I won’t be able to get much writing done today, so here’s some worldbuilding while Shao takes his nap.
This interlude will feature any background information that Yang Lin Shao would know about the world growing up in a village in the middle of nowhere. It will also include everything that Shen Jian has explained to him in the first twenty chapters of the story.
Mythology
The Immortals: Stories of immortals have reached Bluecrest Village, and it is known that immortals are cultivators who have reached such a high level that they no longer age. There are no immortals on the Island of Haishan, but Shao has heard stories that there are a handful of immortals active on the Golden Dragon continent. One does not run into immortals very frequently because, ironically, being an immortal is very dangerous. Even those immortals who have gained enough power to survive fatal attacks can still be killed through other methods.
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The Gods: Everyone has heard of the gods, but they are clearly the realm of myth. Most of those who believe in them believe that they still reside in an ascended realm supported by clouds. According to the stories, the gods all operate in a hierarchical organization called the “Celestial Court,” which is led by the Jade Emperor. Even though the gods are said to be immortal, many of the stories end with the death of one or more god. If the Jade Emperor wills it, even a god can be slain.
Reincarnation: On Haishan, it is widely believed that one’s spirit returns to samsara after death where it will eventually be reincarnated into another creature. It is said that one can eventually escape the cycle of samsara, but there are no stories of a god or an immortal doing such a thing.
Time
Written History: Most people agree that evidence of written language first appeared more than a hundred thousand years before. It is said that history follows a cycle of sorts with mortals and cultivators vying for dominance. Historically speaking, there were eras where mortals used their ability to innovate to hold more power over the relatively small cultivator population. The current era of cultivator dominance has been occurring for several thousand years, and these mortal inventions have been lost to history. The existing power structure does not want to be challenged, so it certainly does not want this information to be released.