Dual Cultivation

"What's going on, Sister Ziyi? Did something happen?" One of the 12 goddesses asked her once they gathered in her living quarters.

"This must be fairly urgent if you had to summon all twelve of us at once. Are we under attack again?" said another goddess.

Luo Ziyi shook her head and said, "No, we're not under attack, but this is definitely important— more important than anything that has happened for the last 2 thousand years."

Luo Ziyi then used her spiritual sense to make sure there was nobody spying on them, and then she used a concealment formation, covering not just the entire living quarters but also the entire sect as well.

This dumbfounded the goddesses. They have never seen her acting so secretive. 

Once she was prepared, Luo Ziyi took a deep breath and spoke, "Fellow sisters, I only have one question for all of you…"

She looked at them with a solemn expression on her face.

"Do you believe in Su Yang?"

"What?"

The goddesses' eyes widened with surprise after hearing her question.

"What do you mean by that, Sister Ziyi? We need more context…" One of them said to her after a moment of silence.

"When Su Yang died two thousand years ago, some of us believed that he was still alive while others hoped he's still alive. Do you all still believe— or hope that he's alive?"

Everyone there had a complicated and pained expression on their faces when Luo Ziyi reminded them of Su Yang's death.

After a minute of silence, one of them said, "I believed that Su Yang was still alive at first, but two thousand years have passed. If he was alive, he'd have returned to our side by now. As much as I want to keep on believing in him… I have to face reality. He's no longer with us."

"What's two thousand years? I had to wait 5,000 years for him at one point," said another goddess there.

The goddesses there began to give their thoughts on the subject.

Wang Yunxuan then asked afterward, "What's the matter, Sister Ziyi? Why are you asking us this? You usually hate it whenever we mention Su Yang."

"Right? You would even scold us for it. Now you're the one bringing it up? Something happened, right?"

Luo Ziyi nodded, and to the others' surprise, she stood up and began loosening her clothes.

"What are you doing?" They asked her.

Once she loosened her robes enough, Luo Ziyi allowed them to fall onto the ground, revealing her beautiful figure.

"What are you trying to tell us—"

The place suddenly turned dead silent.

After a moment of silence, Wang Yunxuan pointed at the right side of her waist with a trembling hand.

"S-S-Sister Ziyi… T-That… H-H-How…?!?!" she spoke in a shaky voice.

"Your Family Seal is active?! Impossible!" Another one exclaimed.

The goddess began approaching Luo Ziyi to look at her Family Seal more closely.

"I-It's really active! How?!"

Luo Ziyi showed a smile on her face as she wore her clothes again.

Then she said, "Why don't you take a guess? There's only one way someone can activate their Family Seal."

"Y-You're telling me that Su Yang activated it— that he's alive?" Wang Yunxuang asked her with a look of disbelief on her face.

The smile on Luo Ziyi's face grew wider, and she nodded.

"..."

The entire room turned dead silent with everyone trying to process whatever was going on.

Once they realized the situation, tears began flowing from their eyes.

"W-Where is he right now?! I want to see him!" One of them suddenly said.

"How?! What happened to him?!" Another one asked.

The goddesses began bombarding Luo Ziyi with questions regarding Su Yang.

"Calm down. I will explain everything to you in just a moment. But first, I want you all to look at this, since I'm sure that some of you are still doubting it."

Luo Ziyi proceeded to take out an item and showed it to the goddesses.

When they saw the items, their eyes widened with shock, and all of their doubt vanished.

The item in Luo Ziyi was a sword— an ordinary and somewhat worn-out sword that had two names engraved onto it.

"Su Yang."

"Su Meiqi."

"Su Yang actually gave you his sword? Normally, he wouldn't let it even leave his hands!" Wang Yunxuan was shocked.

"Yes, I was also surprised when he handed it to me before we separated."

"So you really met him? Where?"

"Allow me to explain," said Luo Ziyi.

And she proceeded to explain everything that happened, starting from when she received the message from Mu Yuechan.

"I will see you at the Frozen Azure Cave in three months when the Azure Lotus blooms. That was the message Su Yang told Mu Yuechan to convey to me. This sentence is significant because it was the exact same sentence he said to me when we worked together to acquire the Azure Lotus."

"Thus, I immediately went to the Frozen Asgard after hearing this message."

"Fast forward two months, I noticed a fatty and a young lady traversing the mountain valley. I watched them in secrecy, and to my surprise, the fatty was using Sword Will and the Nine Astral Steps, something Su Yang knew. Then I saw him use a Sword Talisman that released Su Yang's Sword Will. It was at this moment that I was almost certain that he was Su Yang, but I wasn't 100 percent certain— until we finally met up in the Frozen Azure Cave."

"Inside the Frozen Azure Cave, the fatty removed his disguise, turning into Su Yang… at least a younger version of him. After that, he explained everything to me. What had happened in the Eternal Retribution Cliff. Where he has been for the past 2,000 years among other things."

"After listening to his story, I finally understood why our Family Seal didn't entirely disappear, only deactivated, and I also understood why he hasn't returned until now."

"Don't skip the important details, Sister Ziyi! Tell us what happened to him!" One of the goddesses urged, acting like an anxious child during storytime when the story was reaching the climax.