within the dark, deep cave, dry yellow leaves fell from nowhere, carpeting the ground in a thin layer.

qi yuan stepped on the leaves as he walked toward the blind maiden’s residence.

a man’s innocence is still innocence!

don’t trivialize male victims.

with such thoughts in mind, he arrived at the blind maiden’s house.

the sound of trickling water greeted him. it seemed the blind maiden was washing her face.

from qi yuan’s perspective—well, he was blind, so he couldn’t see anything.

“out of materials already? that fast? or are you just here for food?” the blind maiden stepped out, holding a wooden basket.

she looked calm and composed, as if nothing had happened.

“did you come to my place last night?” qi yuan asked bluntly.

“no,” the blind maiden replied, her brows furrowing. “what happened last night?”

“last night... a woman suddenly attacked me. she... well, you know.”

“you must’ve had a spring dream. there are no other women in the divine wood abyss besides me,” the blind maiden said, her tone flat and emotionless.

“that woman last night... i suspect it was you,” qi yuan said with a frown.

“you had a spring dream, and i was the main character?” the blind maiden seemed to glare at him angrily, her voice full of indignation. “shameless!”

qi yuan gauged her reaction and felt a pang of doubt.

her tone didn’t seem to carry the slightest hint of deception.

“are you sure you didn’t come over last night?”

“i spent the entire night sleeping here!” the blind maiden retorted, clearly irritated.

qi yuan hesitated.

his nose hadn’t been lying—this suggested she was telling the truth.

“there’s no one else here?”

“other than me, there’s no one,” the blind maiden said coldly, her voice tinged with displeasure as if she were growing tired of his accusations.

the blind qi yuan scrutinized her, his heart full of unanswered questions.

“why don’t you come to my bed and take a look? the scent from last night is still there.”

“you... shameless!” the blind maiden, though having lived in solitude for so long, now blushed furiously.

“it’s a floral scent, identical to the one on you,” qi yuan said seriously.

the blind maiden stood in place, silent for a long time.

the situation was far too absurd.

yet qi yuan didn’t seem like the type to make baseless accusations.

“fine, i’ll go take a look.”

the blind maiden decided to inspect the scene herself.

if she found any other scent, she’d certainly be furious.

“i’m warning you—don’t get any funny ideas!” the blind maiden cautioned.

“hey, i’m the victim here!” qi yuan protested.

while male victims shouldn’t be trivialized, the thought of explaining this situation to others was incredibly humiliating.

soon, the two arrived at qi yuan’s modest sleeping quarters.

“this is where it happened,” qi yuan said.

the blind maiden bent down slightly, her delicate nose twitching. she seemed to catch a faint scent and paused in silence.

“isn’t it the same floral scent as yours?” qi yuan asked. “could you have a habit of sleepwalking without knowing it?”

sleepwalking was one possibility—another was dissociative identity disorder.

that would be a complicated problem.

legally, however, it might not even be considered a crime!

“no,” the blind maiden straightened.

“this floral scent...”

“it feels like a dream, surreal and untraceable. who knows if it’s even real?” her voice sounded melancholic.

“stop talking in riddles.”

qi yuan had a nagging feeling that the blind maiden was hiding something from him.

“the divine wood abyss is a peculiar place. other than the areas i frequent, you shouldn’t wander around carelessly. it’s easy to encounter... unclean things.”

with that, the blind maiden turned and left on her own.

this left qi yuan standing in the breeze, utterly bewildered.

“unclean things?”

“did i get possessed by a ghost?”

qi yuan could only comfort himself with such a thought.

“too bad i’m blind. if i’d seen who it was last night, this mystery would already be solved.”

“wait a minute... what if she comes back tonight?”

“should i take a bath and try to lure her out?”

“no, i’m too weak right now. better not try anything reckless.”

“what if she finishes and then blames me for being dressed provocatively? that would be beyond humiliating.”

“sigh. thank goodness my will is as strong as steel, or else i’d be suffering from... well, post-trauma depression.”

qi yuan shook off his thoughts and focused on refining his artifact-forging skills.

a mature man must face life with resilience!

even if he was “taken advantage of” last night, today he had to work hard and strive forward!

hr

despite his efforts to remain alert, qi yuan fell into a cautious sleep, hoping to catch the mysterious perpetrator.

but unfortunately, no one came that night, leaving him somewhat disappointed.

this incident became an unsolved mystery.

hr

a few months later.

in a simple forging chamber, qi yuan sat with a delighted expression.

hr

“have you considered my offer? why not leave the radiant cosmos... and join me in the search for...” the remaining words seemed muffled, as though drowned out by static.

feng ti remained silent, offering no response.

“a universe with a dao lord... is but a stagnant pond, devoid of a future,” the voice continued, coaxing.

feng ti’s gaze turned sharp. “and a universe like the divine wood universe has a future?”

“no,” the voice murmured. “the black heavens has already set its sights on it. even if your dao lord intervenes, it will likely end in futility. after all, all worlds and all universes... are nothing but...”

feng ti cut it off coldly. “you dream too big. time is endless, and the universe is boundless, filled with uncertainties. i’d rather dedicate my life to exploring those unknowns.”

“true uncertainties? a world that can be expressed through zeroes and ones... is a world where everything is predetermined,” the voice concluded, falling silent once more.

hr

in the divine wood abyss

“fairness, justice, equality, order...”

qi yuan murmured these words as a bone-chilling white flame burned before him, exuding an overwhelming and sacred presence.

“divine descent!”

he called softly.

as i am the divine descent!

in that moment, the aura of the divine descent descended.

qi yuan’s presence became holy and majestic.

the new divine descent was nearly complete—only one final step remained.

that step was the “will” of the divine descent, or rather, its rules.

qi yuan had many ideas for this new divine descent.

he wanted to create it perfectly, to realize the ideal of, “when there is injustice, call upon me, the divine descent.”

but the more he thought about it, the more he realized how difficult that was.

there is no such thing as perfection.

even an ai judge couldn’t truly achieve perfection.

the “will” and the rules of the divine descent ultimately came from its creator.

in the end, qi yuan decided not to make further changes. instead, he transferred the “will” given to the original divine descent by sheng nu to the new one.

massive amounts of intent and rules surged into the new divine descent’s body.

qi yuan’s thoughts shifted rapidly.

finally, forty-nine days later, qi yuan collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

“it’s finally done.”

“but... it still doesn’t feel complete.”

although the new divine descent had inherited sheng nu’s “will” and was technically stronger than the old one, it still felt lacking.

qi yuan caressed the new divine descent, sensing it was missing something intangible.

at that moment, a clear voice broke the silence.

“did you succeed?”

the blind maiden stood behind qi yuan, quiet and serene.

since the night qi yuan was taken advantage of, he had noticed subtle changes in her attitude toward him. or perhaps it was simply the result of their prolonged companionship. the blind maiden often shared stories of her past, with qi yuan acting as a patient listener.

their bond had grown deeper.

“it’s close, but not perfect,” qi yuan admitted truthfully.

the blind maiden looked at the divine descent with hesitation and uncertainty.

“do you want me to help?”

“huh?” qi yuan was taken aback.

the blind maiden didn’t know how to forge artifacts—how could she possibly help?

the blind maiden smiled smugly. “the dao manifests as fifty, but only forty-nine are revealed. all imperfection stems from the one that is hidden.

i will give it... a branch of spring.”

with her words, the new divine descent in qi yuan’s hands began to change.

qi yuan couldn’t fully comprehend the transformation, but he could sense the divine descent had drawn closer to perfection—perhaps infinitely so.

or rather, it was constantly approaching perfection.

“the world itself is imperfect. now... it has the opportunity to strive for perfection,” the blind maiden said, her eyes distant and nostalgic.

perfection doesn’t exist, but the pursuit of perfection is eternal.

the new divine descent, having regained its missing “one,” would carry its will forward step by step, evolving over time.

sheng nu’s will—“to hold light in hand and banish the night; when there is injustice, call upon me, the divine descent”—might one day truly be fulfilled.

the blind maiden thought of someone.

“you remind me of him,” she said softly.

“who?”

“my future husband.”

“that’s... an unfortunate comparison.”

“just a resemblance. besides... he’s not blind like you,” she teased with a giggle.

“don’t discriminate against the blind. don’t forget, you’re blind too,” qi yuan shot back.

“haha...”

“anyway, thank you. without your help and those eight forging techniques, i probably wouldn’t have been able to complete this task,” qi yuan said cheerfully. “also, i’ll make sure to fix that swing for you... and your eyes.”

“thank you...”

“oh, by the way, i’m not really blind—or i won’t be for much longer.”

“what?”

“let me see what you actually look like!”

curiosity gleamed in qi yuan’s eyes.

at that moment, the completion of both the divine descent and the role of the blind artifact master aligned. finally, qi yuan regained his sight.

he turned to look at the blind maiden.

“the blind maiden?”