The Celestial Courtyard was the commercial heart of the Sky Voyager, a glass rotunda atop a tower, six hundred meters across like a crystal lake catching the sun. Stalls from a dozen civilizations ringed its rim like a jeweled crown—flagship boutiques, gyms, arcades, chess rooms. Enchanted fountains sang like larks, and alchemy workshops hummed like bees, the whole place buzzing to a peak of city-bright life.

The Rangers Lodge support desk sat there, so after helping Liuyi move, the two stepped through a portal and arrived at the Celestial Courtyard like swallows alighting on spring eaves.

“What do we do next?”

“Just press your fingerprint to confirm.”

“Whoa… it’s gorgeous!”

They pushed open the wooden door of the portal room, and the opulence of the Celestial Courtyard flooded Yue Liuyi’s eyes like a tide at dawn. Sunlight slanted through the ring-shaped dome like a waterfall, making the central giant tree refract with dreamlike color—green like an ancient pine, pink like a lotus on jade water, purple like lavender under a blue sky, red like tulips burning under noon sun.

The Courtyard rose in layers, and even from the main hall you could see countless shops orbit the great tree like stars around a moon. A dessert shop breathed chocolate sweetness, its small sign carved with delicate filigree like frost on a window. A flower shop exhaled perfume, the owner’s guileless smile easing customers like a spring breeze. A ramen shop boiled broth that rolled and steamed, the aroma lifting like home-cooked nostalgia.

East and West met here like two rivers at a confluence, flavors and cultures braiding into something seamless.

“We’re headed to an arcade named ‘Illusory Plume.’ It’s also the Rangers Lodge support desk.”

“Huh, an arcade?”

Illusory Plume perched at the very top, hidden behind leaves like a bird’s nest. Without Dixue’s lead, Yue Liuyi wouldn’t have spotted it.

“Follow me!”

Foot traffic flowed like a migrating flock. Humans, catfolk, dogfolk, elves—some strolled with wide eyes, drunk on the design like bees on nectar; some hopped along, chasing the next attraction like sparrows chasing crumbs; some, used to it, kept their heads down and moved like stones in a stream; some sniffed the drifting scents and beelined toward food like foxes catching a trail.

“Dude, check it out, two absolute stunners!”

“Hands off. They’re Rangers Lodge!”

Dixue took Yue Liuyi’s small hand and walked the main hall with head high and shoulders back, the two of them in single file like twin butterflies gliding on a breeze, drawing stares like lilies draw dragonflies.

“Here we are~”

In front of a beautifully dressed arcade, Yedie Snow stopped, as neatly as a crane folding its wings.

Liuyi peered in through the glass corridor. It felt less like an arcade and more like a mixed game salon. No internet-café crowding, no arcade crush; the machines sat along the walls like quiet sentries. The center was bright and open, with sofas, screens, and green plants like islands in a sunlit pond—cozy and warm.

“Why would the support desk be in an arcade…?”

“Mm, because—”

Before Dixue could answer, a blonde with wavy short hair came out, warmth in her stride like sunlight through gauze. Gold-rimmed glasses glinted, and her elaborate Western dress held a stately, intellectual grace. She looked twenty-something by face, but her air was that of a noble from centuries past, like a portrait stepping off the wall.

“Oh my, oh my—welcome, you two… wait, are you Dixue?!”

The lady’s smile froze, and she stepped back like she’d just seen a ghost in a mirror.

“Yup. It’s only been three days. How did Maria forget me already?”

Dixue pouted, a cloud’s shadow over a lake.

Maria set both hands on Dixue’s shoulders and inspected her with hawk-eyed care. “Eye spacing correct, pupil color unmasked, skin shows no patch seams—no disguise. Without a doubt, you’re Dixue!”

“Honestly, Maria, what are you doing! Are we under emergency lockdown at the Lodge? Why so on edge?”

“How would we lock down without your order! It’s just—Dixue, when did you get this lively and cute! And that smile just now—sweet as honey on warm bread! You’re nothing like usual!”

“Uh… am I that stern, usually…” Dixue blinked, a touch vexed, then pulled Yue Liuyi close and hugged her like cradling a kitten. “Right! Maria, this is Xiao Yue—my wife… mm, my Collaborator! I brought her to register and get certified.”

“Don’t say things that misleading…”

“Hehe…”

Maria stared at Dixue hugging the blue-haired girl, jaw almost hitting the floor like a dropped teacup. “A c-collaborator?! Dixue, you want a Collaborator?! Heavens, I must be dreaming!”

“Ugh… Maria, keep jumping like that and I’ll get mad! It’s perfectly normal. Don’t make it sound so dramatic!”

“Hello, I’m Yue Liuyi. Nice to meet you, Sister Maria~”

No matter the place, Yue Liuyi introduced herself with new-term energy, as natural as a spring swallow nesting under the eaves.

“Wow, so adorable!” Maria reached toward that sapphire sheen, the girl in a white dress as delicate as a porcelain doll set on lace. “No wonder, no wonder! This feeling makes me want to scoop you up!”

“No. Only I get to pat Xiao Yue’s head!” Yedie Snow swatted Maria’s hand aside and hugged Yue Liuyi to her side like guarding a warm ember. “Everyone knows you’re a shameless flirt, Maria. Xiao Yue’s my Collaborator. I’m not handing her over.”

“Okay, okay, I got it!” Maria sighed, palms up like a shrugging gull, and pressed a switch to open the inner room. “Let’s talk inside. I’ll set everything up.”

Maria led them into the inner chamber, more refined than the arcade outside, like a tea garden beyond a gate. Sofas stuffed with heaven’s cotton sat soft as drifting clouds. Lush hanging vines replaced plaster trim, cascading down the walls like green waterfalls. Clear water ran through bamboo channels, a quiet brook threading the room.

“I get the situation. But by regulation—only elite-tier magical combatants can be registered as Collaborators. You know that, Dixue.”

Maria laid out a tea set. Her motions were practiced and graceful, steam lifting like morning mist as she poured them black tea.

“Mhm, I haven’t forgotten. Xiao Yue beat the Murder Fiend solo. So she’s fine.”

“Solo… that’s impressive.”

Maria looked at Yue Liuyi with mild surprise, like finding steel in silk. Even among elites, theory and battle are two roads; a seasoned Murder Fiend can cut down a scholar of the same tier like reeds in autumn wind.

“I trust you, Dixue, but we still need a test. Miss Yue Liuyi, is now convenient?”

“Sure, no problem.”

“Huh? Is it okay? Xiao Yue, your arm is still hurt…”

Dixue touched the blue-haired girl’s right shoulder, and a gentle healing spell flowed like warm spring rain.

“It should be fine. My mana feels full…” Yue Liuyi paused, surprise rippling like a fish under water. Not only hadn’t her mana dropped, it had filled back up, like a well refed by night rain. Even last night’s loss fighting the Murder Fiend felt restored.

“Um… Miss Maria, how do we test? Do we need another venue?”

“No need. Xiao Yue—mm, Miss Yue, just cast an attack spell at those hanging vines on the wall.”

Under Dixue’s glare, Maria corrected her address like a student straightening her posture.

“The wall? Is that safe?”

“Those are Azure Vines that absorb mana. Let it fly.”

“Okay.”

Yue Liuyi nodded and stood. Power quickened at her fingertips like sparrows taking wing. She was confident she could clear the mark in one strike.

“Sinking Moon.”

She drew in loose elements from the air. Starry motes gathered in her palm like dew on a leaf. It was a spell she’d cast many times, smooth as breathing. Yet in the tide of mana, she sensed something off, like a pebble breaking a stream’s flow.

This is…

It wasn’t her way of weaving mana. The energy converging on her body took a pattern unknown to her, which meant the spell forming wasn’t one she’d ever learned.

“Something’s wrong!”

No crescent shockwave roared out, and no familiar moonlight flared. Instead, a silver-white glow unfurled in her palm like a storm of leaves, a thousand tiny shards drifting to fill the room.

In the next breath, the silver fragments changed. They melted together and became blue butterflies, fluttering like a dream you only reach in sleep. They drifted down onto the tender Azure Vines.

Yue Liuyi stared, blank as a paper fan. Dixue and Maria went slack with shock, like struck by thunder. They knew this scene by heart. It was Yedie Snow’s spell: Cherry Blossom Butterfly Speech.

“What’s going on? Why can Xiao Yue use my exclusive spell?”

“I don’t know…”

Yue Liuyi shook her head, adrift like a boat in fog. Magic draws nearby elements—or those bound in a focus—then, through personal resonance and conversion, condenses into force.

So aside from formulaic rites, every caster carries unique signatures. Dixue’s Cherry Blossom Butterfly Speech is one such signature.

Which made Yue Liuyi casting it now utterly strange, like snow blooming in summer.

“Maybe it’s a coincidence. It’s fine. Magic brims with little miracles.” Dixue ruffled Yue Liuyi’s hair like wind through willow leaves, then turned to Maria. “Maria, did Xiao Yue pass the capability test?”

“Mm.” Confused yet steady, Maria nodded. “From the feedback—the power is far below yours, Dixue, but it reaches elite tier. So here, I formally accept Yue Liuyi’s application to become Yedie Snow’s Collaborator.”

“Yay! That’s great!”

“Wow, LittleSnow…”

Yue Liuyi found herself folded into Dixue’s arms, her chest soft as clouds and warm as sunlit cotton.

“Then let’s begin the formal registration.”