Yu Xiangdie let out a sigh of relief. "That's all I needed to hear. What I said earlier was a routine inquiry on behalf of the Sect. Since you feel that way, that's your answer, and I have my reply. Xu Manzi has already left, but I watched Qu'er grow up from a young age — she's not someone just anybody can bully."
Yang Kai's heart stirred at her words, and he looked up to study Yu Xiangdie. She had mentioned before that she also cultivated the Path of Affection and had experienced something similar to Tao Lingwan.
And she was now a Seventh-Order Open Heaven realm master. In other words, when she had encountered Qi Deviation, she had resolved the crisis, broken through her own limitations, and only then was she able to transform her inner Small World from ethereal to solid, advancing to the Seventh Order.
So who had she chosen back then? The image of Xu Linggong involuntarily surfaced in Yang Kai's mind.
After Xu Linggong had departed from the Star Boundary, Yu Xiangdie had come shortly after. She had also shown Yang Kai considerable care, and now she was being this attentive about Qu Huachang's situation.
A martial aunt with only a casual relationship wouldn't necessarily go to such lengths. This showed that Yu Xiangdie's connection to Xu Linggong's lineage ran deep.
Yang Kai clicked his tongue inwardly and asked, "What does Martial Aunt intend to do?"
Yu Xiangdie shook her head. "It's not what I intend to do — it's what you need to do."
Yang Kai said humbly, "Please advise me, Martial Aunt!"
Yu Xiangdie explained, "Qu'er's seclusion site is quite special. It's one of our Yin Yang Heaven's Heart Tempering grounds, called the Reincarnation Pavilion. Anyone who enters will experience many cycles of reincarnation without any awareness of it. Only by finding their true soulmate can they see through the fog and reclaim their original heart."
Yang Kai frowned slightly, not quite understanding.
Yu Xiangdie continued her explanation. "The Reincarnation Pavilion is also where many of our Yin Yang Heaven's female disciples choose to find their life partners. Any female disciple who enters will temporarily lose her own memories, retaining only those from each reincarnation cycle. Through those repeated lives, they encounter many people and many events, tempering their hearts. Our male disciples, however, are not affected in the same way — their memories remain intact, and they can enter the Pavilion. If there is fate between two people, they can find their beloved within the Reincarnation Pavilion."
"The Sect intended to designate Feng Chengsi as Qu'er's partner. She was outnumbered and powerless to resist. An ordinary seclusion couldn't escape the arrangement — the Reincarnation Pavilion was the only place she could go. Once inside, if no one pulls her out, she will be trapped there for the rest of her life." A trace of quiet sadness crossed Yu Xiangdie's face as she spoke.
The world believed that female disciples from Yin Yang Heaven were loose in their conduct and promiscuous, as if available to any man. But who could know that it was precisely the female disciples of Yin Yang Heaven who were the most devoted and steadfast of all? Nearly every one who found a partner had passed through the Reincarnation Pavilion's grueling trials — lifetimes of never abandoning one another, of meeting and growing together through reincarnation.
Since ancient times, countless female disciples had been lost within the Reincarnation Pavilion, unable to find their partners and therefore unable to escape. Yu Xiangdie had once had a senior sister who was like a mother and an elder sister to her. But after that senior sister entered the Reincarnation Pavilion, she had never emerged again.
What could be confirmed was that the senior sister was not dead — merely trapped within the Pavilion, drifting through lifetime after lifetime, never to see hope again.
"Feng Chengsi has already gone in?" A sharp gleam flashed in Yang Kai's eyes. It wasn't hard to guess. Since Yin Yang Heaven intended to bring these two Core Disciples together, and Qu Huachang had entered the Reincarnation Pavilion, Feng Chengsi would naturally follow close behind. If he could truly pull Qu Huachang out of the Pavilion, that was exactly what the entire Yin Yang Heaven hoped to see.
"He has!" Yu Xiangdie nodded. "He entered shortly after Qu'er began her seclusion."
"That means he's had a head start of several years!" Yang Kai let out a long breath. Time waited for no one.
Yu Xiangdie raised her hand to gesture for him to calm down. "In terms of time, that fellow did enter the Reincarnation Pavilion a few years before you, but that's not necessarily an advantage. To find a suitable partner within the Pavilion, the most important thing is the sincerity of your heart! Qu'er has you in her heart — that is your greatest advantage, one Feng Chengsi cannot match. Moreover... I suspect that when Qu'er entered the Reincarnation Pavilion, the Heart Obstacle she set for herself was not a simple one. Feng Chengsi won't succeed quickly."
"Heart Obstacle?" Yang Kai asked, puzzled.
Yu Xiangdie explained, "Every female disciple who enters the Reincarnation Pavilion to wait for her partner to find her sets a Heart Obstacle for herself during her last moment of clarity. The male disciples who enter can only awaken their original memories and pull them out of the Reincarnation Pavilion's cycles by breaking through that Heart Obstacle. The lowest level of this obstacle spans three lives and three worlds — the highest is nine lives and nine worlds!"
Yang Kai's understanding dawned. "So I need to find her in at least three, and at most nine reincarnation cycles, win her heart, and only then can I break her Heart Obstacle?"
"Precisely!" Yu Xiangdie nodded. "Qu'er has entered the Reincarnation Pavilion and temporarily lost her memories. If the Heart Obstacle were too easy, it would simply be handing her to someone else."
Yang Kai nodded. "Then what level of Heart Obstacle does Martial Aunt think Senior Sister Qu would set for herself?"
Yu Xiangdie said, "Three lives and three worlds would be too easy — someone else could slip through and take advantage. Nine lives and nine worlds would be too difficult. To tell you the truth, in all the years the Reincarnation Pavilion has existed, no disciple of Yin Yang Heaven has ever broken through a nine-lives-nine-worlds Heart Obstacle. The deeper into the reincarnations you go, the harder it becomes to gain the other person's recognition and affection. Qu'er is only waiting for you — she's not trying to make things impossible for you. So the obstacle she chose should fall somewhere in between. Exactly how many lives and worlds, you'll only know after you find her."
Yang Kai grinned, baring a set of gleaming white teeth. "Now that really is a difficult challenge!"