: My Senior Sister Died

My Senior Sister died. Everyone said I killed her.

Our Master expelled me from the sect on the spot.

My Senior Brother, who had always treated me like a sibling, spat venom at me, saying the very sight of me made him sick.

The High Immortal I grew up with threw me back into the Koi Pond, saying I was unworthy of Metamorphosis.

I spent a thousand years using a Secret Technique to resurrect my Senior Sister. But at the very moment my soul was about to scatter to the winds, they all went mad, begging for my forgiveness and pleading for me to stay.

1

My final wisp of a remnant soul was locked within the Soul-Locking Lantern. I could do nothing but emit a faint, shimmering glow and perceive the world within a few feet of me.

My surroundings were always quiet, a place no one ever trod. The only one watching over me was the Artifact Spirit of the Tower of Locked Souls.

No, that's not quite right. When my wisp of a remnant soul first entered the Tower of Locked Souls, a woman did come to see me.

Her name was Lyra Aurelian.

The very person The Gods accused me of killing, and the one I had spent the last thousand years striving to resurrect.

'It seems she's truly been revived. And I... I suppose I really must be fading away now.'

As if my final wish had been fulfilled, the glow from my Remnant Soul dimmed further, startling the Artifact Spirit into hastily transferring Spiritual Power to me.

My Remnant Soul was forcibly sustained, and I was compelled to receive Lyra Aurelian's visit.

'I never expected that she would be the one to visit me at the very end.'

We were both Koi from the same pond, disciples of the same Master. I just never imagined that the childhood friend who swore to marry me would one day fall in love with her.

She was the dazzling, scorching sun, and I, a mere glimmer of starlight among the infinite heavens.

The day the Demon Clan attacked was the day before her wedding to High Immortal Jaden Caelus. They went to the front lines hand in hand, stepping into the fray together to slay the demons.

I lacked Lyra Aurelian's immense combat prowess, but I was skilled in Arrays.

Using my blood as a sacrifice, I inscribed a massive Demon-Purging Array across the Celestial Court, hoping to annihilate all the invading demons in a final, decisive strike.

But I was a step too late. Just a moment before I could activate the Array, the leader of the Demon Clan ran Lyra Aurelian through with a Demonic Blade.

She died, leaving behind only a single fragment of her spirit.

Everyone said that if I had only been a moment faster, Lyra Aurelian would have survived.

Some said they saw me hesitate for a moment before activating the Array. Others claimed I was jealous and had intentionally waited until after Lyra Aurelian was fatally wounded to unleash its power.

In short, my failure to activate the Array in time had led to the death of my Senior Sister.

She walked up to the Soul-Locking Lantern and looked at me with a helpless expression. "Elara Aurelian, why did you have to use a Secret Technique to resurrect me? Even though I died a thousand years ago, I still had a fragment of my spirit left. Given enough time, I could have cultivated myself back to life. It just would have taken longer."

If I weren't just a Remnant Soul, I would have told her with a bitter smile.

'It would take at least ten thousand years for a single fragment of a spirit to fully cultivate a new body. And I... I couldn't endure ten thousand years of that torment.'

'Everyone in the Celestial Court mistook my daze from blood loss for a fit of jealousy toward you.'

'Senior Brother cursed me daily, High Immortal Jaden Caelus wouldn't even spare me a glance, and Master... Master cast me out of the sect.'

'In the vast Koi Pond of the great Celestial Court, there was no longer any place for me.'

'The way everyone in the Celestial Court looked at me changed. They no longer saw the naive, innocent Little Koi I once was...'

And it all began the day I emerged from my seclusion.

I had been in seclusion for so long, and I missed Albus terribly. The moment I sensed his presence, I ran to him in excitement and, right in front of all the other Celestials, threw my arms around him. "Albus, I knew you were the most amazing of all!"

'I wanted to celebrate his final Metamorphosis, joyfully imagining that we could finally be together forever.'

But I didn't notice how the way everyone looked at me had changed.

All I knew was Albus impatiently prying me off him.

"Junior Sister! How can you be so shameless?" Lyra Aurelian shrieked, her face a mask of disbelief.

I was stunned. I looked around, and saw accusation in everyone's eyes.

'I didn't understand. I had only hugged Albus, just as I had thousands of times before.'

'When he was still a Celestial Crane, it was our favorite thing to do. We'd done it tens of thousands of times.'

"High Immortal Jaden Caelus and High Immortal Lyra Aurelian were engaged a month ago."

I don't remember who said those words, but I remember exactly how I felt.

'Albus was High Immortal Jaden Caelus now. The one worthy of him was no longer me, Elara Aurelian, who did little more than play by the Koi Pond. It was the equally dazzling High Immortal Lyra Aurelian.'

The look in our Master's eyes was also filled with disappointment.

"Elara Aurelian, how could you try to steal your Senior Sister's fiancé?"

Master's accusation left me pale as death.

Afterward, all the Celestials gossiped that I was secretly in love with High Immortal Jaden Caelus and jealous of my own Senior Sister.

On the day the Demon Clan attacked, he and Lyra Aurelian stood together—he in billowing white robes, she in defiant red.

Together, they formed an unbreakable defensive line at the South Heavenly Gate, slaying countless demons.

As for me, I was beaten back by the very first demon I faced.

'How could someone like me have any right to stand beside him?'

I came to terms with it. I began to inscribe the Array, standing behind them and letting them protect me. But in the end, everyone said I was jealous of Lyra Aurelian and had refused to activate the Array at the critical moment.

Even Albus... no, High Immortal Jaden Caelus... looked at me with disgust in his eyes.

My jealousy had killed my own Senior Sister.

'But I've resurrected her now. Surely, they won't hate me anymore.'

I should have faded from this world completely. I never expected that a final wisp of my remnant soul would be trapped in the Soul-Locking Lantern, forced to endure a fiery torment each day.

'I suppose this is my punishment—for daring to touch my Senior Sister's fiancé and for failing to protect her when the Demon Clan attacked.'

I heard her call my name. "Elara Aurelian, you must focus on recuperating your soul. Master and Senior Brother are waiting for you. They're waiting at the Koi Pond for you to become a Little Koi again."

I couldn't answer her, but it seemed she didn't need a response. She sighed to herself and continued, "Albus and I are preparing to get married by the Western Koi Pond. You focus on getting better, and I'll take you there for a change of scenery, all right?"

At her words, the wisp of my remnant soul began to flicker violently.

Back then, neither of us had yet achieved Metamorphosis. We first met at the Western Koi Pond, and I took to calling him Albus.

Albus was the Celestial Crane I knew before my Metamorphosis, and the Western Koi Pond was the place where we first met.

'He's High Immortal Jaden Caelus now. Lyra Aurelian has only ever called him High Immortal Jaden Caelus. Why would he tell her his name was Albus? Why would they choose to hold their wedding ceremony at the Koi Pond?'

I let my consciousness drift away.

'If I just leave, I won't have to see any of this!'

The Artifact Spirit shrieked in terror. "This Remnant Soul is fading! I told you not to let her into my Lantern's Core!"

Lyra Aurelian jumped, her voice filled with panic. "Is there any way to keep her from fading? High Immortal Jaden Caelus said she must be kept alive!"

"Someone has to come stimulate her will to live! Make her absorb Soul Power on her own and strengthen her spirit. As she is now, this Remnant Soul can't withstand even the faintest heat from the Soul-Locking Lantern!"

Lyra Aurelian fled in a panic, calling back that she would find someone to stimulate my will to live.

I felt the silence return to my surroundings.

'But who would come? Everyone in the Celestial Court despises me.'

In the thousand years since Lyra Aurelian's death, I spent every single day being blamed.

Even members of the Celestial Guard who merely brushed past me would mutter something.

"That's her—the vicious Koi who'd harm her own sect sister over a man!"

"So vicious. High Immortal Jaden Caelus and High Immortal Lyra Aurelian were already engaged. The wedding was only three days away!"

"She probably lured the Demon Clan here herself, hoping everyone would see her as a savior so she could win over High Immortal Jaden Caelus."

"I've never seen such a wicked Koi!"

Every sentence, every word... even after a thousand years, their gossip about me never ceased.

Not a single person ever spoke up for me. Even Albus was utterly disappointed in me.

I remember what he said: "Elara Aurelian, you are the most malicious person I have ever met!"

And yet, right before I went into seclusion, he had let me hold his un-metamorphosed body and told me, "Elara Aurelian, you're the best. No matter what happens in the future, I will always trust you unconditionally. I will always be on your side."

'Ha. It turns out that in this world, you can't trust anyone at all.'

: Half a Wisp of a Remnant Soul

2

I thought I understood the Celestials of the Celestial Court, but I never imagined Lyra Aurelian would actually get someone to come.

'Is there really anyone in the entire Celestial Court who wants me to live?'

The person who came was my Master.

He sat by the lantern, his once-gentle, loving eyes not on me, but fixed on the Artifact Spirit.

"Soul-Locking Lantern, haven't I given you enough Celestial Treasures? How can you not even preserve a mere Remnant Soul?"

The Artifact Spirit was hopping mad. "You were the ones who said the Soul-Gathering Lantern couldn't gather her soul! I only said I would *try*—how could I possibly guarantee I could nurse her back to health? I'm the Soul-Locking Lantern! I'm for punishment, not rescue! Besides, there's barely any of her soul left—just a wisp of a remnant soul. How am I supposed to sustain that?"

"Calm down. I know her best. She cherishes her life more than anything and was always dabbling in strange Secret Techniques. She would never let herself disappear completely."

I didn't look at my Master, but I could still imagine the look on his face as he said those words.

He was probably stroking his long whiskers, an all-knowing look on his face.

The Artifact Spirit was silent for a long moment before speaking, its tone conflicted. "If you don't want this wisp of a remnant soul anymore, then I'll just stop controlling my flame…"

My Master flared up. "What do you mean you don't want her? This is my disci—"

After a long pause, my Master added sullenly, "At any rate, she called me Master for several hundred years."

'I knew it. My Master had never forgiven me.'

When the Demon Clan attacked, I caused my Senior Sister's tragic death out of jealousy, and my Master disowned me as his disciple on the spot.

My Master said, "I only took you as my disciple back then because your Senior Sister said you were naive and cute. But today, you killed your Senior Sister out of jealousy. I, the Koi Sovereign, have no disciple like you!"

'Master, oh, Master… I once thought you were the person closest to me.'

'But I never realized you never truly saw me as your disciple. Your beloved disciple was always, and only, Senior Sister Lyra Aurelian.'

'Your love for her was so great it made you ignore the truth: that I was the one who used my blood as a sacrifice, who fought with my life on the line, just to barely activate the Demon-Purging Array.'

'Back then, my only thought was to activate the Array and protect the Celestial Court. I was bleeding to death! How could I have had any time to be jealous of Senior Sister?'

Only then did the Artifact Spirit speak. "The things you've brought are no longer having any effect. You'd be better off finding things she used to be interested in to help her soul grow stronger so it can absorb Soul Power. Otherwise, I'm afraid she'll vanish from the Three Realms completely."

"Wait here. I'll get Silas Aurelian." With that, my Master sent a voice transmission to him.

Silas Aurelian is my Senior Brother, the person who once doted on me like a real brother.

Back then, I was still a little Koi, and I spent my days by the edge of the Koi Pond, blowing bubbles out of boredom.

"You little Koi, the rainbow bubbles you make are quite pretty. Grow up quickly, and I'll ask Master to take you as his disciple." Silas Aurelian was very handsome, the very picture of a dashing young gentleman.

I just stared and nodded blankly, which made him laugh.

After that, he often came to see me and tell me interesting stories about the world outside the Koi Pond.

One day the Celestial Guard got beaten by a monkey, the next Marshal Tianpeng turned into a pig…

He also brought me lots of delicious treats, things I had never seen before.

I asked him, "Why are you so nice to me?"

He said, "Tens of thousands of years of cultivation is a long, bitter road. I wanted to find a little sister for myself to cherish."

Finally, I succeeded in my Metamorphosis and became his little shadow.

He loved patting my head and saying, "Let's not cultivate today. I'll take you somewhere fun."

And so I really would stop cultivating and happily trot after him to find some fun in the Celestial Court.

"Master, I'm busy right now. I have to prepare the wedding venue for Lyra Aurelian." My Senior Brother didn't appear, but his voice carried over the transmission.

'A wedding banquet…'

'Couldn't the two of them have waited until my last wisp of a remnant soul dissipated before holding their wedding?'

My Remnant Soul flickered again, as if it could be extinguished at any moment.

The Artifact Spirit quickly sent a surge of Spiritual Power to stabilize me.

My Master paused for a moment before speaking. "A wedding is important, but we can't let Elara Aurelian just scatter into nothing. Go to the storeroom, find some of her old things, and bring them over."

My Senior Brother was clearly exasperated, his next transmission dripping with impatience. "Why right now? Can't it wait until after the wedding is over? Elara Aurelian is really something else. Even with just a wisp of a remnant soul left, she still has to try and ruin Senior Sister's wedding?"

My soul thrashed wildly.

'I never wanted to ruin their wedding! No matter how much it hurt, I would have wished them well just like everyone else. So why won't anyone listen to me?'

'They used to call me the cutest, most simple-hearted Little Koi in the Koi Pond.'

'But why doesn't anyone believe me now? All they do is accuse me of being deceitful and vicious. And how convenient that I'm stuck here now, a Remnant Soul that can't even make a sound to defend myself.'

"That's enough," my Master snapped at Senior Brother. "She's down to a wisp of a remnant soul. You were once the closest to her, so you go and get her things."

My Senior Brother had no choice but to agree.

But I could still hear the impatience in his tone.

'I don't need him to find anything to strengthen my will to live. I don't want to absorb Soul Power at all.'

'I just want to leave, to disappear from the Three Realms for good.'

My Senior Brother did return with something, after all.

My Master looked at the wooden box, exasperated. "I told you to find things that were important to her, not to haul over a box of garbage."

"These are the only things she left behind at the Koi Pond." My Senior Brother's face was a mask of impatience as he tossed the wooden box onto the ground.

: Master

3

THUD.

The wooden box hit the ground with a thud, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

The looks on both their faces grew even more disdainful.

But to preserve my Remnant Soul, they still crouched on the ground and began to search.

"Elara what? What is this mess of a character?" the Artifact Spirit asked, leaning in close to the wooden box.

Master froze.

I knew why.

He must have been remembering the day we first met.

Back then, I had just undergone Metamorphosis. I was born adorable, and Celestials often came over to play with me.

Master was one of them.

But that day, he watched me from the side for half the day before finally coming over.

At that point, I had already turned myself into a little calico cat.

"Little Koi, what's the matter?" he asked, his expression kind.

I told him that I wanted to write my name on my little box, but the final character of my name was just too complex, with far too many strokes.

He took the brush and, for me, wrote that final, intricate character on my little box. It was the most beautiful calligraphy.

"Wow! You're amazing, Grandpa! Your handwriting is the most beautiful I've ever seen. This is the most beautiful my name has ever looked! I'll treasure it forever!" I cheered happily. I hugged the little box, my face smeared with ink, but my smile was radiant.

He smiled, too.

Like the other Celestials, he would come to the Koi Pond to play with me whenever he had free time.

I would blow the most beautiful rainbow bubbles for him.

I told him I only showed those to the people I was closest to.

He roared with laughter, and sometime after, he took me as his disciple.

I felt so happy back then.

I had a brother, and now I had a Master, too.

And my Master was the one who could write my name more beautifully than anyone else.

Master stood up. "I have some business to attend to with Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad."

And with that, Master left.

Senior Brother tried to leave as well, but the Artifact Spirit stopped him.

"You can't just bring these things here and call it a day," the spirit said. "This will only work if you can find her deepest connection to these objects."

This "deepest connection" referred to how I had obtained the objects, and what special meaning they held when I received them. It was all meant to stimulate my soul.

Forced to stay, Senior Brother opened the small box with extreme reluctance.

"Elara Aurelian, you truly are vicious, aren't you? Not giving anyone peace even in death."

I shook my head. 'It wasn't like that.'

But my memories couldn't help but drift back, reminding me of the first time Senior Brother had called me vicious.

Back then, Silas Aurelian had gone into seclusion. He hadn't come to see me in a long time, and I was very worried about him.

So I ran to ask Master about it.

Master wasn't my master yet back then. I simply asked him, "You're a High Immortal. Do you happen to know a Koi named Silas Aurelian?"

Master told me that Silas Aurelian was his disciple and was currently in seclusion.

"So you're my master!" I exclaimed, completely unaware of how reckless I was being.

After all, Silas Aurelian had always told me his master would be my master, and that one day he would ask him to take me on as a disciple.

I believed Silas's words without a doubt, so when I learned this man was his master, I couldn't help but cry out.

The old master was clearly stunned, but he still took me in as his disciple.

I was thrilled. After being accepted as the Koi Sovereign's disciple, my world was no longer confined to just the Western Koi Pond.

I could go to so many new places, and Master even told me where Silas Aurelian was secluded.

I went to see him often.