Chapter 15: Walking with the Divine
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It hurts! It really hurts! Lily felt the wound on her shoulder still oozing fresh blood. Yet, at the same time, a warm, ethereal energy surged into her body. The wound seemed to heal and restore itself, the bleeding gradually slowing to a stop.
“Child, child...”
A voice, seemingly divine, whispered in her ear, though it carried an odd, unfamiliar tone.
“It will be alright soon. Just hold on a little longer...”
The sharp pain steadily faded, but Lily felt as though her consciousness was drifting through the air, flying toward an unknown distant place. She felt like a great bird soaring above countless strange seas and continents.
Before her eyes, the universe shifted; many bizarre scenes flashed past. She saw wondrous lands and extraordinary people she had never encountered before: knights and samurai clad in armor and brandishing swords, priests and kings strategizing with wisdom. Whether golden-haired and blue-eyed or dark-skinned, these figures floated past her vision. Their adventures and battles played out before her like a revolving lantern of scenes.
“What is this...?”
“Clang!”
Accompanied by a clear birdcall, a massive blue phoenix appeared before Lily, its body a brilliant sky blue, remarkably resembling the illusory blue phoenix that the true god had previously released to aid her.
“Clang!”
The blue phoenix cried out again, its voice like silver bells, then lifted her onto its back, carrying her through one world after another.
As the phoenix’s wings broke through the boundaries of these worlds, Lily saw that the strange lands she had glimpsed lay beneath the phoenix. These worlds were scattered like stars across a pitch-black void brimming with blue ethereal energy. Each world was wrapped in thick, white ethereal mist, resembling bubbles floating in a vast expanse. Within each bubble, the world was not a spherical planet but extended like a three-dimensional map laid out flat, matching the ancient notion of “a round sky and square earth.”
One world after another drifted through the endless ocean of void, like countless floating duckweeds. The sun and moon revolved around these worlds, providing sunlight and tides. Their radiance made each ethereal bubble shine like a star in the dark night sky.
Lily gazed at this strange scene, unsure of where she was or why she had come here. She could only let the enormous blue phoenix carry her onward.
They traveled through the ethereal sea for an unknown length of time.
“Hey, look, this is the little sparrow that the Jade God boy picked up~”
“Look at her, quite a beauty.”
“Kid, isn’t this better than that jade dragon you tried to pry from the Jade God before?”
“The Way of Magic, the Heaven’s Law, the Way is natural~ Brother Hero follows his heart, seeking the great path of chivalry. As they say, a clear mind cannot be measured by common envy.”
“All right, all right, Brother Immortal, what kind of explanation is that? In front of the two Lords Song and Divine, why speak so pretentiously? It’s no fun, no fun~”
“Color! Color too!”
“This girl’s soul will soon see the Jade Seal Hall; let’s keep watching~”
Suddenly, noisy voices filled Lily’s mind. Before her eyes, she seemed to see people clad in armor or splendid garments swaying before her. But when she tried to discern their faces, a powerful pressure of ethereal energy overwhelmed her. The aura emanating from these figures concealed their features and blurred Lily’s consciousness.
She slipped into unconsciousness once more.
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“Where... where is this?”
Lily awoke again to find the blue phoenix resting upon the ethereal sea. She realized that the void, resembling a black ocean, could actually be stepped upon solidly. Supporting her weakened body, she stepped onto the ethereal sea and saw a distant jade light gleaming.
At the far edge of this spreading ethereal sea, a towering structure suddenly emerged from the darkness. It resembled a jade seal magnified a thousand times, standing like a mountain in the dark.
Lily approached swiftly, noticing that the jade seal was intricately carved with balustrades, painted pillars, and thousands of windows—like a grand, exquisitely crafted temple or palace.
Curiously, one corner of the jade seal was patched with gold, as if someone had broken off a piece and it had been mended.
A thick jade-colored ethereal mist enveloped the hall. The soaring mist transformed the surrounding darkness into a jade-green world.
“Jade energy... is that...?”
Lily recognized such jade energy; she had seen someone who could wield it. The jade energy surrounding this palace was very similar to the ethereal energy used by that person.
“So familiar... such a familiar feeling...”
“Ah!”
Suddenly, Lily’s head throbbed painfully. Vague scenes flashed before her eyes: a woman dressed in dark robes stood within a magnificent palace, holding a jade seal—the very same shape as the jade seal hall, only intact without the broken corner.
The woman looked up, her face and expression indistinguishable from Lily’s—except she lacked the emerald eyes and the scar on the left eye, and there were more wrinkles at her eyes’ corners.
“Hetian Jade, forged into the imperial seal~”
“Emerging from Hangu Pass, sweeping across the six directions~”
“Mandated by Heaven, longevity and prosperity!”
“Mandated by Heaven, longevity and prosperity!”
“Mandated by Heaven, longevity and prosperity!”
The jade seal was held by a tall, handsome man wearing a crown with hanging beads. Behind Lily, it seemed as if thousands of armies roared those words:
“Mandated by Heaven... longevity and prosperity...”
“Eradicate the starry sky... the Heavenly Way endures forever...”
“Long live Yuliao!”
Strange phrases echoed in her mind again. The pounding headache threatened to tear her brain apart.
“Enough, enough~ You young ones, stop tormenting the ancestor. She will sooner or later understand who she is in the Jade Realm and what she must do~”
“I say, Brother Zhao, without giving her and her beloved some dream-control techniques to constantly stimulate her memories, can she really recall that she was the legendary Mo who once dominated the winds and clouds...”
“Shh, shh, slow down, Brother Ming, don’t rush. This act isn’t finished yet; why bring up the Warring States history now?”
“Right, Brother Zhu, maybe you’ve been in this ethereal sea too long and are getting impatient.”
“Take it easy, we want to see how these two save those impossible-to-ethereal Jade people, you know?”
“Big brothers, better toss her consciousness back; she’s about to be overwhelmed~”
“Yeah, yeah, toss her back~”
“What are you doing! Big brother! And you, Hero Immortal, both of you!”
“Oh, the main character is back.”
“Jade God boy, helping them recover their memories is the real key...”
“Then they would die, turning into true dragon-phoenix, they would...”
“How... is that possible... there must be... a way.”
“Send... her.”
“True God... old man...”
Amid the chaotic voices, Lily finally heard a familiar voice. She called out the old man’s name—or rather, the name he had given her.
Suddenly, as if gripped by divine power, Lily saw the massive jade seal hall swiftly retreating before her eyes. But she soon sensed something was wrong.
She was not moving upward quickly; rather, the jade seal hall was pulling away.
She noticed tall walls extending from either side of the jade seal hall—though they were not walls made of stone but thick, solid ethereal barriers. These walls enclosed the myriad worlds she had seen previously.
Beyond those towering ethereal walls, more worlds scattered across the vast ethereal sea came into view.
Yet the ethereal sea before her began to fade away.
As her body ascended, Lily felt as though she was breaking through some boundary.
Suddenly, she found herself floating in the void—more precisely, a vacuum. Breathing became difficult, and her body started to freeze. Only by drawing upon her Dantian energy was she able to ease this sensation.
Turning around, she surveyed her surroundings.
In the distance shone a brilliant sun and a gigantic blue planet.
“What is this...?”
Unlike the worlds she had seen in the ethereal sea, this “world” was a massive sphere without an ethereal mist bubble.
Suddenly, a mysterious force from nowhere pushed her closer to the planet.
She saw vast oceans gradually divided by drifting continents.
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She watched barren lands transform, slowly covered by strange yet vibrant vegetation.
She saw salamander-like creatures emerge onto the land, evolving into various peculiar lifeforms.
Lily seemed to traverse millions of years, walking alongside enormous reptiles that ruled the earth, observing this strange and lively scene.
Then, the harsh sound of a meteor tearing through the atmosphere came from behind her—the massive meteor plunged rapidly toward the surface, leaving eerie flames in the sky.
The terrifying shockwave from the colossal impact engulfed Lily in a scorching wave of heat that incinerated all life.
Roaring flames and anguished cries filled the air.
An era seemed to come to an end.
Life appeared to march toward extinction.
Yet soon, vegetation on the surface began to grow rapidly once more.
Young creatures emerged from burrows, replacing the gigantic reptiles as rulers of the land.
The cycle of life seemed to play out again across the continents and oceans, though the pace appeared deliberately accelerated.
Amid this rapid change, Lily finally saw her own kind.
She saw hunters clad in animal skins, wielding spears, chasing a massive mammoth.
They acted with clear roles and swift precision.
Unlike previous creatures, their hunt was a collective effort, destined for success.
With spears slicing through the air and striking the mammoth’s head, the colossal beast crashed to the ground. The humans swarmed forward.
Blood splattered onto the rock walls, already soaked with fuel from fires.
Lily noticed black figures painted on the rock—tiny compared to the great beasts.
Yet they hunted like wolves, tracking and slaying one giant creature after another that once dominated the plains.
They grew ever more vigorous.
“The old gods of the past saw you as a prized beast to seize, wanting to see how you would defeat another pitiful god’s puppet.”
“Though their hearts were not evil, this was wrong.”
“Your Jade God tried hard to protect you all...”
“But he was originally just a mortal.”
“How to save yourselves, former Blue Phoenix?”
“Together with that jade dragon, you must seek...”
Lily’s mind echoed again with a deep yet somewhat spiritual voice:
“Still, a guest is a guest. Let me show you your homeland...”
Suddenly, the static figures on the walls came to life, and Lily felt herself drawn into the painting.
The scenes around her shifted rapidly.
She saw people who once dwelled in caves step out, building houses and forming villages, sowing grain and hope upon the vast, newly cultivated plains.
Time flowed onward.
Lily witnessed city-states rising from the ground.
Mysterious, ancient script floated before her eyes.
She saw two great rivers rushing eastward.
Between them, the dragon people moved through dynastic changes with hope for the future.
Her gaze then turned westward.
She saw slaves battling in a massive arena.
Yet in an instant, the cheers turned into solemn, sacred chants.
Tall sailing ships set forth, and she saw solemn black-veiled women smiling in paintings.
Factories and cities rose, black smoke shrouding the skies.
War erupted once more, spreading fire across the lands.
Mechanical iron boxes raced across the earth, cannons roared death.
Grand palaces had long vanished, but humanity pressed onward within concrete and steel.
Countless histories and memories flooded Lily’s mind like an explosion.
Her figure gradually receded from this blue planet.
As she flew beyond the atmosphere once more, she saw enormous space stations soaring into the heavens and people stepping into the vacuum.
“You should return now, child.”
“Good luck.”
“Perhaps we shall never meet again...”
“Then I wish you good morning, good afternoon, and good night.”