"The scene is really terrible..."

Sitting on the broken walls of Xigu City, Aya looked down at the city below, now reduced to ruins. She didn't know how to express her feelings, so she just remained expressionless.

Just like Ming Lin had mentioned, there were hardly any survivors left here. Aya could imagine how the massive dark silhouette monsters must have broken through the city walls of Xigu and rampaged through the entire city.

Soldiers wielded weapons in an attempt to resist, killing some of the shadowy figures charging at them, but in the endless night, the elemental monsters ultimately overwhelmed them like a tide.

Aya's keen sense of smell allowed her to know how many people had died inside, even without looking. The pungent smell of blood nearly made her faint.

Are Ayako and Sakuya okay?

She didn't even have to think about the answer to that question.

Aya felt a strong sense of defeat and frustration. Not long ago, she had confidently told someone in this city she didn't even know, "Leave it to me." The last time she felt this miserable was when she couldn't save Chirp in the magitech city, and thankfully nothing happened to Chirp in the end, giving her some solace.

"It looks like you're not in a great mood," a familiar voice sounded behind her. Without her realizing it, the princess appeared and roughly ruffled Aya's hair.

"Who... Tiran? How did you make it all the way here?!"

Thrown off balance by the sudden attack, Aya lay on the bricks and saw the princess upside down in her field of vision, somewhat surprised. "Aren't you supposed to be in that other world with Ming Lin?"

"You really are slow, aren't you? Look up for yourself."

Following Tiran's gesture, Aya's eyes widened slightly.

The moon and... the sun?

After living in this chaotic world for some time, seeing these two things that should have been familiar come together took her by surprise.

"That's a sign of the split entities merging gradually." Tiran walked over and sat down next to Aya, both watching as one end of the originally pitch black night sky suddenly brightened, white and black like two liquids being poured into the same container, mingling in collision, then indistinguishable.

"These two small worlds in The Realm... or rather, the realm of the gods, are collapsing, and due to the merging of those two beings, there are overlaps in the border areas. That's why I came straight here."

Tiran shrugged.

"You seem quite calm..." Aya noticed Tiran's usual expression and remarked, "What that guy said is true, you know. If Ming Lin here takes over in the end, a god who will hate humans will be born."

"Tch, if the Emperor is not in a hurry, why should the eunuch be anxious? I'm a human, and I'm calm. Besides, it's a matter of the divine sphere, so it's the Goddess of the Light who should worry first, followed by the church... we're nowhere near the level to worry about it, not even as Holy Ranks."

The princess muttered under her breath.

Was she being mocked? To be mocked, really? Aya felt the urge to curse internally, but at least she had the surreal experience of seeing Princess Tiran again.

"Anyway, let's just wait and see. No matter who wins in the end, we can't do anything now."

"That being said, but... huh?"

When Aya was about to say something, she was suddenly embraced tightly by the warm and fragrant Soft Jade.

"Moreover, you silly dragon have been missing for so long, and finally we meet again, I don't care about all those messy things. Right now, this lady is vividly in front of you, look into my eyes!"

Holding Aya tightly with both hands, Tiran buried his head in Aya's ear, biting his ear with resentment.

Indeed, even if Bright Scales really returns to the world as a fallen immortal intent on eradicating humanity, Tiran will not forget why he traveled thousands of miles over the seas to East Land.

Tiran could feel Aya's body stiffen for a moment, but one hand gently reached back around him.

The fusion and collision of darkness and light in the sky continued, with the laws and energy debris belonging to the immortals violently turbulent in this divine domain, washing away and shattering the two small worlds before reassembling them into a complete divine realm.

As if the grand feat of creation at the beginning of chaos was being reenacted in this small world, to onlookers, it was a magnificent and astonishing scene.

—But unexpectedly, there were two individuals, the only two idiots still alive in this world, who didn't even spare a glance, simply embracing each other quietly, feeling each other's breath and heartbeat palpably in that moment.

Time seemed to pass for a long while.

"Um, should we maybe loosen up a bit? I'm having a hard time breathing..." Aya, who had been holding it in for a long time, blushed and murmured softly.

"Oh... okay."

Tiran quietly ended the koala-like posture where half his body was draped over Aya, lowered his head and moved slightly to the side, placing his hands on his knees as he sat down, a posture of unprecedented meekness, completely devoid of the assertiveness of the previous moment when he embraced Aya.

Aya glanced at the princess's neck exposed outside, and even her originally snow-white skin had a tinge of redness. That was good, he wasn't the only one feeling shy; the princess must now be feeling embarrassed recalling her impulsive hug.

"It seems like the sky won't clear up anytime soon." Aya tried to change the subject.

"Yeah, at the level of immortals or deities, the scale of energy is formidable, and the fusion will certainly not be achieved in a few moments." Still not fully recovered from his own impulsive actions moments ago, Tiran raised his head but still seemed hesitant to look at Aya.

Whether it was in Aya's experience or the princess’s, if either had even a hint of romantic experience, it had now turned into a one-sided flirtation, although Aya didn't want to be the one flirted with, it was better than the current situation.

And just then, as if something abnormal occurred in the sky, or maybe the immense energy finally made it impossible to sustain the small world being performed in this divine domain, Aya and Tiran suddenly found that the images they could see were fluctuating like ripples on the surface of water when a stone is thrown in.

Even more bizarre was that they themselves were also amidst this fluctuation, but there was no unusual feeling in their bodies.

"Is the space itself fluctuating, reaching its limit?" Aya instinctively reached out to grab Tiran, but before he could feel the actual grab, all the scenes he could see shattered like a glass curtain wall being crushed into countless pieces flying in all directions.

What followed was a surge flowing like a tide, forming waves of flashing images.

It was a torrent of memories.

...

"Xiaoling, how is your recovery going?"

"If we're talking about the physical body, there were no major issues from the start. It's just that my celestial spirit suffered severe damage, and if I want to recover..."

"Celestial spirit? What is that?"

"...Don't you all know? What about magic? Cultivation?"

"Well, I did hear the Icashi merchants who occasionally pass through mention it. They say that cultivators can do incredible things, like controlling the wind and rain. If we had that kind of power, Seabreath... no, the entire Morninglight would have a much better life, not dependent on the sea and sky for food. But they also say that we Morninglight people lack spiritual energy and the support of natural treasures, destined to be estranged from the immortal path... Xiaoling, are you originally from Icashi as you mentioned?"

"It's somewhat related, but not exactly. If the Icashi you're referring to is Shenzhou."

...

Mingling really liked the life here, even though compared to the celestial realm... no, even compared to the so-called lower realm of Shenzhou, the spiritual energy here seemed very lacking, making it difficult for her celestial spirit to recover. However, as an ordinary human, her days spent with Ayako were anything but boring.

Ayako was the eldest daughter of the noble Tairaeda family in Seabreath, inheriting her father's wisdom and influence. While tradition dictates that the position of family and estate head be passed down to a son, Morninglight managed all aspects of their territory in an orderly manner.

Of course, this kind of life also deprived her of many ordinary joys that a regular girl should have.

"Xiaoling, Xiaoling, the festival is only a month away."

At that time, Ayako often complained to Mingling with a tone of longing and helplessness, her brows showing signs of fatigue.

Ayako, who was about to come of age, was supposed to participate in the God's Dance Festival this year, wearing a magnificent dress akin to bridal attire for girls and performing a dance for the gods on stage. However, at this time, Seabreath was hit by a rare drought, leaving her with no time to prepare for her coming-of-age ceremony due to numerous tasks.

"It's supposed to be the season of ample rainfall at the transition from spring to summer, why did this happen..."

Although she was still a young girl, Ayako, who was already carrying the well-being and livelihood of all the people in her territory, stretched her sore body from sitting for too long, her youthful curves faintly visible under her clothes.

"Is the God's Dance Festival really that important?" Mingling, not quite understanding, joked, "Instead of offering it to your elusive god, why not dance for me? Who knows, if I'm pleased, it might even rain."

Although it was a joking tone, Mingling wasn't actually joking.

Just like Ayako said, the current drought was very unusual, and her celestial spirit keenly sensed that it was the influence of the laws... perhaps caused by the disruption of the fallen celestial mountain.

"But there's still a month left. If I solve this problem now, she should still make it to the dance festival."

Mingling told herself this. Despite the lack of spiritual energy preventing her celestial spirit from recovering, she was an immortal, and even squeezing out that tiny bit of celestial energy was enough to do nearly impossible things in the eyes of mortals.

The next day, rain fell to nourish the earth.

Simply and easily using a bit of her celestial spirit's power to correct the disrupted laws was all it took, just helping out a little. Ayako would be delighted, and so would she. Why not do it?