Boom.

Torrential rain cascaded down from a sea of gloomy clouds.

Lightning arcs flashed like electric snakes swimming across the sky.

In the next moment a huge colossal boat broke through the clouds.

The Midnight Ferry.

A transportation service run by a chamber of commerce under the Adventures Guild.

The metal titan was wrapped in a shimmering blue spherical barrier firmly blocking out the wind and rain.

This beauty of creation was only put in use in the last decade. Powered through magic cores dug from the hearts of beasts and ether crystal condensed by skilled casters. An airship built with the joint efforts of the dwarves, the druids, and the mechanism school.

Though due to the technical difficulties and the costs, not many forces had access to this colossus.

As the ship sailed in the sky into the distance against the storm...

A young maiden in a wheelchair on the deck overlooked the scenery below.

Deep hazel rich eyes peered into the distance with the depth of an ancient earthen well.

Her auburn hair swayed with the movement of her head like a refreshing late autumn breeze.

Although she had beautiful eyes and hair, the expression on her face was flat showing no emotion.

Silently hidden within the depths of her eyes was a sharp temperament. A chilling depth that contrasted her innocent looks.

This handicapped girl was actually the princess of the Dawn Empire.

Dawn Empire, located on the Mythosia continent, was an empire built on war with its territory covering almost two thirds of Mythosia.

This was an incredible feat as the Mortal Realm was only divided into two large supercontinents, Skyspire and Mythosia. This meant that the Dawn Empire had already taken over a third of the world. A true superpower..

This year the dawn princess was 28 and had long passed the age of marriage. But her chubby figure and lifeless legs deterred any potential suitors.

More than that, this harmless panda had no ability to practice sorcery, the magic casting unique to Dawn. This was the real deal breaker preventing any arranged marriages from going through.

But no one knew…she HAD the ability to wield ether and practice magic but she chose not to.

This wasn’t some harmless panda but a sleeping tiger.

Next to the dawn princess stood two attendants, a maid dressed in a linen skirt and a bodyguard.

As the ship sailed through the ocean of clouds , the dawn princess gazed absentmindedly at the lightning crawling through the sky and the wonders of the floating ship.

The genuinity of the mechanical school…

Invented around ten years ago, a super project headed by the mechanical school with the belief that magitech would one day have the potential to surpass the gods of legends.

If possible, she would really like to kidnap their lead engineer and have him for her own use.

But now she had other problems to deal with.

She sighed with a melancholy look.

“Something the matter, Princess Eris?”

Her bodyguard, naturally noticing her dissatisfaction, stepped forward.

Eris glanced to her right.

A rigid woman with a hideous scar running across her face. This was her bodyguard, Leah. She wore an eyepatch over her left eye and was dressed in a matte black suit. Standing upright with her hands behind her back like a well disciplined warrior, Leah observed Eris.

A small undetectable arc formed at Eris’s lips.

While staring at the majesty of nature, the dawn princess Eris nonchalantly spoke,

“Hey…am I fat?”

The bodyguard was obviously taken aback by this sudden question,

“Oh course, princess, you're beautiful, it's just that those bugs don't have eyes.”

Leah complimented the princess she was guarding and gave a polite remark but inwardly she sneered,

‘…Because they gouged them out at the sight of you’

The dawn princess gently placed her arms on the armrest of her wheelchair and rested her cheeks against her palms.

Out of the corner of her eye she glanced at her bodyguard Leah as if she had noticed something.

“That's so,” Eris replied casually.

Then she turned to her maid.

Braided brown red hair and a coarse gray linen dress.

The maid’s head was lowered submissively as if she was afraid of being asked a question.

Well, she had every right to fear as it was common for servants to be executed in Dawn if their masters didn’t like their answer.

Every step was walking on a tightrope.

‘Forget it..’ Princess Eris thought as she subtly glanced at the fidgeting maid from the corner of her eyes.

The Dawn Princess Eris closed her eyes and gently felt the smooth flow of the sailing airship through her wheelchair.

She lost herself in thought.

How many years had it been? Since she came into this world?

Yes. Her origin was not from this world. Not even this universe.

Ah… the passage of time was ruthless. Eons rose and fell eventually leaving the legends buried in the dust to become forgotten myths. The tides of years ebbed and flowed and some day even the immortals of the starry skies would fall.

What was the saying again?

Walking in the red dust, to find the tao in the ordinary?

It was the way of the red dust immortals from her homeworld.

The red dust immortals.

Mighty beings who had jumped out of mortality and surpassed the ordinary.

Godlike figures that had successfully crossed the heavenly catastrophes yet still refused to ascend the world.

Instead they willingly destroyed their undying body and transformed themselves into ordinary beings in order to wander the mortal world to seek further enlightenment.

They sought to understand the natural processes of nature and feel its grandeur directly with a fragile body.

Hopefully understanding the secrets of the universe in the process while retaining their humanity

In her opinion this was a foolish and terrible path.

One doomed to be never completed.

Either to be swallowed by nature, lost in time, or consumed by human desires

These were all the karmic fires that the immortals choosing this path had to endure.

All immortals had to cross a heavenly catastrophe in order to ascend to the cosmic skies but the catastrophe waiting at the end of the road for the red dust path was the nine soul extinguishing calamities.

Enduring the cycle of reincarnation only to be met by an unsolvable catastrophe.

Tsk. Tsk.

She hadn't heard of any successful immortals so far…maybe expect ..that one.

An old friend foolish enough to tread this path. She wondered how that one was doing? Success or eternal oblivion?

The dawn princess Eris smiled. Of course the smile went unnoticed on her cold face.

She could be considered walking the path of the red dust this life?

Hmm..not quite.

Her path was slightly different.

She shifted in her wheelchair uncomfortably.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

She was neither the purgatory empress or the fairy of disaster in this life anymore.

Just a mere…mortal. How amusing.

A weak pathetic creature with flesh and blood. Easily susceptible to mortal ailments.

No longer able to move worlds with a single thought and at the mercy of fate.

And now a mere wheelchair was the only throne she had left.

But this was also a chance…a chance to rebuild her tao foundation and …surpass the saints.

In her past life she was able to reach a cosmic level but unfortunately she had fallen in the Conferred God War.

A terrible war involving an entire universe.

At her last moments, she was able to escape with a strand of her soul and enter the cycle of samsara through a secret method, the rebirth sutra

The rebirth sutra was a gift from an old friend…one collecting dust in her vast vault of treasures.

Never once in the thousand years she had survived would she imagine she would have to resort to such a crooked way.

But perhaps because the rebirth sutra was flawed or because of a mistake in her practice, she ended up…in a completely unfamiliar universe. Infitnitly far from her anticipated location.

Born of the dawn royal family in the Mortal Realm, an ordinary princess, at the ripe age of 6, she awakened the mystery of the fetus.(what she calleds awakening past life memories)

“But that's good,” Eris thought.

An unknown universe meant that she was far enough from the saints although the danger of the unknown was equally as high.

Quite exciting.

Unfortunately though, because of the damage to her spiritual consciousness, much of her original powers were lost.

And many of her memories and experiences weren’t completely intact either.

It was quite understandable though. She had suffered immense damage in the Confered God War.

“And much of my memories are also blurred,” Eris pondered, “I feel like it’s been purposely sealed away though? Are the saints still searching for me?”

Many of her early memories were still intact though.

Just the experiences of the Conferred God War and the battle experiences were lost.

Mortals could not directly witness a higher being, utter their name, or even think about them.

Cosmic beings held such a great connection with fate that even a slight thought would draw their attention.

Some memories were better kept sealed away.

She understood the intentions of her past life. It was for her safety and growth.

And if she was going to rebuild from scratch, it was better to start off as a blank sheet of paper.

Like the old saying, you could never surpass your master if you just learn what he teaches.

Due to a mistake in her practice, she had left a flaw in her foundation that kept her from reaching the level of the saints.

She had to completely forget about everything, look from a new perspective, and learn from scratch if she wanted to rebuild the perfect tao foundation in this life.

And the method she intended to practice in this life…

The Imperial Luck Formula.

Weaving the sentiments of mortal and immortal creatures alike, and gathering the hearts of the common people to create an empire of fortune.

Casting imperial prestige in order to receive the incense and worship of countless creatures.

This was the method her past life had prepared for her. It wasn't really a method she really favored though.

Too arrogant and domineering. Completely different from the original method she had practiced, the jade heart sutra. A technique emphasizing inner stillness.

She didn't want to blindly follow a path arranged for her. Hmph, not even she herself could tell her what to do.

How could she surpass herself if she used the perspective of her past life?

But she also had no choice.

Eris glanced at her legs. This was the result of her choices.

After reawakening her past life memories the will of the world started suppressing her. Like an immune system attempting to rid itself of foreign objects...malaise slowly started eating away at her.

The world was rejecting her.

Fortunately she was able to suppress the curse by sealing all negative effects into her legs through a forbidden technique at the cost of her becoming.….horizontally challenged.

If she wanted to cure her legs, she would need to practice the Imperial Luck Formula. Learn and master the formula, subdue the native of this word, and gain their favor. The world and its people were connected. As long as she was able to obtain their approval she would be able to integrate into this world.

‘Dammit’

If her past incarnation was here, she would simply disintegrate this world. What bullshit will of the world. It wouldn’t be able to do anything against her.

Eris stared in distaste at her legs unaware of the passage of time. Suddenly a timid and soft voice interrupted her rumination.

“Uh..um excume meLady Eris, it’s dinner time. I’ll go um…prepare food?”

Eris coldly glanced at the maid causing her to lower her head furtively.

Eris inwardly shook her head. The maid needed to work on her courage. To accompany a dragon wasn't something any cat or dog could do.

She looked around. So far the deck was empty. There weren’t many onboard the ship due to its expensive costs. Most people were in their cabins for the night.

Eris turned to the bodyguard Leah.

“Say, how do you define weak?”

The bodyguard Leah was obviously taken aback, was her lady…insecure?

The bodyguard stepped forward staring Eris straight in the eye.

“Of course…”

The bodyguard Leah reached into her pocket and held a gemstone between her index finger and thumb. Then with ease, she grinned and crushed the gemstone.

Crunching an ordinary gemstone was child’s play for a second order sorcerer like her. In fact she even had half a foot into the third order.

“...M’lady THIS is weakness. Not being able to control your fate is weakness.”

Eris slowly turned her wheelchair and glared at the bodyguard

Slowly her cold face melted and a warm sunny smile appeared. A lovely smile like a happy dango or mochi.

The bodyguard was surprised.

She had been assigned to guard the princess from a young age. It could be said that she knew more about the princess than the princess knew herself. Very rarely did the princess smile. She hadn’t seen one that bright on princesses' faces for a long while.

“You're right..” Eris took out a handkerchief, wiped her hands, and tossed it on the ground deck.

The bodyguard Leah gave a hearty grin spreading the hideous scar on her face. “M’lady, you should smile more. It’s quite refreshing. Come, ill take you back to the dorm.”

Leah turned to the maid, “Hey, go prepare dinner for the princess.”

The bodyguard Leah reached out intending to help push Eris’s wheelchair.

As she reached out, slowly the grin on Leah’s face faded and turned into a look of pure horror.

The bodyguard felt a dull pressure run through her chest.

Warm liquid soaked her clothes and trickled down her abdomen.

Immediately after, a sharp burning sensation shot up her chest like static.

She opened her mouth in astonishment and looked down.

At some point, the dawn princess Eris had run her arm through her chest.

Puncturing her thoracic cavity and shredding her heart! A white arm went in and a red hand came out.

Cough cough.

Soon suffocation filled Leah’s throat.

The bodyguard Leah opened her mouth desperately trying to gasp for air and rigidly looked back at Eris.

She tried opening her mouth.

She wanted to ask…

Why?

And how?

But for some reason she couldn’t speak. Only a hoarse sound escaped her throat as warm moist blood filled her mouth. Her body was numbing as if sinking deep underwater.

Thump.

Leah knelt on the deck struggling to take one final glance at the princess she used to know.

“You… you.”

She glared at the princess.

The harmless and fragile princess had somehow struck her in the vitals.

And at some point a crazy almost psychopathic grin had covered the princess's face.

“Toooo bad. You're dying now aren't you? Not being able to control your own fate. How pitiful... Being used your whole life as someone else's weapon. Now you've fallen and can’t get up. The arrogance you once beheld passing away like fine sand.”

The princess Eris retracted her hand and swiped it through the air, leaving a trail of blood droplets flying through the air and splashing some on the flabbergasted maid next to her.

“And I also can't remember since when was the last time a mortal treated me with such disrespect. Anyways, you're unneeded now. Have fun.

Eris took another handkerchief and casually wiped the blood soaking on her arms.

The fabric of the handkerchief gradually blossomed into a beautiful crimson.

The smile on Eris’s face gradually returned cold.

Above her, torrential rain poured blocked by the spherical barrier protecting the airship.

The dim light of the lamps on the airship and the occasional flashes of lightning reflected off on the princesses face bring about an eerie atmosphere.

It was as if a murder scene took place.

The maid was frozen in trepidation. Her pupil wides in horror.

It was difficult to see in a dim environment as she was just an ordinary person.

Everything had occurred so fast that she didn't have time to register or scream.

She felt someone warm slipping down her face..

Trembling, she reached out and lightly touched it with the tips of her fingers.

She knew this familiar feeling…blood..

The maid glanced in shock at Eris' indistinct figure.

She opened her mouth. She wanted to scream but she knew better.

The maid covered her mouth, hoarse muffled noises rang from her slender throat.

Eris glanced at her maid.

The princess nonchalantly rolled away on her wheelchair not forgetting to run over the lifeless corpse of her bodyguard...

A trailing voice was left behind,

“Refreshing isn't it? Getting rid of garbage?” (¬､¬)

(Reminder: 1st-4 orders are universal level terms for all occupations. Stage is the specific terminology that Kongwu uses for their magic casters. Sorcerers are the magic caster of Dawn.)