Lily Bai reached out to catch one, but the stars weren’t solid—they slipped right through her fingers, impossible to hold.
She tried again, scooping at the water, but still couldn’t catch any.
“Divine Lord, what are these stars?” Lily asked.
“These are a rare treasure unique to the Underworld,” Tanya Quinn replied. “I came here specifically to collect a few of these stars.”
“But I can’t grab them! It’s like… a beautiful dream.” Lily’s eyes reddened as she watched them. “They look gorgeous, but they’re not really real.”
“Who says they’re not real? You just haven’t found the right method to catch them.”
Tanya summoned her Phoenixfire Zither, plucked out a single string, and handed it to Lily. “Help me out. Take this into the river—hold one end in your hand, and let the other end trail in the water. The stars will attach themselves to it.”
“Really?”
“Mm-hmm.” Tanya Quinn nodded. “Go on!”
“Okay!” Lily obediently took the string and stepped into the river, holding it like a fishing line—fishing for stars.
Sure enough, after a moment, stars began to stick to the string.
Strangely, it wasn’t the nearby stars—they were coming from far away, drawn in.
The stars clung to the zither string, rising up until they were about to touch Lily’s hand.
Lily shifted her hand upward.
Tanya Quinn said, "Catch one."
Lily reached out and caught one.
The blue star brushed her hand and suddenly shot into her body.
Lily jolted all over, stunned.
The blue star was a fragment of her past-life memory.
A memory belonging to Lucia Lu.
...
Qilin Divine Lord’s 6000th birthday celebration.
From the gates of the Radiant Palace to the banquet hall, guests streamed in nonstop.
Every passerby, without exception, glanced toward a lively group of seven or eight young men and women off to one side of the grand avenue.
They were gathered together, laughing and chatting, full of youthful energy.
In the center of their group stood a goddess in brilliant red robes—the most eye-catching of all.
“Who’s that goddess in red?” a guest whispered to the smiling Divine Attendant leading the way.
The Divine Attendant replied with a smile, “High God, you don’t know her? She’s amazing! Even our Divine Lord greets her respectfully and calls her ‘Senior Sister!’”
“Oh! I get it now! That’s Lucia Lu, the Number One Divine Lady of the Lumina Realm!” the High God exclaimed in realization.
The Divine Attendant nodded.
“Her reputation doesn’t do her justice—she’s as bright as the moon, graceful and peerless!”
“Absolutely!” others chimed in.
Lucia Lu overheard the guests’ whispers and just shook her head with a smile.
Ever since she took human form, her Divine Father had kept her secluded in the Spirit Alliance to cultivate, rarely letting her appear in public.
Eight hundred years had passed, and now her father said it was time for her to enter the world and temper herself—finally letting her meet people.
Since her first appearance, she’d heard these kinds of compliments countless times.
“Young Lord Adrian!” Just then, another guest arrived at the gates of the Radiant Palace, greeted by a chorus of welcomes.
Lucia’s eyes lit up and she walked over.
Adrian Drake had arrived!
Adrian was the Young Lord of the Guardian Drake Clan, and had studied medicine under her Divine Father for three hundred years.
The two got along well, and had gotten into plenty of trouble together—enough to make her Divine Father roar in exasperation.
Adrian Drake arrived for the banquet in a flowing, exquisitely crafted white divine robe, looking every bit the elegant young lord.
Lucia Lu paused, a little surprised as she looked at him... and at the person behind him.
Someone was following Adrian.
He wore black, was tall and strikingly handsome, with an unmatched aura.
His eyes were cold, and he stood there alone, proud and aloof. Even among all these immortals and guests, he stood out as extraordinary.
Adrian spotted them, spread his arms for a hug, and rushed over. “Senior Sister! It’s been ages—I missed you so much!”
“Adrian, is my sister all you see?” Ryan Lu stepped in front of Lucia, his tone cool.