The afternoon sunlight casting golden reflections off the Seraphic Citrine ring as Spark held it between his fingers. His touch was deliberate yet gentle as he lifted Flint's left hand, studying each finger with careful consideration.

"Are you sure you want to give this to me, Spark? It looks expensive," Flint asked, watching his concentrated expression.

"What else would I do with it?" Spark's tone aimed for casual indifference, though his meticulous handling of the ring betrayed deeper emotions. "Raven will ask questions, so you should keep it. Besides, it has storage capabilities—like that green crystal around the wooden man's neck that holds his ethereal canoe."

As he deliberated over which finger to choose, his thoughts raced. Ring finger means marriage, middle finger for dating, index for single... He nearly settled on the middle finger before a surge of anger made his nose flare slightly. She's leaving with that wooden man. That would make it seem like she's dating him. With sudden decisiveness, he slipped the ring onto her index finger.

"Don't move it to any other finger. It has to stay on the index," he instructed firmly.

"Is there some rule about that?" Flint asked. While the index finger seemed practical enough, his arbitrary insistence puzzled her.

"This ring was specifically designed for the index finger," Spark declared with feigned authority, already dreaming of future rings—one for her middle finger after he dealt with Lenient, and eventually...

Flint nodded, accepting his explanation without question, though her ability to sense emotions revealed the slight nervousness underlying his lie.

———

In her room, Raven sprawled on her bed, engrossed in a novel about an Inferno Wolf who fell in love with a human cultivator. She'd recently developed a fascination with romances between humans and spiritual beasts, though this particular story failed to captivate her—the protagonist was a female wolf pursuing a male cultivator, the opposite of what currently interested her.

It would be so much better if the genders were reversed, she thought, yet found herself unable to stop reading despite her irritation. The male cultivator's stubborn resistance to romance reminded her frustratingly of Spark.

"Do you still dwell on thoughts of your enemy?" Dawn Light, the wolf protagonist, asked Bright Valor, the cultivator.

"Enemy, is it?" Bright Valor's lips curved into a bitter smile. "I wonder—is she truly my enemy, or my benefactor?"

"What nonsense," Raven muttered, though curiosity drove her to skip ahead. The mysterious enemy turned out to be someone called Onyx Shade, who'd become the leader of the Abyssal Pavilion.

Now that's the kind of female lead I prefer, Raven thought approvingly. Making money, even if it's from assassination contracts, ruling her own territory with multiple men at her disposal. Unlike this Dawn Light, who ends up as some constrained Empress.

"You needn't come. This is my nation, and I will protect it myself," Dawn Light declared to Bright Valor.

"Are you certain you don't need me?" Bright Valor asked after a long silence.

Dawn Light's laughter started soft before growing into something wild and desperate. "I know you still hate me for deceiving Onyx and letting the Immortal Alliance execute her, but have you never considered that she deserved death for her crimes?"

"How can they drag this out for centuries without resolution?" Raven grumbled, flipping to the ending. Upon discovering Dawn Light's death in battle, she snapped the book shut and tossed it aside with an explosive sigh. Men like Spark were impossible—even Dawn Light's centuries of pursuit ended in failure and death. The unsatisfying conclusion left Raven with a knot of frustration in her chest.

Still lying on her bed, Raven's mood improved as she thought about the three human cultivators she was currently flirting with. While none matched Spark's handsome human form, at least they weren't as difficult as him. After all, you can't starve yourself just because you can't afford premium lobster.

That spiritual beast Nightbane, who had guided her in the Celestial Sword Sect, wasn't bad looking either. He had an athletic build and a wild sort of beauty, with adorable puppy ears. Though he seemed a bit dim-witted. Just for fun, she decided.

The only annoying thing was how he couldn't have a conversation without constantly bringing up his master. It drove Raven mad.

As her mind wandered, her jade tablet suddenly chimed. Was it a message from one of her love interests?

But no - Raven had been at the Celestial Sword Sect for a week now, and by her count, the other three members of her maintenance team would be arriving soon. Checking the tablet, she saw it was indeed her boss Mason Crystal summoning her to work.

She sighed. How she hated working for others. When would she be able to establish her own sect and have people working for her instead?

As Raven approached the warehouse behind the Celestial Sword Sect's dining hall, she stretched lazily, her bag slung over her shoulder. Several sect disciples were busy unloading puppets from ethereal canoes.

Mason Crystal and the slender Iris Echo, with her characteristic jade hairpin, were attempting to connect to the puppets through their crystal ear clips. Reed Circuit, his crystal spectacles glinting, held up a severed puppet arm for inspection. "These are all clean blade cuts, not joint failures," he observed. "Not much we can do to repair these."

Iris raised an eyebrow. "Does the Celestial Sword Sect usually slice up their old puppets just to get new ones?"

Reaching them, Raven felt a surge of pride at possessing insider knowledge. "Oh, I know about this! There was a thief here who cut up all the puppets sent to catch her!"

To her disappointment, none of her colleagues showed the slightest interest in what she considered juicy gossip. Mason merely glanced up to acknowledge her arrival before issuing instructions: "Configure the parameters for the new puppets."

These boring people, Raven cursed internally as she made her way to a freshly unloaded puppet.

Raven tried to make conversation while working: "Hey Iris, do you read novels?"

"Sometimes. Why?" Iris mumbled, clicking her ear clip in frustration. "This puppet just won't connect."

"Oh?" Raven perked up, surprised by Iris's interest. "Have you read Inferno Wolves Empress?"

Iris's eyes suddenly widened, her face filled with astonishment: "You've read that too? I wouldn't have expected someone like you - with all your romantic conquests - to be into pure love stories."

So this is how my colleagues see me... Raven mused silently. Though she actually despised these boring, drawn-out pure love stories, her excellent social skills told her to align with her colleague's viewpoint. She decided to test Iris's opinion first.

"Oh, this was my first time reading a pure love story, and I found it quite... moving," Raven chose neutral words, keeping her options open to pivot if needed.

Iris suddenly became animated, "Right? It touched me so deeply! Especially when Dawn Light died in battle - I couldn't sleep all night, I was so devastated!"

She really loves this book, Raven thought, mentally preparing to search her vocabulary for suitable praise.

Raven began carefully: "Oh yes, the book is so well written, especially the romance..."

Iris's face suddenly darkened: "The book is terrible!"

Huh? Raven was completely thrown off. Didn't you just say it moved you?

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"I really don't understand," Iris continued, "why Bright never accepts Dawn's feelings, always hung up on that evil Onyx who committed so many crimes."

Raven finally grasped Iris's position - she must love Dawn Light's character while hating the romance plot. All she needed to do now was join in criticizing the male lead.

Raven immediately adopted an expression of deep dismay: "Yes, Dawn Light is so strong and patriotic, while this Bright is just so indecisive and wishy-washy..."

Iris became agitated again, nearly startling Raven: "No! What did Bright do wrong?! He was truly saved by Onyx, that's why his heart was conflicted! Ah... if only it had been Dawn who saved him back then..."

Damn... For the first time, Raven felt she had completely failed socially. There seemed to be no right way to either criticize or praise this male protagonist.

Having only skimmed the book, Raven wasn't entirely clear on some plot points. She furrowed her brow in thought: "It doesn't seem like Onyx really bothered Bright much later on..."

Iris took a deep breath: "Isn't doing nothing the greatest evil of all? Using the debt of saving his life to make Bright feel guilty, she was able to commit countless crimes in this world without being caught!"

Ah. Raven felt she truly understood now - all she needed to do was focus on criticizing the second female lead. Clearly, Iris just really hated Onyx.

"I felt angry reading it too, this Onyx did quite a lot of bad things!" In reality, Raven hadn't read those parts carefully and had no idea what Onyx had done.

Iris's expression finally transformed into one of finding a kindred spirit: "Yes, exactly! She formed an assassination organization, created a distributed intelligence network to sell information for profit, instigated wars between humans to absorb souls, violated the Immortal Alliance's laws at every turn. It was only when Dawn risked her life to lure her out that she was finally brought to justice! And even then, Bright blamed Dawn!"

Raven nodded, quickly agreeing, even if she didn’t feel that way in her heart: "She really was despicable."

Iris's expression grew even more pained: "And that final battle where Dawn Light died fighting the Golden Shadow Leopards - that conflict was orchestrated by Onyx's schemes!"

Raven: "What? Wasn't Onyx dead by then?"

Iris sighed: "Yes, she was dead, but her organization lives on, still committing evil to this day. It's now known as the Abyssal Pavilion."

Raven had seen that organization mentioned in the novel and had heard of it in reality - supposedly a group of people who opposed the Immortal Alliance's laws. Surprised by how closely the novel tied to reality, Raven grew curious: "Is this novel based on real events?"

Iris nodded thoughtfully. "I've studied this - Onyx Shade was actually Obsidian Snow, one of the Abyssal Pavilion's founders. Dawn Light was Delight Lumin, a former Empress of the Inferno Wolves. And the male lead was Blaze Mighty, founder of the Celestial Sword Sect."

Blaze Mighty - the name tugged at Raven's memory, though she couldn't quite place where she'd heard it before. But Delight Lumin immediately made her think of Spark. Of course - he must be Delight's descendant!

Excitement bubbled up as she made the connection. "Oh, I actually know an Inferno Wolf, he's-"

"Ladies," Mason's firm voice cut through their discussion, "you can talk novels later. Iris, did you actually connect to that puppet? Something seems off about it. Reed, come take a look inside."

Iris shook her head. "No, I couldn't establish a connection."

Reed pried open the puppet's head, revealing the CPM - a crystalline core wrapped in silver circuitry, pulsing with a soft blue glow. Raven stepped forward, reaching for it before Mason could react. Her fingers brushed the delicate component as memories of similar luminescent particles on Flint's hands flashed through her mind.

Mason took the CPM from her and connected it to his Mystic Terminal. Raven stared at her own hands, now dusted with the faintest trace of glowing residue.

"These CPMs are physically intact," Mason's voice broke through her thoughts. "But the connection fails completely. Multiple password attempts yield no response - not even an error message."

"Could the firmware have been tampered with?" Iris suggested, frowning.

Reed chuckled. "These puppets haven't left the Celestial Sword Sect since manufacture. Who here would even know how to program them?"

Raven's eyes widened as suspicion bloomed in her mind, but she held her tongue.

After a pause, Raven ventured hesitantly, "Maybe the CPMs were damaged during fights with the thief... look at this arm..." She knelt down and lifted the decapitated puppet's limb.

Mason frowned in consideration. "Possible. But why would they still accept password inputs?"

Reed knelt beside Raven to examine the puppet's other arm. His fingers traced a clean break in the surface before gripping both sections. With minimal effort, the forearm detached completely.

"These are sword cuts," Reed observed, confusion evident in his voice. "Why would the Celestial Sword Sect try to repair these puppets, making them appear functional? Didn't they just purchase new ones?"

Who wanted to fix these? The question tumbled through Raven's mind as she stared blankly ahead. "Maybe they're trying to save money," she offered weakly.

Reed nodded thoughtfully, echoing Mason's earlier gesture. "Perhaps they don't realize gluing them back together won't make them work."

Raven found herself oddly compelled to convince her colleagues that nothing was amiss. But Mason's next words sent a chill down her spine:

"Let's take these unconnectable CPMs back for analysis."

Are they really going to investigate? What if they actually find something? Panic rose in Raven's chest as her suspicions about Flint grew stronger. After all, she was the one who had sold Flint the Mystic Terminal. Had Flint really done this?

The thought of being implicated in potential sabotage made her palms grow sweaty. She gripped the edges of her robes, trying to maintain her composure while her mind raced with possibilities.

Raven took a deep breath to steady herself, then glanced around, noticing it was dinner time. A familiar figure appeared before her - Flint.

"I'm going to get dinner!" she called out, already running away before Mason could finish saying "Go ahead."

"Flint!" Raven rushed up to the other girl so suddenly that Flint nearly jumped.

Raven studied Flint intently, even peering behind her back, finding that there wasn’t that ‘theif’ mark. "You weren't sweeping today?"

Flint shook her head. She had been working on reverse engineering programs, though she wouldn't say that. "Spark helped me with it."

Raven noticed the ring on Flint's left index finger. She lifted Flint's wrist with her hand that hadn't touched the CPM, examining the faint luminescent particles on Flint's fingers. Is this glowing dust really from the ring? Raven felt herself relax slightly.

"Why do you keep wearing a ring that sheds silver dust?" Raven probed carefully.

"Um... because it's pretty..." Flint answered. She wasn't actually there for dinner - she had come to confirm that the maintenance team had entered their passwords into the CPMs she had tampered with. She planned to steal a few back later. Of course, to avoid suspicion from Raven, she had made sure to rub some CPM residue in her dormitory on her fingers before putting on the ring each time she went out.

Raven relaxed further, her tension ebbing away as she studied the ring's beautiful Seraphic Citrine. I should get a Seraphic Citrine ring next time, she thought, draping her arm casually around Flint's neck.

"Didn't you say you had another man? Why keep Spark's gift?" Raven teased with a playful tone.

"Uh..." The question caught Flint off guard. She truly didn't know how to explain. She met Raven's gaze silently for a moment before steeling herself and forcing a casual response:

"Well, you know... the more men, the better."

"Oh my goodness!" Raven's eyes lit up with delight. "We're truly kindred spirits, you and I!"

What? I thought you'd judge me... Flint stared at Raven in bewilderment.

"It's so rare to find someone who understands! My colleagues criticize me for having too many men and don't get why I'd read pure love stories. You're so right - I absolutely hate those pure love stories!" Raven gushed, finally able to express her true feelings.

"What's a pure love story?" Flint asked, having never read novels.

"Oh, they're so boring - you wouldn't like them. Just one man and one woman, either he loves her but can't win her over, or she loves him but he likes someone else. I prefer stories where one woman attracts many men," Raven explained animatedly, one arm still around Flint's neck while gesturing with the other.

Flint nodded, not quite understanding but knowing agreement was the safe response.

"I just read one that's actually connected to Spark's ancestor, Delight Lumin. She was in love with this... um... what was his name?" Raven paused, the familiar name suddenly clicking as she looked at Flint's face. "Blaze Mighty! You've mentioned that name before!"

When did I...? It had been over a year since she'd last seen Raven, and Flint couldn't recall mentioning it. But she definitely remembered the name Blaze Mighty - Spark's past life.

"I remember now - I said my past life's love wasn't Blaze Mighty," Flint recalled after a moment's thought.

"Yes, that's it! I didn't understand what you meant back then," Raven exclaimed excitedly, hugging Flint closer before suddenly registering something odd. "Wait, what? Past life? How do you remember your past life?"

This question is even harder to answer than the last one... Flint sighed. "I don't know why, but I can recall fragments of memories from my past life." She decided against explaining the complexities of her mental barrier.

"Oh!" To Flint's surprise, Raven's face lit up with understanding. "I've read about this in novels - a woman remembering her past life's love and finding someone who resembles him! Though I hate those pure love stories - if you've been with someone in a past life, shouldn't you try someone new this time?"

"But," Raven continued excitedly, "I can't believe what happens in novels is real! Someone who actually remembers their past life!"

"Yeah, maybe I'm just special that way," Flint played along with Raven's enthusiasm.

Raven's eyes narrowed in thought. "Wait... you said your past life's love wasn't Blaze Mighty... then could you be..."

"Obsidian Snow?!" Her eyes widened with shock.

"Uh..." Flint hesitated, unsure whether to confirm this. But considering Obsidian Snow's name wasn't widely known - even Spark only knew of The Bamboo Sovereign, not Obsidian Snow - she decided after a moment: "Actually, yes."

"Oh my goodness!" Raven hugged her tighter. "Then when you return to the Abyssal Pavilion, won't all their money be yours?"

Her loud mention of "Abyssal Pavilion" drew stares from nearby disciples, some beginning to point at Flint, recognizing her as the notorious soul-absorbing thief. Flint broke into a cold sweat.

She lowered her voice: "How do you know about Obsidian Snow's connection to the Abyssal Pavilion... and it's not Obsidian Snow's anyway."

"It's not?" Raven whispered back. "The novel made it seem like she had it pretty good there. Then whose is it?"

"The Bamboo Sovereign's, though he's dead now too," Flint replied.

"Never heard of him." Raven shook her head, glancing around. "People here seem to react strongly to the Abyssal Pavilion."

"Of course they do," Flint muttered darkly, irritated that Raven had blurted out her secret connection to the Abyssal Pavilion. She hadn't expected novels to portray her that way.

"In the novel, the Abyssal Pavilion people were good at programming. They built this intelligence network called Labyrinth Network..." Raven mused as she walked with Flint toward the dining hall. "You know, today Mason and the others couldn't connect to the CPMs - no response after entering passwords. Wonder if the Abyssal Pavilion is behind it."

The comment made Flint tense up. While Raven had inadvertently hit upon the truth, Flint needed to play ignorant. She asked with feigned innocence: "What's a CPM?"

Her question seemed to reassure Raven further. "It's this crystal ball wrapped in silver wiring that glows blue, inside the puppet's head when you open it."

"Never seen one," Flint replied docilely.

"They're taking all the unconnectable CPMs back for analysis - maybe the Abyssal Pavilion really is behind it!" Raven said cheerfully, now fully relaxed. "I actually thought it might have been you at first!"

Flint felt her muscles tense at those words before forcing herself to appear casual. "Why would you think that?" she asked innocently.

"Oh!" Raven lowered her voice to barely a whisper, meant only for Flint's ears. "I just remembered - did I leave any puppet-related files on that Mystic Terminal I gave you? I can't remember if I deleted everything..."

Raven wrinkled her brow, trying to recall. She remembered deleting her personal messages and information about her various romantic interests, transferring them to her backup crystal orb before moving them to her new device. But she couldn't remember what else she might have left behind, though she was pretty sure she'd kept the Soulweaver language tutorial intact.

Should I keep lying? At this point, being dishonest might seem unnatural... Flint forced herself to remain calm. "Actually, you didn't delete them, but I never looked at them. I only needed to write runes to control natural aura." She touched the rune on the back of her neck as she spoke, the familiar gesture helping her relax and smoothing her tense expression.

"Besides," Flint lowered her voice conspiratorially, as if sharing a secret, "I'm going back to the Abyssal Pavilion. For maintaining and upgrading the Labyrinth Network, programming skills are enough - understanding puppets isn't really necessary."

"Oh..." Although the revelation about the undeleted files made Raven momentarily nervous, Flint's explanation seemed logical enough. She looked at Flint with new eyes, as if seeing the formidable antagonist from her novel come to life, and felt a surge of admiration.

Maybe she could even help fund my sect in the future? The thought flickered through Raven's mind.

A future powerful figure in the Abyssal Pavilion... I could definitely use a friend like that, Raven thought, already dreaming of the possibilities.