Chapter 728: Retirement

Qingque herself also flipped over in the inversion, her ash‑gray long hair changed from hanging down to floating upward, the blue fish at her feet also turned belly up, its translucent fins pointing toward the sky.

The blue moon was flipped to the depths beneath her feet, its little emoticon face still serene, two short dashes for closed eyes, a round O for a slightly open mouth, never having woken from start to finish.

And those frozen ultra‑thin threads collectively snapped under the torque of the world's inversion.

Space pulling in opposite directions tore each thread apart at its midpoint, the break edges uneven, golden sap oozing from the cuts, frozen in mid‑air before it could even drip.

Qingque released her palm.

The body of water that was once an ocean above her head, now the sky's waters, finally reacted, beginning to obey basic physics and fall downward.

The entire ocean inverted over her head, the sea surface like a shattering mirror, cracks spreading from the edges to the center, seawater gushing from the fissures, breaking into countless separate water blobs during the fall, each blob's surface shimmering with a lapis‑blue glimmer.

Qingque extended a finger, raised it toward the sky, the gesture so casual it seemed she might just poke the collapsing sea above her head.

The first droplet touched her fingertip.

Pop!

It was crisp.

With her fingertip as the center, the lapis‑blue light radiated spherically again, instantly sweeping across the entire falling ocean.

Every droplet, every water blob, every stream cascading downward, upon contacting the light, all transformed into Bubbles.

The whole ocean became a realm of Bubbles, covering sky and sun, piling from the heights down to above the sea surface, enveloping Qingque, the blue fish, the giant whale and that giant tree within a vast ocean of Bubbles.

The branch fragments hidden in the seawater, the monster wreckage that hadn't yet re‑coalesced, the dark‑red eye spots shedding from the seabed roots—anything tinged with Abundance, upon touching the Bubbles, began to disintegrate.

From the deepest layer of matter, the power of Boundless Myriad Blossoms dismantled and restored it: solid became liquid, liquid became foam, foam merged into the Bubbles swarm.

Silent and spotless, utterly clean.

The giant tree also resisted at the same time.

The human faces on the trunk all opened their mouths, spewing golden gusts from deep throats, trying to push the surrounding Bubbles away.

The still‑uneaten branches on the canopy wildly thrashed, the roots ripped up from the seabed, overturning the entire root‑network covering the ocean floor, countless roots simultaneously stabbing toward the center of the Bubbles swarm.

The Bubbles swarm was also being shattered, with tens of thousands of Bubbles exploding from the branches each second.

For each bubble that broke, ten new Bubbles coalesced from the surroundings to replace it; the shattered Bubbles turned into droplets, the droplets re‑coalesced into Bubbles, a perpetual, endless cycle.

The two forces stalemated between sea and sky.

The canopy of the Golden Giant Tree firmly occupied the highest sky, its golden branches like an inverted umbrella covering the whole firmament, its roots anchored in the void beneath the seabed, layers upon layers of golden roots spreading across the ocean floor.

Between them lay the lapis‑blue sea of Bubbles, occupying the entire middle layer between heaven and earth, each Bubble slowly rotating, refracting the faint light that filtered in from outside.

When the sea breeze blew, all the Bubbles gently swayed together, emitting a fine rustling sound.

Qingque stood on the fish's back, positioned at the center of the Bubbles sea.

Above her left hand was the inverted Bubbles ocean, below her right hand the ever‑expanding golden canopy.

The giant whale hovered behind her, its body's light refracted by the Bubbles into countless fine beams.

The array of Jade Plaques circled around her slowly, each plaque faintly glowing.

She lifted her head, her gaze passing through layer upon layer of Bubbles, landing on the still‑intact golden giant tree in the distance, the curve of her mouth lifting a bit more.

Perspective shift.

Heimu halted on the earthen road of the Elegant Secret Pavilion.

She lifted her hand to press the brim of her hat, her violet‑black eyes scanning the surroundings through the shadow cast by the brim.

The light gray stone buildings rose tier by tier along the gentle slope, golden vines hanging from the gaps in the roof tiles, their leaves shimmering with a honey‑colored sheen under Yongzhou's daylight.

In the distance the creaking of a windmill turning could be heard, the air scented with the toasted aroma of baked wheat cakes and an indescribable floral‑herbal fragrance.

Peaceful. Quiet. Perfect for retirement.

Heimu gave this spot a five‑star rating in her mind, casually adding a note: if she ever manages to retire, she'll definitely place a lounge chair in this courtyard and take root there.

Of course, her chance of retiring is about equal to Bolka suddenly showing up at her door with a fruit basket to make peace—infinitely close to zero.

She tossed the thought to the back of her mind, her boot soles stepping back onto the stone slabs, and walked forward along the path.

Along the roadside a few farmers were turning and drying grain, wooden winnowers lifting golden kernels, the husks blown by wind into a pale golden mist.

None of them glanced toward Heimu.

Cognition interference was set very low, just enough for her to slip through the crowd without being remembered; after she passed, the others only thought a brief cool breeze had brushed by.

Signal tracking showed Xi Lian just ahead, not far away.

Heimu walked while mentally tallying: Feng Jin turned into Socrates, A Ge Lai Ya became the godmother, Ke Lv De La and HaiSeYin performed a monarch‑minister duel in the bathhouse, Ti Bao split into a thousand bratty kids, bombarding her until she was covered in colorful powder, every Golden Descendant that has been screened so far fell victim to Aha's entry‑easter egg, none missed.

Xi Lian probably can't escape either.

But she thought otherwise, that's Xi Lian after all.

The cute little Xi Lian who speaks in soft whispers, whose smile bends her eyes into crescents, and who blushes at the slightest thing!

Even if affected by the entry, at most a few filler words like "kouya" or "ye" get added to her speech—how much could that really distort her?

Heimu chuckled inwardly, her steps lightening a few paces.

A courtyard appeared before her.

The stone wall was low, its top covered with vines bearing tiny white blossoms.

Heimu walked straight in, her boot soles striking the courtyard's stone slabs with a crisp sound.

She looked around and let out a soft "tsk".

The courtyard was larger than she had imagined.

A violet‑blue rug lay on the stone slabs, scattered with a few golden leaves.

Between the archway and the colonnade, pink gauze curtains filtered the afternoon light into a gentle pink‑gold hue, casting warm, glowing patches on the rug.

In a corner stood a wooden hand‑pushed flower cart, loaded with potted plants of various colors, several in full bloom, droplets clinging to the petals.

Beside the plant rack in the corridor lay several large purple cushions, their surfaces bearing indentations from prolonged sitting.

A long table with red edges held pastries and several plates of fruit, the apples' skins still glistening with a freshly‑washed sheen.

Putting aside the impression from the game, this place is indeed overly cozy.

No wonder it's Xi Lian.