Since childhood, Gao Yiye had never been the delicate type.
She had climbed trees, run along field ridges, and played wildly across the countryside, so her body was far stronger and more agile than most women, and when her hands pressed against the edge of the sandbox, that strength showed itself without hesitation.
With a single push, she lifted herself upward.
In one swift motion, she leapt out of the box.
At that exact instant, she clearly felt her body pass through something intangible, like a thin yet absolute layer of energy that separated two different worlds, a barrier that should have prevented anything from crossing between them.
Yet it could not stop Li Dao Xuan.
And it could not stop her.
It felt as though she had stepped beyond the three realms and escaped the five elements, as if the rules that bound the mortal world no longer applied to her at all.
She had entered the immortal realm completely.
The moment she did, she immediately noticed something astonishing.
She had grown.
Everything around her, the objects that had once seemed enormous and incomprehensible, instantly shrank into proportions that matched her body.
Her eyes widened.
"Wait… did I just grow two hundred times taller?"
She hurried to the edge of the sandbox and looked down.
Below her, she could see Gao Sanwa, Gao Chuwu, Zheng Daniu, the Sky Battalion special unit, and even Unit Seven still floating within the cloud with his eyes tightly shut, not daring to open them.
But something felt off.
The flow of time inside the box was incredibly fast.
Even the smallest movements made by Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu appeared like scenes from a fast forwarded film, their gestures sped up to the point of distortion.
She only watched for a few minutes, yet within the sandbox, night had already passed.
Dawn arrived.
Golden sunlight spread across the land, falling over Gao Sanwa, Gao Chuwu, Zheng Daniu, and the others, who were still standing there, staring blankly at the sky.
Then she heard Gao Sanwa's voice, sharp and rapid like something played at high speed.
"This is bad, Yiye-jie ascended to the immortal realm, come back, come back!"
The sound was distorted, high pitched and fast, yet somehow she could still understand every word, as if the ability to comprehend it had been granted to her by the very nature of this realm.
Gao Chuwu looked up and spoke more quietly.
"She must have gone to Dao Xuan Tianzun's side… I just hope she will be happy."
Zheng Daniu scratched his head.
"Then she will have lots of delicious food from now on."
The others fell silent.
A faint realization dawned on Gao Yiye.
"So this is what Dao Xuan Tianzun sees all the time," she murmured, her voice filled with quiet wonder. "Time in the mortal world moves so quickly… perhaps this is what they mean by a day in the heavens equaling a year in the human world."
Her gaze returned to the sandbox.
"This box is Dao Xuan Tianzun's artifact. It connects the immortal realm and the mortal realm, yet ordinary people cannot pass through it, just like Unit Seven, who could not enter, but I can."
She placed a hand lightly against her chest.
"I am someone favored by Dao Xuan Tianzun… that must be why I have been granted this privilege."
Gao Yiye had always been bold.
Where others might shrink back in fear upon entering an unknown realm, she instead took a step forward without hesitation.
Then another.
She quickly moved toward the window.
Looking outside, she saw that the house she stood in was located on the peak of a mountain, Zhaomu Mountain in Shuangqing City, surrounded by rows of elegant villas, each one refined and carefully designed.
Beyond the mountain, a vast and dazzling city stretched out below, its countless lights forming a brilliant sea that far surpassed even the most prosperous commercial district of the Gao Village Family.
Gao Yiye's eyes widened slightly.
"So this is the immortal realm…"
Then she paused.
"…Where is Dao Xuan Tianzun?"
She turned and scanned the room.
There was only the sandbox, a chair beside it, a table, and on that table a strange device, along with little else.
Her gaze quickly locked onto a single door.
The bedroom.
Without hesitation, she walked toward it and pushed it open.
Inside was a warm and quiet room, and on the bed lay the person she had been longing to see for so long.
Li Dao Xuan.
He was fast asleep, his expression calm and content, completely unaware of everything that had just happened.
Gao Yiye slowed her steps.
She approached the bed quietly, then sat down on the floor beside it, leaning forward slightly so that her upper body rested gently against the edge.
She simply looked at him.
…
Morning light slipped through the window and fell softly across Li Dao Xuan's face.
He stirred.
The memories of the previous night came back in fragments, hot pot, beer, KTV, too much excitement, too little restraint.
"…I drank too much again," he muttered, rubbing his temple as he slowly opened his eyes.
A faint fragrance lingered in the air, delicate and familiar, like the scent of old style cosmetics.
He blinked.
Then froze.
Gao Yiye was right there, leaning beside his bed, her eyes fixed on him, clear and deep like still water.
For a moment, his mind failed to catch up.
Then he smiled instinctively.
"Yiye… long time no see."
Her expression did not change.
But tears slid silently down her cheeks.
Li Dao Xuan blinked in confusion.
"Hey… why are you crying? It has only been a few months."
Her voice was soft, but it carried a weight he could not ignore.
"If I had not come to see you… would you have never come to see me again?"
"…Huh?"
Something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
Li Dao Xuan suddenly sat upright.
This was his bedroom in Shuangqing City.
Not the sandbox.
Not the other world.
His gaze snapped toward the living room, where the sandbox sat with its lid open.
Then he grabbed his phone, quickly pulling up the monitoring app and replaying the footage from the previous night.
There it was.
Gao Yiye climbing out of the box.
At the moment she emerged, her body expanded rapidly, growing to full size in an instant.
He stared at the screen for a few seconds.
Then turned it off slowly.
During this entire process, Gao Yiye had remained silent, standing nearby and watching, because she understood what he was doing, and in her eyes, that device in his hand was an immortal mirror capable of observing past and future events.
She even saw the moment she climbed out of the box.
Her skirt had shifted slightly.
A flash of her leg had been exposed.
A faint blush appeared on her face, but she quickly suppressed it.
It did not matter.
If it was him, then it did not matter.
Li Dao Xuan lowered his hand and looked at her again.
Their eyes met.
He let out a soft sigh.
"I see now," he said, a hint of amusement mixing into his voice. "You are the one with the protagonist's fate."
Gao Yiye tilted her head slightly.
"…What?"
"I always thought I was the main character," he continued, shaking his head lightly, "but it turns out I was wrong. You are the main character, and I am just your cheat ability, something like the old master living inside a ring."
Gao Yiye blinked, clearly not understanding.
"…What are you talking about?"
Li Dao Xuan waved it off.
"Never mind, that is not important."
He looked at her again, his expression softening as he extended his hand.
"Yiye, welcome to my world. If you do not mind… stay here with me from now on."
For a brief moment, she froze.
Then joy flooded her face.
"Dao Xuan Tianzun… you will allow me to stay?"
"Of course," he said with a smile. "Why would I refuse? Only a fool would turn away someone like you."
Without hesitation, she placed her hand into his.
Their fingers intertwined gently.
For the first time, she felt his real hand.
Not the artificial texture she had known before, not something that merely resembled a human touch, but something warm, steady, and undeniably real.
He gave a slight pull.
She did not resist.
Her body leaned forward naturally, and his arm wrapped around her slender waist as she fell into his embrace.
Then, without another word, his lips met hers.
Warm.
Certain.
Real.
And for Gao Yiye, everything she had longed for finally became something she could truly hold.