The sky was cloudless for miles, the scorching sun high above. It was good weather for leisurely travelers, but a source of suffering for farmers who had endured over a month of such weather.
The lack of rain and continuous intense sun demanded a higher frequency of watering, while the prolonged dry spell caused the flow of springs and streams in the mountains to decrease.
"These days are truly unbearable."
In the fields outside Seabreath, a farmer, wearing a straw hat, lay half-leaning on a patch of grass, taking advantage of the brief post-lunch break to rest, glancing up at the relentless sun and sighing deeply.
The seedlings in the field were half-dead, with only a few shallow puddles of water left in the rice paddies. Although the lord organized manpower to transport water from mountain springs using wooden carts, the water distributed to each farmer's field barely sufficed to prevent the soil from cracking.
If this situation continued, he would have to consider selling his ancestral land to buy a boat and become a fisherman. Although fishing also relied on weather conditions, at least it would be better than watching the crops wither in the dry field.
"If the gods could bring rain, I would pray every day in the future." He muttered softly, fatigue from the morning causing him to pull down his hat to cover his face and drift off to sleep with a sense of drowsiness.
Drip. Drip. Tick. Tick.
In a daze, the farmer, surprised, sat up. The straw hat covering his face fell to the ground, and more raindrops sprinkled over him, the surrounding grassland, and the fields below.
Thick rain clouds covered Morninglight, ending the prolonged drought of over a month.
And the benevolent fairy who granted this favor, or rather, the girl who had not originally considered benefiting the mortals, was now more pleased that Ayako finally had some free time to prepare for her coming-of-age ceremony and the dance ritual.
In a moment of calm and modest happiness, the young girl decided to forget the painful past where the fairies fell from the mountains and were slaughtered by the mortal realm. The loss of aura and inability to restore immortality were not significant to her. Like the people here, she lived happily without fairy fate or magical powers.
- It could be said that without the rule changes and the falling of the fairy realm, the fairy life in the heavens and Morninglight would not be significantly different. After all, the fairy realm was just a home established by the fairies, who were too powerful and rejected by the world rules of East Land.
Thinking so, Mingling joyfully sat under the tree, watching Ayako practice repeatedly from clumsiness to skillfulness, trying on the tailor's elaborate attire over and over again, just like an ordinary girl, rather than as the manager of this small town.
"Minorin, how do you like this design?"
"It's a common pattern, right? The cherry blossom design on the clothes seems too ordinary, doesn't it? And that kind of flower doesn't suit you."
"Uh, then I'll ask the tailor to make some changes."
"Forget it, they're tired too..."
"Oh? Since when did you start showing consideration for others?" Ayako teased with a subtle smile, jokingly.
"Well... that was before." Mingling felt a bit helpless. She had not fully adapted to the life of mortals yet. Compared to the energy of the fairies, the daily routines of eating three meals, taking a nap, and sleeping late were still strange to her.
"Moreover, it wasn't because of you constantly forcing me to give suggestions a few times before. If it was okay to say, I would have said it long ago."
"Well... then let it be." Ayako said sulkily.
Yes, let it be. Minglin was very satisfied with this.
However, she could not have her wish fulfilled after all. Perhaps just as the people from "Icarius" in East Land had said, Morninglight and the Fairy Path were not meant to be connected. Forcing such a connection might instead bring disaster.
After the expedition to the three sacred mountains, the powerful figures of the cultivation world in East Land, who claimed to be "Earth Immortals," thoroughly absorbed the inheritance of the fairy realm—although those artifacts and spiritual energy were merely for their daily lives and cultivation needs, they were considered astonishing wealth in the mortal realm.
The cultivation world of East Land rapidly developed, with the Earth Immortals who participated in the expedition either greatly advancing in their cultivation or establishing prominent sects, while the battle that took place in the fairy mountains was completely sealed off from the public eye.
Such events could not be known to the world, as the consequences of shattering everyone's beautiful illusions of the fairy realm would be unbearable even for them.
Therefore, those who slipped through the cracks back then could not be let off.
The immortals who were not completely annihilated pose a great danger, as once they adapt to the changes in the laws, they remain immortals, completely distinct from the Earth Immortals who even drew sustenance from the remnants of the fairy realm.
After so many years had passed, the Earth Immortals who were obsessed with searching for those who escaped had gradually let go of their concerns. But just then, on the edge of the Eastern Continent where their abilities could reach, there came news of a change in the laws from a remote island nation with scarce spiritual energy.
"The black clouds press down on the city, the city is about to fall." Originally an abstract way for Eastern poets to describe the arrival of a great army, the people living in a nation like Morninglight may never have the chance to witness such overwhelming military might in their lifetime, but on this day, they saw this kind of sky with their own eyes.
Raging thunderclouds came from all directions as if they had a life of their own, occupying the sky of this island nation in a short amount of time. Pale thunderous dragons zigzagged through the clouds, as if the anger of the gods was upon them.
This was not just pressing on the city, it was like the entire country was about to be crushed into the depths of the sea.
Arriving at this place were the three Earth Immortals who had planned the siege on the sacred mountains initially, some of the strongest individuals in the cultivation world of Shenzhou. But just as they were the strongest in Shenzhou, they were also well aware of the terror of a heavenly calamity and the disparity between themselves and the complete immortals. Upon learning that there were survivors from the previous siege, they set off immediately.
The three of them joined forces, and the thunderous clouds formed an impenetrable barrier around the borders of Morninglight, isolating the entire island.
As cultivators with the word "immortal" in their titles but who had completely shed their mortal desires, they had thought that the immortal who escaped would lead a life of luxury in this insignificant island if it wasn't for the anomaly in the laws that caught their attention, even potentially ruling over this tiny land. However, when the king of Morninglight was cautiously explored by their divine senses, they found no traces related to "immortals."
After all, Minglin had long concealed all her immortal aura and had even hidden herself at the slightest hint of the unusual thunderclouds, so even if those three individuals stood in front of her, they would probably just see her as an ordinary young girl.
But all of this was shattered by one person.
Ayako's younger brother, who had always coveted the position of family head and harbored resentment towards his sister, a young man who had been with Ayako for a long time, had already noticed Minglin's extraordinary nature.
So, on the day before the scheduled festival, the three Earth Immortals personally arrived at this insignificant coastal town.
Minglin was forced to engage in a battle with the incomplete celestial beings without fully recovering her celestial spirit. Despite mastering the profound celestial arts since childhood, which far surpassed the mortal realm's magic, she couldn't withstand the siege of the three most powerful terrestrial immortals. Eventually, she had to use her celestial arts to escape after several rounds of fighting.
Although the three terrestrial immortals could defeat Minglin in a direct confrontation, they couldn't decode the celestial arts used for escape to trace Minglin's whereabouts. They resorted to using their divine senses to search while maintaining the Thunder Prison. However, limited by the gap in magical abilities, the terrestrial immortals, except for their advantage in absolute strength and rule control due to the changing laws, still had a qualitative difference.
Reliant on her concealment skills, Minglin could have quietly waited until the three couldn't maintain the Thunder Prison and then left unnoticed. However, she ultimately failed due to the "human" factor. Despite the title terrestrial immortals bearing the word "immortal," they were still beings of the mortal world. To be blunt, they were just incredibly powerful people. While they were weaker than true immortals who had endured the heavenly tribulations both physically and mentally, their strength lay more in strategy rather than power.
Although this seemed despicable.
"Tairaeda’s eldest daughter, sheltering a fallen celestial being from the mortal realm, must be killed."
A simple yet absurd announcement, transmitted indiscriminately through echoes by the terrestrial immortals, covered the entire Morninglight, causing even the rocks, trees, flowers, birds, and insects to tremble in the sound waves.
Instead of setting up a location for the sacred prayer dance on Seabreath square, the Celestial Slab platform stood tall, created from the lockstone, but it was only meant to kill a mere mortal.
"Please don't come."
Ayako, locked on the Celestial Slab, prayed in her heart. But after spending this time with Minglin, she understood how could she not come.
Before the Celestial Slab attracted the obliteration thunder, the once bustling Seabreath outside was now deserted. A slender figure, appearing fatigued, slowly approached the square.
Why?
Walking slowly towards the square, the young celestial, who had only been born into this world for a little over a decade, earnestly pondered this question.
Did I do something wrong? Did my parents do something wrong? Why am I being treated this way?
Unable to calculate her own fate, despite being able to deduce everything else in the world, the young celestial knelt under the Celestial Slab, exchanging her own life to plead with the three earthly immortals besieging the Celestial Mountain to spare Ayako.
Even on the day the Celestial Mountain fell, when the immortals were being massacred by the mortal cultivators below, not a single celestial being showed fear or surrender.
But at that moment, Minglin was afraid. She wasn't afraid of her own death but of the vulnerability of an ordinary person like Ayako in a situation with only celestial and terrestrial immortals, where even a slight exposure to leaking energy could be fatal.
"Please let her leave safely."
Set aside the innate halo of being a "celestial being," the girl named Minglin pleaded earnestly.
And then, what happened next?
The memories became a bit hazy, only recalling the bewildered laughter of the three terrestrial immortals, the falling thunder, and the splattering of blood.
"Immortals are born according to the will of heaven, but can also go against it."
"Lín, although we call ourselves immortals, we must not forget that we are also human beings."
Father had once said this to her.
As a celestial being herself, she was well aware of these teachings. So why could those self-proclaimed terrestrial immortals disregard the lives of fellow mortals?
Amidst confusion and anger, the celestial spirit inside her slowly reversed, brewing into a terrifying storm.
...
"Born under a peculiar omen, the vital balance of Yin and Yang."
The ancient texts of East Land recorded the anomaly of that day, a cornered island nation that vanished from the maps, eventually forgotten as the years passed.
