To save the Milky Way? What could possibly threaten it? And as for his sister, Zhang Hanxiang… Considering his father's ability to see the future, could his parents be trying to rescue the Milky Way from a fate that had not yet passed? A crisis that would involve his sister?
[The Milky Way has long since been in a state of crisis; you will learn more upon ascending to the fifth realm. As for your sister, that's unrelated. Her weakness came from birth. When your mother was pregnant, she suffered an attack that left her with a persistent malady.]
[Considering the infusion of spiritual herbs with which we treated her, an ordinary child would have grown up hale and healthy, but your sister is different. She inherited your mother's spiritual avatar of frost—and even a purer, more concentrated version of the bloodline at that. The attack that struck your sister in the womb made it difficult for her to control her spiritual avatar.]
[That lack of control would have hurt, more than help, your sister. As she grows, the power of her spiritual avatar might very well blossom, eventually turning her into a sculpture of ice.]
Put simply, the power of the spiritual avatar was so immense that, owing to her injury in the womb, she had become incapable of controlling it fully.
[In order to allow your sister to live a normal life, your mother and I decided to seal her spiritual avatar so that we might find a way to save her. Disabling her legs came as a side effect of the seal.]
Zhang Lie stilled. His sister's paralyzed legs was because of the seal? In that case, the fact that he had helped his sister stand again—had he hurt his sister inadvertently?
[I believe that, after we depart, you and your sister will grow particularly close to each other, and you will surely find a way to help her in the dimensional realm. I believe you have such capabilities. Do not criticize or feel guilt for yourself—your sister's problem has persisted for many years, and the paralysis of her legs is only a side effect. Even if she regains the ability to walk, it won't affect the seal.]
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt[As she matures, your sister's spiritual avatar will only grow stronger. Our initial seal will weaken; we anticipate that, by the time your sister turns 23, the spiritual avatar of frost will come unsealed. Her body will freeze and turn to eternal frost.]
Zhang Lie's eyes widened. His sister had fewer than five years left!
[Don't worry about your sister. Your mother and I will attempt to find a solution. If you're interested, ask Heavenly Monarch Wentian about the Galactic Rising Stars Cup. It's a curious competition. Your mother and I swept the rankings, in case you'd like to do the same.]
[Take care. From your father, Zhang Yangyan.]
Zhang Lie folded the letter as he took a deep breath.
Although his father's letter hadn't mentioned where his parents had gone, the wealth of information contained within was more than he could easily handle. The most important point was that his sister's condition wasn't looking good.
Zhang Lie asked, "Heavenly Monarch, can I confirm that I have two unclaimed rewards?"
Bu Wentian nodded. "That's quite right."
"Are you aware of the spiritual avatar of frost?"
"I know about spiritual avatars, and I heard about the spiritual avatar of frost from that couple."
"My sister seems to have suffered an injury to her spiritual avatar in the womb, and she's unable to control her avatar fully. Do you have any medicine that would be able to resolve such a problem?"
Bu Wentian shrugged. "That couple asked the same question countless years ago, and my answer remains the same: I haven't done enough research into spiritual avatars, and I don't have any medicine of a high enough grade to achieve such an effect."
"Then do you know of any potential treatments?" Zhang Lie continued.
"What you can think of, that couple already did. They didn't manage to solve the issue here, and you won't be able to achieve the same. I advise that you choose a different reward."
"Is there truly no recourse?"
"As far as I'm aware, there is no solution within the Milky way or the dimensional realm."
Zhang Lie deflated. "Then there's nothing else I'd like."
He had immediately lost interest in the rewards that Bu Wentian could provide.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAfter his parents' disappearance, he and his sister had relied on each other for survival. Upon learning that Zhang Hanxiang didn't have much longer to live, Zhang Lie felt as though his world had suddenly shrunk.
Bu Wentian continued, "There's no need to be so discouraged. Perhaps there is a solution, after all. When that couple heard my words, the husband of the pair remarked, if there were no solution within the Milky Way or the dimensional world, then one might exist beyond the Milky Way."
Zhang Lie's eyes reignited with hope. "You mean, I might be able to rescue my sister if I searched outside the Milky Way!"
Bu Wentian smiled. "That's a different answer than your father gave. Have you heard of the Galactic Rising Stars Cup?"
"My father's letter mentioned it. What sort of contest is it?"
Bu Wentian replied, "I can't speak of the specifics. The sixth trial is patterned off of what I faced when I participated in the Cup."
"My sister's remedy is related to this Cup?"
"The Galactic Rising Stars Cup is held once every decade, and one of the championship prizes this year is the flower of universal life."
"I've never heard of such an herb..."
"It's an incredibly rare flower that grows out of the ruins of a shattered galaxy after perhaps ten thousand years, a beacon of life where before there was only death. Allegedly, it can even bring a dead man back to life. It's a panacea able to heal essentially all maladies; your sister's spiritual avatar would be a minor issue in comparison."
Zhang Lie's heart thumped. "So I just need to acquire this flower of universal life?"
"Not only that, it'll even allow her body to transform and evolve to the next stage of being. A regular body would turn into a spirit one, a spirit one into a holy one, and a holy one into a divine one."
Zhang Lie waved a hand. "I don't care for such transformations—I just want to save Hanxiang."