?"
The shadow of Yang Lin seeped out from the gilded mirror, and his fingertip touched the Frost Mark on my wrist where the Soul Contract lay.
Those marks once seen as humiliating now shimmered with a pale pink hue reminiscent of blooming apricot blossoms as they flowed with the starry paths.
When the last star pattern overlapped with Wang Xuan Birth Chart, I suddenly saw clearly that the array pattern Xuanjade had completed was aligned with the soul-protecting spell carved by my mother on my spirit pendant.
In that fleeting moment when the torrential rain ceased, I drew my fingers across my fingertip, and as my blood pearl fell into the reincarnation spring, countless images surged forth—fifteen-year-old Xuanjade drove Xuan Shuang's sword into the ground before the Xuanjie Stele, and at that moment, the tassels of Apricot Grove hanging from the sword's hilt were tied with lotus hairpins worn by Wang Xuan, sharing a common source of spiritual silk; while three days ago, when he broke a branch in the southwestern peach blossom forest, it was not peach juice staining his robes but tears of cinnabar seeping from cracks in the barrier of the Linghuan Fairy Realm.
"Young Mistress, Honored One commands you to return to Xuanbing Cave before dusk."
As I heard this message carried by a crane piercing through the clouds, I pressed my spirit pendant into the incomplete array point of "The Record of Celestial Bodies."
The warm light infused with apricot fragrance suddenly enveloped me; those star patterns once referred to as soul-firming techniques by Xuanjade transformed into countless golden threads wrapping around Wang Xuan's calamity within her fate palace.
When the final array pattern was completed, suddenly, the peach blossom forest at the southwestern corner wilted on the map, while an aura resembling an apricot grove blossomed from the eastern barrier of the Linghuan Fairy Realm.
My fingertip brushed against a frost flower crystallized on an icy window lattice; I suddenly discerned its hidden star path direction—the Han Shuang left behind by Xuanjade last night around my neck was actually one of the highest-level soul-protecting seals of Xuanjie.
Those seemingly humiliating touches landed precisely on Wang Xuan Peach Blossom Calamity's vulnerable points.
As midnight's clock chimed through the rain curtain, I took one last look at the floating star map in the reincarnation spring.
The position of the peach blossom forest in the southwestern corner began to emit an apricot color glow, resonating in harmony with the lingering essence left behind by Xuanjade when he departed this morning.
When a wedding dress inside a liujin box moved without wind, I reached out to catch an apricot blossom petal that passed through the barrier—its surface bore traces of Xuan Shuang, distinctly carrying a unique laurel fragrance from the Linghuan Fairy Realm.
Suddenly, after-the-rain moonlight took on an apricot grove hue; from the direction of Xuanbing Cave, there came a sharp sound of chains breaking.
I clenched my spirit pendant that had begun to heat up within my sleeve and gazed at the deepening glow in the southwestern sky while hearing a snap echoing from deep within the earth—a branch of Peach Blossom Branch breaking.
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