After My Rebirth, I Ended Up Happily Ever After with the Saintess - Chapter 98

The silhouette of a distant palace was like a mirage, offering hope yet remaining out of reach. After continuous days of high-intensity trekking and combat, even with the cultivation bases of Ye Li and Qin Yixuan, they were profoundly weary. Spiritual energy could be replenished with pills, but the mental tension and the consumption of the divine soul against the extreme cold required genuine rest to alleviate.

Under a massive, wind-sheltered ice rock, the two found a relatively safe temporary resting spot. Qin Yixuan took out a few small formation flags and set up a simple concealment and early-warning array. As the light flowed, it slightly isolated the external wind, snow, and bone-chilling cold. Ye Li carefully checked the surroundings, and only after confirming there were no hidden dangers did she slightly relax.

The space under the ice rock was small but enough for the two to sit cross-legged. A faint bonfire, fueled by a fire-attribute spirit stone, was lit in the center. The flickering flames dispelled a little of the chill, bringing a negligible warmth and light.

They sat in silence, each consuming their pills and quietly circulating their energy to regulate their condition. The only sounds in the air were the crackling of the burning spirit stone and the mournful whine of the wind and snow outside.

After these days of shared life and death, the initial unfamiliarity and wariness had largely melted away. An unspoken rapport flowed in the silence. Ye Li could sense that beneath Qin Yixuan’s seemingly cold exterior lay a profound sense of responsibility and a kind of… loneliness, which was inconsistent with her age.

Having finished regulating her energy, Qin Yixuan slowly opened her eyes. Staring at the dancing firelight, her gaze was somewhat distant, unlike its usual clear and firm state. She sighed softly—a barely audible sound, yet exceptionally clear in the stillness.

Ye Li also opened her eyes and looked at her. Their time together in the past few days had allowed her to see a different side of the Fairy of the Azure Water Pavilion than the one presented to the public—her resilience, her meticulousness, and even the occasional glimpse of confusion.

“Are you encountering difficulties in your cultivation?” Ye Li initiated the conversation, her voice calm. She was not one to pry into personal affairs, but at this moment, she felt perhaps Qin Yixuan needed a listener.

Qin Yixuan was slightly startled, seemingly not expecting Ye Li to ask. She was silent for a moment, her slender fingers unconsciously tracing the smooth surface of the Vast Sea Bright Moon Pearl. Finally, she spoke softly, her voice carrying a rare trace of bewilderment: “It’s not a specific difficulty… it’s just that since breaking through to the late-stage Spirit Mansion Realm, I always feel… there’s an invisible barrier ahead. It’s not a lack of spiritual power accumulation, nor is it insufficient comprehension; it’s more like a… stagnation at the level of the Soul of Destiny.”

She paused, seemingly organizing her thoughts, and continued: “Moreover, in recent years, I often have strange and vivid dreams. In the dreams… there are Nine Heavens Palaces, immortal music echoing, and sometimes I see the endless starry sky shattering, with all living beings wailing in sorrow… When I wake up, there’s a strange palpitation in my heart and a sense of… mission. As if some crucial destiny is waiting for me in a faraway place, urging me to constantly grow stronger.”

Upon saying this, she gave a self-deprecating smile. The smile blossoming on her beautiful, clear face was breathtaking, yet also carried a hint of fragility: “Sounds absurd, doesn’t it? Perhaps it’s just a heart demon at work.”

Ye Li listened quietly, but her heart was surging. Nine Heavens Palaces? Immortal music echoing? Starry sky shattering? These descriptions were remarkably similar to fragments of legends about certain supreme beings in her memories from her previous life! And that stagnation at the level of the Soul of Destiny and the inexplicable sense of mission…

She recalled the subtle hints her Master, Recluse Mu Yun, had given regarding the possibility of Qin Yixuan carrying a special destiny. Linking this to the Azure Water Pavilion’s near-total commitment of resources to her upbringing, and the special attention she received from the emissaries of the Nine Heavens Heavenly Palace…

A startling conjecture surfaced in Ye Li’s mind: Qin Yixuan is likely not as simple as an ordinary Azure Water Pavilion true disciple! She is highly likely the reincarnation of some ancient Great Power, or she is burdened with a major destiny!

This conjecture complicated Ye Li’s feelings. On one hand, she felt a subtle pity for Qin Yixuan—moving forward burdened with an unknown destiny was bound to make her endure more than ordinary people. On the other hand, she vaguely understood why Qin Yixuan always seemed cold and aloof. Perhaps it wasn’t arrogance, but a kind of barrier with the surrounding world, the loneliness of bearing a secret alone.

“It may not be a heart demon.” Ye Li spoke, her voice steady and carrying a convincing power, “The mysteries of the heavens and earth are profound, and the cycle of reincarnation is unfathomable. Some intuitions may not be baseless. I once saw a record in an ancient damaged scroll that some individuals with extraordinary talent, either due to their bloodline or a past life’s wisdom, may sense the pull of their own destiny earlier.”

She did not directly mention reincarnation or a heavenly destiny but expressed her view in a relatively subtle way.

Qin Yixuan looked up at Ye Li with surprise. She had expected comfort or a rational analysis, but she had not anticipated Ye Li saying something that almost affirmed her “absurd” feelings. Moreover, Ye Li’s eyes were clear and deep, without any hint of perfunctoriness or joking, as if she truly understood the profound and mysterious feeling Qin Yixuan spoke of.

It was a strange feeling. All this time, she had buried these confusions deep in her heart, not even fully telling her Master, simply because they felt too ethereal, afraid of being seen as delusional. Yet, unexpectedly, in this desperate land of ice and snow, this girl whom she had once regarded as her strongest competitor, could understand her.

“Do you… believe in these things?” Qin Yixuan couldn’t help but ask, her tone carrying a trace of anticipation that she herself hadn’t noticed.

“I believe power doesn’t come from nowhere, and cause and effect must have a reason.” Ye Li did not directly answer whether she believed but offered her philosophical assertion, “Since you have intuitions, follow them in your pursuit. Whether it is illusion or reality, destiny or tribulation, only by reaching that point will you know. Before that, indulging in worries is of no benefit. Improving one’s strength is the fundamental way to deal with all unknowns.”

This statement both acknowledged the possible truth of Qin Yixuan’s intuitions and provided a pragmatic direction, imbued with Ye Li’s characteristic calmness and tenacity.

Qin Yixuan stared blankly at Ye Li. Under the reflection of the firelight, Ye Li’s facial contours were distinct, and her gaze was as firm as a rock. At this moment, she suddenly felt that the girl before her was perhaps more… extraordinary than she had imagined. Her composure and insight seemed to have been honed by endless years of experience.

Unconsciously, another layer of her guarded heart had been stripped away.

“You’re right.” Qin Yixuan gently exhaled, as if releasing long-accumulated frustration. Her eyes regained their clarity and determination, “I was overthinking it. No matter what, becoming stronger is never wrong.”

The atmosphere softened considerably. The barrier between the two seemed to have dissipated a lot due to this heartfelt exchange.

After a moment of silence, Qin Yixuan suddenly asked, “What about you? Ye Li. Why do you cultivate and grow stronger so desperately? I can tell that you, too, seem to harbor a great weight of concern in your heart.”

This time, it was Ye Li’s turn to be slightly surprised. She hadn’t expected Qin Yixuan to turn the question back to her. The secrets concerning the hatred from her previous life, the Wheel of Reincarnation Mirror, and her parents’ disappearance were her greatest taboos, which she would never easily reveal to anyone.

She pondered for a long time. Outside the ice rock, the wind and snow howled; under the rock, the bonfire crackled.

In the end, she chose an answer that was relatively truthful but did not touch the core: “To survive, to control my own destiny. To… investigate some truths and settle some scores.”

Her tone was flat, but Qin Yixuan heard a deeply hidden gravity and resolve within it. That emotion was absolutely not something that simple sectarian competition or personal grievances could bring about.

Qin Yixuan did not press for the specifics of the truths and scores. Everyone had their secrets and burdens. She simply nodded and said softly, “It seems we are both striving for our own Dao and goals.”

This sentence was like a silent resonance. Two equally outstanding girls, both carrying secrets and struggling on the path of cultivation, found a strange kind of understanding and recognition in this isolated, desperate icy wilderness.

“Rest.” Ye Li ended the topic, “We have to travel tomorrow. I hope that palace can provide us with the clues to leave.”

Qin Yixuan nodded, closed her eyes again, and began to regulate her energy. But this time, her state of mind was much more peaceful than before.

Ye Li also closed her eyes, but her mind was tumultuous with thoughts. Qin Yixuan’s abnormality added another layer of mystery to her understanding of this world. And her own secrets seemed to be subtly connected with these ancient mysteries. The road ahead appeared increasingly elusive yet grand and momentous.

The bonfire gradually weakened, and the space under the ice rock returned to gloom. But two hearts that were once distant and aloof quietly drew a little closer in the depths of this frigid abyss. This minor change might, in the future, trigger an unpredictable storm.