Little Jade Capital in the heavens.
The State Preceptor of Yankang and his wife had been here for more than ten days already. This heavenly city was like a fairyland, filled with sights rarely seen in the mortal world.
"Has the Preceptor been comfortable these past few days?" a white-robed elder asked with a smile as he came over.
The State Preceptor of Yankang replied solemnly, "Little Jade Capital truly lives up to its name. The atmosphere here is extraordinary, and it has made me reluctant to leave. But good as this place is, it is far removed from the mortal world after all. My ambitions do not lie here, so in the end I must depart. I beg the Hermit of the Secluded Mountains to forgive me."
The elder, the Hermit of the Secluded Mountains, laughed. "There is no need to hurry, Preceptor. I invited you here as a guest, but I have not yet told you the origins of Little Jade Capital."
"I would be glad to hear the details," the State Preceptor said, curious.
The Hermit of the Secluded Mountains led the way, guiding the Preceptor and his wife up onto a rainbow bridge carved from seven-colored jade. It stretched across the sky, and standing on it felt like standing on a rainbow. At the middle of the bridge, the view of Little Jade Capital was different from what they had seen below: the sky-mountains within the city were arrayed like a natural formation, and the palaces upon those mountains looked like the dwellings of immortals.
"The origins of Little Jade Capital are older than you imagine, Preceptor."
The Hermit of the Secluded Mountains smiled. "The history here can be traced back to the era of Kaihuang."
"Kaihuang?"
The State Preceptor had indeed never heard of Kaihuang. Puzzled, he asked, "Which country was the era of Kaihuang? No emperor of Yankang has ever borne the title of Kaihuang."
"Kaihuang was not Yankang. Kaihuang was a realm, called the Empire of Kaihuang."
The Hermit of the Secluded Mountains said, "The Preceptor should know of the Empire of Kaihuang. It is what is now the Great Ruins."
The State Preceptor's body trembled slightly, and he let out a long breath. "The Great Ruins."
The Hermit of the Secluded Mountains led the couple across the rainbow bridge toward an immortal mountain floating in midair, saying in no particular hurry, "Kaihuang is the Daoist term for it; the Buddhist sects call it the Epoch of Void. The Buddhists say that worlds pass through formation, abiding, decay, and void—the Epoch of Void being the fourth epoch—while we Daoists call it the Kaihuang Epoch. Now that Yankang is on the rise, our Little Jade Capital calls this present age the Yankang Epoch. In the era of Kaihuang, the Great Ruins flourished and prospered. As for the great calamity in which Kaihuang was destroyed, our Little Jade Capital calls it the Calamity of Kaihuang. And before the Calamity of Kaihuang, there were three other calamities."
The Preceptor's wife's eyes glimmered. "You say that Yankang is now called the Yankang Epoch. Then if Yankang should fall, would you call it the Calamity of Yankang?"
"Madam is perceptive."
The Hermit of the Secluded Mountains smiled and pointed into the distance, where a jade mountain floated in midair with several Daoists constructing a palace upon it. "That palace is being prepared to house the history of the Yankang Epoch. When the State of Yankang falls, the past of the Calamity of Yankang can be compiled and left for future generations to consult."
The Preceptor's wife could not help but say, "Elder, what sort of place is Little Jade Capital, really? Are you good or evil? What do you truly want from my husband and me? We have been here for some days now, and all this while you have had us sightseeing. Surely it is time to reveal Little Jade Capital's true intentions?"
"Little Jade Capital has no intentions. We merely wish to observe the Preceptor, observe the reforms, and record what we deem useful to leave for posterity."
The Hermit of the Secluded Mountains smiled. "We call ourselves immortals, not gods. We have no wish to interfere in the workings of the world."
The State Preceptor asked, "Immortals and gods—how does one tell them apart?"
The Hermit of the Secluded Mountains said, "An immortal is human. A god is not human."
The State Preceptor fell into thought. "You mean to say that a human cannot become a god, only an immortal?"
The Hermit of the Secluded Mountains chuckled. "The Preceptor has cultivated to the Divine Bridge realm. Standing upon your divine bridge, what did you see?"
The State Preceptor did not answer. The Divine Bridge realm was the realm of breaking through the wall to the divine bridge within the divine treasure—the seventh realm of cultivation, and the highest.
"The divine bridge within the divine treasure is the bridge leading to the realm of the gods. But everyone's divine bridge is broken; none can reach the other shore. The Preceptor should be no exception, should he?"
The Hermit of the Secluded Mountains said, "Nor are the immortals of Little Jade Capital an exception. We have examined the divine treasures of countless people, and their divine bridges were all broken. Standing upon a broken bridge, one cannot reach the other shore, and so cannot become a god. In truth, judged by cultivation alone, we could already stand shoulder to shoulder with the gods—but the realm itself has been severed."
The State Preceptor nodded. "Many years ago, I discovered this very thing, and I was tormented by it. I searched through many ancient texts but found no way to resolve it. Does Little Jade Capital have any record of a broken bridge being rejoined?"
"It does."
The Hermit of the Secluded Mountains led them up to a palace on the jade mountain and said, "But even Little Jade Capital cannot do it. Precisely because we cannot become gods, we thought instead of becoming immortals—that is why we elders dwell in Little Jade Capital. Though we call ourselves immortals, when our allotted span runs out, our souls must still return to the Yellow Springs; we cannot escape death. We merely seek a little peace and quiet. Preceptor, Madam, this way, please."
The State Preceptor and his wife followed him into the palace halls atop the mountain. It was a place of jade halls and jeweled towers—though it carried the ethereal air of the immortals, it seemed cold and deserted, without a single figure in sight.
Such was Little Jade Capital: a cold and quiet place.
The Hermit of the Secluded Mountains took them through long corridors and round doorways to the depths of the palace. "And yet, in the era of Kaihuang, there was indeed a group of people who joined their broken divine bridges. They built a glorious and flourishing dynasty of gods. Later, that dynasty was reduced to ashes and vanished; the site of that divine dynasty is today's Great Ruins."
The State Preceptor grew somewhat agitated. "Someone joined the divine bridge? Then they could become gods?"
The Hermit of the Secluded Mountains nodded and said with a smile, "But such people are very rare now. They are called the Gods' Forsaken."
The State Preceptor was taken aback. "You mean those Forsaken in the Great Ruins?"
"No. Almost none of the Forsaken in the Great Ruins possess an unbroken divine bridge within their divine treasure. The immortals of our Little Jade Capital went to examine them."
The Hermit of the Secluded Mountains pushed open a door and led them inside, saying, "The State of Yankang has received divine edicts before, has it not? Edicts strictly forbidding the Forsaken of the Great Ruins from leaving. But the ones those divine edicts wished you to guard against were not the Forsaken of the Great Ruins, but rather the Remnants dwelling in the Land of Carefree within the Great Ruins. Their divine bridges are whole. It is them the divine edicts guard against."
Before them stood row upon row of bookshelves, bearing thick tomes one after another—the history of the Kaihuang Epoch as recorded by the immortals of Little Jade Capital.
"Read through these tomes, Preceptor, and you will know what befell the Kaihuang Epoch and the Calamity of Kaihuang."
The Hermit of the Secluded Mountains bowed and prepared to withdraw from the library tower. "If the Preceptor continues down the path you have already set, I fear the history of the Kaihuang Epoch will also become the history of Yankang. What the Kaihuang Epoch faced, the Yankang Epoch will face as well."
The State Preceptor returned the bow. "Zhen Sanren of your Little Jade Capital died at my hands. Why then, Daoist brother, did you still invite me here?"
"Little Jade Capital does not interfere in worldly affairs; we only record them. Once Zhen Sanren descended the mountain, he was no longer an immortal of Little Jade Capital. Whether he lived or died is no concern of ours."
The Hermit of the Secluded Mountains walked toward the exit. "You two, having come to Little Jade Capital, are immortals of Little Jade Capital; once you leave, you are no longer our concern. Every five hundred years a sage arises, and our Little Jade Capital wishes to see whether the sage of today can accomplish what the sages of old could not."
"What strange rules."
The Preceptor's wife's eyes turned to the tomes. "Husband, there is something odd about Little Jade Capital's origins. I believe they must be descendants of the Empire of Kaihuang."
"That is possible."
The State Preceptor sat down and took up a scroll. "They mean no harm. There is no need to guess at their thoughts. I wish to read the history of Kaihuang—the past as a mirror for the present."
The Great Ruins.
"I only wanted to find some low-tier world where my people could settle down and multiply. I never meant to wage war on your world."
The Myriadskies Demon Lord's gaze was dull as he muttered, "Our Myriadskies is already finished. If we bleed ourselves dry against you as well, our race will truly be exterminated. I must answer for my people. Let me go back. I will find another low-tier world. Let me go back..."
Hu Ling'er looked at Qin Mu and whispered, "Young Master, why not let him go back? The poor thing."
"How am I to know whether he would truly go back or not?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "He is only a wisp of consciousness. His true body is still in Myriadskies, and it can keep searching for other worlds—this wisp need not return. What if he doesn't go back at all, but instead hides away and summons his true form? Wouldn't that be my fault then? Not a single word from this fellow can be believed. Believe him, and you lose. Ahead lies Xianglong City—only a thousand-some li remain to the Village of Broken Elders."
Ahead, Xianglong City came into view, and Qin Mu finally relaxed. He had reached his own turf at last.
"Young Master!"
"The Young Master has returned?"
"Young Master, how does the State of Yankang compare to our Great Ruins?"
...
Qin Mu entered Xianglong City with the Dragon Qilin. The merchants along the way greeted him, and Qin Mu returned their salutes with a smile. "The State of Yankang is far more chaotic than our Great Ruins. Rebellions and wars every day, armies marching and the roads in disarray—not a good place at all."
"That's right. Not long ago, many refugees fled into the Great Ruins, saying they had escaped the ravages of war. It's good that you've returned, Young Master. After all, home is safest."
Qin Mu came to the city lord's mansion and asked, "Has the city lord returned?"
"The city lord came by a few days ago and then left. Will the Young Master be staying? I'll go prepare a banquet to welcome you home."
"No need."
Qin Mu said, "The New Year is drawing near. I'll return to the village first."
Xianglong City had long since become his and Grandma Si's property, and the powers in the city were almost entirely the Heavenly Demon Cult's. Unlike outside, where the cult called Qin Mu the Cult Master and Holy Teacher, here in Xianglong City they still called him Young Master.
After all, the master of this city was Grandma Si, and Qin Mu was the child she had raised. Being called Young Master was only natural.
Qin Mu set out once more on the road home. A thousand-odd li was a short distance; with the Dragon Qilin's pace, it took only half a day to reach the Village of Broken Elders.
The Dragon Qilin trod along the surface of the river, heading upstream against the current. The winter sunlight fell with a touch of warmth, not so bitterly cold as in the State of Yankang. Qin Mu recalled breaking the ice tide with Xian Qing'er the year before. Passing that spot, he saw Xian Qing'er leading the villagers in smoking fish, rubbing salt into the great fish hung from the trees by the river, one by one, with wet wood smoking beneath to let the flavor of the smoke seep in.
The villagers had caught a great many big fish, hung from the trees at the height of a man. The flesh gleamed, translucent and bright. During the New Year they seldom went out hunting, and these catches would see them through the winter.
Qin Mu had the Dragon Qilin stop. The little girl with three braids blinked her bright eyes and said, "Cowherd, so you've come home in glory? Was it fun out there?"
Qin Mu laughed. "Not bad. I got chased and hunted everywhere I went. Have the monks of the Little Thunderclap Monastery come looking for you?"