Under the summer sun, the 12-year-old Mei Xue looked at the grown-up Xiao Lian, who was dancing in the center of the world.
Xiao Lian, who used to hide behind him, had grown up.
She became the most outstanding genius girl of Shennong's lineage, and displayed a powerful talent comparable to the legendary generation. On the stage of the Azure Dragon Institute, she launched a vigorous competition with Mei Xue.
She had stepped into the realm of a Divine Alchemist and refined the Nine Revolution Heaven Spirit Ginseng, which represented the legend of the alchemist world. No one would treat her like a child anymore.
Hua Lian was no longer the shy young girl who didn't even dare to greet him.
She had spread her wings and soared.
"Sister!"
Hua Lian, who was spinning, finally noticed Mei Xue's arrival. Mei Xue's gentle eyes and smiling expression were just as she remembered.
That was the figure that she had been longing for, the figure that she had been chasing, the figure that would only appear in her dreams.
She knew that this was not the real world, but her own dream.
After parting with Sister Xiao Xue, she didn't know how many times she had this kind of dream, how many times she dreamed of that gentle smile.
However, the Sister Xiao Xue in her dream seemed a little different.
As usual, Xiao Xue, who was sitting on the chair and watching her dance, had a stronger sense of presence. It was as if the past had appeared again.
"Xiao Lian, you've grown up." Mei Xue stretched out her hand and stroked Hua Lian's smooth cheek.
In this world, he had never grown up because Hua Lian didn't know what the grown-up Mei Xue looked like.
In Hua Lian's memory, his appearance was forever the same as the day they parted in the morning light when he was 12 years old.
In his memory, Hua Lian's appearance was the same as the Moonlight Elf's on that moonlit night.
During the time they parted, Xiao Lian had changed drastically. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't recognize her.
"Sister … Sister …" Hua Lian burst into tears when she felt Mei Xue's skin and heard the words that she had never heard in her dream.
How long had it been since someone had treated her so gently?
That was a very, very long time, so long that she herself had forgotten about it.
In order to grow up quickly, she constantly accelerated the flow of her bloodline power, allowing her body and spirit to grow ten times, a hundred times faster. In less than a year, she grew from a nine-year-old to a sixteen-year-old.
This posture represented her perfect physique and state. From now on, there would not be any changes.
This also meant that she had turned herself into an eternal flower. This was a privilege bestowed upon her by the power of her ancestral bloodline, a miracle brought to her by the Shennong's Herbal Scripture.
However, when she grew up and went back to look for her sister, she received news that she had already left the orphanage and was traveling to the Various Seas Mountain Range.
At that time, she finally understood why her sister had said those words to her. She had left the protection of others earlier than her and used her own strength to spread her wings and soar.
Yes, that was the sister she admired and liked, the most perfect girl in the world.
In the following years, she had never heard from her sister again. She began to train herself even harder, wanting to become stronger than anyone else.
This was because only by surpassing everyone in her family would she have the right to obtain freedom. Only then would she be able to find her own love like that ancestor who had left her family.
It had nothing to do with gender, race, or background. She only pursued the illusion in her heart in a straight line, never stopping her footsteps.
Therefore, she wanted the Crystal Pavilion more than anyone else. She wanted to be like that ancestor and prove herself to everyone.
"Sister, sister, I miss you so much. I really, really miss you."
"Look, I've already grown up. I'm already a Divine Apothecary. Soon, I'll be able to be independent and not be bound by the family. I'll be with you, sister."
"Sister, come and watch me dance again, please?"
Hua Lian, who had finally found her sweetheart, cried like a child.
The grievances she felt in her family, the depression she felt from losing the competition, and the uneasiness she felt from being forced to enter the Crystal Pavilion all erupted at this moment.
Only in front of her sister would she not put on any mask and pretend to be an unapproachable lady.
Beside her sister, she would always be a shy and curious girl, a child who would chase after her sister and never grow up.
She liked her sister so much that she wanted to be independent from her family at all costs. She didn't want to be manipulated by anyone. For this reason, she had worked so hard until now.
All of this was for the secret hidden in her heart, the first love that she had never told anyone about.
Looking at Hua Lian, who was so pure and moved forward in a straight line in her heart, Mei Xue sighed.
Sigh, this was all his fault.
If only he had made it clear at that time. He was not the perfect sister in Hua Lian's heart. He was not worthy of her working so hard.
Even the identity of "elder sister" was a misunderstanding caused by a freak combination of factors. She didn't even notice it during that one month. Sister Xia's calling of "Xiaoxue" was really too misleading.
"Xiao Lian …" Gently stroking Hua Lian's long hair, Mei Xue felt as if she had returned to the summer when she was twelve years old. Back then, he didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth and was about to leave the orphanage.
At that time, he was not afraid of anything and was full of confidence. He thought he could go anywhere in the Ocean Mountain Range.
Now that he thought about it, he was so laughable and shallow. He wasn't even a beginner apothecary, so how could he have the qualifications to walk freely?
What Xiaolian saw was actually just a self-righteous nestling that was eager to leave its nest and use its incomplete wings to fly into the sky.
It wasn't until the battle with the Scorpion Pirates where he personally killed millions of people that he realized how immature he was at that time.
"Sister, stay with me forever, okay?" Hua Lian knew that this was only her dream, another unrealistic fantasy.
Every time she danced alone under the moon until she was exhausted, this dream would appear in her mind.
Only in this kind of dream could she meet the person she loved and lie in his arms like this.
Ah, what a blissful time, what a warm temperature.
Today, her sister treated her even more gently than before. She couldn't help but want to stay in this moment forever and never wake up again.
Of course, she knew that this was impossible.
Her only wish was that tonight's dream could last a little longer, a little longer.