Chapter 2239 Parted Spirits
- Adalinda frowned, tilting her face toward the statue's serene features.
- "There is an old tale whispered in the Netherrealm," she said, voice almost reverent. "It speaks of a pair of cultivation partners, cultivators so devoted they withdrew from the clamor of cities and hid themselves in a paradise untouched by politics or war. Year followed year until their power reached the very ceiling of our realm; after that, no further path appeared. They did not fear death, yet neither could accept being torn apart by it. So the man set out to break his chains, dreaming that if he could ascend to the Upper Realm, the two of them might remain together. The woman supported him without hesitation. She knew there was likely no road forward for him, but love made her agree all the same."
- Adalinda paused before continuing, "The male cultivator turned his back on the woman who loved him and journeyed across the entire Netherrealm. He raked through every forsaken corner, hunting for the faintest thread of breakthrough. He wandered for years—some say centuries—yet still she waited. When her life force finally burned out, she poured the last spark of her power into stone. She became a statue and stationed herself at their cave mouth, letting cold marble stand watch until the day he came home."