“Yes. My teacher is FrostyLily Dream,” Lixue answered at last, startled by Wansheng and Wanling’s eyes, bright as fireflies in a summer grove.

“Oho! Then here’s a little secret, Lixue—Lady FrostyLily Dream was once our Master’s disciple,” Wansheng sang, like dangling a jade charm.

So that’s why they got excited. But wait—FrostyLily Dream always adored Xinuo, and she looks every inch a sword user. How was she the Founder’s disciple?

“My teacher was your Master’s disciple? Isn’t she a Sword Spirit? I thought she learned under Sir Xino,” Lixue asked, her voice rippling like a stream.

“That came later,” Wanling said, words falling like steady rain. “Lady FrostyLily Dream first studied magic with Master. Time flowed, and she found she couldn’t climb to Master’s peak. Plus, her core Origin Artifact is twin blades. So she thickened her skin and went to apprentice under Sir Xino.”

“Then by that math, Lady FrostyLily Dream and Master are senior and junior sisters?” Wansheng spoke; Wanling muttered the afterthought, like two strings plucked in turn.

“Huh? How’s that work?” I blinked, curiosity pricking like thorns.

“Simple. Master studied under Sir Xino for a long spell,” Wansheng said, calm as a lake at dawn.

“Isn’t your Master the Founder of Magic? How did she end up learning from Little Xino?” I frowned, memory like mist; I’d never seen Xinuo cast, never heard her mention it.

“You didn’t know? In magic, Sir Xino’s above Master,” Wansheng and Wanling replied together, looking at us like cranes upon an odd fish.

Wanling went on before we could speak: “We heard it from Master. Once you reach the Origin Realm, jobs vanish like fog in sunlight. Paths differ, but they meet; after that, you refine your Primordial Source. Master stayed by Sir Xino to learn how to grasp and read the Source; magic was just the side path. Sir Xino rarely uses magic, probably because her core Origin Artifact is a sword… uh, and at the Origin Realm, there isn’t really ‘magic’ or ‘Sword Aura’ as separate things.”

Wanling glanced at Wansheng, unsure, like a sparrow checking the wind.

“Right. It’s all triggered by Source power; the essence is the same, only the shape differs,” Wansheng added, voice neat as a blade. “If an Origin Realm being wants to toss a small fireball, using a wand makes it magic; using a sword makes it Sword Aura. Bare hands? Call it magic, call it Sword Aura—either works. That’s the idea.”

“Ah—so that’s it,” we murmured, understanding settling like gentle snow.

A minute or two passed, and our minds drifted back from the clouds. The Origin Realm… a height hard to imagine, like a peak hidden above storms.

“Ahem.” Heartvoice looked at the corridor ahead, black as ink flowing into the deep, then at Wansheng and Wanling. “The Origin Realm is far from us. Knowing too much now won’t help. Let’s cut this thread. We have business. You said what’s sealed at the deepest point of the Soulless Sanctuary is the main issue. What does that mean?”

“Yeah, what’s sealed inside?” Celia Maya asked, attention tight as a bowstring.

We returned to the matter at hand, shedding our loosened ease like a cloak.

“Exactly what it sounds like—a very formidable existence,” Wansheng said, then she and Wanling grew solemn, faces like stone under storm-light. We felt our own nerves pull tight and waited.

“At the deepest heart of this Soulless Sanctuary, a being of the Origin Realm is sealed,” Wansheng declared, revealing the thunder under the drum with a straight, steady voice.

The news struck like lightning. For a moment, our thoughts went white. An Origin Realm existence, sealed here? Could such a thing be?

In my mind, the Origin Realm meant Xinuo’s level—a summit above the world, a ridge beyond clouds. And yet, such a one, bound by the Soulless Sanctuary? Wansheng wasn’t joking; her tone was iron, her eyes clear.

No wonder this place always felt uncanny, like a temple built on a sleeping volcano. A place that can bind an Origin Realm existence… the thought alone chills the bones.

“…How did this happen? Wansheng, Wanling, can you tell us more?” Qianji asked, voice steady as she breathed.

“We can’t,” Wansheng said, shaking her head like a willow in wind. “Master only told us the Soulless Sanctuary seals an Origin Realm being, and it’s very dangerous. Nothing more. That’s all we know.” She paused, then tilted a question back at us like a mirror. “With that, are you still going in? You might meet danger you can’t predict.”

“Um…” Heartvoice and Celia Maya hesitated, thoughts like birds wheeling.

“Of course we continue,” Aunt Saintvoice cut in, her resolve a blade’s gleam. “If that Origin Realm being is still sealed, he can’t escape. Maybe even his movement is bound. We’re only going to look. If we tread carefully, we should be fine.”

“Hm. All right. With Lixue here, we should be safe,” Wanling said after a moment, nodding like tapping a chime.

“Why?” Lixue tilted her head, puzzled like a kitten.

“Because Lady FrostyLily Dream entrusted her core Origin Artifact to you,” Wanling replied. “It shows she values you. If anything happens to you here, Lady FrostyLily Dream will know at once. And you can guess the rest.”

If Lixue was in danger, FrostyLily Dream would rush in like winter wind. That was Wanling’s meaning. But back in Cerol City, when death came close, that didn’t happen; Hill dragged us to the Dragon Realm, sent by Xinuo.

“True. With Ice Illusion Moon, reaching the teacher isn’t hard,” Lixue said, relief opening on her face like dawn. Then she smiled at me. “And if it really goes wrong, Emperor is here. Thinking that calms me.”

“Eh? Yumigawa Sumeragi? He does have a mysterious aura around him… don’t tell me—” Wansheng and Wanling turned to me, curiosity rising like a tide.

“That’s right! Our dear big brother is also a Sword Wielder!” Lingxiao declared, voice bright as bells.

“And big brother’s mentor is that very Sir Xino!” Lingsaki chimed in, pride fluttering like flags, bragging even before I could speak.

“What? Sir Xino’s disciple?!” Wansheng and Wanling stared at me, eyes wide as moons, cute faces unable to hide their shock.

Uh… what? Is that worth such a reaction? Their gaze burned like summer sun, and I started feeling embarrassed under the heat.