Aria jumped, startled to realize there was someone else in the room. Out of the darkness emerged a massive white form, slowly approaching them.
Aria looked at the Chieftain in terror.
“Do not be afraid. It is a tiger-beast,” the Chieftain said with a reassuring smile.
A gigantic white tiger-beast appeared before Aria, and she felt as though all the strength had been drained from her by fear. The beast was enormous, capable of easily killing any large creature. Its amber eyes gleamed coldly as it stared unblinkingly at Aria.
Mistral approached her, its warm breath brushing over the scales on her hand. Aria stumbled back in fright, catching a glimpse of its sharp teeth hidden in its mouth.
“Aether women are strong; they can single-handedly kill a pack of beasts,” Mistral said. “I doubt this girl could be the one we seek.”
“She needs time to awaken the power in her bloodline,” the Chieftain replied.
Mistral turned his head, his cold gaze fixed on her. “I’ll ask you one more time: do you really think she’s worth revealing our identity?”
The Chieftain responded calmly, “Perhaps one day, the future will give us the answer.”
“Let’s hope so.” Mistral settled beside the Chieftain, his tail gently swaying. His amber eyes remained locked on Aria, and his massive jaw tilted slightly, as if pondering something.
“Let’s make a bet,” the Chieftain continued, his voice steady and confident, with a profound look in his eyes. “She is the one we’ve been searching for.”
Mistral’s whiskers twitched, and a complex emotion flickered in his eyes. “If you’re so sure, who am I to argue?”
Aria felt like she was trapped in a bizarre dream. The talking tiger before her completely upended everything she’d known in over two centuries. Since losing her memory, the world had only become more bewildering.
After finishing her conversation with the Chieftain, Aria walked out of the grand hall, her mind swirling with confusion and unease. However, Neven and Alexander were nowhere to be seen. She looked around and finally spotted them on a chain bridge.
“You could stay here with Aria,” Alexander suggested softly, his tone filled with concern. “The Chieftain hopes you’ll stay. Going back won’t change the situation in Voidmaesh. Sage Solon’s successful retreat was already a stroke of luck.”
Neven frowned, his voice calm. “I can’t waste the time I have left here; I have more important things to do.”
Noticing Aria approaching, Alexander smiled slightly and signaled Neven to turn around. As she drew near, Neven’s expression softened, and a warm smile appeared on his face.
“What were you two talking about?” Aria asked as she walked up, her voice tinged with curiosity.
“We originally planned to escape in a few days,” Alexander sighed, a hint of resignation in his tone. “Neven and I found a way out, but we didn’t expect the Chieftain to grant us permission to leave today.”
“When you shattered that statue, I thought we wouldn’t live to see another day,” Alexander remarked with a touch of reproach. “You should’ve pretended to barely defeat Felix instead of taking your anger out on that giant bird statue. That way, we wouldn’t have drawn the Chieftain’s attention, and we could’ve left Wind Valley once Aria recovered.”
Neven shrugged, appearing indifferent. “The result is the same now.”
Aria’s eyes widened in surprise. “You were planning to escape before entering the hall?”
“While you were injured, we tried negotiating with the Chieftain, but the Aether people wouldn’t let us get close to him,” Alexander said with a wry smile. “But thanks to Neven, we don’t have to escape now—the Chieftain has already agreed to let us leave.”
“What did the Chieftain say to you?” Neven asked.
Under their questioning, Aria recounted the Chieftain’s words, especially mentioning the sudden appearance of the talking white tiger.
“The Chieftain said your hand could change the Aether’s fate?” Alexander asked curiously, picking up Aria’s dragon-scaled hand to examine it closely.
“It’s not my hand that can change fate, but the person with the dragon-scaled hand,” Aria corrected patiently.
Alexander’s eyes gleamed with interest, and a sly smile played on his lips. “Can I peel off a scale to take back for study?”
“Absolutely not,” Aria refused immediately, her tone tinged with annoyance. She knew that losing a scale meant excruciating pain and could cause severe inflammation on the back of her hand.
Alexander regretfully released her hand as if something had just come to mind. “That reminds me of an ancient legend.”
“What legend?” Aria asked, blinking curiously.
“There’s an ancient scroll that records a legendary story,” Alexander began. “A long time ago, a prophet of the heavens foretold a momentous event—the Dragon God would take human form and descend to the mortal world. At that time, mortals on earth were facing endless disasters and darkness. The arrival of the Dragon God brought light and hope. With his extraordinary power, he saved the oppressed mortals and performed awe-inspiring magical miracles.”
He paused slightly, his eyes shining with a mysterious light. “However, such splendor and power incited the jealousy of the gods in heaven. In their eyes, the Dragon God’s brilliance threatened their authority and dominion. They conspired and sent a fearsome being who governed death—a terrifying dark dragon—to end the Dragon God’s life.”
“This dark dragon dragged the Dragon God into the abyss, casting curses and inflicting pain,” Alexander said with sorrow in his voice. “In the Dragon God’s final moments, he endured the horrific torment of scale removal. Each falling scale absorbed his last vestiges of magical power. These scales scattered across the mortal world, becoming precious relics.”
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“These dragon scales not only contain the Dragon God’s immense power but also became the source of legendary magic, hidden in the corners of the world,” Alexander continued. “Perhaps the scales on your hand are those of the Dragon God.”
“There are no gods in this world. Even demigods are merely beings with advanced cultivation,” Neven remarked calmly, with a hint of disdain in his voice.
Alexander chuckled and waved it off, saying, “I’m just repeating a story I’ve heard.”
Neven turned to Aria, his gaze growing softer. “Aria, I want to hear your thoughts. The Chieftain wants you to stay here, but do you want to stay, or do you want to return to the Moon Tower?”
“I want to go back to the Moon Tower,” Aria answered without hesitation. “Stay here and marry Felix? Can you stand the thought of me marrying that arrogant Aether man?”
Neven’s lips curled into a slight smile, and he leaned down to plant a gentle kiss on her forehead. Standing nearby, Alexander’s emerald eyes glimmered with a warm, spring-like glow. Aria blushed, lowering her head and kicking at the stones beneath her feet.
Fine snowflakes drifted down from the night sky, turning into glistening droplets as they touched the warm air of Wind Valley. The silver waves of wheat at the valley’s base rolled with the wind, and the only sounds in the ring-shaped valley were the creaking of the chain bridge and the low chirping of insects among the grass blades. They walked slowly through Wind Valley, the colorful lights reflecting off the chain bridge.
Before long, Aria’s pace began to slow, and she rubbed her shoulder, a pained expression crossing her face. The damp medicinal paste exuded a bloody scent, and with the throbbing pain in her shoulder, it felt as if needles were pricking her. She tried to focus on Neven and Alexander’s conversation, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t concentrate.
"Aria."
She abruptly looked up, meeting Neven's scrutinizing gaze, stopping just in time before colliding with him.
"I've been calling you for ages."
"Sorry, I didn't hear you," Aria softly explained, lowering her hand.
Both Neven and Alexander turned their gaze toward her injured shoulder, concern evident in their expressions.
"It seems we'll need to wait a few more days before we can leave," Alexander said with a frown. "Even if we return to the Moon Tower, her wounds may not fully heal, especially with the Sacred Spring water still inside her."
Neven carefully lifted Aria into his arms. Although she felt a bit shy, she didn't resist. She was too exhausted, lacking even the strength to walk back. Leaning into Neven's warm embrace, Aria listened to the steady beat of his heart, as if the world around her faded away, leaving only that comforting rhythm. She closed her eyes, feeling a deep sense of peace. She couldn’t imagine how lonely she would be without Neven by her side.
"Is there no way you can help her get rid of it?" Neven asked Alexander quietly as they quickened their pace toward their quarters.
"I don’t know the magic of the demigods," Alexander shook his head. "The resurrection spell is an ancient demigod incantation, and the methods in the archives are no longer effective."
"Am I going to die?" Aria murmured.
Neven held her tightly, his voice gentle yet firm. "No."
Before they reached their quarters, Aria had already fallen into a deep sleep in Neven's arms. She vaguely felt someone applying ointment to her shoulder, followed by a tender kiss on her lips. Too tired to open her eyes, she merely frowned slightly, but a hand soon smoothed the furrow from her brow.
Wind Valley became a place of quiet healing for Aria, where the turmoil of the Moon Tower and Voidmarsh felt distant, as though they belonged to another world. The peace here almost made her forget her pain, as if she were living in a beautiful dream. The only disruption to this serenity was the occasional encounter with Felix.
Sometimes, she would see Mistral prowling nearby, those amber eyes always watching her, as if waiting for something. Aria privately wondered what the Chieftain was planning and how long she would remain in this place.
Mistral's amber eyes flickered slightly before it gracefully leaped onto the bridge, its massive paws landing firmly on the planks. The bridge swayed under its weight, and the chains clinked with a sharp, metallic sound.
Mistral approached Aria, sniffing at her injured shoulder. The creature narrowed its eyes and stepped back a few paces, clearly displeased by the pungent scent of the medicinal salve.
“Do you really not want to leave him?” Mistral’s deep voice broke the silence.
“Do you mean Neven? Of course, I’m not leaving him.” Aria shrugged, but the movement caused her to wince in pain, and she let out a small groan.
“Three years ago, I saw him,” Mistral said as it slowly descended from the bridge.
“You’ve met Neven Everhart?” Aria quickly caught up, curiosity sparking in her eyes.
“That night, he led his cavalry in pursuit of a Mara,” Mistral replied, its tone cold. “If I’m not mistaken, he was after something of great importance. He was driven to the point of no return, and in the end, all his cavalry perished in the wilderness.”
“What was it that he wanted?” Aria asked.
Mistral let out a low growl, as if mocking her naivety. “Perhaps you should ask your friend. The Lunar Essence Clan always has a way of keeping things hidden. And you, you’re not one of them. You’ll leave the Lunar Tower sooner or later.”
“I’m not an Aether; I’m a mortal,” Aria retorted, her voice filled with emotion. “I’m not leaving the Lunar Tower—it’s my home.”
Mistral stopped and turned back to look at her, its gaze icy. “I’m warning you, leaving him is the best choice.”
“If you’re trying to convince me to leave, you can give up now. I’ll never leave Neven.” Aria’s voice trembled with anger, feeling as if each of Mistral’s words was a sharp thorn piercing her heart.
Aria's anger did nothing to deter Mistral. The creature's amber eyes remained fixed on her, as if peering into every struggle within her soul. The wind beneath the bridge grew fiercer, and the iron chains clattered, adding a cold edge to the tense atmosphere between them.
“Do you really think you can protect him forever?” Mistral’s voice was low and mocking.
“I don’t need to protect Neven; he is far stronger than you imagine,” Aria replied, her voice cold as ice, refusing to give Mistral the upper hand in their confrontation.
Mistral moved forward slowly, its massive claws making no sound on the stone bridge. “Stronger?” it repeated the word, dragging out the final syllable. “Unfortunately, strength alone is not enough to spare him from calamity. Fate is an invisible force, one you cannot defy.”
Aria followed behind Mistral, her unease growing with each step. She had never heard Mistral speak in such a tone, as though it had already foreseen something. Still, she refused to yield to these veiled threats. “No matter what you say, I will not change my mind.”
Mistral did not respond further and continued on its way. Aria’s mood grew heavier, and despite her efforts to ignore Mistral’s warnings, the words felt like deep-seated thorns, embedding themselves in her heart. As they moved down the rocky corridor, the light around them gradually dimmed, and the silence grew deeper, broken only by their footsteps echoing in the still air.
After walking for a long time, Mistral suddenly stopped. Aria looked up and realized, with some surprise, that she had followed it to the entrance of a deep cave. The entrance was dark and foreboding, like the gaping maw of a giant beast waiting to devour intruders.
They passed through an entrance guarded by warriors and entered a spacious, glittering cavern. It was the largest cave Aria had ever seen, so vast that it housed an entire forest. The silver light filtering through the canopy of trees swayed gently in the breeze that blew from the depths of the cave. Aria was astonished to see such silver-lit trees outside the Celestial Sanctum.
“Why have you brought me here?” Aria’s voice rang clear in the stillness of the cave.
Mistral slowly turned around, lowering its head to fixate on her. “Because you need to confront something. Only here will you find the true answers.”
Aria felt a chill creep up her spine. She could not discern Mistral’s true intentions, she understood that the allure of life lies in the unpredictability of the unknown.