Bai Longxia leaped down from her floating warship's extended deck, hurtling towards the island one hundred meters below like a deathly specter descending from the heavens. Behind her, the moat-shaped warship veered sharply, its pincers cutting through the sky like four fat scythes. The massive black vessel of steel fell into a rotational cycle around the island, like a vulture circling carrion meat.

She had taken every precaution against spies, using the Phoenix Palace as a decoy to mask her true goal for coming here. The top nobles and the royal family might be able to guess that she had come to the endless ocean pursuing the preceptor, but she would ensure that they knew nothing more.

Despite knowing which island he had been exiled to, Bai Longxia had wasted quite a bit of time circling several islands on the way. But now, the time has come. She would be face to face with the only man whose background and feats were as formidable as her father's.

As the wind rushed past her tightened face with increasing speed, and the view of the island grew larger, Bai Longxia grinned in anticipation.

Her descent onto the island's soil was faster than an enchanted arrow, and even faster was the long halberd she threw ahead of her body, watching it pierce the surface of a massive rock at an acute angle and creating the perfect fulcrum to break her fall.

The magically enhanced halberd nearly formed a semicircle when Bai Longxia's two feet crashed onto its upturned handle. A distinct cracking noise reverberated through the rock from the impact, and by the time Bai Longxia stabilized her form on top of her rooted halberd, a dozen-foot-long fissure had formed across the rock's body.

One gentle tap from her feet could break apart this century-old project of nature. This understanding gave Bai Longxia a hint of comfort.

She was not a nobody. The royal preceptor would have to acknowledge her strength, and then Bai Longxia would have to convince him to lend her his wisdom.

After all, this wisdom was the gift that had allowed King Xuanwu to conquer the continent and unite all of humanity under his crown's glory. She had deep doubts that without the preceptor's guidance, the great king could accomplish the monumental feat again, if fate demanded it.

Oh, how she hoped that fate would demand it! Her hope burned like a sun of ambition no less scorching than the fiery red star four fingers above the ocean's horizon.

Bai Longxia pulled out her halberd easily by allowing it to phase between solid and foggy state in a second's span. Strapping it on her back, she jumped down on the beach and scanned sparse trees scattered across the island's edge. This spit of salt-smeared soil was too small for a person to thrive on, too damn barren to sustain human life. She had seen duelling pits larger than this, kinder than this. Finding someone hiding here was not going to be an issue.

But before she could begin her search, a lone figure stepped into her view from within the island, gait cautious and face uncertain. His hands were raised up in a motion of surrender.

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Frozen in her tracks, she watched the young man approach her until they stood a dozen feet apart. Despite knowing that it might convey disrespect, she couldn’t help scanning him from head to toe, assessing the details in practiced mental motions.

The lean physique meant that he had no martial foundation. The color of his skin carried an ashen pallor that hinted at a recent encounter with fogfallen magic. The sharp, handsome features of his face and the bone structure of his hands vouched for a background above the average commoner.

And the most important feature was his left eye. A very dim orange radiance flashed within the pupil from time to time. She would have missed it, had he stood a little further away.

That was the mark of an oracle. But his... movements carried none of an oracle's grace. Then again, living in isolation for two decades on an island like this could erode elegance and grace into extinction.

Nodding to herself, Bai Longxia performed the royal salute meant for a superior.

“Greetings, Royal Preceptor! Bai Longxia is here to pay respect to you... And take you home.”

A very convincing countenance of confusion bloomed on his youthful face. “Er, Royal Preceptor? I am not- I wouldn't be so sure. Does my appearance ring a bell? Do you know me, miss?”

Not many words spoken, yet so much implied. Bai Longxia had to pause her chaotic thoughts and clear away some confusion first.

“Not so sure? Could you elaborate? Or is this a riddle I must solve before being acknowledged?”

“....” The young man looked lost for a moment. “I had an accident recently," he said in a struggling tone that suggested some reservations and possibly a bit of concealment. “I don't remember who I am. A royal preceptor seems like a job I would be too young for, but I cannot confirm or deny that identity, miss.”

Ah, Oracles and memories, never a peaceful combination. Not the first time she had seen a screw-up in that mixture. But this made things troublesome. Bai Longxia had not expected to run into a wall like this.

“I can confirm your identity if you answer some questions honestly,” she said, still keeping her tone as polite as it was required while addressing a superior. She had to leave a good impression, regardless of the truth of the matter.

“Of course, miss,” he spoke back with equal politeness. His addressing method struck her as peculiar, but Bai Longxia withheld her judgment for now.

“First question. What do you remember about yourself?”

“Just a name—Shiyuan. Everything else in my mind is indistinct bookish knowledge of an ordinary scholar.”

No ordinary scholar was going to be found alive one thousand miles away from the shoreline of the continent. This was one of the furthest islands charted on the map. Was he an idiot?

Bai Longxia restrained her annoyance. She was dealing with an unwell person. Some empathy was required, even if it grated on her nerves.

“Are you the sole occupant of this island?” she asked.

“Currently the only living human, yes.”

So there were dead ones here? The implication seemed sound. But the lack of guilt and nonchalance in his eyes also indicated that he may not be the murderer. If he were, there was no point in asking to confirm it. He could make up whatever story he wanted to, either way.

“How long have you been here for?”

“My earliest memory goes back to as far as four months in the past, and I was stuck here even then. From the circumstantial evidence, I'd say I had been living on this island for a while before losing my memories.”

He has given this some thought. Not an uneducated simpleton, for sure. But his mannerisms didn't reek of the sophistication of noble blood. The balance of proofs in her mind teetered delicately, but maintained its neutrality.

“Final question,” she said decisively. “How developed are your roots as an Oracle?”

The young man frowned. “Why would you think I am an oracle?”

No matter how hard he tried to hide it, Bai Longxia could sense the anticipation and relief in his voice. Why was he denying something that he already knew? Was he unsure of his own innate affinity? Could amnesia even affect that awareness?

Doubtful, Bai Longxia pulled out her halberd swiftly and pointed it at his alarmed face.

“Watch your reflection on the halberd's blade. Focus on your left eye,” she said, stepping forward to close the little distance between them.

This was her determining test, the only unspoken one. If he truly were the Oracle she was looking for, he'd know whether or not to take the risk of having the razor sharp tip of her weapon graze his throat.

Hesitation would be the wrong answer! Backing away would mean death!