Chapter 247: The Starting Point of the Story

“Miss Xiao Kong…”

Reciting the already very familiar name, feeling the overwhelming presence of something called 【Divinity】, certain incredulous yet somewhat anticipated guesses began to sprout in my heart, prompting Miss Vilyric to speak up.

“Have you retrieved your most important possession?”

The Cat Daughter looked down at her smooth, fair arms and simply smiled.

“Should I say… I’m in the process of retrieving it? You know, before putting an end to everything, there are still some things I want to do, things I must do. Do you remember the promise I made to you before?”

She looked at her, each word carefully enunciated, as if reciting.

“On Lingyin Fairy Island, you will confront your destiny and obtain the long-awaited answers.”

Miss Vilyric neither confirmed nor denied this.

“So, where has Hen gone?”

“Well, where could she be…”

Xiao Kong slightly raised her hand, and the door to the dojo behind Miss Vilyric naturally closed again, turning this place into a sealed room.

But the Priestess did not show surprise, anxiety, or panic. She quietly watched as the Cat Daughter stepped forward and took her hand, leading her before the massive mural.

She smiled gently, adding to the absurdity of the situation.

“First, let me tell you a story.”

……

Long, long ago, in a distant time, a new world had gathered and formed between heaven and earth.

At that time, the word “Ancient” had not yet been attached to its name. In this newborn world—the 【Spirit Realm】, which rooted everything in spiritual energy—two wills nurtured by the essence of heaven and earth gradually emerged.

These were the beings later known as the masters of the sky, the 【Ancestor Dragon】, and the 【Nine-Tails】 who ruled over all earthly creatures. They were the oldest and most powerful existences of the Ancient Spirit Realm, born rulers and guardians.

Gods.

The Ancestor Dragon and the Nine-Tails were the only two deities birthed from the 【Spirit Realm】.

After them, more spiritual beasts and spirits emerged under the nourishment of the heavenly energy. Although they were nowhere near as powerful as the two deities, their sheer numbers and diversity allowed the beasts to thrive, gradually making the Spirit Realm known to more and more beings from the outside world.

Worlds could interact. Though there were many restrictions for beings like the Nine-Tails and the Ancestor Dragon, weaker creatures could indeed come and go freely between worlds if they knew how.

And so, after who knows how many years since the Spirit Realm was born, a group of outsiders landed by boat from the western coast into this world.

At the early stages, the Spirit Realm was interconnected, and it wasn’t unusual for beings from the outside to appear for various coincidental reasons. If it had only been a few, it wouldn’t have been significant, but the problem was… there were simply too many outsiders.

Over a million in number, with thousands of ships landing simultaneously—this was a quantity that could not be overlooked by the Spirit Realm, which only contained spirits and some of their descendants at the time.

For caution’s sake, the 【Nine-Tails】 personally went to the seaside to assess the situation.

There, they encountered the leader commanding the entire fleet of ships. From him, they learned that they were survivors fleeing a terrible disaster from their homeland, a race called 【Humans】, hoping to obtain the God’s permission to settle in the Spirit Realm and resume their reproduction.

The 【Nine-Tails】, being kind-hearted, saw that the other side was pitiful and had no malicious intent, especially since the average individual strength of their race was almost negligible. Thus, they agreed to the request.

However, to be safe, they set up three rules with the leader: the Human race could only operate in the outskirts of the Spirit Realm and must not intrude upon the lives of the spirit beasts inside, nor could they cause irreparable damage to the environment of the land, or they would be expelled personally.

The Human leader readily agreed and signed a contract with the 【Nine-Tails】. To demonstrate goodwill, he privately called for his pregnant wife, asking the 【Nine-Tails】 to name their unborn child as a symbol of their friendship.

The 【Nine-Tails】 found it amusing and complied, giving a single name: 【Xi】, meaning rebirth, also conveying the beautiful wish that the Human race could thrive anew on this land.

Since their family name was Ming, that child was named Ming Xi.

But neither the leader couple at the time nor the 【Nine-Tails】 was aware of what the true meaning was behind the name bestowed by a deity. After finalizing the negotiations, the 【Nine-Tails】 quickly returned to the core temple of the Spirit Realm, leaving a small number of subordinates to continue observing the outsiders and providing necessary help.

For the divine, time was merely a meaningless number. More than ten years passed in a flash. The 【Nine-Tails】 had not visited that coastline again. They only heard from spirit beasts returning occasionally that the Human race was thriving and developing, creating many fascinating stories.

Of course, they also did not remember the child that they had personally named, still unborn at that time.

Until one day, the 【Nine-Tails】 had a dream.

They dreamt of a grassy field, where beneath a towering ancient tree sat a girl, playing some instrument with her fingertips, producing a soft yet enchanting melody.

For some reason, that figure filled them with an unprecedented sadness and longing. Yet, the dream faded as quickly as it came, and they could not even see her face clearly, catching only a fleeting glance at her snowy form and pointy fox ears before awakening again.

Gods do not need sleep, nor do they easily dream. For them, dreams are a tangle of past and future causes, a revelation with some necessary implication.

Upon waking, the perceptive 【Nine-Tails】 immediately issued a divine decree, calling forth all the beasts of the land to seek a white-haired girl resembling a Human but with snowy fox ears, and to safely bring her to their side by any means possible.

With the vastness of heaven and earth, they thought this process would take particularly long, even preparing for the possibility that the being might not exist within the Spirit Realm. But to their surprise, within just a few short days, the spirit beasts returned with good news.

When that girl stepped into the temple alone, looking up at the magnificent 【Nine-Tails】 without fear, merely curiously examining them, the deity felt dazed.

【What… is your name?】

“And what about you? Isn’t it basic etiquette and common sense to introduce yourself before asking someone else’s name ~?”

The 【Nine-Tails】 was stunned.

Since becoming the guardian and deity of this world, it was the first time a being had dared to speak to them so impolitely. Even the 【Ancestor Dragon】, who roamed the skies and seldom visited, would show them sufficient respect.

They were not angry; they were filled instead with greater surprise and disbelief.

They could feel that this girl, with her snowy fox ears and features resembling those of the 【Humans】 that had fled from another world, was not pretending to be calm but genuinely felt no fear or respect.

It was as if she did not see a high-and-mighty deity but only a cute silver fox.

That was truly wonderful.

【I don’t have a name.】

They tried to explain.

As a god born of the laws of heaven and earth, 【Nine-Tails】 was both their race and title, yet to say they possessed a name defined by common world standards, they indeed did not.

No being had the right to name a deity, nor did they need such a superfluous appellation.

But the girl seemed somewhat dissatisfied.

“A name is very important; it represents the essence of life, right? 【Nine-Tails】 is a race, isn’t it? Even if you’re the only one for now, what if you have children in the future? Wouldn’t that become confusing?”

“How about this, let me give you a name, okay? Um… but it seems I’m not quite qualified right now. It’s fine; before that, go ahead and introduce yourself first.”

She smiled slightly, like a blooming flower.

“I am Miss Ming, named Xi. I am the current President of the 【Peace Association of the Spirit Realm】. If you don’t mind, you can just call me Xi ~”

   

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