The news of Princess Kong Li's wedding spread through the entire celestial realm.
Everyone was busy preparing wedding gifts. The general understanding was this: back when the Dragon Prince had been besotted with a little mountain sparrow and had humiliated Princess Kong Li by planning to take that sparrow into a small world to test their love, the Princess—furious—had followed and vowed to make them fail. Now, shortly after Kong Li's return, word of a wedding had come. The obvious conclusion: the Dragon Prince and the mountain sparrow had failed their trial, and somewhere in those small worlds, the Princess had witnessed something that changed her.
Why else would she come back and immediately announce a wedding?
Quite a number of people who were acquainted with the Dragon King and Dragon Mother came to offer their congratulations, expressing what a relief it was that the Dragon Prince had finally come to his senses—clearly, a mere mountain sparrow was no match for the illustrious Princess Kong Li.
The Dragon King and Dragon Mother received these congratulations with complicated faces and said nothing to correct the assumption. Once the guests had gone, they murmured between themselves.
"What do you make of all this?"
The Dragon Prince had not returned to the Dragon Palace. Their only news of Kong Li had come through the wedding announcement itself. The Dragon Mother was confused—and still faintly mortified at the memory of her last encounter with A-Xin, not to mention being shot by a mortal. Her face burned.
"Could our son have gone straight to Kong Li's Hall?" the Dragon Mother said uncertainly. "But if Kong Li is getting married, why haven't we received any invitation? Old Dragon—do you think Kong Li has taken a liking to our son, but still holds a grudge against me specifically?"
The Dragon King gave her a look. "Is that really what you'd call a grudge?"
"Never mind that—go and ask around. Has Yunxiu come back? How can there be a wedding and no word to us at all?" The Dragon Mother's expression was still carefully hopeful. "If Kong Li and Yunxiu can really come together, even if she doesn't want to speak to me, I can live with that."
The Dragon King shook his head. He had a feeling things were not so simple. A matter this significant, and he had been able to find out precisely nothing. He went to make inquiries, and returned with the same result: nothing. But by now, practically every being in the celestial realm was congratulating him on his son's wedding to Princess Kong Li. He tried to approach Kong Li's Hall for clarity, but was turned away before he came anywhere near.
The Dragon King was deeply unsettled. But he had no information, and could hardly stand there and deny a wedding he wasn't certain hadn't happened. What if it had?
He went home and waited.
On the day of the wedding, the Dragon King and Dragon Mother were finally permitted to enter Kong Li's Hall.
Before the couple appeared, every guest was still congratulating the Dragon King and Dragon Mother warmly. But when they saw Kong Li emerge—holding the hand of another young woman—the room went silent.
Kong Li let her gaze rest on the Dragon King and Dragon Mother for a single, serene moment.
"This is A-Xin," she said. "From this day forward, A-Xin and I are joined as wives. Let heaven and earth end—our bond does not break."
Every guest in the room turned to look at the Dragon King and Dragon Mother. The looks were not flattering. The Dragon King finally understood why the whole affair had been kept so tightly under wraps. This was Kong Li's repayment.
He looked up at the high seats where the Peacock King and the Golden Crow Emperor sat together, splendidly at ease—and caught a glance from the Golden Crow Emperor, cool and pointed as a blade, that made him want to quietly disappear.
When the grand wedding was over and the guests had gone, the Golden Crow Emperor's voice reached the Dragon King and Dragon Mother before they could slip away.
"Dragon King. Dragon Mother. Please stay."
Both of them shuddered. But there was nothing to do but hold their ground.
The Golden Crow Emperor let her gaze travel over them slowly.
"Come inside," she said. "We have things to discuss."
Inside where?
It didn't matter where. If they ever wanted to show their faces in the celestial realm again, they had to follow. And besides—the Golden Crow Emperor knew what had been done to Kong Li. The Dragon Mother's face had gone the color of ash.
"Serves them right," Kong Li muttered cheerfully, watching from A-Xin's side.
She brought A-Xin along to watch.
They followed the procession to a place of scorching heat—the closest point in all the celestial realm to the sun. By now the Golden Crow Emperor had shifted into her true form. The Peacock King was arranging a containment array around the perimeter. The Dragon King and Dragon Mother stood in the center, small and unmoored.
"You dared scheme for my daughter's divine power and bloodline. The nerve of you."
"That—that—Golden Crow Sister, please let me explain—" The Dragon Mother stumbled over her words. "I—I—"
"I'm not interested."
The Golden Crow Emperor moved. The Dragon Mother shifted immediately into her true form—a great golden dragon—but against the Golden Crow Emperor, her cultivation level was barely worth mentioning. It wasn't long before several parts of her body were scorched black.
When it was over, most of the Dragon Mother's scales had been stripped away, and she smelled strongly of burned meat. Recovering would take many years. Only then did the Golden Crow Emperor feel her anger had been sufficiently expressed. She told the Dragon King to take the Dragon Mother away—and that if she ever laid eyes on either of them again, she would do it again. They were not to appear before her.
Kong Li found the whole thing deeply satisfying. It was the first time she'd ever truly appreciated that her mother loved her.
Some years later, Kong Li heard news of the Dragon Prince's return. His divine power and cultivation were both significantly damaged. On top of that, the Dragon King had given him a severe thrashing when he got home.
But Ao Yunxiu had not given up on Bai Xiaoqiao. After everything he'd been through, he decided he might as well go all the way—he would find Bai Xiaoqiao, seize her, bring her to the Dragon Palace, and seal her memories again, making her believe she loved him.
This time, he failed.
He failed because Bai Xiaoqiao, upon returning to her true form, had recovered all her sealed memories. Years of experience in the small worlds had also strengthened her considerably. She was not the same creature Ao Yunxiu remembered. He could not simply seal her mind as he once had.
And she was not alone.
Someone appeared at Bai Xiaoqiao's side—the two of them together drove Ao Yunxiu back. This person seemed to have come from nowhere; her bloodline was not particularly distinguished, but her power was extraordinary. The Dragon Prince was no match for her.
Kong Li and A-Xin spent their days in the Abyss Between Worlds entirely absorbed in each other, paying little attention to the outside. After everything Kong Li had seen and lived through in those small worlds, nothing outside held much pull over her any longer.
"A-Xin, someone's here to see Kong Li." Yín Líng came bounding over to them, voice dripping with sourness. "You two could spare a moment from your display of affection to notice the outside world once in a while."
Yín Líng had once hoped desperately that the Abyss would change. It had. But now she was drowning in sweetness and seriously considering whether she was becoming a lemon.
Every day, the two of them fed her so much second-hand happiness she could barely breathe. Life was difficult.
The visitor was Bai Xiaoqiao. She spotted Kong Li and called out sweetly, "Elder Sister Kong Li!"
"What is it?" Kong Li had her arm around A-Xin's waist. "Speak quickly."
"I'd like you to be my witness at my wedding." Bai Xiaoqiao's cheeks were pink. "In the celestial realm, you're the only one I know well enough to ask. Would that be alright?"
Only then did Kong Li notice the woman standing at Bai Xiaoqiao's side—clad in black. Kong Li's brow lifted. "This is the one you love? Another woman."
"Yes." Bai Xiaoqiao's voice went soft with memory. "Actually, Dong Ying and I have known each other for a very long time. Once, I was being endlessly harassed by Ao Yunxiu, and Dong Ying came to help me. Then somehow she and Ao Yunxiu fought—and he killed her. I happened to witness it. He sealed my memories afterward, and made me believe that the feelings I had were for him—then took me into the small world."
"Dong Ying died, but fragments of her soul scattered in many directions. They drifted through various places, found strange chances and encounters—" Bai Xiaoqiao's face was quite red now— "and it turned out: all the people I met in those small worlds, the ones who helped me—they were pieces of Dong Ying's soul."
Kong Li understood.
"Of course I'll be your witness. Tell me when the wedding is, and I'll be there."
Bai Xiaoqiao's face lit up. "We still need a little time to prepare. We'll let you know when everything is ready—is that alright?"
"Perfectly alright."
Kong Li was genuinely pleased. Ao Yunxiu's power was in ruins. Bai Xiaoqiao had someone who truly loved her. She would live her days in happiness. Kong Li was delighted.
Just as Bai Xiaoqiao and Dong Ying were departing, a familiar voice sounded in A-Xin's mind.
"Great One—is it really you?"
A-Xin paused. "What kind of system are you this time?"
"A Grassroots Rise-to-Glory System, Great One. It's such an honor to meet you again."
"You were with the eagle?"
"After Bai Xiaoqiao returned to her true form, one fragment of the eagle's soul, driven by the force of its lingering wish, summoned me. With my assistance, she passed through various trials and chances, arrived here in the celestial realm, recovered her memories, restored her true body, and successfully united with Bai Xiaoqiao—and defeated the Dragon Prince in the process."
So the reason Dong Ying had been strong enough to defeat the Dragon Prince was the system's help.
"Great One—you are not evil at all."
The system said this with a kind of trembling reverence.
"All along, the one who has been sustaining the ten thousand worlds—it's you, Great One. I've heard the legends of you since long ago. I have always admired you greatly."
"You've done well yourself," A-Xin said.
The system brimmed with happiness at the praise. If someday the Great One would take it in—that would truly be a dream come true.
Though perhaps that really was only a dream.
— End —
Translator's Note
I should have finished this novel a long time ago, but life got in the way. I was busy, and honestly a little lazy, so here we finally are. Thank you so much to SoppyMess for all the power stones you kept sending my way. You believed in this more consistently than I did, and I kept not posting. I'm genuinely sorry about that.
As for whether I'll translate anything else, probably not for a while. I've run out of sweet, cozy stories like this one to share. If I ever have more free time, or if enough people are still interested, I'll go looking for something new with a similar feel. We'll see.
Thank you for reading. 🤍