Ruomei blinked and opened her eyes. It took her a moment to realize where she was – in her room at Feng Ge, lying on her bed. There were tears in her eyes, and she brought up a hand to brush them away. She was no longer Meiying – but Meiying would always be a part of who she was, and the pain that she had gone through in the Mortal Realm was still sharp.

A rustle of fabric at the doorway had her turning her head.

"You're back."

Lisong stepped into the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. Ruomei shoved off her blankets and sat up to greet him.

"Teacher, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to go through the arch, I – "

He held up a hand. "It was not your choice, but you faced it bravely. I'm proud."

Still reeling from her mortal trials, Ruomei sniffed back a tear. "Really?"

He gave a soft smile. "If my words aren't enough to convince you, will you accept the fact that your cultivation has increased to that of an Immortal?"

Ruomei gasped. "It did?" She looked down at herself, expecting to see some great change. "Well, maybe I feel a little stronger..." she reached for her side, where Bingling had stabbed her with a dagger earlier, relieved to find that it had healed. Involuntarily, she shivered. The last thing she could remember of her mortal life was Lady Bingling – as Xuejun – rushing toward Ruomei with a sword. Had that been how her mortal life had ended?

"Where's Zhulin?" she asked.

As if on cue, Ruomei suddenly heard her name being called outside in the courtyard.

"Ruomei?"

"I'm here!"

The door clattered open, first to reveal a disgruntled servant's face, and then Zhulin stumbled through, dressed once again in his customary black.

"Ruomei!"

She couldn't help the half-sob that escaped her as he ran over and embraced her, nearly knocking her over.

"You're okay – I had to make sure," he said breathlessly, drawing back to look her over. "Rationally, I knew it had to be the case, but I couldn't believe it until I saw for myself."

"And you, too," she said, her eyes again welling with tears as she thought back on the last time she had seen him – as Dongsheng, gravely wounded, sacrificing himself to save the kingdom from the princess and her cruelty.

Her eyes widened as she realized what their return meant, and she turned suddenly to Lisong. "Where's Lady Bingling?"

He slowly opened his fan, the phoenix painted on the paper glinting in the light. "According to the Records of Fate, she's due back very soon," he said. He met Ruomei's anxious gaze. "Did you remember my advice, earlier?"

"I did." She looked down to her right hand, still clenched in a fist. "I never handed it over." Slowly, she opened her fingers, and the cold, bright shine of the Heart of Ice revealed itself. "Does this mean the cold in the Mortal Realm is over?"

He gave a single nod. "It is."

Ruomei made to hand it over to him, but he shook his head. "Well, what happens now?" she asked.

"The safest place for it is in the Netherworld," he answered, turning his gaze to Zhulin. "It's a neutral territory, but close enough that Zhulin will be able to keep an eye on it from the Demon Realm."

A muscle twitched in Zhulin's jaw. "That only worked for a time, until Lady Bingling found a way to steal it," he said. "I'm still relatively new as Demon Lord, and not even I have enough power to wield it as she was able to. If she comes for it again, nothing will have changed in my ability to stop her."

Lisong's expression was subtle, his kind eyes and a small, almost apologetic smile half-hidden behind his fan. "Leave Lady Bingling to me," was all he said.

~*~

Lisong, Zhulin, and Ruomei returned to the Heavenly Court to report on the return of the Heart of Ice and of Ruomei's ascension to an Immortal. The Heavenly Lord had evidently managed to escape the ice he had been trapped in, and now studied his three visitors with a critical eye as they approached the throne and gave their respective bows.

"Lisong, I see this pupil of yours, at least, was a success," the Heavenly Lord said. "Ruomei, I believe congratulations are in order."

Ruomei bowed. "Thank you, sir."

The Heavenly Lord turned to Zhulin. "I'll admit I was wrong about Lady Bingling," he said. "I hope we can still be on good terms, moving forward."

Zhulin bowed. "Of course. I believe it's best if our realms continue working together."

The Heavenly Lord nodded. "Good. And the Heart of Ice will be returned to the Netherworld, as planned?"

Zhulin nodded. "I plan to return it on my way home tomorrow, before I relieve Chenguang of her temporary duties as sovereign," he said.

"Hmm." The Heavenly Lord leaned back in his throne, a thoughtful look on his face. "Well, it seems like that answers almost everything. Except – "

A court official suddenly cried out from the back of the room, interrupting them.

"Lady Bingling!"

Heads turned, and hushed whispers rustled through the court. No one dared move as the aforementioned lady stalked into the building and towards them. Ruomei cast an anxious look at Zhulin, and then Lisong. Even though Bingling was no longer in possession of the Heart of Ice and its full power, she was still a force to be reckoned with.

"Where is it?" Bingling called out, her eyes sweeping over the trio before directing the fire in her gaze to meet Lisong's cool stare.

"You won't get it," he replied.

Bingling scoffed. "Don't try to hide it from me," she said. "I just came back from a lifetime of mortal trials. They – " she threw out a hand to Ruomei and Zhulin "tried to stop me, but I'm far  older and more powerful than they are, now even more so after cultivating."

"That may be so," Lisong said, "but you are still not more powerful than me."

He flicked open his fan, and suddenly the hall was alight with feathers of fire swirling around them.

When the flames cleared, the crowd gasped. Both Lisong and Bingling were nowhere to be seen.

Zhulin turned to Ruomei. "Do you think he'll be okay? Or is that the last we'll ever see of him?"

She smiled. "It's in his nature to make a reappearance. In the meantime, I think I'd like to try cultivating to High Immortal. What do you think?"

~*~*~*~*~*~

The end!

Happy Lunar New Year - the year of the tiger!  A big thank you to everyone who's been reading and commenting - I really cannot emphasize enough how much I appreciate your support.  Special shoutout to the following wattpaders, in no particular order, for their encouragement and being open to whatever my brain came up with for this contest/challenge: 

AllyCwrites 

Amanda-Mae 

MoYun_ZJ 

greydaygirl 

dj_thecrazycatlady 

LMorthor 

EdgemoonPR 

FallenCommanderBerea

Half the fun was writing, the other half was reading all your comments.  You all are the BEST!