"A new opportunity? What do you mean?" Lucia Lu asked, puzzled.
"Normally, when a Celestial Emperor passes away, there are celestial phenomena. At the same time, only when the previous Celestial Emperor is truly gone can a new one arise."
Lucia nodded. This was an ancient, unchanging law.
"But there has never been any celestial sign of Emperor Ray Quinn’s death. Yet my father has already ascended," Sean said. "It’s unusual."
"Really? That is a bit strange…" Lucia replied.
"So I think maybe Emperor Ray Quinn took the Fiend Princess back to the Demon Realm. Maybe he even left the Lotus Realm for a higher realm," Sean said. "And then, somehow, he gave up the Celestial Emperor’s mantle, so a new one could be born."
Lucia laughed. "You’ve got quite the imagination. If that’s really what happened, it’s not such a tragic ending after all."
Sean:
"Hey, I remember Skye said she wanted to bring Ezra Cloud here to formally take Grandpa Gene as his master. Is this the place?" Lucia asked.
"Yep. They live here. But Grandpa Gene went traveling, and took Ezra with him."
"Oh… Living here sounds nice," Lucia said. "It’s so beautiful—flowers everywhere."
Sean glanced at the sea of flowers, then at Lucia, his eyes shifting mischievously, but he said nothing.
"What’s inside that cave?" Lucia pressed up against the Spirit Barrier for a better look. "There’s something in there—it looks like… an ice coffin? Wait, is that the legendary Frostbound Casket?"
Sean didn’t answer for a long moment.
Lucia turned around and saw that, at some point, Sean had picked a bunch of flowers and woven them into a beautiful garland.
"What are you doing?" Lucia asked.
Sean, a little shy, held out the flower garland to her.
"Is that for me?" Lucia asked.
He nodded.
Lucia took it from him. "What am I supposed to do with this? Hang it on the wall?"
Sean was silent for a moment, then took the garland back and gently placed it on her head.
Lucia looked up, her expression adorably innocent.
And beautiful, too.
Sean suddenly smiled and asked, "You were asking about the ice coffin, right?"
Lucia nodded.
"So, is that the Frostbound Casket? The legend says you can put a living person inside and they won’t die even after tens of thousands of years?"
"It is the Frostbound Casket," Sean replied.
Lucia suddenly leaned closer, whispering, "Is there… someone inside?"
A faint, sweet scent drifted over. Sean looked at her but didn’t answer.
"Is there?" Lucia pressed again.
"It should be empty," Sean said.
"Who would ever end up inside something like that?" Lucia wondered aloud.
"As far as I know, Lady Ehuang once slept inside for a few years," Sean said. "She was poisoned by Winterbane Poison and was on the verge of death. The Gatekeeper sealed her there, then created an antidote and let her out, saving her life."
"Wow! So that’s the story!"
"There was also someone else. When I was a kid, I overheard my father and mother mention it—someone slept inside for over a hundred thousand years. They came out alive too."
"Who was it?" Lucia asked.
"They didn’t say, so I don’t know," Sean replied. "I think it was someone from your Lumina Realm."
"Oh…" Lucia was about to say more when Luna Lian called, asking where she’d gone and why she hadn’t returned to her seat.
So Lucia and Sean headed back to the Celestial Hall together.