We'd barely finished talking when Celia Maya told us we'd head to Crimson Dragon Valley in three days to train. Rest now and gather what we need, like banked coals before a blaze.

As for Lingxiao and Lingsaki, they'd follow Celia Maya to the Dragon Realm's sacred ground—Holy Spirit Island—to cultivate, a mist-wreathed isle above a sea of scales.

"Speaking of prep, Lingxiao, Lingsaki, do you still have any spirit herbs?" Worry rippled through me like wind in reeds.

After that last battle, I learned how terrifyingly strong the Supreme Divine Spirit Medicine was, like thunder in a bottle. Without it, I might've stayed in Sait City forever, a name on cold stone.

"Mm, let me see." Her voice dropped like a pebble into a still pond.

She rummaged through her spatial pouch again and again, then shook her head. "We burned through most of it in that fight. Only two or three stalks left. Let's go home and restock; we've got three days." Her words fell neat as rice into a bowl.

"It's true, we haven't been home in ages. This is the perfect time," Lingsaki said, her smile opening like a morning flower.

"You're right... we should go back. And didn't Lixue want to see the Central Continent? This is a clean window, like a gap in the clouds."

Honesty first, then motion—I missed home too, a tide tugging the anchor, so I gladly agreed to the sisters' plan.

"We can go to the Central Continent? I'm looking forward to it." Lixue's eyes lit like stars pricking winter sky.

"In that case, I'll send you to the Mizumi Clan in a bit. Stay there for a while. I'll bring you back in two days—how's that?" Celia's tone was a warm breeze through bamboo.

When we finished, Celia Maya smiled as she spoke. I couldn't refuse. "Then we'll trouble you, Miss Celia Maya." Gratitude rose like steam from a cup.

"No trouble. I wanted to visit the Central Continent to find some spirit herbs anyway." Her laugh chimed like glass in sun.

"Then our goals line up. If you need anything, just tell us," Lingxiao said, generous as a wide river.

"Mhm, I will. So, Mizumi, when do you plan to head out?" Celia asked, light as drifting petals.

"No time like the present. After we change." Urgency flickered like a struck match.

I almost said now, then noticed I was still in a bathrobe from the hot spring, steam-soft and careless. Hill woke just then, stretching on the bed like a yawning kitten, so cute I couldn't help scooping her up.

"Eh? Boss, are you talking about something fun?" Her voice skipped like a stone over water.

She tipped her little face up, eyes bright as dew, eager to hear more.

"We're going home in a bit. Hill, you coming?" I pinched her soft cheeks, warm as fresh buns, and grinned.

"Home? The Central Continent! I'm going! Actually, wherever Boss goes, I go!" Her vow wagged like a happy tail.

At that, Hill lit up, a sunbeam after rain, her smile sweet enough to melt snow.

"They say you can't keep a grown girl at home. Hill's been impossible to keep since she was tiny—completely smitten with you, Mizumi." Celia Maya petted Hill's small head, teasing with a cat-soft touch.

"Mhm! I like Boss the most!" Hill declared, proud as a peacock with open tail.

She said it like showing off a bright ribbon, chin up, eyes glittering like fireflies.

"No way! The ones who love our dear big brother most are us!"

"That's right, we love big brother most." Their voices crossed like twin swallows in spring.

Are you kids? Arguing over that? Exasperation sighed through me like wind in pines.

Ten minutes slipped by. Once they'd calmed down and changed clothes and shoes, I had Celia Maya start the teleport, like a bell starting a rite.

"Closer, everyone. Teleport—Central Continent, Mizumi Clan."

As her words fell, soft pale-gold light unfurled like dawn, swiftly forming a teleportation array that ringed us like a halo.

Bathed in that warm pale-gold glow, our sight went pure white, like snowfall swallowing a path.

...

It felt like seconds, or minutes, drifting like leaves on a stream. When I came back to myself, the air and the elements were cleaner and purer, like spring water through stone.

I opened my eyes. A sapphire sky hung so close it felt touchable. Towering trees, lush and vigorous, stood along the road like green pillars. Flowers bloomed everywhere, delicate and full, and the breeze carried a fragrance like spun honey. Now and then elementals drifted past like dandelion seeds. Farther off, I could make out grand estates, their roofs rising like mountain ridges.

This familiar scene, this long-missed feeling, hit so hard I almost cried, like thaw after a long winter. It had been too long.

Phew—home really is the sweetest landscape; the outside world can't compare, city smoke to valley mist.

"Same. You only grasp home's beauty after you've walked the world," the sisters sighed, warm as lantern light.

They took a deep breath and melted into it, intoxicated like bees in clover. I wasn't much different.

"So... this is the Central Continent. It's like a hidden paradise." Awe colored Lixue's voice. "The air's clean without a speck. Even the elements and laws are so pure and dense it's scary. Compared to this, the Palace of Ice Crystal where I lived for over a decade is nothing." Her words rang like crystal on ice.

"Right? No matter how many times you come, it stuns you. Only by stepping onto the Central Continent do you feel how small your own world is," Celia Maya echoed, gaze lifted to a horizon wide as an ocean.

As for Hill, she'd already tried to bolt off to play, a sparrow chasing sunbeams. If I hadn't caught her in time, she'd have vanished like a pebble in tall grass.

"Alright, standing here daydreaming won't change a thing. Let's head to the main house," I said, setting our feet on the path like ink strokes on paper.

...

We walked for a bit more than ten minutes. As we neared the main house, everything looked the same as when I'd left, still life preserved like a painting. We didn't see a single person for half the time; the place was as quiet as moss after rain.

After crowded cities outside, the emptiness felt uncanny, like echoes in an empty hall.

The moment we stepped into the clan courtyard, hurried footsteps rushed toward us, drumbeats before a duel.

"Little Emperor! You finally decided to come back!!"

A delighted, bell-clear woman's voice hit first. Then I was tackled, and my head sank into a place unusually soft and sweetly fragrant, like falling into a perfumed cloud.

"Serenemoon, it's hard to breathe..." I managed, words thin as paper.

I pried my head free from near-suffocation. Serenemoon's beautiful face filled my view, close as moonlight at the window. I blanked for a heartbeat, then hugged her, my fingers combing through the glossy curls cascading down her back like black water.

"Honestly! Little Emperor, you were gone two or three years. Do you know how much your big sis missed you?" Her pout was a peach of grievance.

She lifted her head and stared, cheeks puffed, counting her complaints. Guilt pricked me like thorns. I'd had plenty to do outside. But her? In this sparse main house, finding someone to chat with is hard. Leihua and the others are away at times, and with our parents there's little common ground, rain on stone.

"Sorry..." The word left me like a fallen leaf.

With that thought, I had nothing else to offer—apology was all I had, a cup of warm tea.

"Mhm, as long as you know... Huh? Little Emperor, you cut your hair?! You look so handsome! Not good, why is my heart suddenly racing..." Her voice fluttered like a startled bird.

Hey, hey, Serenemoon, your expression's getting scary, a wolf tail up.

But this kind of everyday—I'd missed it so much. I raised both hands to stop her face from coming any closer, met her beautiful pale-golden eyes, and chuckled. "Serenemoon, I'm back."

"Mm. Welcome home, Little Emperor."

What met me was a dazzling, gentle smile, warm as sunrise on frost.