In the middle of the night,
"Ah!"
Xing Beiluo bolted awake, having just dreamed of the painful ordeal she experienced before crossing over.
"Miss, what's wrong with you?" Hearing the cry, Youbai hurried in to ask.
"It's nothing, you can go back to sleep," she waved a hand.
"Miss..." Youbai's face was full of worry.
Xing Beiluo sighed helplessly, "Youbai, I'm really fine."
"Miss, this servant will stay here and keep you company." Youbai walked over and sat by the edge of the bed, the concern on her face unabated.
Xing Beiluo could tell that this young girl genuinely cared for her—or rather, cared for the original Xing Beiluo.
At this thought, she figured she could start with Youbai.
"Youbai, do you believe there could be two completely different people in this world with the exact same name?"
Youbai paused, "Is the Miss going to say she isn't the Miss again?"
Xing Beiluo said anxiously, "I'm really not your Miss, and I'm not from this place either. I don't know a single thing about this place. You all should hurry up and send people to look for the real Miss. What if she's in danger?"
Youbai simply didn't believe it, "Miss, the estate physician said you lost your memory. You'll be fine after a while."
Xing Beiluo felt this was so dramatic, "I already told you I'm not your Second Miss, why won't anyone believe me?"
Youbai patiently reasoned with her, "Maybe coincidences happen and people share the same name in this world, but would there be people with the exact same name, the exact same appearance, and the exact same behavioral habits? Miss, you just have this sense of detachment because you were injured and lost your memory."
Xing Beiluo paused.
That's right, there were simply too many coincidences.
Could it be that she really had amnesia?
No, no, she didn't have amnesia!
Whatever, she would just go find Old Madam tomorrow and make things clear.
Xing Beiluo told Youbai to withdraw, "It's nothing, Youbai. I just had a nightmare, I dreamed of being beaten until I was completely useless. I'm fine now. You can go back down."
Youbai still wasn't at ease, "Then this servant will stay with the Miss a little longer."
"I don't need looking after, hurry down and get some rest."
"Yes..."
Youbai's eyes were filled with worry. The Miss must have been targeted by assassins before and was still feeling a lingering sense of fear.
She decided she would report this matter to Old Madam first thing in the morning.
As soon as Youbai left, Xing Beiluo was once again struck by memories of her nightmarish ordeal.
She had no one to confide the pain in her heart to.
With a movement of her divine sense, she entered her portable Space and summoned Little Azure Dragon.
Their divine senses were linked, and Little Azure Dragon felt her sorrow. Transforming into a man in his early twenties, he silently reached out his claws and pulled her into his embrace.
When she had cried almost enough,
Little Azure Dragon pulled away with a look of disdain and gazed into the distance, "That's about enough, you look really ugly when you cry."
Catching the taunt, Xing Beiluo immediately snapped back, "I'm not someone who sheds tears easily to begin with, but in just a few short hours, I was abandoned by The Organization, betrayed by the partner I trusted since childhood, and my only remaining family member was poisoned by The Organization. Then I was inexplicably brought to this world, forced to take someone else's identity, and now I have to guard against assassinations in the open and in the dark. On top of all that, I'm still a useless weakling who can't cultivate, and I even have to make the people in the General's Estate believe that I'm an imposter... With this pile of miserable crap, can't I just be sad for a moment?"
Little Azure Dragon asked, "... Does crying solve your problems?"
Xing Beiluo protested, "I... so much has happened in this short amount of time, I'm under too much pressure. I just wanted to let it out..."
Little Azure Dragon sighed and said,
"There are some things we cannot control, so we can only control ourselves."
"The road of life is full of bumps. Taking a tumble is completely normal. It's enough to feel miserable for a moment, then you pick yourself up and keep moving forward, and you will reach the place you want to be."
"Right now, you should be figuring out how to get out of this predicament instead of sitting here acting cowardly."
[...]
After Little Azure Dragon's long-winded lecture,
Xing Beiluo was left with dark lines across her forehead. Were oblivious guys a trait shared across all species?
"Then what should I do now?"
"The most urgent task for you is to figure out how to cultivate."
"Don't you think I know that? Haven't I not found a way yet?"
[...]
Both of them knew that the most pressing matter was cultivation, but neither had the slightest clue *how* to cultivate.
Xing Beiluo looked at Little Azure Dragon. He was dressed in a plain cyan robe that hugged his near-perfect physique, looking precisely like a celestial boyfriend straight out of a television drama. And his face... At that moment, she realized she couldn't actually remember his face.
She could see his face clearly, with nothing obstructing it, yet whenever she tried to recall it in her mind, she couldn't picture what he looked like.
"What's going on?"
"What?"
"Why can't I remember your face?"
The words were out of her mouth before Xing Beiluo realized she had accidentally spoken her inner thoughts aloud.
Not that she cared, though.
"Probably because you're too weak."
"??! What!" Xing Beiluo brandished her fist, "I'll give you a chance to rephrase that."
"It's normal. How could a mere mortal look upon the face of an immortal? For commoners in the mortal realm to gaze directly at the Emperor's countenance is an offense to imperial majesty, let alone an immortal's."
... Assessment complete, this Little Azure Dragon was a totally clueless guy who really didn't know how to talk to people.
"Hey, since you can transform into a human, how about I give you a name? What do you think of the name Shengyun?"
Back when Little Azure Dragon was in his animal form, she had never thought about giving him a name.
To her surprise, the other party completely brushed her off, "Not much of anything."
"Then I can't just keep calling you 'hey, hey, hey' all the time, can I?"
Little Azure Dragon said indifferently, "I have a name."
Xing Beiluo's eyes immediately lit up, "What is it?"
"I forgot."
[...]
This Little Azure Dragon was truly unreliable.
Xing Beiluo immediately made an executive decision, "Well, whatever, we're going with Shengyun."
Little Azure Dragon shook his head, "I don't agree."
"I am your master, you have to listen to me."
Little Azure Dragon wore a foul expression; he wasn't someone to be pushed around either, "Don't force me to commit master-icide!"
"Ha, I don't believe it! It's just a name, how could it be worth risking your life over?"
... After a brief silence in the atmosphere,
Little Azure Dragon stopped arguing, "Fine, call me whatever you like then."
Xing Beiluo said happily, "Yay, the name Shengyun is great! Noble, imposing, looking down upon all living beings, it sounds so nice. Shengyun."
Xing Beiluo never expected that what she casually said would truly become reality in the end; once he recovered everything, Shengyun would indeed be noble and imposing, looking down upon all living beings.
Little Azure Dragon rolled his eyes, but still cooperated and acknowledged the name with a hum, "Hmm..."
Watching Xing Beiluo happily jumping up and down, Shengyun sighed internally, thinking: She doesn't understand. For primordial Divine Beasts like us, we are born with our own names, which are as important as our very identity.
So be it. Right now he was just an Artifact Spirit, no longer the high-and-mighty primordial Divine Beast he once was.
That world-destroying war had passed a long time ago; he probably wouldn't be needed anymore in the future anyway.
Changing his name wasn't a bad thing—it was a fresh start.