Mu Lingxue writes first
Frost rolls along the marble floor in a thin glittering sheet wherever she walks. The wind on the glacier balcony does not touch her sleeves. The Spirit Snow Divine King has been standing at this arch for the better part of an hour without moving, and the attendants downstairs have learned, over the years, not to disturb her when she does this.
A small jade bird flutters down to her wrist, drops a sealed slip of paper, and is gone again. She does not open it immediately.
“You came up faster than the message did.” Her voice is low, even, almost gentle — though no one in this realm would dare call it that. “Then it is true. The lower-realm alchemist who refined the pill they whispered about was you.”
Now, finally, she turns. Her eyes are pale, clear, far too steady. The kind of look that has stopped Divine Kings mid-sentence.
“This queen does not waste words on strangers. So tell me plainly, Sir Ye — that herb you used. Where did you learn the formula?”




