525: The Great Way is the Most Public

Ye Xuan was completely different from Tai Hao.

"I am Ye Xuan!"

This sentence of his echoed in her heart again and again.

Each echo loosened the obsession she had held onto for ages regarding Tai Hao by a fraction.

She began to clearly realize that her gaze was now focused more on Ye Xuan standing before her, rather than looking through him to pursue another shadow.

Perhaps there was still some lingering feeling, but every time they met, Xuanji deeply knew that he was Ye Xuan, not Tai Hao.

This was a strange and wonderful feeling.

A pebble seemed to have been cast into her cold, isolated lunar heart that had been lonely for ten thousand years, spreading ripples across it.

"Let nature take its course."

She softly repeated Ye Xuan's earlier words, a trace of confusion flashing in her cold eyes, which then gradually transformed into a complex clarity.

She did not know where this feeling would ultimately lead, but at least in this moment, under the starlight that belonged to him, she was unwilling to resist any longer.

Just then, a slight sound of footsteps came from the corridor outside the hall, accompanied by the crisp chatter of young women.

"I heard that guest is a princess of the Ancient Heavenly Court! She's just as beautiful as Madam Linglong!"

"Yes, the guest brought back by Old Ancestor Ye Xuan must be extraordinary. Let us serve her carefully and not disturb the Fairy's Cultivation."

"Perhaps she will be the next Mistress."

"Maybe so, but compared to that cold Fairy, I still think we have a better chance."

The speakers outside the door were the maids responsible for serving the guest hall. Although called maids, they were actually Goddesses and Fairies sent by various other races.

Both their talent and appearance were exceptional.

They had been sent by their Families as potential marriage alliances, the target of which was naturally Ye Xuan.

Hearing these words, the Moonlight on Xuanji's fingertips faded, and she returned to her usual cold demeanor.

She did not turn around to speak, but the icy coldness emanating from her made the maids outside the hall dare not speak further.

The maids' whispers outside the hall abruptly ceased, as if frozen by invisible ice.

The cold and immense pressure originating from Xuanji, though only flashing for an instant, was enough to terrify the scheming maids, who dared not say another word and retreated into the distance.

Xuanji remained standing by the window, her face expressionless, as if the momentary leakage of her aura had been an illusion.

However, her calm heart was stirred by subtle ripples caused by the phrases "the next Mistress" and "cold Fairy."

She did not care about the maids' presumptuous remarks, but these words were like a thorn, piercing a soft spot in her heart and making her more clearly aware of her current position.

She realized how the subtle relationship between her and Ye Xuan appeared in the eyes of outsiders.

"Mistress..."

She softly chewed on the word, a faint trace of complexity flashing in her cold eyes.

Once upon a time, as a princess of the Ancient Heavenly Court, her status was supremely respected; why would she need to care about the opinions of others?

But now, here in the Ziwei Star Domain, because of Ye Xuan, she was actually unsettled by a mere title.

The night deepened, and the starlight grew more brilliant.

Xuanji felt that the Moonlight Divine Power within her body had recovered significantly, and continuing to sit and Cultivate was pointless.

Her figure subtly moved, and she silently left the grand hall, appearing on a secluded stargazing platform in the Ziwei Imperial Palace.

The platform was suspended high, as if one could reach out and pluck a star.

The stars in the sky seemed close enough to touch, especially the bright moon formed by endless starlight, which cast down cold, pure radiance and resonated with her Great Dao of Moonlight.

This was indeed a good place, and it was also convenient for her to carefully reflect on her future relationship with Ye Xuan.

She had assumed this place was empty, but unexpectedly, at the other end of the platform, a figure was already standing with his hands behind his back, bathed in starlight—it was precisely Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan also seemed to sense her arrival and slowly turned around.

"It seems the starlight here is indeed beneficial to the Fairy's recovery."

Xuanji walked to a spot not far from his side and stopped, gazing up at the starry sky with him.

A perfect distance separated the two of them, appearing neither distant nor intimate.

"The Ziwei Star Domain is indeed a supreme treasure land for Cultivating the Dao of Stars and Moon."

Xuanji's voice sounded particularly cold in the night wind.

"I must also thank you for your generosity in allowing me to recuperate here."

"The Fairy is too polite. If not for your help, the matter of the Seal would not have gone so smoothly."

Ye Xuan's tone was calm.

"It was merely a small effort, not worth mentioning."

Silence fell between the two, with only the night wind passing by.

After a moment of silence, Xuanji suddenly spoke, her gaze still fixed on the starry sky, as if talking to herself, yet also seeming to question Ye Xuan's Dao.

"The Dao is ruthless. It governs the sun and moon. Tai Hao upheld this belief back then, using a ruthless Dao Heart to control the power of Chaos and protect the order of the Myriad Realms. He believed that having emotions was a flaw, a sign of favoritism, and would ultimately shake the Foundation of the Dao."

She paused, finally turning her head, her cold gaze landing on Ye Xuan's face: "Yet you, having inherited his power, chose to walk the opposite Dao. I am very curious, how are you certain that your emotional Dao will not repeat the disasters of the late ancient era, which were caused by personal affections?"

This was the first time she had discussed the Dao with Ye Xuan so directly, and the question she posed was the greatest doubt lingering in her heart.

She had pursued Tai Hao's ruthless Dao for ages, and though it felt cold, she acknowledged its correctness.

Ye Xuan's choice, however, overturned her understanding.

After all, the emotional Dao contained selfish desires, and during the ancient era, countless people lost their lives because of this.

It was precisely because of selfish desires that the external invasion occurred that time, leading to the collapse of the Heavenly Dao and the downfall of the ancient era.

And now that Ye Xuan chose the emotional Dao, perhaps he, too, would inevitably repeat the same mistakes.

Hearing this, Ye Xuan did not immediately reply.

His gaze seemed to penetrate layers of star seas, seeing the Dao Origin.

After a long time, he slowly said: "The Great Dao is utterly impartial, but this is not the same as being ruthless. The sun and moon shine without distinguishing between good and evil—that is utter impartiality. However, the growth of plants and the reproduction of birds and beasts all contain the emotion of vitality."

"Chaos is the same; it embraces everything, nurtures vitality, and also returns to silence. To only adopt its Dao of Order and Dao of Ruthlessness is to misinterpret the true intent of Chaos."

"My emotional connection is not about trivial love, but the acknowledgment and desire to protect the existence of all things in this world."

"Protecting those I cherish, protecting the beings in this Star Domain, and even protecting the inherent existence of the Myriad Realms itself."

"This heart aligns with the inclusive nature of Chaos and will only make my Dao Foundation more stable, because my power originates from the will to protect, not from cold Dao rules."

"As for selfish desires, perhaps they will indeed exist—the desire to recover what is lost, the desire for Family, for children, for lust, or for stronger power. These pursuits are things that the Human Race and all other races in the Myriad Realms seek."

"Even the ruthless Dao could not prevent them, otherwise Tai Hao would not have been powerless to reverse the situation back then. Therefore, what must be done is not to block but to guide, only then can we avoid repeating the same mistakes."