XiNiang opened her eyes once more and breathed heavily as she felt light soaring high up above the clouds like a carefree eagle. The ascension was nearly complete. A moment of deafening silence echoed as the final stage of ascend commenced. Bright bluish-pink rays filled the sky as XiNiang rested atop the ceremonial cloud. The elder of the ninth heaven's council of immortals welcomed her warmly along with the other immortals seated in front of her.
"Gu XiNiang, you have done such a courageous deed of saving a Goddess from plunging to the darkness and at the same time saved also Old Jianghu, the land whom the immortals have cultivated. You have already shed your mortal shell and have died on your previous life. Do you wish to reincarnate and be reborn again? Or do you wish to become an immortal like us?"
XiNiang was perplexed. She realized that she had already died but could not accept the fact that she would have to leave the people whom she cared the most so soon.
The elder walked towards two floating arrays one with the spirit restoring flower and one with the immortality flame.
"Take the flower if you wish to be reborn again or take the flame if you wish to be an immortal."
'If I'll be reborn, I'll never see them again but if I'll become an immortal, then I maybe have the chance to see them but-"
The elder looked at XiNiang's troubled eyes. He assumes that she have an inner conflict going on inside her mind.
"Well young lady, if you wouldn't make up your mind, I guess we'll choose the right path for you."
"Wait... No-No... I'm making my desicion! I'm making my desicion!"
XiNiang's desicion making was rushed but she already had made up her mind. She wants to be an immortal for her to see the people whom she hold dear.
Walking slowly, she had almost reached out for the flame when LiuFang Asuro came flying inside the room and intervened at the ceremony.
The elder stared cold daggers at him after he flicked away XiNiang's hand away from the flame.
"She have another choice other than those two."
"LiuFang Asuro..."
"I came not for you but for QiuShan Li. I need you to save him from himself."
Gu XiNiang remembered the gentle smile of Li's lips and the days when they were both together in the dark realm mastering the way of the shura's cultivation. After a moment of silence, she turned and faced the elder.
"Tell me Elder... Is there another way?"
The elder coldly glared at LiuFang Asuro threatening him with the look on his face but Asuro was unfazed and told XiNiang the whole truth.
"There is indeed another way to revive a person who had already died without being reborn or becoming an immortal."
Asuro took a step further and touched a tile from the wall of the ceremonial hall where they were in opening a contraption where a bark of a mysterious tree glowed with blue flowers stored inside a tightly closed glass lid.
"This bark is called Tear of the Spring Goddess. Before Goddess Ji Mei had her heart arrow root stolen, she shed her tears of sorrow and betrayal later becoming the trees of sprint tears from which this bark is obtained."
Asuro carefully lifted the glass lid and with his hands, slowly tooo the bark and showed it to the immortals. The elder was very displeased. He doesn't want the mere human to know that he had such precious possession with him instead Asuro came and exposed him before he can even make a move. Seething with rage, the elder immortal wanted to shun the preposterous idea so he went in front of Asuro and spoke angrily.
"The Tear of the Spring Goddess is something that should have not existed. It may revive any dead mortal which is a blasphemy that would disrupt the law of mortality and immortality!" He blatantly said . The immortals started whispering and buzzing at one another however Asuro's faith didn't wane inside him. He wanted to undo the mistake that he did before and he didn't want XiNiang to repeat the same mistake.
Asuro's eyes fixated to XiNiang who have troubled eyes as she saw the immortals looked at her with doubts.
"XiNiang. The greatest mistake I did before was taking the immortality flame... Being an immortal is a pain. It caused a scar inside me so great that I have forgotten how to love for hundreds of years."
"But... It seems like the elder is against the idea that you have proposed."
"I'll change his mind later. If you survive the tribulation."
"Survive the what-"
XiNiang said no more as Asuro picked a petal from the blooms of the branch and immediately stuck it on her mouth.
There was an intense glow of white light as XiNiang disappeared without a trace. The Elder was shocked at the same time frozen at his position knowing that the impossible was about to become possible.
"Elder Fang... XiNiang maybe a weak mortal to you but she had already proved her strength to us while she cultivated under my tutelage."
"Y-You! Cultivating the shura's way is something that no mortal should do! You really are sly and despicable Asuro!"
"Call me evil but let me ask you, what is good and evil anyway? When it comes to choosing morality over prestige what would weigh the most Elder Fang?"
Elder Fang's mouth was sealed shut. Asuro's words pierced deep into his conscience. It has been so long when Asuro descended to the dark realm to become the sixth one. However, instead of roasting Asuro head on, Elder Fang sighed and stopped saying a word against him.
"Where is the young girl now?" the elder asked.
"She is undergoing her tribulation. Inside the tear, she will be facing Ji Mei's agony and pain." Asuro replied, while observing the branch.
Elder Fang was very distraught. "But she is a mortal!"
Asuro's competence to XiNiang did now melt away. He taught her everything there is to know about the shuras and he is certain that she'd return from the tribulation unscathed. "Don't confuse her for any other mortal. Remember that she is my student and I am her master and for that, I gave her the Unyielding pill of healing. One of the shura's great treasures made by the first shura himself."
Elder Fang's eyes grew wide as he heard his words. "This- This is blasphemy! Ninth heaven will fall because of your carelessness! You indeed are a traitor to the Ninth Heaven, Wan MianSu was right!"
A smile curved up on Asuro's lip. He scoffed as he heard the name of the woman who wanted the Ninth Heaven to fall into ruins. "Wan MianSu, huh? I guess I have forgotten to tell you the real reason why Ji Mei became berserk right?"
Elder Fang flinched. His body shook and he doesn't want to listen to the revelation."You are bluffing! Why would I listen to a traitor like you?"
Getting impatient with Elder Fang, Asuro placed down the branch inside the lid again and faced Elder Fang with his eyes brimming with rage. "Yes I am a traitor but it's the only thing that there is, if you don't listen, what's the difference between you and I?"
_________________________
XiNiang walked around and found herself lying underneath a tree. Sunlight kissed her face causing her to get up. She felt different so she searched for a nearby pond. She looked at the cystal clear water and found herself wearing different clothes and headwear.
"What is this? Why am I looking like this? Am I really dead for real?"
XiNiang walked around the garden and afterwards saw a man walking around. It wasn't a familiar face but she felt a pain on her chest without any reason at all. She went and responded to the man but instead of responding back at her, the man responded to the woman from behind her. She looked around and found Ji Mei happily talking to the man whom she had presumed, a mortal.
"Ji Mei... Was in love?"
XiNiang walked around and touched both of them but instead, her hand went through.
'Wait... I remember now, Asuro fed me a petal of that Tear of the Spring Goddess and told me to survive the tribulation. Maybe this is it.'
XiNiang witnessed as the man went back to the garden day after day bringing all kinds of gifts. Ji Mei wholeheartedly accepted all of it and even saw them both made love underneath the giant plum tree.
XiNiang witnessed all of the good things that happened to Ji Mei but as she took steps further, the painful memory of Ji Mei sent a stinging pain to her body as she saw the man met up with other mortals.
XiNiang peeked and saw the man being slapped in the face by an old aged man.
"You are the future of the XuZhen clan and yet you chose to elope with a woman whom you met in a secret garden!? How shameless you are!"
"But father, that woman is Ji Mei... The Goddess of Spring... The one whom I love the most..."
"Hah love? I have great plans for you to marry a duke's daughter on the neighboring country but you turned down the opportunity! Now, you will suffer pain, guards! Take this man away!"
"But father! I love Ji Mei! I love Ji Mei with all my heart!"
"Love will never get you power, wealth and fame. You're useless. From now on, you're no longer my son."
As the guards took away the son, a hooded woman walked close to the old man and whispered something on his ear which made the old man pleased with a big smile on his face.
"Aromatic Heart Arrow Root will make me rich beyond my imagination."
XiNiang felt the pain on her chest getting stronger that drove her to her knees.
'This is... Ji Mei's pain... The pain of being betrayed...' She clenched her right hand to her chest as she felt the suffocating pain but still XiNiang stood up despite the agony.
Heading back to the garden, XiNiang saw Ji Mei standing underneath the plum tree. As soon as Ji Mei saw a man standing in the entrance of the garden, wearing the same robe and hat of the man he loved the most, she rushed to meet him and gave a warm embrace...
"YuanQi~gege... I missed you so much."
The man did not reply to her but instead, a knife struck her side causing her to lose balance.
"YuanQi~gege... What are you doing?!"
The man removed his hat and revealed his face. It was indeed YuanQi but XiNiang felt something was terribly wrong.
'This man isn't talking at all and what's more suspicious there is, only divine weapons or cursed seals can hurt an immortal.'
XiNiang paid close attention as pain devoured her whole chest making her spit a clump of blood. It is indeed a divine weapon that is used to dig out Ji Mei's heart.
The tribulation is almost completed and XiNiang felt herself slowly dwindling away in a form of white petal of flowers. As the memory gradually fades away, YuanQi's face turned into a face of a woman. She clenched her hand into a fist. As the white memories faded completely, XiNiang had already returned back and Asuro helped her up as she spat another clump of blood from her mouth.
"XiNiang... Are you alright? Tell me what you saw."
"Yes... Yes... Inside the tribulation I saw someone... A woman. It was a woman who took Ji Mei's heart!"