In the end, Elia still caught nothing.
Lu Mo had completely vanished.
But just as Lu Mo had said, the sun had risen over her world.
The sunlight was so bright, illuminating the world, piercing through the morning mist, and falling upon her hands.
“But… that feeling just now, it definitely wasn’t wrong…”
Elia whispered in the sunlight, “Sister Lu Mo was here. She was still with me… and she walked this final path with me.”
She did not believe it was an illusion.
So, what about now?
Did Sister Lu Mo’s soul still exist in this world?
Would she have another chance to see Sister Lu Mo again?
Elia no longer intended to take her own life.
She wanted to find a way to see Lu Mo again.
Regardless of the price she would have to pay.
***
Elia returned to the Imperial City.
At this moment, the minister was crouching at the entrance of Elia’s manor like a stray dog abandoned by its master, looking utterly lost.
“Your Majesty Elia!” When she saw the familiar figure again, the minister’s tears nearly fell.
Previously, when she saw Elia leave her crown on the throne and vanish, she truly thought Elia had abandoned the Frostspeak Empire and left alone, scaring her half to death on the spot.
“I am going to the library,” Elia said in a cold voice as usual, explaining nothing.
“Yes!” The woman immediately perked up, smiling flatteringly as she stepped forward. “Please, Your Majesty, follow me.”
This was the first time Elia had entered the library of the Frostspeak Empire.
As the top empire in this domain, the Frostspeak Empire’s collection of books was as vast as the sea, even richer than that of the Ice Orchid Institute.
However, Elia did not look for records regarding the Power of Frost. Instead, she searched for books concerning the soul.
She spent a great deal of time in the library, attempting to find the information she wanted from those ancient soul-related texts.
Eventually, she found only one useful sentence—
‘Those with powerful souls and intense obsessions will have their spirits linger in the world for a time after death.’
Is that it?
So, her feelings at that time were definitely not an illusion!
Did Sister Lu Mo stay in this world, staying by her side, all for her sake?
Elia’s nose suddenly felt a bit prickly.
“Sister Lu Mo…”
She was already the Empress, but at this moment, she still showed the expression of a little girl and began to sob.
So, what happens after that period of time?
Would the soul dissipate?
Or would it go somewhere to sleep?
Or perhaps… was it reincarnated?
The texts in the library provided no answers to these questions.
Thus, Elia walked out of the library and left the Frostspeak Empire.
She began to visit the factions in this domain known for their powerful soul strength.
She even visited some hidden clans and descendants of gods.
Only a very few beings could answer her questions.
And their answers were often different.
Elia became increasingly lost.
Her bloodline gave her extraordinary talent in the elements of Frost and Wind.
However, her comprehension of the soul was truly mediocre.
‘Should I ask fate?’
One day, this thought suddenly appeared in her mind, growing stronger and stronger.
She suddenly remembered that many years ago, she had dragged Lu Mo to a divination.
They had met a purple-haired girl who seemed to have mental issues.
But the girl’s divination… in the end, it all seemed to have come true.
The girl had looked at her, knelt down, and said she would become the Empress.
And now, she had indeed become the new ruler of the Frostspeak imperial family.
The girl had forced a marriage reading on her, and in the end, the crystal ball had shattered.
She saw herself standing in the largest fragment, while Lu Mo’s figure was cut by those tiny shards.
The girl had also tried to read Lu Mo’s fate, but she couldn’t.
The previous Frostspeak Emperor had also sought out the oldest astrologer in this domain.
This was something Elia only learned later.
The previous Emperor wanted to know which imperial branch would give birth to the purest Frostspeak Bloodline.
The astrologer gave him the answer.
But that answer was eventually discovered by the First Prince, which led to the massacre of the Seventh Imperial Branch.
“If I want to find Sister Lu Mo, will fate point the way for me?” Elia whispered to herself.
She learned the location of that ancient astrologer from the previous Emperor’s notes.
Should she go?
Perhaps under Lu Mo’s influence, she was unwilling to believe in fate.
But one day, she finally made up her mind and set out.
***
“Help me! Somebody help me!”
While passing through a dangerous area, Elia saw a very familiar figure calling for help.
As she approached, she was stunned.
Because the person trapped was the same purple-haired girl who had performed the divination for her back then!
With a wave of her hand, Elia pulled the purple-haired girl up.
“Thank you, benefactor, for saving… Eh? Lady Empress?” The purple-haired girl’s eyes lit up with joy when she saw Elia.
“Why are you here?” Elia asked.
“Me? I’m naturally looking for that legendary astrologer,” the purple-haired girl answered.
“I am as well,” Elia said.
“What a coincidence! Why don’t you take me along since you’re heading that way, Lady Empress?” The purple-haired girl looked at Elia with stars in her eyes.
“Okay.” Elia nodded.
She was slightly dazed.
More than ten years had passed, yet time seemed to have left no mark on the purple-haired girl.
“You escaped from those people?”
“I escaped a long time ago. Did those mere mortals really think they could catch me?”
“Are you visiting that being this time to become her disciple?”
“No.” The purple-haired girl puffed out her chest. “I’m going there to challenge her.”
Elia was speechless. As expected, this girl still had mental issues.
If the girl’s astrology was truly stronger than that master’s, why would she have been trapped in such a dangerous place?
“What about you, Lady Empress?” The girl looked at Elia.
Elia didn’t want to answer the question, but the girl answered for her. “Do you want to ask about the whereabouts of that other sister?”
Elia’s eyes flickered, feeling as if she had been struck by lightning.
“I’m just guessing, just guessing.” Seeing Elia’s strong reaction, the purple-haired girl quickly explained.
The journey to their destination was still long.
The two of them chatted like this to pass the time.
“But speaking of which, Lady Empress, how long are you willing to wait for her? Decades? Centuries?” the girl asked, seemingly at random.
“I will wait forever,” Elia answered seriously.
Her eyes were filled with obsession.
***
Binglan City.
It was another year for new students to enroll.
The top student among the freshmen this time was a girl with both Ice and Light Attributes.
Looking at the figure of that girl on the stage, the Dean looked a bit lost, eventually letting out another sigh.
He thought back to that girl from many years ago.
Thinking about it now, it was truly an unforgettable story.
The girl possessed a heaven-defying Light Attribute, yet she ultimately decided to join the Ice Orchid Institute.
And her request was actually to allow her servant to gain admission as well.
She had shone brilliantly in various trials of the academy, obtaining many treasures and resources.
But she gave most of those treasures and resources to her servant.
That servant did not disappoint her either, awakening a powerful Ice Attribute during the class promotion exam and killing her enemies in one fell swoop.
The girl’s future was very bright.
The servant’s future surely wouldn’t have been bad either.
But after a certain rainstorm, the two of them suddenly vanished.
Their luggage was still in the academy dormitory, and the fruits and snacks they had bought the day before were still on the table.
The academy tried to contact them, but they could never be reached.
According to the academy rules, if a student failed to check in for a month, they would be removed from the rolls.
After three months passed, the Dean had no choice but to erase their names from the academy.
“Where did they go?”
Many people were puzzled by this.
Some said the two were scouted by a hidden sect and taken away, leaving no trace behind.
Others said the two returned to their families to receive an inheritance, one far more powerful than what the academy offered.
Time was the best at making people forget everything.
Gradually, fewer and fewer people talked about it.
Old geniuses fell and new ones appeared; almost no one paid attention to two people from the old era anymore.
Of course, that did not include Liz.
She had always believed that the girl would return.
She had specifically bought a beautiful dress and put on lovely makeup, waiting for the girl’s arrival in the Forge Hall.
She waited for Lu Mo for a long time.
At the end of the year, she looked at her ledger. “Lu Mo still owes me a meal and 5,000 points!”
By the academy’s anniversary the following year, she said again, “Lu Mo still owes me a meal and 5,000 points!”
By the Binglan Festival, she said it no more.
By the end of the second year, she still hadn’t seen the girl.
In a flash, many years had passed.
She surpassed her old man and became the Hall Master of the Forge Hall.
That dress had turned yellow and was out of style; she could no longer wear it.
But she never threw the dress away, instead keeping it in the depths of her wardrobe.
She always felt that Lu Mo would return, treat her to a meal, and pay back the points.
Until one day—
A young woman walked into the Forge Hall.
“You are—” Liz looked up, her eyes trembling instantly.
Even though many years had passed, she recognized Elia at a glance.
At this time, even if Elia restrained her cultivation, she still exuded the aura of a monarch from head to toe.
An invisible pressure spread, and the flames in the entire Forge Hall flickered.
“Hello, I’m here to pay back the debt for my sister.” Elia smiled at Liz.
She smiled with such nostalgia, yet her smile was also… so sad.
Elia waved her sword at Liz and pulled out a yellowed bill.
The sword was Liz’s most perfect work from back then.
As for the bill, Liz had secretly tucked it into the sword box, and it had only been discovered now.
A simple comic was drawn on the bill. One girl was being beaten until she cried, with ‘Lu Mo’ written on her, while another girl was saying, ‘This is what happens when you don’t pay your debts,’ labeled as ‘Liz.’
Elia handed over a purple-gold card. “There are 5,000 gold coins in here. According to academy rules, one point is roughly equal to one gold coin, right?”
Liz noticed that Elia smiled slightly as she looked at the comic on the bill.
Liz struggled for a long time before finally asking, “How is… Lu Mo?”
“I’m sorry, I lost her,” Elia replied. “But I will find her.”
“…” Liz seemed to understand something and suddenly fell silent.
“This is my card. If you have any trouble, you can come find me,” Elia said finally.
After leaving an ice-blue card, she turned and walked away.
It took a long time for Liz to recover from the massive sense of loss and sadness.
She picked up the card on the table and glanced at it.
“Wait! The Frostspeak Empire… isn’t that from another domain?”
“Elia… she’s an Empress now???”
***
“Since I’m already here, I should walk around more,” Elia said.
She walked past her old residence, only to find that the old detached house had been demolished, and a new-style building had been constructed in its place.
She walked through the plains where she used to gaze at the night sky. Now, it seemed to have turned into a small park; the overgrown weeds had become clusters of flowers.
She didn’t know when it started, but she could no longer find snacks like marshmallows at the park stalls.
The street where people used to have lively weddings had now become an old street with few pedestrians.
The secret room had long since closed and was now a cafe.
She went to many places.
But all these places had changed.
“In that case… won’t there be no memories left at all…” She gave a helpless smile.
Finally, Elia felt a bit tired and walked up the clock tower alone.
After all these years, it seemed only the clock tower remained the same as before.
She rested her hands on the railing and looked out at the city from afar, just as she had in her student days.
Binglan City had changed a lot.
In fact, the city hadn’t gotten worse; it should have become better.
But Elia did not like this change.
It was another dusk.
In the distance, the giant sun set the clouds on fire, sinking bit by bit.
The setting sun fell upon her, tinting her skin crimson.
A wind blew, and the sunlight and the breeze brought back some feelings of the past.
She closed her eyes to feel it all.
And at that exact moment, the bell rang.
*Dong—*
*Dong—*
The distant tolling of the bell echoed.
It was as if time had been reversed, bringing her back to that midsummer many years ago.
She saw her younger self with her back to the sunset, speaking to the girl she loved most.
She heard her own voice from that time.
She had gathered her courage in the grand dusk to say to Lu Mo, “I love you.”
I love you.
Therefore, I will go find you.
On and on, I will keep searching.
Whether it takes a century or a millennium.
Whether on this shore or the other.
I will find you and then hold you in my arms again.
This time, I will never let go.