Chapter 155: Nine Tailed Fox: Stealing My Sun!?
The surrounding mist thinned little by little.
Rowe stood at the center of it, and the primal wind answered him like a limb. The Mystery that had been coiling through the air was peeled away layer by layer, until the colossal shadow of the Fusang Tree was no longer a projection on the sea, but a presence that could be seen and felt.
Xu Fu had stared at that shadow for years.
From a distance, under sunlight, the Fusang Tree would cast a vast reflection over the Eastern Sea, a giant outline that made every ship feel like a leaf. She had yearned for it countless times, longing to step closer even once.
Now, she finally had.
Excitement surged in her chest, too hot to keep quiet.
But the moment she met Consort Yu's stern gaze, the girl in the square hat shrank instinctively, pressing both hands to the top of it as if the hat could shield her from divine wrath.
"I… I'm sorry…"
Her voice wavered, small and careful.
"Did I… did I accidentally displease your maid?"
Consort Yu's eyes sharpened.
Murderous intent, thin as a blade, slid into the air.
Rowe did not react immediately. He simply watched, and in that silence he reached a conclusion.
This child knew exactly how to speak.
It was hard to say earlier, but now Rowe could feel it clearly. Consort Yu was truly displeased.
As a Stellar Spirit, she was exactly the immortal Xu Fu had come seeking. In this land, an existence that could establish a direct connection with the planet itself was equivalent to an immortal. A natural Stellar Spirit was born standing on the threshold that cultivators spent lifetimes chasing.
The name Yu, in Xu Fu's mouth, pointed to her.
Yet now she was being reduced to a maid.
Spirits born from the planet tended to arrogance. Not a learned arrogance, but the natural disdain of something that had existed before humans learned to name themselves. They looked at mankind the way a mountain looked at ants, with indifference at best, with disgust at worst.
Consort Yu could tolerate many things.
Being underestimated was not one of them.
Her lips parted, fangs flashing.
"I'm going to kill…"
"You are Xu Fu, correct?"
Rowe's voice cut in, calm and clean.
"I am Rowe. Not the Yu you speak of."
Consort Yu's aura faltered.
Not only because of his words, but because he interrupted her.
The warning was not spoken aloud, yet it pressed against her throat like a fishbone.
Do not kill indiscriminately in front of me.
It was not fear. It was calculation.
Even if she had only intended to scare the mortals away, it was not worth paying a price for.
"Eh? That's not right?"
Xu Fu blinked, startled.
She looked at Consort Yu, who was still sulking, then at Rowe, and suddenly her eyes lit up as if she had solved a profound riddle.
"So that's it."
"The unfathomable Immortal Yu is your maid, and you are an immortal of a higher rank?"
Her voice climbed with every word.
"Immortal Lord? Or a Heavenly Emperor?"
Rowe suppressed the urge to rub his forehead and glanced sideways at Consort Yu.
Consort Yu was expressionless.
Yet somehow it was obvious what she meant.
Little fool. Do not let me catch an opportunity.
Xu Fu's cheeks flushed. The square hat on her head trembled as she shifted, her black stockinged legs rubbing together with nervous excitement. Strands of hair half covered her face, but they could not hide the gleam in her eyes.
"I can't believe I found an existence like you. Could you be the yang manifestation of the great deity Xi He?"
She inhaled sharply, then shook her head as if correcting herself mid prayer.
"No. It is said Xi He appears as a woman…"
Her gaze returned to Rowe with renewed certainty.
"Then you must be an Immortal Emperor!"
In a sense, she was not entirely wrong.
If the world insisted on using the word immortal as its measure, then the density of Mystery Rowe carried made the title emperor almost reasonable. An emperor was a master above other immortals. Rowe was not an immortal, but he was a hybrid existence, human, machina god, star god, and the boundary between those categories was already blurred in a land that measured authority by resonance.
Consort Yu, who could resonate with the planet itself, had similarities to the star gods Rowe created.
So Xu Fu's misunderstanding was not entirely useless.
Rowe welcomed it.
He had stepped into this land seeking danger, but also seeking renown. Names did not fall from the sky. Names accumulated, one witness at a time, one rumor at a time, one terrified prayer at a time.
Starting here was appropriate.
Rowe shook out his long robe lightly, considering whether he should change attire, then let the thought go.
Clothes were decoration. Authority was the real costume.
"Um… my companions…"
Xu Fu raised a hand cautiously and pointed toward the sea.
Now that the mist had dispersed, the sailing ships reappeared, tossed by the restless waves. The people aboard were not in a panic, because they had received news that Xu Fu was safe. Still, they were trapped at a distance, constantly battered by wind and current, unable to draw closer.
"Can they also come over?"
"No."
Consort Yu answered first.
Her impatience bled through her tone like smoke.
"If they come, I will kill them."
Rowe added, as if reinforcing a law rather than giving an opinion.
"Your companions have no immortal destiny."
He also had to consider the native presence here, at least enough not to trample it for no reason.
"But…"
Xu Fu's eyes widened. She still tried to speak.
They had sailed together to seek immortality. What was this, if only she could see the immortal and the rest were left to rot in the waves?
"If I don't want immortal destiny, can I give it to them?"
Consort Yu stared at her.
For a heartbeat, her irritation turned into something dangerously close to disbelief.
"Are you stupid?"
Xu Fu covered the top of her hat again, but her eyes remained serious.
"I can't be the only one to gain."
Rowe smiled faintly.
"But how can immortal destiny be gifted?"
He faced the sea. His robe fluttered, black hair stirring, and his pupils, a shimmering blend of gold and red, brightened with a quiet intensity.
"Xu Fu, do you know what an immortal is?"
Xu Fu let out a small sound, as if her thoughts had been briefly stunned by his gaze. A moment later she returned to herself and recited with care, quoting the arcane texts she had buried her youth in.
"Immortals are free and detached. They share the lifespan of Heaven and Earth. They shine with sun and moon, harmonize yin and yang, and cycle endlessly."
Rowe nodded.
He had not truly set foot on the Divine Land beyond this boundary, but even in this short time he had already grasped the shape of its immortals.
In this land, immortals were nominally beneath gods, yet they walked a different path entirely.
Divine power came from nature. Gods were either born from phenomena or elevated by worship, and their authorities manifested in the world as natural laws given shape.
Immortals, on the other hand, transformed the human body again and again, tempering the mortal into something that could carry dense Mystery, and then using that Mystery to establish resonance with the planet.
Just like Consort Yu.
The difference was that Consort Yu did not cultivate.
She was born there.
A natural Stellar Spirit, a natural immortal, skipping the long road entirely.
In direct combat, many true immortals lacked the grandeur of gods who could directly manifest nature, but they were free, and their immortality was bound to the world itself. As long as the planet remained, they could return.
In that sense, the so called star gods of this land were also a kind of immortal. Divine immortals, beings that held positions and resonated with stars.
Most of the strong among this land belonged to that category.
A pure Stellar Spirit like Consort Yu was closer to a heavenly immortal.
Xu Fu sensed, rightly or wrongly, that Rowe was testing her. Many ancient records spoke of trials, of questions that decided whether destiny opened its door.
So she tried to continue.
Then the world answered first.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
A fierce wind swept in from beyond, dragging thunder with it.
Lightning flashed.
The sea churned.
The ships that had already been pitching were thrown into deeper chaos. Sailors shouted. People crashed into rails. Even those skilled at the helm could no longer steady the swaying vessels.
"Damn it!"
"What's happening?"
"Hold steady, hold steady! Don't capsize!"
"We have to endure until Lady Xu Fu returns with immortal destiny!"
Consort Yu's expression shifted.
"Trouble has arrived."
She exhaled slowly, stretching in place as if waking her body from boredom. The fur collared shawl on her shoulders fluttered, and her slender, beautiful figure swayed with unhurried grace.
Then her face hardened.
"Trying to seize Fusang now, while the gate is open?"
Her ruby eyes narrowed.
"I am not the same as I was before."
Thunder rolled again.
The lightning spread wider.
Moisture surged in on a heavy tide.
Xu Fu flinched. She wanted to step forward, but the dense humidity carried power, pressing down on her like a wall. If not for the two "immortals" beside her, she would have been unable to move at all.
She looked at Rowe, worry overflowing.
"Lord Rowe…"
Consort Yu glanced at her with open disdain, then looked back to Rowe.
"The East Sea's flood dragon. It could have completed its transformation, but it chose to remain as a jiao to avoid departing with the gods."
Her voice sharpened, annoyed by the very existence of the creature she described.
"For years it has coveted Fusang. It wants to devour it and strengthen itself, but the layers of mist blocked it. It never had a chance."
A pillar of the Age of Gods, left without its original protectors after the retreat of gods and immortals, was naturally bait for greedy eyes.
Rowe lifted an eyebrow.
"So this is my fault?"
"What do you think?"
Consort Yu bared her fangs.
Then she cut herself off, as if swallowing the rest of her own pride.
Rowe turned his head.
He had encountered dragons before. Fafnir. Nidhogg. Creatures that stood as antagonists to gods, symbols of greed and destruction in the western sense.
But what approached now was different.
In this land, dragons were closer to gods. Born of wind and rain, shaped by atmospheric phenomena, they were divine beasts that embodied clouds, thunder, and water.
A true dragon was a godly concept made flesh.
A jiao was incomplete, impure, a step short.
A difference like god and demigod.
That figure appeared over the vast sea, dragging thunder and rain behind it.
Its long body coiled within the mist, scales shimmering under the constant glare of lightning. A camel like head, deer like antlers, whiskers like a carp, claws like an eagle, paws like a tiger. Even incomplete, it carried the pressure of something ancient.
Mystery surged forward, and waves rose in layers beneath it.
It was comparable to a high ranking deity, not far from a chief god.
Consort Yu took a step, ready to act.
Then she paused.
Someone had moved in front of her.
"I'll do it," Rowe said.
His tone held no drama, only acceptance.
"After all, I'm the one who attracted it."
Consort Yu tilted her head, crimson eyes narrowing.
"At least you're sensible."
Rowe turned and broke off a newly sprouted twig from the Fusang Tree.
He sharpened it with a simple motion, as if carving a toy.
The wind howled around them.
The branch trembled in his hand.
"You can use a sword?" Consort Yu asked, a trace of curiosity slipping through her irritation.
"A little," Rowe replied, smiling.
Xu Fu clasped her hands to her chest, staring nervously toward the ships of the seekers she had brought.
Rowe threw the branch.
Consort Yu's eyes sharpened.
"Is this Sword Control Art?"
Boom.
A crimson storm burst from Rowe's palm, slamming the branch forward like a meteor.
Consort Yu's face went blank.
She silently took back the thought.
This was not Sword Control Art. Not the elegant kind known for agility and finesse.
The branch shot across the air, spinning within the storm.
Light and shadow intertwined, grinding against it, polishing it, sharpening it, until the crude twig became a blade shaped shadow, a sword formed by concept rather than steel.
The jiao dragon roared.
Human screams rose from the ships.
Dark clouds thickened in layers. The jiao lowered its body, descending toward the sea as if it intended to bite Heaven and Earth together.
And in that instant, the sword crossed the world.
Crimson light flowed like fire.
The jiao recoiled.
Terror flickered in its eyes.
It wanted to retreat, but what rushed toward it was not merely a sword.
It was a sun.
Vast. Magnificent. All encompassing.
A radiance that felt like it could illuminate endless worlds.
A voice entered the jiao's mind, ethereal, carrying a pressure that made thought itself vibrate.
"It is said there is a jiao lord of the East Sea."
"A creature that became jiao yet failed to become true dragon."
"One that rules countless waters and binds a hundred thousand aquatic beasts."
"Are you it?"
The jiao's mouth opened.
It spoke.
"Yes."
It could only answer like that.
It only dared to answer like that.
The voice continued, calm as law.
"Then lend me your head."
"Ascend this position for me."
The jiao roared, furious, struggling.
But the sword fell like heavenly fire.
His will followed his heart.
The sunlike sword descended.
With a single strike, the jiao's head was severed.
Blood spilled into the sea, but it did not stain the world the way mortal blood would. It scattered like torrential rain, then evaporated, rising as steaming mist that spread across the ocean once more.
Everyone froze, staring upward.
They saw the giant tree swaying above.
They saw sunlight appear where the storm had been.
Rowe raised his hand, and the sword of brilliant red light returned to his palm.
He held it as if holding a blazing sun.
Behind him, Fusang stood like a backdrop built for worship.
Immortal?
God?
The eastern horizon brightened, dawn rising, purple qi lifting with the sunlight.
On the ships, voices began to tremble into words, as if a revelation had been poured into their mouths.
"Donghua"
"Donghua"
"God of the rising sun."
"Master of Fusang…"
Rowe listened, and his expression did not change.
This was the point.
To use the people of this land as a bridge, to establish a connection through their thoughts, and to carve a name into the world.
Divine persona was born from faith.
Even here, the rule held.
If he could use faith as a thread, he could seize a vacant position, or replace a personalized god that had not yet returned.
That was why he acted.
Why he used a Fusang branch as a sword.
Why he let the concept of the sun within it become a blade.
Why he did not immediately repair the gate.
Meeting Xu Fu mattered, but this mattered too.
To slay a dragon with one sword.
To display power before mortals.
To leave a name.
To leave a title.
Consort Yu stared at Rowe's figure beside her, bewilderment creeping into her eyes as the place she had claimed as her sleeping ground suddenly looked like someone else's altar.
Was I tricked again?
She did not realize the irony.
She had been the one to occupy this place without rightful claim, and Rowe, in his own way, had even considered making her its legitimate guardian. To lend it to her, to let her stand here with authority rather than stubbornness.
For Consort Yu it would have been profit with no cost.
Unfortunately, she did not notice.
Xu Fu, on the other hand, was trembling with excitement, cheeks flushed, eyes shining too brightly to hide.
She had seen it.
She had seen an immortal god ascend.
The commotion spread.
As the sun rose, capable people across the Divine Land lifted their heads.
Magecraft practitioners opened their Mystic Eyes, turning their gazes toward the sudden authority in the sky.
"The Age of Gods has passed. Why would a god return to a throne?"
"Donghua. A name I have never heard."
"Never heard, but it will be heard often."
"First Great Qin moves east, then immortal gods reappear. Is this an omen?"
A voice, older and strained, muttered from somewhere unseen.
"I cannot calculate it. Even my Guigu divination cannot see through it…"
Crack. Crack. Crack.
In a magnificent palace, nine tails swept lazily through the air like drifting dust.
A graceful figure reclined within, posture relaxed, smile soft, as if the world was merely amusing.
Yet the armrest beneath her palm shattered in an instant.
"Ara ara… Donghua?"
Her voice carried a playful lilt, but the chill underneath it could freeze a prayer.
"Who is that…?"
"How dare they steal the Authority of the sun before me?"
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