Senior Sister, Come Back

After he left, Lily Bai and Sean Shaw revealed themselves.

Lily Bai smiled and said, "Thank you, Divine Father! Letting him break the array is much easier than if we did it ourselves."

Quentin Lian nodded. "But what are you planning to do once you break into her private treasury?"

Lily Bai replied, "To obtain the Thunder-Heaven Void-Breaking Chain."

"What do you need that for?" Quentin asked, confused.

Lily Bai said, "With it... I can rescue my mother."

Quentin Lian was silent for a moment, then said, "If you can save her, that would be wonderful! She doesn't have much time left, and she deserves some happiness with her family."

Lily Bai nodded. "Thank you for understanding, Divine Father."

Quentin Lian shook his head. "Do you need me to go to Drake Abyss with you then?"

"You don't need to go," Sean Shaw said. "Lily and I can handle it ourselves."

Quentin Lian nodded.

"Um... Divine Father," Lily Bai called out, "Can you take me to see Divine Lord Soren Lann?"

Quentin Lian nodded again.

Just before leaving, Lily heard Sean Shaw's voice in her mind: "How long will you be gone?"

Lily glanced back at him and replied, "What, you can't survive even a minute without me now?"

Sean: "Nope."

Lily laughed. "I'll be back quick! Be good!"

...

Once inside the Radiant Palace, Lily noticed the plants and trees were even lusher than before.

Under the eaves of Divine Lord Soren's residence, a swallow's nest poked out, a tiny head peeking at her with a fierce, familiar stare.

Lily couldn't shake the feeling that those eyes looked awfully familiar.

She opened her Heavenly Eye for a peek—yep, it was Azure Flame.

"Hey, Azure Flame? What are you doing here, pretending to be a swallow?" Lily sent a voice transmission.

Azure Flame chirped sweetly, twittering away like she was just greeting a guest.

"Still acting!" Lily shook her head and walked inside.

"Divine Lord!" Lily bowed respectfully.

"Sit," Soren Lann said. "What brings you here?"

"A few days ago, you sent High God Ethan Lu to my house to propose," Lily said. "So I came to ask you about it directly."

Soren nodded. "Ask away!"

"I just want to know, Divine Lord—we've only met once. Why would you want to make me your Empress?"

"Why do you think?"

"Is it because I look like Lucia Luan?"

Soren smiled. "Lily Bai, what you should be asking isn't why I want to marry you—that's not important.

What's important is, if you marry into the Radiant Palace, you, your family, and your Master’s Sect will all be safe! I'll protect you all myself."

"I can protect myself," Lily replied. "But thank you for your kindness, Divine Lord."

"If you're just Lily Bai, a Warden-level immortal, how will you protect yourself? And if you're not just Lily Bai... things get even more dangerous!" Soren fixed her with a look. "If you keep getting tangled up with the Demon Emperor, you'll be headed for disaster."

Lily kept her face blank, stood up, and said, "Thank you for thinking so much about my future, Divine Lord! But... really, it's not necessary. I only came to say this. Goodbye."

With that, Lily turned and strode toward the exit!

"Lucia!" Soren suddenly called out to her soul via sound transmission.

Lily frowned, but didn't look back.

"All these years, I've used every trick in the book to wipe out every enemy in the Lumina Realm. I'm basically a dictator now," Soren's voice rang in her mind. "I did it all for you! So I could protect you! So I could give you a sky where you can fly free! I'd do anything for you! Senior Sister... come back!"