"Little girl, you truly are formidable. We admit you have the strength, but no matter what you do, nothing will change. You should already understand this—after all, you are..."
With a loud bang, a streak of silvery-blue light shot out—a silver-blue bullet fired at the one speaking in the center. With a whoosh, that figure suddenly dissolved into drifting mist and vanished. The bullet passed through him and flew out into the empty, snowy field beyond.
Sylvia's face changed abruptly. I sensed trouble. In an instant, a huge burst of silvery light exploded, rumbling loudly—the whole world shook violently.
A vast silver world stretched before my eyes. Sylvia had already left my side. The explosions quickly ceased and vanished as if they had never happened, but the snowy plain was gone—replaced by an expanse of blackness.
Sylvia drifted slowly toward us, her expression sour as she glared at the two remaining figures.
"We're not here to fight—just to negotiate. I deeply apologize for the Beggar's earlier behavior."
The one on the left pressed a hand to his chest and bowed to us. The one on the right grinned wickedly.
"We won't confront you head-on. No matter how powerful you are, it seems your control over that strength is still lacking."
Sylvia gazed silently at the two figures opposite her, saying nothing. The one on the left raised a hand to block the one on the right.
"Words are useless. Talking won't help negotiations—it only provokes the other side."
The one on the left stepped forward as Sylvia put away Dawn Moon and stood beside me, her eyes wary, watching the two from the Dark Banquet.
"There's no point in continuing, Ethan Zhang. Even though you've awakened the Azure Luan, there's no source of power for it to draw from. It can't hatch. The reason the Four Guardians were so anxious to leave the Four Sacred Realm is that they've realized this so-called egg of dreams can never hatch."
"What do you mean?"
The figure before us laughed and spoke.
"Yesterday, you managed to rouse the Azure Luan from its winter slumber. Before, no one could hear its dying cries, so it transformed itself into mist, requiring little energy to survive. But that was only a temporary measure. Without the power it needs to hatch, it can't complete the process. It needs life force, and there's none here."
The more I listened, the more incredible it sounded. I pondered the figure's words carefully—they made a strange kind of sense.
"You must have known this all along, little girl, didn't you?"
I looked at Sylvia. She lowered her head, glanced at me, and finally nodded.
"Then why is all this happening?"
Suddenly, I remembered the question that had been bothering me: Why did the egg end up like this? Why were the Four Guardians so desperate for me to awaken it, only to decide to evacuate as soon as I returned yesterday?
Maybe the answer is exactly what this Dark Banquet figure said: the Four Guardians couldn't provide the energy needed to hatch the egg, so over the years, it used up its own strength and became like this—unable to hatch.
"Let me make it clear for you, Ethan Zhang."
The figure before us stepped closer. Sylvia immediately reached out her hand.
"Relax, little girl. I won't do anything. Like I said, we're here to negotiate. We'll show our sincerity first."
As he spoke, the figure thrust his hand into his body, shrouded in black mist, and pulled out a small test tube filled with Azure Essence, holding it up in front of me.
My eyes widened. The color of the Azure Essence in the tube matched the Azure Mist exactly. Before I could speak, the blue-green current suddenly shot forward.
In an instant, the Azure Mist before us expanded and changed, no longer resembling mist but flowing like water. I sensed a surge of joy coming from it.
Gradually, the Azure water mass grew larger, nearly a meter in diameter, gently settling on the snowy ground. It seemed satisfied, its surface rippling.
The liquid in the test tube was gone. He tossed the tube away—crack! It shattered, and the broken glass instantly turned to black vapor and vanished.
"Do you understand now? We can provide food for this creature, and you can get us into its realm. So I hope we can join forces and accomplish this together."
The figure before me reached out his hand. I thought it over carefully, but I couldn't trust these people at all—and I never would.
"Stop hesitating, Ethan Zhang. Don't count on those Four Guardians. Earlier, they wanted you to come, fuse their powers, and inject them into the Azure Luan's egg through you—but it failed. Their strength can't nourish the Azure Luan."
The one a dozen meters away spoke up. As he laughed, he turned into black mist and vanished. The figure before me remained, his golden eyes fixed on me, waiting for my answer—his outstretched hand never withdrew.
The Sacred Spirits' attitude said it all—the Azure Luan Egg couldn't hatch. All their plans had failed. Seeing Lan Yin's face today, I finally understood.
A hand pressed gently on my shoulder. As I turned, Sylvia spoke softly, her face gentle.
"Just trust your own choices. You're still Ethan Zhang."
I lowered the claw I was about to extend and shook my head.
"That's a shame, Ethan Zhang. We wanted to work with you. It's unfortunate we can't get the egg, but there's nothing we can do now."
Decisively, the Dark Banquet figure vanished before me. I stared quietly at the now contented Azure water mass, feeling utterly exhausted—my consciousness fading.
Sylvia's hand gently pressed against my back, softly stroking—comforting me. I looked at her.
"It's all right..."
Sylvia's voice faded in my ear, but I saw the sadness on her face—a look of deep reluctance, her lively eyes bidding me farewell.
My consciousness slowly faded. Suddenly, I awoke, lying beside the Azure Luan Egg, with Lan Yin next to me. The Four Guardians stood before me, their faces worried. Sylvia was nowhere to be found.
"Looks like you've learned the truth, Ethan Zhang."
The Vermilion Phoenix Spirit spoke in a low voice. Lan Yin bowed his head. I patted his hand; he looked at me, his disappointment plain to see.
"Let me explain, but first..."
The Azure Dragon spoke. I saw the Four Guardians bow deeply, their voices uniting.
"We're sorry."
"There's no need for you all to..."
"Ethan Zhang, after Rachel Lan died, we changed everything and brought her back to the Four Sacred Realm. We thought we could use the Azure Luan Egg to create a power akin to reincarnation—but we failed. We thought there was a chance, but now that chance is gone."
The Azure Dragon approached me as he spoke. I watched him calmly, feeling peaceful inside.
I didn't resent the Four Guardians. In fact, I was grateful—without them, I might never have had the chance to see Rachel Lan again.
A chance...
I quietly raised my head to the sky. Before coming to the Four Sacred Realm, when Rufina Howard was leaving, she told me to bring Rachel Lan back. Her big, shining eyes were full of hope, as if she entrusted everything to me. I turned back to the Four Guardians.
"Ethan..."
Lan Yin called out beside me. I shook my head.
"It's too early to give up. I crawled back beside the egg."
Though I was still at a loss, the Dark Banquet showed me a clue: there is a way to supply the Azure Luan's power. All you need is a similar energy. The liquid in their test tubes is exactly what the Azure Luan needs to hatch. If they could get it, why can't we?
I began to speak, recounting my experiences with the Dark Banquet in the Azure Luan's realm over the past two days. I left out the parts about Sylvia and Yin Choujian.
The Vermilion Phoenix Spirit looked at me in disbelief.
"Are you sure? The Dark Banquet really has the power to hatch the Azure Luan?"
I nodded. The Four Guardians' eyes filled with shock.
"That's impossible."
The White Tiger muttered to himself. I looked at them seriously and asked:
"What kind of power does the Azure Luan need to hatch?"
The Black Tortoise looked at me quietly, then spoke.
"The power of justice, Ethan Zhang. As I've said before, the Azure Luan is humanity's highest faith—a product of hope and justice, born in this unique world. The egg needs the power of justice to hatch."