Natural disasters strike, the city falls.

Feng Zhi was a powerful member of the Celestial Clan.

Perhaps due to her arrival, the ink-like hues in the sky grew denser, and the sound of wind rustling through leaves filled the air.

Yet the very person who had triggered this dramatic shift in the heavens froze in that very moment.

Gazing at Ying Bing, whose appearance remained unchanged despite her coarse clothing, Feng Zhi’s thoughts were involuntarily pulled back to that day—when radiant light pierced the heavens, countless mystical phenomena bloomed like flowers, as if the world itself was rejoicing in celebration of someone’s arrival.

There was no mistaking it. It was her.

No other being in this world could evoke such awe with just a single glance, leaving an impression that lingered through the ages.

“You all, step back.”

“...Yes.”

The trio from the Earth City were stunned.

This was the first time they had seen a member of the Celestial Clan so visibly shaken. They lowered their heads, not daring to make a sound.

“Someone outside was just talking about me.”

Li Mo understood perfectly well but paid it no mind, shaking his damp clothes.

“It was fine just a moment ago. Why did the wind suddenly pick up?”

Ying Bing glanced outside and remarked coolly, “Today is the last sunny day before winter. I need to dry the laundry.”

Strangely enough,

the moment she spoke, the raging wind ceased abruptly, and sunlight returned as if the earlier gloom had been nothing but an illusion.

“As expected, even the heavens listen to the fairy sister.”

“We’re having guests.”

“Then let’s light the stove. We made dumplings yesterday, and there’s braised pig ears...”

“No alcohol.” Ying Bing saw right through his little scheme and pinched his waist.

Li Mo pouted, stoking the fire in the stove before moving the bright red quilt to the table. Soon after, a woman with a wild, untamed beauty and a robust, alluring figure was ushered inside.

In Ying Bing’s presence, she was visibly nervous and cautious.

“Take a seat.”

“Ah, yes.”

“May I ask who you are?”

Li Mo already knew her identity and had prepared his lines, but a conversation had to start somewhere.

“I...”

But everything before Feng Zhi’s eyes felt utterly surreal.

An ordinary village cottage, a wood-burning stove, a brick bed, a table covered with a bright red quilt, and New Year’s goods piled in the corner.

A man poked at the fire with a stick while the celestial beauty sat peacefully amidst this mundane human life, as if it were a dream—so perfect it felt unreal.

Yet she was a being born from the primordial essence of heaven and earth, unprecedented even in the Celestial Clan’s long history.

Perhaps the chasm between the Celestial Clan and the Earth City people was the same as the one between her and the Celestial Clan itself.

She could sense the profound, unfathomable power emanating from Ying Bing—so overwhelming that her knees nearly buckled.

Yet Ying Bing simply sat quietly beside that man, peeling a sunflower seed and popping it into his mouth.

“I’m her cousin,” Feng Zhi said meekly.

The Celestial Clan didn’t emphasize seniority, only strength. So even if Feng Zhi was older, calling Ying Bing “sister” was still a privilege.

Besides, Ying Bing might seem casual, but her attention never truly left Feng Zhi.

“What a rare guest! Have you finished your summer homework?” Li Mo asked offhandedly.

“...Huh?”

“Ahem, my apologies. It’s a long journey here. Stay for dumplings and take some local specialties back with you.”

“Thank you... uh, brother-in-law.”

Feng Zhi, this noble Celestial, adapted to human customs with surprising speed.

“Have some peanuts.”

A flicker of amusement passed through Ying Bing’s cool, detached gaze.

Only then did Feng Zhi relax—the feeling of a blade hanging over her head vanished. Had she made even the slightest wrong move earlier, a storm of retribution would have followed.

And all of this was because...

She glanced at the man’s back as he boiled the dumplings and asked,

“Sister... do you not plan to return?”

Ying Bing shook her head. “I never belonged there. What is there to return to?”

Feng Zhi’s expression grew urgent, but she kept her voice low. “But the elders say the heavens and earth are changing. The disasters to come will surpass anything before, reaching a point of existential crisis.”

“You were born for this very purpose. Do you not feel even the slightest duty to protect the world?”

This was also why the Celestial Clan supported Jiang Yu’s radical reforms—because this time, they wouldn’t survive the calamity as easily as before.

“I do.”

Ying Bing added a spoonful of chili to a small bowl, her gaze never straying far from the figure by the stove.

“The world I will protect is right here.”

“...”

Feng Zhi couldn’t comprehend it, but she swallowed her words.

A mortal from the Human City.

His life was as fleeting as grass—here today, gone tomorrow.

No one could defy time. Ying Bing would have to change her mind eventually.

The rest of the visit passed like an ordinary family gathering.

Later, Feng Zhi stepped out of the courtyard dressed in a bright red cotton-padded jacket, carrying cured meat and rice wine.

The Earth City trio, who had been wondering why things were so quiet inside, were petrified at the sight:

“You’re...?”

“From now on, leave Great King Village alone.”

“But what about Emperor Jiang’s decree?”

“If he comes here, he’ll leave wearing a floral-patterned jacket too.”

“?????”

On the grand tapestry of the realm, the flow of time slowed once more.

The Celestial Clan had no need for resources, but the martial artists of the Earth City did.

Vast territories of the Human City were absorbed into the Earth City’s domain. The Earth City’s influence expanded rapidly, and towns sprouted like mushrooms after rain.

At the same time, demonic beasts breached the walls with increasing frequency and in greater numbers.

This drove the Human City’s population to flock to the fortified cities under Earth City control.

Jiang Yu had decreed that the Celestial Clan would only protect subjects of the Great Yu.

In no time, nearly all of the Celestial-Human City fell under the new Great Yu’s rule.

Except for a few places—like Great King Village.

Great King Village had now grown into Great King Town, absorbing neighboring villages and refugees who had drifted there.

They lacked nothing in the Celestial Clan’s protection, nor did they need the Earth City’s martial arts. In these times, Li Mo believed ample food supplies were the true priority.

While ensuring self-sufficiency, he had steadily expanded their community to accommodate more and more people.

“Great King Town’s scale now rivals the Earth City’s outlying settlements.”

“But it’s isolated on the Human City’s frontier, cut off from support. Can it hold?”

“As long as the Celestial Clan guards the Human City’s gates, it should be fine.”

The flow of time on the grand tapestry slowed further.

The first fifty years had arrived.