Lin Xian narrowed his eyes at the pitch-black forest.

  The yin qi here was unnaturally dense—almost suffocating.

  He turned to Mo Zhen.

  “Senior Mo… earlier I said this forest suppresses cultivation. Anyone above Spirit Foundation Realm can’t enter at all. Yet both you and Yue’er are standing here without issue. How?”

  Mo Zhen smiled slightly, stroking his beard.

  “Ah… that is indeed the mystery.”

  He tapped the ring on his finger, and a soft ripple of light spread outward.

  A moment later—

  an object floated gently from the ring.

  A lantern.

  But not an ordinary one.

  Its frame was carved from unknown dark-gold metal, shaped like intertwining serpents and clouds.

  Inside, instead of fire, a single floating wisp of pale-blue flame drifted in eternal stillness—no wind could shake it.

  Strange runes circled the lantern’s surface, shining faintly like ancient constellations.

  Mo Zhen held it carefully, as if touching a divine treasure.

  “This artifact,” he said softly,

  “is called the Lantern of Waning Worlds.”

  The moment Lin Xian heard the name—

  his heart skipped a beat.

  “What… did you say?”

  Mo Zhen nodded.

  “Yes. The Lantern of Waning Worlds—an artifact said to originate from the Era of Myriad Declines. Its flame suppresses suppression. Where others are weakened, it allows the bearer to walk freely.”

  Lin Xian stared at the lantern, his expression tightening.

  He thought to himself,

  “That artifact should not exist anymore. The last record of it was over a hundred thousand years ago in the Upper Realm. Even powerful saint clans searched for it endlessly.”

  His voice dropped to a whisper:

  “It was considered lost.”

  A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched his lips.

  “Yet here it is… a legendary artifact.”

  Mo Zhen’s eyes widened, breath catching.

  “You recognize it?”

  Mo Yue’er blinked innocently.

  “Grandfather said it was just an old lantern he found. Is it really that amazing?”

  Lin Xian’s eyelid twitched.

  Just an old lantern?

  Just?

  This pair…

  This grandfather-and-granddaughter pair…

  really were not simple.

  Mo Zhen continued explaining gently:

  “The Lantern of Waning Worlds allows one to bypass natural suppression barriers, forbidden zones, sealed realms, cursed regions… anything that attempts to weaken a cultivator. So Yue’er and I can step foot here without our cultivation being crushed. But we can only use our cultivation up to Spirit Foundation”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  He gently closed his fingers around the lantern.

  “But I cannot keep it active for long. Its flame consumes too much of my spiritual essence.”

  Lin Xian exhaled slowly.

  “Senior Mo… you continue to shock me again and again.”

  Mo Zhen laughed modestly.

  “I am merely an old man with good luck.”

  Lin Xian thought: Good luck?

  Finding a divine artifact lost for a hundred thousand years?

  Meeting a granddaughter who cultivates like an immortal reincarnation?

  And encountering a deadly rare illness only he knows how to cure?

  No.

  This pair was absolutely not simple.

  Xiao Jin meowed proudly on Lin Xian’s shoulder, as if saying:

  At least Master still has me. I’m the cutest mystery here.

  Lin Xian rubbed the cat’s head affectionatly

  -----------

  Night settled over the edge of Black Veil Forest like a curtain of silk.

  The moon hung low, bright but serene.

  A small campfire crackled softly.

  Mo Yue’er sat close to the flames, her slender hands warming against their glow.

  Under the moonlight, her skin looked like carved jade—smooth, luminous, almost unreal.

  Her long black hair, tied loosely behind her, glimmered like a waterfall of night.

  Xiao Jin circled her feet.

  “Meow~!”

  His tail flicked proudly, his golden eyes bright with mischief.

  Mo Yue’er giggled softly, the sound like a bell drifting through wind.

  She reached down to pet him, but Xiao Jin dodged—

  only to brush against her ankle a heartbeat later, pretending to be aloof yet clearly enjoying the attention.

  The kitten hopped onto her lap with the arrogance of a tiny emperor.

  Mo Yue’er’s eyes curved gently.

  “You really like to stick to pretty girls, don’t you?”

  Lin Xian snorted from across the fire.

  “He ONLY sticks to beautiful girls. If you were an old man, he’d have bitten your ankle by now.”

  “MeoOW?!” Xiao Jin spun toward Lin Xian with a betrayed expression, puffing up like an offended furball.

  Mo Yue’er laughed again—a soft, melodious sound that seemed to ease even the forest’s oppressive atmosphere.

  “Xiao Jin,” she whispered, scratching under his chin,

  “your master is bullying you.”

  The kitten instantly melted into her arms, stretching like freshly kneaded dough.

  Lin Xian rolled his eyes.

  “Traitor.”

  Mo Zhen chuckled quietly to himself.

  “Young ones… always so lively.”

  The campfire flickered, illuminating their faces in shifting shades of gold.

  After a moment, Mo Yue’er looked toward her pack.

  “Since we’re resting… how about a little music?”

  She pulled out a snow-white guqin—elegant and ancient.

  The body of the qin was carved from pale spiritwood, smooth as frozen jade. Fine lotus patterns bloomed along its surface, each petal etched so delicately they seemed ready to unfurl under moonlight.

  Silver threads traced the edges like flowing starlight, and the seven strings shimmered faintly, thin as strands of heavenly silk.

  When she placed it upon her lap, the forest seemed to hold its breath.

  Mo Yue’er sat gracefully beneath the ancient trees, moonlight cascading over her like a veil of soft frost.

  Her robes—light as drifting clouds—pooled around her slender frame. A faint breeze lifted the ends of her sleeves, revealing wrists pale and flawless as sculpted porcelain.

  Her posture was straight, yet gentle—like a sacred lotus rising from still waters.

  Her long hair spilled down her back in dark, silken waves. A single silver hairpin shaped like a crescent moon held part of it in place, catching the light each time she moved. The glow of the fire danced across her delicate features—soft brows, luminous eyes, lips tinted like the first bloom of spring.

  For a fleeting moment, she did not seem mortal.

  She seemed like a celestial maiden who had descended by mistake into a world too coarse to deserve her presence.

  Her fingers hovered above the strings.

  Then-

  A single pluck—

  The sound was soft, almost fragile.

  —and the night changed.

  The first note unfurled like ripples across a still lake. It drifted outward in invisible waves, brushing against tree trunks, weaving through leaves, slipping into the soil itself.

  The oppressive yin qi lingering in the forest quivered.

  Another note followed.

  Then another.

  The melody of

  “Celestial Dew on Quiet Clouds (静云天露)”

  blossomed into existence.

  Each tone was clear as falling dew at dawn. Each vibration shimmered like moonlight trembling across distant mountains. The music flowed gently, yet beneath its softness lay depth—like an endless sky hidden behind drifting clouds.

  Her melody was serene yet melancholic.

  Like a river flowing through moonlit mountains…

  like a lonely star drifting across vast skies…

  like a beauty sitting at the edge of the world, waiting.

  Even the flames quieted, swaying in a gentler rhythm.

  As she played, her movements became fluid.

  Her sleeves swayed in harmony with the rhythm. The faint breeze carried the scent of wildflowers and something subtler—like snow melting under the first sun of spring.

  Her expression was serene, but there was a quiet melancholy in her gaze. It was the loneliness of someone too pure for the world, yet unwilling to turn away from it.

  Like a goddess seated at the edge of creation, waiting for a world that would never fully understand her.

  Lin Xian closed his eyes for a moment.

  His heart, always sharp and calculating, eased into rare tranquility.

  Lin Xian’s breath caught.

  His vision blurred—

  Flashback — His Past Life

  He stood atop Sky-Ascending Mountain.

  Clouds churned beneath him like oceans of silver, vast and boundless. Celestial winds howled through the heavens, tearing at reality itself.

  Before him rested the legendary Heaven-Sundering Stringless Qin.

  An instrument without strings.

  Yet when he moved his hands, the heavens answered.

  He played among drifting clouds, surrounded by divine light. Immortals gathered at a distance, robes fluttering in reverence. Ancient beasts lay prostrate across mountain peaks, their massive forms subdued by melody alone.

  Each note he summoned carried the sorrow of countless wars.

  The pride of a sovereign who had climbed too high.

  The loneliness of one who stood above all others, yet belonged nowhere.

  Storms halted mid-roar.

  Thunder dissolved into silence.

  Even the laws of heaven listened.

  His fingers danced across emptiness, yet the realms trembled.

  Music that could silence calamity.

  Music that could soothe gods.

  Music born of power—

  and isolation.

  The echo of that ancient tune stretched across worlds.

  —

  Back to the Present

  Mo Yue’er’s music overlapped with the echo of his old tune.

  Not equal to his past self—

  but filled with purity, genuine emotion, and grace.

  Her playing was gentle, untainted—

  a melody of comfort in a cruel world.

  Lin Xian opened his eyes slowly.

  Moonlight bathed her figure, outlining her in a faint silver halo. The forest around her seemed like a humble audience before a divine performer. Even the oppressive yin qi had thinned into harmless wisps, drifting like obedient spirits at her feet.

  At that moment—

  she truly resembled a deity playing a celestial qin beneath the mortal sky.

  The forest had turned serene.

  Even the oppressive yin qi softened, bowing respectfully to her song.

  When the final lingering note vanished—

  Mo Yue’er lifted her gaze shyly.

  “How… was it?”

  Lin Xian smiled.

  “Beautiful.”

  Her cheeks warmed, a blush like peach petals under the moon.

  “Your music,” he added, “can calm even killing intent. If you played this in the Heavenly Realm, immortals would stop to listen.”

  Even Xiao Jin nodded solemnly—

  then meowed proudly, as if he himself composed the song.

  Lin Xian smirked.

  “Of course you like it. She’s beautiful.”

  “MEOW!!”

  Xiao Jin puffed up again, scandalized.

  Mo Yue’er covered her mouth as she laughed softly.

  That night—

  beneath the moon’s gent

  le brush,

  with music drifting among dark trees—

  the world felt warm, calm, and timeless,

  as if the heavens themselves paused to listen.

  The group sat in warm silence, the forest whispering around them, the fire still glowing softly.

  Tonight…

  for a brief moment…

  the world felt peaceful.