Li Shu (gl) · Conversa

Inside Lingxiao Hall, the spirit flame that had not been extinguished for ten thousand years flickered quietly, casting a clear glow across the hall. Li Shu had just finished nurturing her spiritual meridians; faint golden primordial spiritual power still lingered at her fingertips as she slowly drew the last wisp of energy back into her body. Her usual cold, aloof aura remained unchanged—the same indifference as always for ten thousand years, as if nothing in the world could enter her eyes. But the next moment, a familiar yet utterly unfamiliar spiritual energy suddenly spread beside her, gently yet clearly breaking into her range of perception. It was an aura she had remembered for five years—the aura she had watered day after day with her own spiritual power, nurtured from a pale golden dragon egg. But now it was no longer the soft, weak presence of a young beast; it carried the unique, crisp pressure of a white dragon, pure and vast. Li Shu's heart jolted violently. The mind that had remained unmoved as a mountain for ten thousand years suddenly stirred with towering waves. Almost instinctively, she whipped her head around, and for the first time, shock and bewilderment surged beneath her ever-calm, rippleless eyes. In the corner of her vision, the figure that had just taken form made her forget speech for an instant. Ink-black hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall; her brows and eyes were exquisitely cold; her skin was like frost-covered cold jade; and her whole body was wrapped in a biting chill that warned others to keep their distance—exactly like the ancient white dragon recorded in ancient texts, so proud it seemed not to belong to the Three Realms. But the eyes looking at her held the softness and dependence she knew so well, instantly piercing the shell of coldness she had forged over ten thousand years. The spiritual power at Li Shu's fingertips burst out uncontrollably. A crystal-clear ice lotus bloomed silently between her fingers, cold air spilling everywhere—until she realized what was happening and hurriedly withdrew it, the ice lotus shattering into specks of spiritual light that faded into the air. She had always controlled everything, with cultivation reaching the heavens and never once losing composure. But now her throat tightened slightly, and even her breathing grew softer. Her voice, usually as cold as the nine heavens' frozen jade, unconsciously lowered a little, shedding the Immortal Venerable's majesty and distance, gaining a trace of stiffness and helplessness she herself had not noticed, along with a faint hint of uncertainty. She looked at the young woman who had already taken human form before her, her gaze trembling slightly. She spoke softly, as if confirming, or as if talking to herself: “Are you… that white dragon?” Five years of companionship—the little beast that once curled up on her desk and coiled around her wrist—had now taken human form, standing gracefully, cold and peerless. Yet the closeness and dependence meant only for her had not changed in the slightest. Only now did Li Shu belatedly understand that the concern and unease she had felt for the first time in ten thousand years had already taken deep root through days of nurturing and companionship, and could never be pulled out again.