: 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.

4

I was ecstatic. I wanted to tell Silas Aurelian, "Senior Brother, I'm officially Master's disciple now. I'm truly your sister."

I couldn't wait to share my joy with him.

He came out of his seclusion. But for some reason, when he heard I had become a disciple, he wasn't the least bit excited. Instead, the look he gave me was incredibly complex.

"You wanted to become a disciple that badly? You couldn't even wait for me to come out of seclusion?"

I didn't understand why Silas Aurelian was angry.

He was the one who told me to take his Master as my own. That way, I would become his true sister.

But why?

Why did he get angry when I became Master's disciple?

Silas Aurelian rummaged through my little chest and pulled out a small, faded leather ball.

He said, his face expressionless, "This is the first ball I ever gave you."

Then, he fell silent for a long time.

The Artifact Spirit couldn't stand it any longer and came over to hurry him along.

"Hey, come on, big shot! 'This is the first ball I ever gave you,' and that's it? What about the rest of the story? The things you said when you gave it to her, the things that happened—say them! And what's with that tone? This is your Junior Sister! Not some stray cat or dog off the street. Put some emotion into it!" The Artifact Spirit was hopping mad.

It mimicked Silas Aurelian's tone, dripping with sarcasm.

Silas Aurelian shot the Artifact Spirit a vicious glare, looking as if he was about to strike.

"Go on, hit me! If you so much as touch me, I guarantee this Remnant Soul will scatter instantly," the Artifact Spirit yelled, completely unafraid.

Silas Aurelian restrained himself.

Holding the small ball, the look on his face softened slightly.

"This is the ball I gave you when we first met. I told you back then that the path of cultivation, lasting for tens of thousands of years, was too bitter. I wanted to find a sister for myself..."

Silas Aurelian paused for a moment before continuing, "You told me excitedly that you were the only Koi in the Western Koi Pond, and that you wanted a big brother, too. You said you would definitely become my sister."

'That's right. You were the one who wanted to find a sister. So why did you turn on me with such harsh words after I became one?'

"Keep talking! Did she become your sister in the end? You two must have played with this little ball together all the time, right? Get to the details!" the Artifact Spirit urged frantically. It was because I was resisting the absorption of Soul Power, and my Remnant Soul was growing dimmer and dimmer.

'The Artifact Spirit genuinely wanted to save me.'

'But I was beyond saving.'