Chapter 4: Failed Ascension

Little Huayan ran to the side of Star Lord Sixuan, tilting her head ever so slightly.
“I don’t want to! High Judge, please, I beg you! Let me ascend!”
“Nonsense! The Celestial Waters Dream is not for you to decide. Every name on the Ascension Register must be truly worthy. Besides, you, little flower sprite, have come seven times in thirty thousand years, failing every attempt.”
Star Lord Sixuan truly had no way to deal with this little flower sprite, so he resorted to invoking the laws of the divine realm to bring her to heel.
“I waited for a thousand six hundred years for nothing, all my efforts wasted, ah…”
Little Huayan sobbed bitterly, pouring out the sorrow of striving with all her might yet failing to ascend—seven attempts in thirty thousand years, and still only a little sprite tending the Hall of Hundred Flowers.
Looking at her, so pitiful and delicate, Star Lord Sixuan relented, his mind turning over with compassion.
“There is one way—the Nine-Purple Fiery Pill from the Celestial Light Market can nourish the soul and spirit, forging the path to immortality. Perhaps it could mend your damaged soul.”
“Nine-Purple Fiery Pill?” Little Huayan sniffled as she asked.
Beside her, Liuying appeared entirely unruffled, arms crossed, rolling her eyes in thought.
She was dressed in a flowing Celestial Jade Gown, with a turquoise sash, a crown of glass beads, and star-shaped hairpins on either side of her head—elegant, yet with a stubborn, untouchable air.
“So marvelous? It can truly forge immortality? I’ve snuck plenty of pills from my master’s treasury but never saw such wondrous effects. Can it really heal a broken soul?”
“Broken? Where am I broken, Liuying?” Little Huayan asked through gritted teeth, a tragic look on her face as she gazed at her dearest friend.
Then her eyes lit up, and she cozied up to Liuying, her companion in countless failed ascensions. “Liuying, why don’t you come with me to the Celestial Light Market?”
“The Celestial Light Market? Isn’t that the Ghost Bazaar? Even if you lent me your courage, I wouldn’t dare! If my master found out I’d sneaked into the Ghost Bazaar, he’d skin me alive. Huayan, you’re on your own for this one!”
With that, Liuying dashed away.
“So disloyal! If you won’t come, I’ll go myself. What’s there to fear?” Little Huayan put her hands on her hips, pouting, her eyes shining with resolve.
“I, the High Judge, have seen and heard nothing.” Star Lord Sixuan, a faint smile on his weathered face, turned and walked away.
Perhaps only Star Lord Sixuan knew that the fire that burned away Huayan’s soul was not some celestial flame, but the divine spirit of the Goddess Zhaoyan.
Thirty thousand years ago, the Goddess Zhaoyan sacrificed her soul to save Beiming Yanhuo. After Beiming Yanhuo was gravely wounded by the Nine-Linked Moon, he exhausted ten thousand years of cultivation to carry the last fragment of Zhaoyan’s soul to Star Lord Sixuan.
Defying the will of heaven, Star Lord Sixuan changed the Goddess’s fate, telling Beiming Yanhuo that if she could endure the tribulations—three calamities, nine hardships, and ten ordeals—she would naturally be revived.

After exhausting his power, Beiming Yanhuo descended to the mortal realm to endure the tribulations in Zhaoyan’s stead and even shielded her from heavenly punishment for over ten thousand years.
At death’s door, he dragged himself to the summit of the Ten Thousand Mountains, where he recovered for more than ten thousand years.
But Beiming Yanhuo did not know that the last fragment of Zhaoyan’s spirit had been attached to a thousand-year-old peach tree.
Celestial Light Market.
Also known as the Ghost Bazaar, it is a place where gods, demons, immortals, and spirits mingle. Here, rare pills, spirit beasts, and magical treasures are found in abundance.
It holds the most vital intelligence in the nine provinces—where interests align, even enemies become allies.
Here, the titles of gods and demon lords are nothing but empty words. All are free to do as they please.
Thousands of lights illuminate every street, scattered like a sea of stars. Shops line the avenues, vendors shout their wares, and the market bustles with life.
On either side, spirit beasts and magical pets lie in wait, and the goods on offer are as strange as they are numerous.
Immortals glide by on flying swords, serene and elegant, while demon spirits, flamboyantly adorned and leading their pets, saunter past in style.
Little Huayan stared in wonder at the coming and going of gods, demons, and spirits—astonished by the harmony and splendor outside the Celestial Realm.
Following the endless cries of vendors from sunrise to sunset, she searched the Celestial Light Market but found no sign of the rare pill she sought.
Her bright eyes sparkled, undeterred, as she carefully searched for the Nine-Purple Fiery Pill spoken of by Star Lord Sixuan.
“Shopkeeper, do you have any Nine-Purple Fiery Pills here?”
“Never heard of it.”
“How could you not? They said the Ghost Bazaar would have it.”
“I said no, so there’s none. Move along, don’t get in the way of my business,” the shopkeeper replied impatiently.
Hearing the dismissal, the light in Huayan’s eyes dimmed.
“Hey!”
Suddenly, a loud voice startled Huayan, making her jump. A blur of purple flashed before her eyes.

“Where did you come from, little immortal? You nearly scared me to death.”
“Little immortal?”
The youth in purple squinted at Huayan, sizing up her attire and thinking: By the looks of her, she must be a little sprite with plenty of spirit stones. He began to plot.
“My name is Firefly. Pleased to meet you.” Firefly reached out, resting his hand on Huayan’s shoulder, his eyes glinting with a mischievous smile.
Huayan examined the boy who called himself Firefly.
He wore a strange purple robe, its patterns unlike any she’d ever seen.
A snake whip coiled around his waist, and his hair was braided into two plaits that wrapped around his head, fastened with a silver lotus ornament.
He looked wild and unrestrained, flamboyant and passionate, yet also strangely out of place—though she couldn’t say exactly why.
“Oh! My name is Huayan.”
“Well, since fate has brought us together, I, the Young Lord, can do you a favor. I know where to find the Nine-Purple Fiery Pill.”
Huayan’s eyes immediately shone.
“Really?”
“Would I lie? But—do you have any spirit stones?”
“I do, but not many. Only three thousand.” Huayan took a pouch from her waist and poured the spirit stones into her hand.
“That’s all?” Firefly pretended to be disappointed, but his eyes gleamed with hunger as he eyed the stones.
“These spirit stones are everything I own. As long as you help me find the Nine-Purple Fiery Pill, they’re all yours.”
“Fine, then!”
And so, Firefly tricked Huayan into following him to the desolate, ancient Witchlands not far from the Celestial Light Market.