The four Divine Beasts chatted, laughed, joked for hours, without seeming to notice the passage of time. After a while, the sky began to turn red, purple, orange, and all sort of hot colors as the sun fell behind the horizon. Soon, those bright colors faded and the sky darkened.
The first stars appeared then. Like countless fireflies flying in the Heavens, they did their part in brightening up the night.
Just like that, time passed and night fell. The sun up above was replaced by nine, azure moons, which shone moonlight upon the Heavenly Plains down below. The nine celestial bodies were not as bright as their daytime counterpart, however, they were bright enough to dispel some of the darkness. Thanks to them, the night would be lit enough to allow even humans to recognize their surroundings as clearly as they would during the day.
When all of the nine moons reached their apex, something amazing happened. In that instant, the moons all superimposed each other up above in the sky, creating a painfully blinding light, forcing the four people down below to avert their gaze and block their eyes.
When the nine moons separated and the light finally subsided, the four brothers were so shocked, their jaws nearly fell to the ground in awe. The crystal floor almost seemed overwhelmed by the intensity of the moonlight when the rays went through to the White Sea.
The white sea glowed as if it had absorbed the nine moons themselves. As their surroundings lit up, the four siblings could see that every plant in the large Plains was basking in that light and actually began to absorb it!
Soon, the plants began to glow as well. Finding themselves in that ocean of light, Ren Hei, Ren Bai, Ren Long, the golden-and-black-feathered bird, and the one residing in Ren Hong’s body, Cheng Hao, all looked on with wide eyed. Then, strange designs appeared on the ground devoid of vegetation.
The thin surface of the crystal had imperfections invisible to the naked eye. These imperfections would usually not be noticed, however, due to the light emitted from the white substance below, the intricate yet beautiful designs were revealed, glowing the same azure light as the azure moons above.
It was a scene that was so beautiful it would be a crime against the Heavens if one were to say otherwise! Ren Hei, Ren Bai and Ren Long looked at each other with surprise. Even the bird gazed upon it with wide eyes.
They all turned to question at Cheng Hao, but it looked like he was surprised too so they dispelled the thought of inquiring him for answers. However, while the strange event was one of the reasons, the cause for his concern was actually much more profound than just gazing upon its beauty:
So this actually happens when the moons align… does this happen every night? I guess not, otherwise this place would be swarming all year ‘round! It looks like a rare event that only happens only after long periods of time! Judging by the fact that the Heavenly Plains only came to existence after the Jade Emperor died and Tian rose to power, so not that long ago, this might even be the first time it happened at all!
Is this a coincidence? Is the fact that it happened close to when I was also supposed to appear important to me effectively appearing in this world? Is this rare occurrence actually one of the reasons that I am?
Despite noticing the crimson haired youth was pondering deeply, the three siblings didn’t mind it and instead simply gave him a thumbs-up before immediately going back to playing around. The Golden Sky Lord, flapping its wings, also followed closely behind, on guard against any danger that might befall its master, Ren Bai, as well as enjoying the sight.
Cheng Hao sighed and shook his head before running right behind them, laughing and yelling as well: there were too many things he did not understand, so why bother trying to comprehend them? He might as well just enjoy himself while he still could!
The night was filled with sounds of giggles, shrieks, yells, as well as roaring laughter. Had any other laid their sights on such a scene
However, all good things would come to an end, and, after a few hours passed, the white sea below had finally exhausted all the moonlight it had gathered.
The five figures only stopped then. Falling on the ground, sweat and panting, the four siblings gasped for hair after finally stopping for the first time in hours.
This experience had been soothing for their soul. For the first time in so many years, they had finally felt light, free of restraint! Despite it all being for less than even a single night, it still had a considerable pacifying effect on their tired minds.
Even if Cheng Hao hated to admit, it had been an experience that had made him completely forget about his goals, his rationality replaced by the sheer feeling of joy, as it was the sort of happiness that had risen from his very soul after spending such a beautiful time together with his brothers.
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He hated to admit that he had almost forgotten that these people were but figments of his imagination. He sighed as he felt a cold shiver running down his spine:
I almost fell for this… a single day out here, and I almost lost myself. It is at times like this that I do not regret secluding myself for the past thousand years. Man, after seeing them I grew soft…
Cheng Hao turned to look at his four companions: the three other Divine Beasts were all sound asleep. As he looked at their soundly sleeping figures with astonishment, he also wondered how much time had passed since the three of them had last slept.
As he looked at the three people laying on the ground, his gaze fell upon the fourth one, who was very much awake to Cheng Hao’s disdain.
“You again? Uh? What is that look for? Want me to deep-fry you?” He glared at the Golden Sky Lord that was unceasingly staring at him from behind some bushes.
“Sqwak!” The bird replied loudly. Due to both their exhaustion as well as the fact that millions-of-years-old beasts such as them would be very heavy sleepers, there was no risk of waking up the three who were asleep.
“What? Not enough? I’ll deep-fry you AND make a stew out of your bones!” Cheng Hao grinned as flames cracked into existence within his hand. The bird immediately widened his eyes and shut up, shrinking behind the cover of the bushes.
Cheng Hao looked at the flame flickering on top of his hand, not burning in the slightest, with reminiscence. He sighed:
“Gonna miss this power when I go back! It would have been incredibly useful when it comes to threaten people. Knife-play is slowly starting to go out of fashion…”
He extinguished the fire and also laid on the ground, his eyelids slowly lowering. After a short while, his breathing grew regular as Cheng Hao fell asleep…
…
The nine moons had just disappeared over the horizon, it was only a matter of time before the sun would replace them in the sky. There was no apparent trace of the event from the previous night. However if one was to look more closely, he would find out that the crystal surface still held a tinge of the azure moonlight and was glowing ever so slightly…
Suddenly, dawn appeared. With that, the first rays of light began to dash at mad speed towards the crystal surface… however, as soon as the first ray met with the crystal, a bright light, like that of an explosion, was emanated!
It was as if the azure glow and the multicolored light couldn’t possibly coexist, yet were forced to as they were both being reflected off the same surface! And that couldn’t be allowed!
In the short span that it took the moonlight to meet with the sunlight, their energy skyrocketed as they sped towards each other, like two malevolent gods! When they clashed, their speed that of light, space shattered! It had to be said that space fabrics had different kinds of qualities…
For instance, any being above the Mortal Realm would be able to damage the fabric in the plane where the Golden Emperor Sect resided, however the dense amount of spiritual energy present in the air, permeating the entirety of the Heavenly Plains, indicated that the spatial fabrics of the two different planes of existence were on completely different levels!
Comparing the two, while one was as brittle as crumbling paper, the other was even more durable than diamond! It was unthinkable that it could break! However, just like diamond might be durable, the Heavenly Plains’ spatial fabric still had weaknesses!
And the clash between the two opposing sides, the azure moonlight and the multicolored rays of sunshine had packed such dense energy in such a minuscule space that it had tore those weak spots wide open!
Like a War God’s spear piercing through paper, the clash had punctured a hole through space the size of a whole nation!
WHOOOSH!
An immeasurable pressure spread as a powerful aura suddenly appeared out of nowhere!
“Uh?” Cheng Hao snapped his eyes open and jumped back, immediately washing off his drowsiness by shaking his head.
“What is that?” Ren Long had woken up and had already made a few of the hand seals required to unseal his true form, preparing for the worst!
“What the heck! I was sleeping so soundly!” Ren Bai also sat up. With a loud sqwak, the Golden Sky Lord landed on her shoulder, emitting an incredibly powerful aura. Despite the air cracking from the pressure the beast was emitting, it was clear to everyone watching that it was like a lit match in the middle of a storm: it could go out at any moment!
This strength… We have never faced anything like that!
Ren Hei gritted his teeth as he stomped on the ground: despite there not being earth, a massive, two-handed blade made out of dirt appeared in his hands.
With a loud harrumph, the Divine Earth King lifted the blade and clenched his muscles, ready to attack at any given moment!
““We have to run away! We cannot possibly fight it back! In the worst situation, run and don’t look back, we will stand back and hold off that thing when it comes out!”” Ren Hei compressed his voice to a string, his eyes radiating killing intent and the air cracking as he lifted his gaze to look at his opponent!
This all, despite the lengthy explanation, had happened in but an instant! From the moment Cheng Hao had woken up to when he heard his older brother’s mental message, barely a single breath had passed!
This was proof that, despite their current state of weakness, the experience the three of them had acquired during their long lives as the Divine Kings was no little amount!
Meanwhile, Cheng Hao was astonished at the powerful pressure, and was also puzzled at his brother’s words: hold off the thing that comes out? What thing?
However, as soon as he looked up, and his vision cleared, his eyes widened as a smile appeared on his face.
It looked like a massive hole of nothingness was floating up above in the sky. There was no trace of any remaining moonlight.
As they were existences of equal might, the moonlight and sunlight had not much difference in quality. However, with it being daytime, there was clearly an enormous advantage when it came to quantity.
However, that wasn’t what the five pairs of eyes focused upon. Instead, all of their gazes were fixed on the center of the massive hole, where a tornado of swirling symbols was slowing coming out!
And within it…
The mysterious figure of a person could barely be made out!