CHAPTER 219: REUNION 1

Chapter 219: Reunion 1

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That day, the silence of the secret realm was shattered for the first time since the incident with the sealed creature.

The ground shook violently as the upper part of the mountain was instantly leveled to the ground.

Zhu Rong and the two women, who had just finished recreating the body and barely given Lin Xian enough time to get used to it, all felt a faint yet overwhelming presence descending upon the entire mountain. Before any of them could even comprehend what was happening, the mountain trembled, and its peak exploded.

The deafening roar of the blast echoed far and wide through the realm, but that wasn’t what drew their attention the most.

What did, instead, was the aura that suddenly appeared in that area, a familiar one to both Zhu Rong and Lin Xian.

With Zhu Rong’s help, all three vanished in an instant, reappearing at the mountain’s summit, now reduced to utter devastation. The small, elegant residence that once stood there had been completely erased from existence.

Only a massive crater remained, so large that from above it looked as if the mountain had grown a new mouth.

At the very center of that crater, a dark violet glow pulsed intensely, bright enough to be seen from afar, like a small star burning in the night.

But for Zhu Rong and the two women, that light meant something entirely different, because they could see what was inside it.

Suspended in midair, cross-legged and glowing faintly, was a familiar female figure, her body radiant yet seemingly lost in her own world, oblivious to the destruction she had caused.

What stood out the most, however, wasn’t her form but the aura she emanated, dense, ancient, and wild. It wasn’t human, nor elven.

It belonged to a beast, a powerful one.

"Her soul... she’s awakening," murmured Lin Xian, who had already regained enough control over her new body to stand on her own.

But that hardly mattered now. The only thing that captured her focus was the woman before her, whose presence stirred countless memories within her mind.

Memories of someone dear, someone she had traveled and fought alongside for years, someone who had always been there whenever she needed her most.

There was no doubt in her mind.

It was her. Her friend.

She knew that her friend was awakening in her present self, just as Zhu Rong had before. After all, within Ye Ning’s sea of consciousness, there hadn’t been only Lin Xian’s soul fragment, but another, belonging to her old companion, the one they had managed to save back then.

Just like her, that soul fragment was meant to awaken within Ye Ning’s mind one day, something Lin Xian herself had made possible, allowing her friend to still witness her daughter’s growth and, perhaps one day, walk once more upon this plane of existence.

But after the incident in the secret realm, that fragment had vanished, and the reasons could only be two. Either it had finally dissipated, unable to endure without a host... or the original soul had reclaimed it.

The second possibility had seemed absurd, impossible. So Lin Xian had assumed the first, which had left her in panic.

Yet, Zhu Rong had appeared soon after, telling her that, against all odds, there might still be some hope, that perhaps her friend’s original soul was beginning to awaken again in this very era.

And now, seeing the scene before her eyes, it seemed that hope had not been misplaced.

A flood of emotions and memories rushed through Lin Xian’s mind all at once, but she pushed them aside the moment the glowing figure began to stir.

Her attention locked entirely onto her, she didn’t want to miss a single instant.

Even Zhu Rong, who had silently stood beside her the whole time, showed a rare spark of emotion as he watched the woman open her eyes.

The violet light radiating from her body slowly began to fade, drawn inward as if being restrained by her own will, until it vanished entirely.

And when it did, the woman’s seated figure descended to the ground, no longer cross-legged, but standing.

Her bare feet touched the leveled, still warm surface of the mountain’s peak, the residual heat of released energy brushing against her skin. Yet she seemed unaffected by it.

Her eyes opened fully, calm, serene, holding within them what felt like countless years of wisdom. They drifted toward the three figures standing not far away.

Her irises shone with a crystalline violet hue, their beauty both mesmerizing and daunting.

But what truly caught one’s attention were her pupils, thin, sharp, slitted like a blade, as though they could pierce through every layer of protection and strike directly at the soul of whoever met her gaze.

Reptilian eyes.

Yet, unlike before, they held a restrained and hidden strength within them, a power that few beings across existence had ever achieved or mastered.

She looked at the three calmly, her gaze moving between them until it settled on the golden-haired elf girl.

And for the first time, her emotionless expression softened. A faint, genuine smile curved her lips.

"Sister Lin... it’s been a long time since we last met," she said, her voice soft and clear, easily reaching all three of them.

Lin Xian, who had remained silent the whole time, could no longer restrain herself. In an instant, she launched forward, bridging the distance between them in a flash.

She threw herself into the woman’s arms, holding her tightly.

"You... you’re finally back! How could you leave me alone with that bastard?" she said, her tone half-lamenting, half overjoyed, her words muffled against her friend’s shoulder.

Seeing her like that, the woman chuckled softly, wrapping her arms around Lin Xian in return.

Her gaze then lifted toward the man who had quietly approached, meeting his eyes, and in that instant, a spark of deep emotion flared within her own.

Zhu Rong smiled warmly, affection shining in his expression as he finally spoke, his first words since arriving.

"It’s good to see you again."