Chapter 163.2: New Game Icon, Meeting The High Priestess

"A new game icon appeared!" His excitement vanished almost as soon as it appeared. "Only less than a quarter downloaded?"

There was good news and bad news at the same time.

Qi Yuan pondered using his sharp and brilliant mind. "Could it be that I or Ning Tao have to slaughter Yin Spirits to speed up the download?"

He stared blankly at the icon.

At that moment, several male voices reached his ears.

"O’ Almighty God! It’s not that we don’t want to offer tributes, it's just that our Clearwater Village is dirt-poor!"

"Yesterday, Village Chief Yulei led us to fight the neighboring village over water. In the end, his Nascent Soul got bitten by their village chief.

Haa...

When will these days ever end?"

"What era is this? Still worshipping ancient gods? We should worship

new

gods!"

"Bullshit new gods! They're cannibal gods!"

"At the very least, even if gods eat people, they still protect their domain. What about the one you worship? Ancient gods have long since declined. You kneel and pray every day, but do they ever respond?"

"

Waaah

, it must be because we have no tributes. We starved the god to death!"

"Shentu, listen to me. Just like our village, we should switch to a new god!"

Qi Yuan listened to these strange conversations. "So, this is the new game's lore?"

Ancient gods and new gods that eat people... What was this Nascent Soul village chief thing? Nascent Soul cultivators have official posts now? They are village chiefs? Then why are village chiefs still fighting over water?

Qi Yuan was utterly confused. Listening further, he suddenly declared, "I am the Qiyuann Sovereign. Those who believe in me shall gain eternal life!"

***

In a distant world, at a temple in a remote village...

The sleeping Shentu was jolted awake. He stared at the dilapidated statue in utter bewilderment. "Wasn't this the Dogtail Grass God? Why did it become the Qiyuann Sovereign?"

Did the god go crazy from starvation?

***

Snow fell thickly, draping the capital of the Moonlight Kingdom in silver. A blanket of white piled high upon the branches and trunk of the Ancient Qichun Tree.

A young girl of six or seven sat atop a blue stone, wrapped in a goose-white, fox-fur cloak. Her eyes were closed in meditation.

A woman in white appeared silently.

The girl opened her eyes. "How is the situation?"

"High Priestess, the Blood-Clothed Sword God is backed by a Step Two Heaven-Treading Yin Spirit. Not long ago, that Yin Spirit personally struck down Venerable Mohui," the woman reported.

She was the same Yin Spirit who had encountered Qi Yuan before. Despite her lofty status, her attitude toward the girl was exceedingly respectful.

The high priestess gazed at the Seventh Moon Lake, her eyes clear and calm.

The woman in white said earnestly, "High Priestess, even with one more Step Two Heaven-Treading ally, the outcome won't change. We can no longer hold onto Moonwatch Continent. We must leave."

Contrasting with the girl’s youthful face was a gaze that was unyielding and resolute. "We cannot leave yet. I am waiting for someone."

After a long pause, the woman asked, "The one you await, is it the Faceless Sword God?"

The girl remained silent, and that said it all.

"Over ten millennia have passed. If the Faceless Sword God hadn’t perished, he would’ve come long ago."

"I've already sat here for five thousand years. A few more years mean nothing. I haven't seen him yet. I want to know whether he is truly as the legends say..." Longing filled the girl's eyes. Then, she seemed to think of something and asked, "Who do you think is stronger? The Blood-Clothed Sword God or the Faceless Sword God?"

The woman in white could only smile bitterly. "Whoever the High Priestess deems stronger, is stronger."

The girl nodded thoughtfully. "The Blood-Clothed Sword God's wife is only Step Two Heaven-Treading. In that regard, he loses to the Faceless Sword God. Besides, his looks definitely can't compare to the Faceless Sword God."

The girl cast a glance at her reflection in the water. She was especially certain regarding the latter point. Finally, she said proudly, "So, it’s a total win for the Faceless Sword God."

The woman in white said nothing, the worry in her eyes undiminished.

The high priestess said softly, "I know how worried you are. When the time comes, if all hope is truly lost, I will activate the teleportation array and take the Moonlight Kingdom away."

Her sole concern was this: if the Faceless Sword God awoke at that time, could he still find Seventh Moon Lake? By then, Moonwatch Continent would likely have become a true hell. How could she bear to see the land he once protected with his life in ruins?

The woman in white breathed a sigh of relief. She had feared the high priestess would stubbornly refuse to leave.

Just then, someone urgently screamed, "High Priestess!"

A divine envoy of the Faceless God Cult appeared. Clad in a black embroidered robe, he wore a strange expression.

The high priestess tilted her head curiously. "I already know that the Blood-Clothed Sword God's wife is Step Two Heaven-Treading. Is there something else?"

The envoy said hesitantly, "High Priestess, I think this Blood-Clothed Sword God is somewhat peculiar."

The high priestess asked calmly, "In what way?"

She had seen plenty of strange things in the world.

"When I see him, I feel an inexplicable sense of closeness. And it's not just me, everyone from Moonwatch Continent feels the same. They instinctively trust him."

The matter was indeed odd.

The woman in white glanced at the envoy, her gaze deep. "There are no traces of divine techniques."

The high priestess grew thoughtful. "Anything else?"

"Yes. The sword technique he uses carries traces of

your

swordsmanship, High Priestess."

The high priestess's star-like eyes trembled, reflecting the snow of a winter's day. "What?!"

***

Looking up, Qi Yuan saw the Ancient Qichun Tree framed against the sky. He raised his arm—the crescent moon mark still did not appear.

"So she's not the Moon Maiden?" he murmured, disappointed.

If the high priestess were the Moon Maiden, the mark should have surfaced, and the girl herself would have sensed him long ago. Perhaps, it was merely a coincidence.

Standing alone in the endless white expanse, he let the snow pile upon his shoulders. "Really, why does it have to snow?"

The nearer he came to the Moonlight Kingdom, the more tedious staying in inns felt. He wandered out alone, his state of mind a stark contrast from before. More than ten thousand years had likely passed and everything had vanished into the river of time. Even the Southern Qian Empire no longer existed. The Heaven-Fate Holy Sect had disappeared nearly ten thousand years ago. Everything had turned to dust in history.

Suddenly, snow slid down from the branches above, scattering over Qi Yuan's head and shoulders. As he was about to look up, he saw a young woman of eighteen or nineteen walking toward him in the distance.

She wore a fox-fur cloak, her expression calm and elegant. Lifting her hood, she revealed a face so dazzling it recalled a crescent moon in a clear night sky. Thin lips. Clear, tranquil eyes. Graceful and refined. The girl was reminiscent of blossoms laden with snow.

She stopped before Qi Yuan. Pointing to her own face with her jade-like finger, she asked softly, "Is she pretty?"

Qi Yuan was momentarily stunned.

[She is a somewhat mysterious girl, deeply entwined with you.]

"Pretty. Very pretty," Qi Yuan said, staring at her face, lost in thought.

He wanted to know who she was.

"

Hehe

. If she heard that, she'd definitely be very happy."

"Who do you mean by ‘she’?" Qi Yuan asked, countless thoughts and a bold guess arising in his heart.

"She said that if you remember this face, you’ll recognize her when the time comes."

Qi Yuan stared blankly at the face before him. "Is she Jin Li?"

Jin Li had waited for him beneath the Ancient Qichun Tree, yet they never met.

The girl said softly, "She's also the Moon Maiden."

Time and space froze once more.

Qi Yuan recalled the Seventh Moon Lake from a long time ago. That stubborn girl, a promise beyond the reach of time. They existed at opposite ends of time, never destined to meet—yet fate wove another path for their encounter.

He hadn’t known she was Jin Li. She hadn’t known he was the Qi Yuan she would one day meet. In truth, they had never failed to meet, nor was it mere longing—they had always been there.

"You... who are you?"

As if to answer his question, the girl transformed into a seven- or eight-year-old child. Qi Yuan was inexplicably reminded of Moon Maiden. He saw traces of her within the child.

"I am my mommy’s and daddy’s daughter!" The girl smiled brightly at Qi Yuan. "I am also Daddy's most precious gift to Mommy."

Back then, Jin Li had taken her from the Faceless Sword God’s statue. In that moment, all memories surged forth, and she saw him.