“I checked it. This place’s a flat plane, not a planet—like a slate adrift on black seas. In this universe I see no stars, only sun and moon. It’s a platform floating in the void, can you believe that?” Eli shrugged, helpless as dust on a breeze.

Edlyn wore a side ponytail; white hair fell like a waterfall across her chest. A pale blue gown hugged her like dawn mist. A soft smile curved like a crescent.

She looked as if she’d grown up, like a sapling stretched by spring rain.

Though her figure still seemed the same, like a familiar silhouette against twilight.

She stood in crystal heels, rose slowly, glanced at Eli, and smiled. “Why wouldn’t I? You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?” Her voice was clear as a bell.

Eli stared at her, dazed, like a deer caught in lantern light, feet rooted to the ground.

She tilted her head with a sparrow’s grace and smiled. “What’s wrong?”

“Edlyn.” His face turned solemn, heavy as a storm bank, something important brewing.

Seeing that, Edlyn grew serious too, a calm shore bracing the tide. “Say it. What happened? Why that face?”

Eli’s steps felt heavy as he walked toward her, each footfall like a drum in fog.

Edlyn lifted her chin, eyes steady, a lily meeting rain.

He reached her, bowed his head, and looked at that face carved fine as jade.

She looked up; her mismatched eyes shimmered with curiosity, twin pools under starlight.

Eli leaned in and kissed her; Edlyn froze, startled like a bird beneath sudden wind, then arched a brow and patted his back with a leaf-light hand.

Eli drew back, met her gaze.

Edlyn frowned, a line like a reed in wind, a little vexed. “Huh? That’s your big thing?”

“I never said I had something to say.” Eli grinned, fox-bright in moonlight.

She remembered their skin-close moments; her cheeks bloomed like peaches after rain. She coughed twice and turned away, evasive as a shy cloud.

Eli laughed softly. “You’re stunning—moon-bright, river-calm.”

“Ew, that’s so cheesy. Shoo.” She pushed him away and turned aside, face red like a monkey’s rump behind a fan.

Eli coughed, then steadied, his tone ironed flat. “Alright. First, there’s something you need to know.” His voice rang like a gong.

“Hm?” Edlyn breathed deep, settled her mood like still water, and turned back.

Eli stood behind her, gaze burning like twin coals in winter.

Edlyn lowered her head, unsteady as a reed in shifting wind.

Eli smiled, scooped her up in a princess carry, arms sure as a cradle. She bit her lip. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing. I love you too much. I don’t want even a breath between us.” His words were warm as lamplight.

“You’re impossible.” Edlyn’s blush climbed like dawn over a ridge, her tone a playful swat.

“Back to business—I found something strange about this place.” His eyes narrowed like a blade’s edge.

“Back to business, then put me down.” Edlyn’s glare flashed like lightning under silk.

Eli pretended not to notice, holding tight as a knot.

“Have you ever seen the World Tree?” Eli asked, voice low as roots under soil.

Edlyn slapped away the wandering hand, then thought for a beat and nodded. “I have. I went to the World Tree’s domain to get materials for the Holy Sword.”

“Perfect.” Eli frowned, lines like furrows on earth. “Outside, the air carries energies like those in the World Tree’s domain.”

“Didn’t you say there was no energy here?” Edlyn frowned, sensing the air like a fox sniffing wind, then nodded. “Near us, there’s indeed nothing.”

“Right. None on this floating island.” Eli smiled, a lantern flickering back to life.

He set her down, one arm around her waist like a sash, and with the other sketched scenes in the air with energy, sparks like fireflies.

“Look. This is beneath us.” His voice lowered, river-deep. “Doesn’t it feel like the energy elements in the World Tree’s domain?”

“It does.” Edlyn’s brow pinched, steps of thought forming. “So much energy hidden under thick earth, like magma under snow.”

“That explains why we sense nothing on the island.” Eli’s tone smoothed, a carpenter’s plane. “I think it’s akin to the World Tree’s power, but its use differs.”

“The World Tree is the source of all energy, a spring under heaven. It’s grown strong enough to shoulder the whole world.”

“It became a pivot, a keel that holds the world in balance, so no wild force snaps the hull.”

“Beneath us it’s the same origin, different method. The World Tree nourishes; this mass absorbs.” His words fell like beads on a string.

“What is this place then?” Edlyn’s frown rippled like currents. “You said there are no stars around. And it’s a floating island…”

“I don’t know.” Eli shook his head, uncertainty like mist. “I only know it’s part of our world. The elements match too closely, like kin bone.”

“Well.” Edlyn shrugged, a drifting leaf. “Doesn’t matter. We won’t stay long anyway, right?”

Eli’s smile turned bitter, like tea steeped too long.

He recalled the Abyss’s words; his face grew grave, an iron bell. “Edlyn, we may be here for quite some time.”

“Eh?” Edlyn blinked, puzzled, eyes like lake glass. “What…?”

“We used your father’s power to cross time.” His voice cooled like night. “If our time point is far from his, his cost multiplies.”

“From what I observed, I suspect your father sent us to their era, anchor to anchor.”

“You mean…the era of the Celestial Gods?” Edlyn’s surprise flared like sparks.

“Maybe even earlier, or he wouldn’t be that weak.” Eli’s brow drew tight, a storm line.

“Not bad. Sharper than before.” Edlyn grinned, cat-sly. “Lost your virginity and gained wisdom, huh?”

“No way.” Eli chuckled, heat like embers. “My Demonic Lord is just relentless, like a vise clamping tight.”

“And like a drug, I’m addicted.” He dipped and nipped her cheek, a playful moth at fruit.

“Ew. You’re a creep. I’m not talking to you.”

“Don’t, don’t.” He raised his hands, surrender like white flags. “I was wrong, my lady wife.”

…

“You’re saying Liqianyu came here too?” Edlyn’s surprise leapt again, a fish flashing silver.

She realized she’d become the one who knew nothing, a traveler without a map.

Eli nodded, sat on a stump like a ring of time, set Edlyn on his lap, and patted her head, gentle as rain. “Yes.”

“I haven’t found her yet. The Abyss’s power was strained, couldn’t push her to our exact time.”

“Maybe we’ll see her later?” Edlyn tested the waters, a toe in a stream.

Eli kissed her cheek. “Smart. You get a kiss.” His smile was sunrise.

“Ew.” Edlyn wiped the damp like dew, joy peeking through like hidden blossom.

“I have some guesses, but they need proof.” His tone tightened, bowstring taut. “If I’m right, we might seize a portion of the Unique’s Authority.”

“Then drink ten thousand years of time, and face the Unique—and Birand.” His smile held chill, a blade under silk.

“Yeah. We’ve got a debt to settle.” Edlyn’s eyes gleamed, frost-bright.

“Your father said we came to learn more, gather knowledge, only then can we face the Unique.” Eli smiled, faith like a steady flame.

Inside, he kept one vow silent, a stone under water: that despairing future isn’t fate. He’ll change it.

He loved Edlyn to the edge of the world, and he’d carry the shadows for her, like a mountain shouldering clouds.

Edlyn caught his mysterious smile; her face turned wry, like tasting bitter orange.

She’d felt it for days: Eli was hiding something, not small, a sealed box in his eyes. That look meant trouble.

“Hungry?” Eli smiled, warm as hearth. “What do you want to eat? I’ll take you to catch it.”

“Tch. Who needs your fake kindness?” She glared, sparks flying, then hopped off his lap and strode away like a proud crane.

“It’s time you tasted my craft!” Edlyn puffed her chest, nose nearly pointing at the sky like a little mountain.

Eli’s smile faltered, a paper lantern in wind. “Sure. Let’s try your craft.”

He wondered if it would be edible, a prayer under his breath.

“What’s with that face?” Edlyn raised her small fist, thunder in miniature. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing. I’m too happy—happy enough to cry.” Eli covered his face, waves hiding a shore.

“Oh? Then I’ll cook more today!” Her smile tilted like a fox. “You must eat it all.”

“Huh? No way.”

“What, you despise me?”

“N-no…”

“Settled.” Edlyn lifted a fist, then glided close like a cat. She rose on tiptoe and whispered at his ear, sugar over steel. “Darling, I’ll castrate you if you don’t.”

“Hiss… Wife, I was wrong.” He straightened, a reed in wind.

…

“What are you showing me?” Edlyn rubbed her eyes, annoyed as a drowsy owl.

She’d been napping; Eli dragged her up, eyes bright like stars, saying there’s a show.

Eli pointed at the empty sky, a blank scroll. “Wait. Soon. It’s coming.”

“Ha— I’m so sleepy.” She yawned, a slow wave. “Wake me three seconds before it hits.” She collapsed into Eli’s arms, soft as silk.

Eli sighed and sat, cradling her like a boat holds moonlight.

He watched a crude watch he’d cobbled together, gears like mismatched bones, and counted down. “Five. Four. Three. Two.”

“Edlyn, wake up.” He pinched her cheek, plum-soft.

Edlyn sprang up, displeased as a cat dunked in rain. “What are you doing?”

“Edlyn, I love you.” He smiled, lowered his head, and pressed to her lips, a tide meeting shore.

Edlyn froze, eyes wide as twin moons.

Behind Eli, the whole sky erupted in countless lights, explosions flowering in the depths of the cosmos.

At the same time, the energy source beneath the island released a magic shield, a dome like crystal, wrapping the island whole.

Outside, it was fireworks—colors burst and cascaded, blossoms of flame painting the night.

Edlyn looked down at the man prying her teeth with his tongue, amused as a fox watching a goose.

She smiled, then pushed Eli away with a laugh, a breeze flicking a leaf.

Eli blinked, a little hurt, a little lost. “Edlyn?”

“I love you too.” Edlyn laughed bright, rose on tiptoe, lifted her face, and looped her arms around his neck, offering a kiss like sweet spring wine.