Krisha once believed that as long as she removed her twisted, malformed demon horns, $2s long as she concealed her hideous scales, $2he could become human.

She could stand in the light, by Xu Xi’s side, $2nd let that warmth, that care, last forever.

But the witch soon realized the truth was far from it.

"...Mentor."

After leaving Apogu City and journeying through the world of magic, Krisha watched the figure ahead of her grow ever more distant. Slowly, she reached out her hand.

She wanted to grasp something—

but caught nothing.

The immortal witch, forever frozen at the age of seventeen, $2nder the dappled sunlight, in the quiet of a summer afternoon filled with cicadas' song, $2iscovered something utterly ordinary, yet suffocating in its inevitability.

Xu Xi’s body was changing.

A human fate known as "aging."

A law of nature.

An order the world followed.

It was only right—only natural.

Yet the witch could not accept it. She refused to watch the familiar face slowly wither.

What she found even harder to bear was her own unchanging self.

"I don’t want this..."

"I won’t allow it..."

A scorching fire burned in her throat, $2aking her hollow eyes tremble uncontrollably.

With Xu Xi’s help, Krisha had gained the appearance of a "human,"

but within that body lay something transcendent, far beyond the world’s comprehension.

Her lifespan—

unfathomable to mortals.

Just as spring’s fresh buds wither by autumn, $2 mortal’s life would inevitably fade like fallen leaves and petals, $2isappearing before the eyes of the eternal witch.

"What’s wrong, Krisha?"

Ahead, Xu Xi stopped walking.

Standing on the sunlit dirt path, he turned back with a puzzled gaze toward the motionless girl.

"Are you tired? My apologies, I didn’t notice."

Krisha’s expression was one of helplessness, empty and lost—

misleading Xu Xi into misunderstanding.

He turned around, $2eturning to her side.

With a wave of his staff, he summoned the wind, lifting them both so she could rest without walking.

"Mentor..."

"I don’t want... to be apart from you..."

Holding Xu Xi’s hand, feeling the warmth of his palm, $2risha whispered her reluctance in the faintest voice.

Xu Xi paused—

then smiled, raising his other hand to gently pat her head.

A shadow cannot exist without light.

An object loses its worth without its owner.

The witch named "Krisha Christina" knew herself to be greedy and audacious.

She sought to defy the world’s laws, to halt the arrival of destined death.

To keep the warm sun shining forever...

And so, Krisha began her attempts.

She gathered books—ones she instinctively recoiled from, ones she could hardly bear to read.

They detailed the lifespans of different races, $2nd the signs of human aging.

Forcing herself through the discomfort, she flipped through the records, $2ut could never make it past halfway.

"The end of aging is the dual decline of body and—"

At this line, Krisha slammed the book shut with lightning speed.

She knew the answer, but could not face it.

"What’s wrong, Krisha?"

Xu Xi’s voice approached.

But the witch only pressed herself against the desk, clutching the thick tome tightly, shaking her head rapidly.

"I’m fine, Mentor."

The witch lied.

She chose to hide her plans from Xu Xi.

She knew—

this task was too impossible.

So impossible that if Xu Xi knew, he would surely tell her not to waste her time.

And so, Krisha clumsily, cautiously, $2onducted her experiments in secret.

"Mentor, be careful!"

During their travels, $2risha’s gaze lingered on Xu Xi far longer than before.

Filled with worry.

Filled with tension.

The moment she spotted a protruding stone in the road, $2he would hurriedly clear it away.

"Krisha, my body is still quite strong."

"Of course, I understand."

But her vigilant scanning of their surroundings proved she understood nothing at all.

In the eastern reaches of the magical world, $2n Dragon Island at the heart of a vast lake, $2u Xi gently taught Krisha the "secrets of taming dragons," expanding her knowledge.

The night they left the island, $2nder a starless, pitch-black sky, $2he witch returned alone.

Every dragon in sight trembled, bowing low, not daring to make a sound.

"According to the records, bathing in dragon’s blood can enhance the body."

"Strength, spirit, lifespan—"

"All can be improved to some degree."

She murmured to herself, $2ulling out a notebook from her robes, flipping to a marked page.

With a small nod, $2he night wind howled through the island’s grass.

Wrapped in wind magic, she dashed into the island’s dark depths.

Ten minutes later, $2risha emerged, cradling a heavy clay jar with utmost care, $2s if it held the most precious treasure.

But that solemnity faded just as quickly.

The contents of the jar failed her.

They did nothing to extend Xu Xi’s lifespan—

whether applied to his skin or mixed into his food.

"It didn’t work..."

Disheartened, she poured the remaining contents onto a patch of wild grass by the roadside.

By chance, it gave birth to a cluster of crimson Dragon’s Blood Grass.

Xu Xi, finding them beautiful, gathered them into his spatial ring, $2lanning to plant them back in Allenson City.