Chapter 1229

Zhao Lian Yun, still dazed, is led into a small, dim secret room and told to kneel before first supreme elder of Spirit Affinity House. At the elder’s word the room brightens, revealing a wall of countless jade like life tablet Gu, each naming a past fairy of the house from the first generation onward. Zhao Lian Yun recognizes names among them, including Mo Yao and Lian Xiang. She feels dazzled, like a child staring at a sky of stars, these fairies extraordinary and unrivaled across history. ^{ch. 1229}

First supreme elder tells her that from now on she is the current generation fairy. Her own life tablet Gu is already set at the lowest position. Zhao Lian Yun is overjoyed but doubts it, since by the sect’s rules she is not yet qualified, and asks whether love Gu is the reason. The elder confirms it: this is love Gu, and Zhao Lian Yun has already received its acknowledgement. She knows love Gu as the house’s signature Gu, and joy comes so suddenly that she first feels fear this is a dream. She asks first supreme elder why. ^{ch. 1229}

First supreme elder does not answer directly. Instead she says Zhao Lian Yun must have read The Legends of Ren Zu, since one chapter answers the question. In that tale, Ren Zu, having overcome his old fear after gaining love, courage and betrayal, meets a snowman who calls herself the strongest of her tribe. The snowman wants to disprove that snowmen fear fire, having already conquered bright light glorious ring fire in the sky, azure divine stone furnace fire in the earth, and raging wave rising dragon fire in the sea. Because Ren Zu has just obtained love Gu, the snowman wants to test a fourth, the fire of love, said to turn all life to cinders. ^{ch. 1229}

Ren Zu asks love Gu whether it can produce the fire of love, and it answers that it can and cannot, since two hearts are needed. The snowman offers her own heart of domination, admitting she has only the one. Ren Zu, having already given away his original heart and gained a heart of loneliness housing self Gu, offers his heart of discontent, dried from spending its blood in Ordinary Abyss. Love Gu flies into both hearts, then declares that they should collide. The fire of love blazes up, burning Ren Zu’s heart of discontent to ash at once. ^{ch. 1229}

Love Gu says love has a price: it makes people willing to sacrifice. The snowman dismisses the fire as mere appearance, puts the burning heart back into her chest, and then bursts into flame and melts like snow, the fire beyond putting out. She melts away completely, leaving only her heart behind, still burning. Ren Zu is extremely shocked that someone so strong could vanish so easily. Love Gu tells him its result depends on which heart it burns, and not every experience of love ends this badly. ^{ch. 1229}

Stirred, Ren Zu resolves to make the feathermen fall in love with him, so they will fly to save his daughter, trapped in Ordinary Abyss. From the flames of the still burning heart of domination, a boy leaps out calling him father, offering to help save the sister he has just learned he has. He is Blazing Glory Lightning Brilliance. Extremely overjoyed, Ren Zu brings him to the feathermen’s gathering place and asks whether they have hearts. They answer that they carry only the heart of freedom, and when Ren Zu asks them to fall in love with him, they refuse, warning that the heart of freedom would be completely burned by the fire of love. He holds out his heart of loneliness and argues it is part of love’s process too, but they will not agree. ^{ch. 1229}