Volume Six: The Divine Sovereign Returns to the Shattered Continent Chapter Sixteen: Return to the Cloudheaven Stele

The atmosphere returned to silence.

Zhuo Hua was panting, his hands braced against the floor, his shoulders rising and falling in a steady rhythm.

"Big Brother!" Su Mengling, startled awake by the commotion, looked on with terror and unease. She approached Zhuo Hua as cautiously as a rabbit. Though she did not know what had caused her usually composed and stoic Big Brother to lose control, she knew that his heart must be in turmoil. Despite her own fear, she mustered the courage to comfort him. "Big Brother, what is wrong?"

Zhuo Hua took a long, deep breath and let it out slowly. "It is nothing." With that, he stepped out of the carriage.

"Let him cool down. After all, the repression of so many years cannot be unburdened in a short time," Yu Changsheng said, his tone filled with pity as he watched the door Zhuo Hua had closed.

"What exactly happened?" Su Mengling asked him urgently.

Yu Changsheng shook his head and cast a meaningful glance at Yu Qingshu. Su Mengling turned to Yu Qingshu, but she remained leaning against the carriage wall, eyes closed and motionless. Anxious and on the verge of tears, Su Mengling turned and rushed out of the carriage, chasing after Zhuo Hua.

"He would have known sooner or later; knowing now is not necessarily a bad thing."

Long after, this sentence drifted from the shadows in the corner where Yu Qingshu sat. It was unclear whether she was speaking to Yu Changsheng or to herself.

"Ancestor, I feel that what you all did was truly unkind," Yu Changsheng said weakly.

Yu Qingshu suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze sharp. A chill instantly enveloped the carriage, causing Yu Changsheng to instinctively shrink his neck, cold sweat breaking out immediately.

"Ancestor, I was just babbling, please do not be angry," Yu Changsheng hurried to explain.

"How often do we do things because we truly like to or want to? Different people walking between heaven and earth have different responsibilities. Whether one is willing or likes it, these things must be done. This helplessness is called 'being bound by fate'."

Yu Qingshu straightened her posture, her hands resting on the Qinghe Sword. She stared into the emptiness with burning eyes, an expression of determination and courage on her face. Her heart was a tempest of memories; the bloody battles of the past were vivid in her mind. Those glorious, war-torn years did not make her feel that her clansmen owed her anything; she was willing and had no regrets. Perhaps this was the dignity of a warrior—the dignity of a Valkyrie who held the world in her heart.

Yu Changsheng was no longer afraid. He nodded and said, "I understand what you mean, Ancestor. The world is full of suffering; it is only natural that a heaven-chosen one should descend to stabilize the nation and save the people from fire and water."

Yu Qingshu shook her head. "You are not entirely correct. It is not that the heavens chose Zhuo Hua to save the world; it is that he chose himself, and it could only be him."

"Is it because of the righteous spirit in his heart? To establish a heart for heaven and earth, to establish a life for the people, to carry on the lost teachings of past sages, and to open up eternal peace. The Yuanjun is a role model for us all," Yu Changsheng said, clasping his hands together with passion.

Yu Qingshu shook her head again. "You are right, and yet you are wrong." When Yu Changsheng pressed for the reason, she only returned a mysterious smile and remained silent.

At that moment, the carriage door creaked open, and Su Mengling climbed in. Yu Changsheng hurried to brush the snow off her and handed her a silk handkerchief.

Su Mengling thanked him softly and wiped her face, saying, "Ancestor, Big Brother said his mind is in chaos. He feared he would disturb your meditation, so he went to the Stele Path alone. He will wait for us under the Yuntian Stele."

Yu Qingshu smiled. "That is fine. Let him ask himself whether the task of restoring the world and saving the people is something he is coerced into or something he does willingly."

The journey was slow, and the caravan finally reached the base of the Yuntian Stele ten days later. Yu Qingshu looked up at the 1,999 stone steps and leaned down to brush the thick snow off one of them, revealing a totem of a Three-Legged Golden Crow.

"The carved railings and jade steps should still remain," she murmured, standing up to adjust her Daoist robes, shaking her head with a sigh. "Only the faces have changed."

She climbed the steps slowly, her heart filled with fleeting shadows of her old home. Though her heart felt all manner of bitterness, a faint, happy smile never left her face. "After all, this place is part of home. It is good to be home," she whispered.

Compared to Yu Qingshu’s measured pace, Yu Changsheng was gritting his teeth, complaining and crying as he climbed behind them. After only a hundred steps, he shouted, "Ancestor, let us rest for a while! I am exhausted!"

He stopped, gasping for air. But Su Mengling, walking beside him, did not stop; the young girl held up her skirt and climbed on, gritting her teeth.

"Mengling, slow down. Let's take a break!" Yu Changsheng called to her thin back.

Su Mengling shook her head, panting. "Big Brother is waiting for us! I must catch up with him. You rest." She continued upward.

Yu Changsheng caught up to her in a few strides. "Mengling, look at this snow. The Yuanjun might not arrive on time anyway; we have time to rest."

Su Mengling shook her head again. "You don't know Big Brother. He always keeps his word. Besides, your Ancestor is still climbing, isn't she? I won't rest."

Yu Changsheng shrugged, sighed helplessly, hoisted the heavy bundle of books back onto his shoulders, and buried his head to continue climbing.

The sun slowly shifted to the west. The sunlight of the northern lands was always weak, and in the biting wind, it seemed almost non-existent. Su Mengling’s strength was reaching its limit. Had she not taken the Wind-Steady Pill given by Yu Qingshu, she likely would have collapsed before reaching even a hundred steps. Even so, the determination to see Zhuo Hua was wearing thin. She stopped, hands on her knees, her lungs feeling as though they were about to burst from the violent breathing.

Just as she looked up to see how much further she had to go, her vision blackened, and she fell to the side. With a thousand steps below, a fall would surely be fatal.

A large hand caught her just as she tipped over.

"You are pushing yourself again," Zhuo Hua said, his voice soft with reproach.

Hearing that familiar voice, Su Mengling struggled to open her eyes. Seeing Zhuo Hua’s gentle smile, a warmth spread through her entire body.

"Big Brother! Why are you here? I mean, shouldn't you be waiting for us under the Yuntian Stele?" she asked, standing up and looking at him in confusion.

"The Ancestor has arrived. She said you were still behind and feared you wouldn't be able to make it, so she sent me to help," Zhuo Hua said, supporting her as they walked upward step by step.

"Yuanjun! Yuanjun! Please, save me!" A voice called out from not far behind.

Zhuo Hua and Su Mengling turned to see a snowman carrying a small white mountain on its back, slowly crawling toward them. From a distance, it looked like a white camel.

"Wait for me there, I will come back for you after I get Mengling to the top," Zhuo Hua called back to Yu Changsheng.

With a thud, a large bundle was dropped onto the snow pile at the base of the Yuntian Stele. Yu Changsheng sat down, gasping for air.

Su Mengling, having rested for a moment, teased him, "You! You risked your life carrying these heavy books up here. I really don't know what you were thinking."

Yu Changsheng leaned back against the snow, eyes closed. "The importance of these books to me is like the importance of the Yuanjun to you, Su Mengling. You risked your life to see your Big Brother, and I risked mine to bring these books up. It is the same principle."

Su Mengling’s face flushed red. She glanced at Zhuo Hua, relieved to see he was talking to Yu Qingshu and hadn't heard, and patted her chest.

"You stinky Changsheng, talking nonsense all day. Let's see how I handle you!" She scooped up a handful of snow, packed it into a ball, and threw it at his face.

*Plop.* It hit him square in the face. He jumped up with a yelp, saw the triumphant Su Mengling, and bent down to scoop up snow himself. Su Mengling, not being a fool, didn't wait to be pelted; she skipped over to Yu Qingshu’s side, sticking her tongue out at him provocatively.

Yu Qingshu watched the playful Su Mengling and smiled, as if remembering her own youth. She turned to Zhuo Hua and asked, "Have you tried the pass-phrase?"

Zhuo Hua nodded, smiling helplessly. "Just as the Ancestor expected, the villains have changed the pass-phrase."

"Then let us try mine," Yu Qingshu said, preparing to cast her spell and chant the incantation.

Zhuo Hua stopped her. "Ancestor, today’s events are quite strange. By all accounts, the Eagle Clan’s patrol guards should be patrolling the three hundred miles around this Stele Path, yet I have not seen a single eagle since last night. Furthermore, there should be Profound Heaven Bells and secret guards defending the Yuntian Stele, but I checked the perimeter and found nothing."

Yu Qingshu raised an eyebrow. "So you fear an ambush?"

Zhuo Hua nodded, his face full of concern.

"If there is an ambush, it makes no difference whether they ambush us here or inside. If you want to know why, you will see once we enter. You think too much sometimes, and it delays a perfect opportunity," Yu Qingshu said.

Zhuo Hua took a deep breath. "The Ancestor is right. Let us enter."

This time, it was Yu Qingshu who reached out to stop him. "Silly boy, have you truly thought it through?"

Zhuo Hua nodded earnestly. "I have. No matter why I was chosen, I am truly willing to do my humble part for the people of the world. Even if I were not this 'Zhuo Hua Yuanjun,' I would still do what I could. And now that I am in this position, I must give everything I have for the sake of the world."

Yu Qingshu nodded in satisfaction. She formed a hand seal and began to chant. Once the spell was complete, the base of the pitch-black Yuntian Stele slowly opened to reveal a blue door, inside of which was a darkness so deep it seemed bottomless.

Zhuo Hua tidied his robes and was the first to step into the Heavenly Palace.