Zishan, early morning.
Misty clouds veiled the mountains, and the chirping of mountain birds rang clear.
Mu Nianci awoke early. Without even putting on her clothes, she sat up and looked to the side.

In the small crib, the exquisitely delicate child was sleeping soundly. One chubby finger was tucked in her mouth as she occasionally let out soft, meaningless murmurs.

Smiling, Mu Nianci leaned over and kissed Little Dragon Girl’s cheek. After watching the little one lovingly for a moment, she turned and got out of bed.

Her thin nightgown slid down her fragrant shoulders and jade-like arms, revealing her flawless figure in the full-length mirror. Humming a nameless tune with a cheerful mood, she quickly changed clothes and entered the bathroom.

Ever since she officially moved into the Eastern Celestial Palace, she had been living a life she had never dared to dream of even in her sleep. Naturally, she was overjoyed.

With the help of various celestial mechanisms that made life convenient, she spent her days in the Eastern Celestial Palace watching the clouds drift, taking care of Long’er, attending to her lord, watching Sister Mochou and Sister Rong’er laugh and play—far from the chaos of the mortal world, enjoying peace and joy.

Mu Nianci only wished that this life could continue forever.

A short while later, dressed in her crimson top and vermilion skirt, Mu Nianci left her room and walked around to the courtyard behind her residence, where she could see a small vegetable garden.

The fruits and vegetables she had personally planted had sprouted in just a few days. The dewy green leaves glistened under the morning light, creating a pleasing sight.

This garden had been Mu Nianci’s suggestion to Nuwa after exploring the Eastern Celestial Palace. With so much open space in such a grand palace, she felt it would be a waste not to plant something.

Although she didn’t know why her lord jokingly referred to this behavior as a «racial talent,» she took his words to heart—whatever he said was surely right.

Sister Nuwa also gave Mu Nianci various seeds and even opened a plot of land behind the small courtyard. Mechanisms, whose principles Mu Nianci couldn’t understand, were set up around it, causing the entire garden to grow at several times the normal speed.

When handing her the seeds, Nuwa had even complained at length, saying that the synthesized ingredients from her factory were identical to natural ones at the molecular level, but the great celestial Taiyi was a particular man who disliked them and didn’t appreciate the beauty of technology.

«In a few more days, I’ll be able to serve the grapes I personally grew to my lord.» Mu Nianci, equally lacking in appreciation for technological beauty, looked at the grape trellis with a smile radiant as blooming begonia.

After tending to the garden, she returned to the room and placed the still-sleeping Little Dragon Girl into a floating baby carriage. The carriage, without wheels, hovered beside her and moved with her effortlessly toward the kitchen.

At this hour, Huang Rong was likely preparing breakfast for everyone—Mu Nianci needed to help.

Though her cooking skills couldn’t compare to Miss Huang’s, she could at least lend a hand.

Xuan Yuan  ’s residence in the Eastern Celestial Palace was located on a floating mountain, with many unoccupied houses. Huang Rong and the others had chosen nearby places, and Mu Nianci’s little courtyard was situated behind and to the side of Xuan Yuan  ’s main residence.

The kitchen was on a suspended jade platform on the adjacent floating mountain, connected by a rainbow bridge.

Walking along the rainbow bridge, Mu Nianci could overlook the entire Eastern Celestial Palace.

Such a massive palace, and only her lord and a few of them resided in it. Most of the space went unused, giving the place a slightly lonely air.

Sure enough, upon entering the kitchen, she saw the light-blue silhouette already busy behind the stove.

«Mu-sister, you’re here?»

«Rong’er-sister, you’re up this early again? What about the lord? Still cultivating?»

«It’s been three days like this. Who knows if he’ll wake today.» Huang Rong pouted, her eyes carrying a faint trace of worry.

Although Nuwa had used thousands of data points to confirm Xuan Yuan   was in perfect health, not seeing him awake made it impossible for Huang Rong to be truly at ease.

After returning to Zishan, Nuwa took charge of testing communication between the two worlds, while Xuan Yuan   focused on the martial arts collected during this trip.

He hadn’t practiced many new techniques before something went awry during a routine cultivation session of the Nine Yang Celestial Art.

Though Xuan Yuan   had mastered the Nine Yang Celestial Art, continued practice wasn’t useless—it still strengthened his internal energy.

Following Nuwa’s suggestion, he meditated atop the Great Sun Celestial Altar, and the session seemed to throw him into a trance from which he couldn’t be roused.

Even Diao’er, the celestial  condor brought back from Sword Demon Valley, had woken up—yet its master remained unresponsive.

The two girls chatted idly while preparing breakfast and fed the now-awake Little Dragon Girl. Just as they arrived at the waterside pavilion where they usually dined, a sharp, high-pitched cry of a condor echoed from the direction of the Great Sun Celestial Altar.

«Is that Diao’er?» Huang Rong, in the midst of setting dishes, ran to the edge of the pavilion in delight. «It’s been silently guarding Brother Xing these past few days. Now that it’s calling, he must be awake!»

«Mu-sister, let’s go take a look!»

Before she finished speaking, Huang Rong tapped lightly with her toes and gracefully flew out of the pavilion, skimming the lotus pond like a dragonfly and vanishing in a blink.

Mu Nianci’s agility wasn’t quite on par, but she wasn’t far behind. The floating baby carriage followed her like a shadow, and moments later, she arrived at the Great Sun Celestial Altar just a few breaths after Huang Rong.

In the center of the altar, Xuan Yuan   was still seated cross-legged, floating a few feet above the ground.

His Great Sun Celestial Robe billowed, flames swirling around his body. These flames drifted away, transforming into ancient, solemn characters before dispersing.

Nuwa had recorded all these characters and compared them to the database, only to find they didn’t match any known writing from humanity’s tens of thousands of years of civilization.

Surrounding the altar were eight jade platforms adorned with cloud-pattern carvings.

These eight platforms could gather and focus the radiant light from the great sun, 149 million kilometers above in the Nine Heavens, concentrating it upon Xuan Yuan  .

This was also a method simulated by Nuwa’s supercomputer based on Xuan Yuan  ’s claim that cultivating the Nine Yang Celestial Art felt like absorbing stellar radiation—an approach dubbed the «scientific path to celestial cultivation.»

If she had the means to send someone into space, she might’ve suggested Xuan Yuan   cultivate directly in the atmosphere outside Earth, facing the sun.

On the outer perimeter, the celestial condor that had been keeping watch for days suddenly flapped its wings and soared into the air, crying out joyfully. Its voice was filled with boundless happiness.

Compared to the ugly appearance it had when first encountered, the celestial condor had undergone a dramatic transformation.

Its body was now covered in golden feathers that gleamed with light, sharp as blades. Its eyes sparkled with brilliance. It looked elegant and agile, its hawk-like beak now gleaming with a metallic sheen, and even its body had grown noticeably larger.

It looked both majestic and beautiful—worthy of the name «celestial condor.»

According to Nuwa’s records, the celestial condor’s size was still increasing daily. Judging by its current state, it might eventually grow to the size of a Fengshen Winged Dragon—a mythical creature with a wingspan over 11 meters, theoretically the largest being to ever soar Earth’s skies since its formation.