"Hm~ Hm~ Black scales fall into lava, red horns rise into green mountains. When the bronze talisman cracks, heaven and earth tremble, and purple smoke drifts through twelve autumns."
It was an old folk song, heavy with the weight of history, singing of the past and present of the people of Yan. They farmed, they cultivated, they reaped the harvest, and they poured out their sweat for Yan.
They trained, they raised their swords, they fought, and they shed their blood for Yan.
"An old farmer leads his ox along the narrow paths, the plow biting into frozen earth. In the blacksmith's shop, the furnace roars, forging starlight from the flames."
In Xiaoqiao Village, where streams wound between homes, graceful young women learned needlework, carefully stitching long robes for the men they loved. They looked toward the distant water town, their faces calm and peaceful. In the city, people walked along the roadside, carriages rolled through the center, officials strode proudly down the main road, and in the imperial court, ministers lowered their heads before the True Lung seated at the highest place.
"The granary~" "A long street hangs like a string of pearls, a golden crow patrols the daylight sky. A dragon's shadow lingers over the city walls, while children gather fallen ears of grain."
The savage claw marks of the giant beast still scarred the walls of Yumen City. The soldiers stared at the smoke rising in the distance and tightened their grips on their spears. Though the beast was dead, their battle was far from over.
"The town of Canjiao stands at Yumen Pass, its blood-soaked wheat fragrant year after year. If you see the smoke of war rising from the earth, then behold the sunrise over ten thousand stoves."
___
Felix had a strange dream.
In it, he saw the vast lands of Yan, its thousand-year history, the ordinary lives of its people, and the sorrowful love stories of men and women.
Throughout the dream, that gentle singing voice guided him like an unseen accompaniment, filling his heart with peace and quiet happiness.
At the end of the dream, Felix saw a blue-haired dragon woman reaching out a hand to him. But the smile on her face was hidden as though behind a veil of mist, like a flower glimpsed through fog, impossible to see clearly.
Felix woke up.
Slowly, he rose from the bed in the inn and discovered the source of the song.
Ling, dressed only in a thin robe, sat on the balcony and gazed toward the distant Lumen Pass. In her hand was her ever-present wine jug, though the inn's wine cup rested beside it.
"Awake?"
"Mm."
Felix changed into the blue robe laid out on the bedside table, then sat down beside Ling. Looking toward the distant sun, he said, "I had a very long dream."
"Mm."
"In my dream, there was all the romance and beauty of Yan." Felix took the wine cup from Ling and drank a sip. "In my dream, there was the history of Yan, the true lung, the civil and military officials, the common people... but you were not there. None of you were."
He turned his head, saw Ling's hand pause for a moment, and asked seriously, "Do you think Yan's future should not include you?"
"A thousand years of history is only the blink of an eye to me. For now, we are merely temporary vessels. If the Sui Beast awakens one day, we will vanish like shattered dreams. The future of Yan belongs to the people of Yan. We are Sui, merely fragments, and in the end, not truly part of Yan's people."
Ling smiled and leaned lightly against the windowsill. "Terra only has three years left. According to my elder brother... there are already voices in the court that wish to awaken the Sui Beast and use it as an ally, a weapon of war for Yan."
"But doesn't the Sui Beast hold a grudge against Yan?" Felix recalled the history he had read. "If I remember correctly, Yan actively hunted the Sui. Under those circumstances, why would they seek its help?"
"Who knows what He is thinking? When the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken. Perhaps the Sui does not wish to simply disappear like this either."
"But once the Sui awakens, you will disappear."
"That is only natural. We are merely fragments, each carrying a portion of the Sui's power, but we are not its true form."
"If I kill the Sui, will you return?"
"...I don't know."
Ling glanced at him from the corner of her eye and smiled faintly. "So just follow your heart. That is how it is for my eldest brother, and for my younger brothers and sisters as well. We do not know when we may all disappear. So we simply do what makes us happy and follow our hearts, drifting like clouds in the sky. That is the conclusion we siblings arrived at."
"Won't you miss it?"
"In the past... no." Ling took a sip of wine, crossed her legs, and said with a half-smile, "Now... perhaps."
"You do see things clearly."
Felix fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
"In a month, I will travel to Trimounts, Columbia, and then I will take to the skies."
"This false, shattered starry sky exists above Kazdel, and in the future, it will naturally exist above Trimounts as well." Felix reached out as if to grasp the heavens. "When that day comes, I will open my eyes and see the true starry sky, and what the universe really looks like. Terra is only our starting point. It is by no means our end."
"Young Master's ambitions are truly admirable." Ling lightly patted her long legs, then glanced at Felix and noticed the distant look in his eyes. Smiling, she pulled him gently to her side and let his head rest on her lap. Her fingers slowly stroked through his hair. Eyes that had just been gazing upon the world now settled quietly on his face. "If two people are meant to love each other for a long time, why must they remain together every single day? Young Master has things he must do, and my brothers and sisters and I also have our own ideals, and things we must accomplish. We only hope that when we meet again, Young Master will still be as healthy as he has been these past two days."
Her fingertips brushed lightly across Felix's brow, then slid down to his lips, touching them softly. "As the strongest person in Terra's history and the strongest person of today, Young Master, I do not wish for you to make sacrifices and bear the burden of saving Terra alone."
"Even if it were to save your siblings?" Felix laughed. "Isn't that exactly what you are doing? So you may do it, but I may not? That is a double standard. The magistrates are allowed to set fires, but the common people are forbidden from lighting lamps."
Before she could say anything more, Felix's lips were sealed by something soft and warm.
Only after a long while did a faint blush rise to Ling's face.
"Young Master already knows the answer."
"I know. The Fiend... the Observer is not so dangerous that I need to sacrifice myself to guarantee peace for all Terrans."
Felix looked at his level.
That might be true, but it would still be better to raise it further. He would wait until he reached Columbia and see whether leveling up would allow him to change his race.
Because no matter how strong a Teekaz was, that strength only held meaning upon the land of Terra.
According to the Preserver, the Observer had already ravaged countless worlds. Simply becoming the strongest upon one world was nowhere near enough. At the very least, one had to become a powerhouse on the level of an entire star system.
Felix was not afraid of the Observers. What worried him was whether the system itself had been designed to let him advance that far. In other words, perhaps level 500 was the absolute limit, and there was no way to go beyond it. Yet Felix was also an exception, because even back in version 2.0, his level had already surpassed the highest level cap of version 3.0.
So the conclusion that his level could go no higher was clearly not certain.
"How long will Young Master remain in Yumen?"
"Didn't we already say we were waiting for your elder brother?"
"Mm... Once you finish speaking with him, why not escort Nian back to Shangshu? She still has some matters with the Tianshi Bureau there that she needs to handle."
"Very good."
"Why do you say that?"
"It's nothing. I just feel that with brothers and sisters like yours, even if one day we were to pass from this world, our final feeling would surely be that we had no regrets about having come into it."
Ling smiled gently. "I think I would be somewhat reluctant to leave it behind."
"Of course. I think Nian and Shu would feel the same, at least a little."
"Is that what I meant?"
"Young Master, did you mean something else?"
Ling smiled and rose to sit in the courtyard.
After that, Felix met with General Zuo, a middle-aged general who looked exceptionally spirited. Upon seeing Felix, he bowed respectfully once again and offered his heartfelt thanks.
Felix did not stand on ceremony, since this was part of the alliance. He also understood that Yan wished to build battleships. Although the technology had already been shared, actual construction would still require a great deal of time.
He entrusted all subsequent war-related matters to Ulšulah. After being separated for so long, their reunion felt almost like a honeymoon. He fed Ulšulah several times. Afterward, Felix bathed and changed into fresh clothes. He then played a game of chess with the reception envoy Baizao had sent from Yan, and their discussion naturally turned to the war plan for the coming three years.
The current alliance between the two nations was centered on Kazdel, and this was a fact that even the Grand Tutor and Grand Commandant, the most loyal patriots who firmly believed Yan was the strongest nation in the world, had no choice but to acknowledge. Kazdel had now surpassed every other nation and force upon the land of Terra. Had Felix not restrained the pro-war faction within Kazdel, then the day Kazdel once again launched a full-scale war across Terra, like it had a century ago, might well have already arrived.
Step by step, they advanced.
Unlike in the past, at this moment, no one could stop Kazdel's march.
In that sense, the Laterano Summit of Nations conference held in the first half of the year now seemed almost like a joke. Yet the fact that there had been no friction at all between Kazdel and Laterano was something no other nation could quite believe, even though it had truly happened.
At dusk, Felix also met the leader of the Sui Beast fragments, a Lung man whose given name was Shuo and whose courtesy name was Chongyue.
Felix could not help feeling that the man looked strangely familiar... Wait, was this not that talkative lung man who used to beat up players in his previous life?
Back then, players from Yan had praised his martial arts as if they were capable of anything, which naturally sparked a frenzy of people wanting to become his disciples. However, this talkative lung man had an absurdly harsh requirement for taking on apprentices: one had to survive a full minute against him.
...And so, that infamous video of professional gamers and top-tier players getting utterly demolished by the talkative lung man ended up going viral on the homepage.
"Thank you, Your Highness, for aiding the soldiers of Yumen." Chongyue cupped his hands toward Felix. "Yesterday and today, I accompanied the Tianshi from the Tianshi Bureau to the front lines to ensure their safety. At the same time... I was also paying tribute to the soldiers who died at Yumen's border in years past."
"The soldiers died upon the battlefield. To be wrapped in horsehide was their destined end. They fought to the death for their ideals, and their spirits will watch over us and bless us."
"Your Highness's words are deeply stirring. Although this is our first meeting, it feels as though we have known each other for a very long time."
As the two spoke, Nian came over carrying a dish heaped with chili peppers. She shot Felix a resentful glare. "What do you mean, 'Your Highness'? Just call him by his name. We're family, and he's your brother-in-law too."
"Brother-in-law?"
Chongyue's gaze shifted to Felix, and then he laughed. "I wonder which of my sisters' husbands you are?"
Seeing her elder brother react like that, Nian felt a little aggrieved. She glared at Felix, then dropped heavily into her seat at the table. Picking up the wine cup, she poured herself a drink and began drinking on her own.
"It's Miss Ling."
"It's actually your younger sister."
Chongyue looked Felix up and down. "With His Highness as her support, my younger sister will surely be very happy in the future. As her elder brother, I cannot interfere too much, but I believe the two of you will be happy."
"Eh?"
Seeing Ling secretly laughing at the side while Dusk watched the show unfold, Nian slapped her thigh and cried out, "Why did you agree so quickly?!"
Felix let out a quiet snort. This was the true value of high charm. Now, simply by meeting someone, his initial charm was enough to establish a comrade-in-arms level of goodwill and closeness almost instantly. How could something possibly drive a wedge between them?
The group sat together, and Chongyue began discussing the industrial development of Yan with Felix. Felix could tell that Chongyue was a complete novice in this area, so he skipped over the minor details and focused instead on just how terrifying battleships would be in future wars against demons. He explained that demons could interfere with the laws of physics, with reality itself, and even with Terra's environment, but surely they could not simply brush aside hundreds of gun emplacements and Yamato cannons firing at once... It's the age of battleship.
All fear came from insufficient firepower. As for something capable of affecting everything and erasing it all like a black hole, Felix felt he might as well lie down and wait for death. He would not be able to win, and there would be no hope at all.
Once Felix began talking about industry, Nian also joined the conversation. She was far more sensitive to the subject than Chongyue. In the end, the discussion turned into a conversation between Felix and Nian, while Chongyue sat off to the side chatting with Ling.
Just as he had said, Chongyue did not interfere much in his younger siblings' private affairs, and he held an open-minded attitude toward his sister finding a partner.
A proxy of the Sui needed to form bonds upon this land, so that he would not remain alone.
Chongyue himself was the same. Though he had once wanted no ties with anyone, there was still someone who had given him this name, and he also had a disciple.
___
This was Felix's last day in Yumen. After washing up, he lay down on the bed. He had only just turned over when he noticed that there seemed to be a lump of lava lying beside him.
That was not an exaggeration. She was a woman whose body temperature felt as hot as lava.
Felix rubbed his eyes and looked more carefully at the figure on the bed. The girl, with skin as pale as cream, had buried her head deep into the pillow, leaving only her red ears exposed.
When Nian felt his breathing steady, she could not help lifting her head, only to find Felix already looking at her with an amused expression.
Nian instantly bristled. "Are you even a man?"
"Why can my sister do it, but I can't? I was the one who was here first, the one who met you first, the first heartbeat I've had in all these centuries..."
Felix's hand touched Nian's cheek, and her breathing immediately quickened. Her crimson eyes lowered, and her voice lost its usual carefree tone.
"Young Master... this is my first time. Please be gentle."