Chapter 10: Ten Suns in the Sky
According to Iris’s memories, she had been farming on the mountain as usual when a massive fire suddenly erupted, quickly engulfing all of Mount Fajiu.
She sensed that Lord Jingwei was in danger and rushed towards Her, braving the flames, only to find Jingwei severely injured.
The fire raged, and Iris, unable to escape on her own, was carried away by Jingwei, who used the last of Her strength to escape the burning Kingdom.
Even so, Iris was still severely burned, near death.
Finally, Jingwei entrusted Her remaining Authority to Iris, saving her life.
But the price was Jingwei’s transformation into a small teal bird, falling into a deep slumber, Her life force gradually fading.
Jingwei hadn’t awakened since Luo Ling and Iris first met, and it remained so.
Therefore, Iris didn’t know the cause of the disaster or Jingwei’s injuries.
Luo Ling even suspected that Moonflower and the others knew more than Iris herself.
After all, Moonflower had casually mentioned Iris’s origin in Mount Fajiu’s Kingdom, clearly having investigated… although they likely hadn’t learned much about Iris herself.
Iris, during her time on Mount Fajiu, had rarely interacted with outsiders, a truly dedicated God’s Favored.
“This should be a High-Risk Grotesquery level disaster… Samadhi True Fire?”
Luo Ling sensed the seemingly inextinguishable flames, a flicker of fear in her heart.
Grotesquery Sequence 26, Samadhi True Fire of Calamity, an Authority-level, phenomenon-type Grotesquery.
Judging from its Sequence ranking, it was considerably weaker than Jingwei, Sequence 18, although Sequence ranking didn’t directly correlate to strength.
Moreover, Jingwei possessed intelligence and wouldn’t be easily defeated by another Calamity Path Grotesquery phenomenon.
This meant… Jingwei’s injuries were inflicted by someone else, who then used Samadhi True Fire to destroy the evidence.
“Perhaps… I can start from here,” Luo Ling thought. “Uncovering the truth should earn Miss Iris’s trust, and then…”
If she could uncover the truth and earn Iris’s gratitude, then healing Jingwei might be possible.
And if Jingwei recovered, Iris might agree to… some slightly excessive requests.
Of course… not that kind of excessive, Luo Ling simply wanted to… exploit Iris’s labor.
Starry Victoria, originally a fragmented Kingdom, had been greatly improved by the family’s efforts, and with Luo Ling’s Transcendence Path as support, it was now almost as good as the former Victoria.
All it lacked was a diligent gardener to cultivate its lands.
Such a good place couldn’t be wasted…
Luo Ling had observed the changes in Twilight Victoria, coveting Iris’s abilities.
Although Iris, wielding the Mountains and Seas Authority, wasn’t a combat specialist, she was an exceptional farmer, her skill with this Authority astonishing, a true natural talent.
Even as a fellow wielder of the Mountains and Seas Authority, Luo Ling knew she couldn’t compare.
It wasn’t just a difference in skill, but also in specialized knowledge. This required a professional.
Luo Ling knew her limits. She shouldn’t interfere, lest she turn the Mountains and Seas Authority, intended for farming, into a true Calamity.
She needed Miss Iris.
The thought of Starry Victoria flourishing under Miss Iris’s care made Luo Ling flap her wings excitedly, a hint of joy in her expression.
“I’ve already memorized the way to this Kingdom, I can investigate later in my Amethyst form… since it’s already been ravaged by Samadhi True Fire, using Omniscience a bit shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
The tortoise shell Iris used was essentially just another form of a secret ritual. As long as the ritual itself was the same, whether using a barrier or a tortoise shell as a medium made no difference.
Luo Ling wasn’t in a hurry. She wasn’t acting immediately because she had to consider Iris’s feelings.
Iris’s dramatic mood swings were still fresh in her mind; it was best not to provoke her…
Besides this, Luo Ling had also discovered something else within this Kingdom.
Luo Ling flew higher, looking down at the burning Kingdom from above.
Iris looked up, a worried expression on her face.
“Little Sister Black Kite, be careful, those flames… are dangerous.”
“Don’t worry,” Luo Ling replied, her small, beady eyes taking in the entire Kingdom, her gaze flickering.
“It seems… my initial assessment was correct.”
Within this Kingdom, only the Calamity and Elemental Paths existed.
…This reminded Luo Ling of the new world envisioned by Philosopher.
A new world of only Other Shore and Present.
“It seems… although each Origin Point’s story is different, there are still some similarities.”
Luo Ling sighed softly, flapping her wings and returning to Iris’s head, settling down in her makeshift nest.
Feeling the slight weight and warmth on her head, Iris relaxed a bit.
Since returning to Mount Fajiu’s Kingdom, Iris had been visibly distressed, her anxiety and worry evident.
Although this was her hometown, it only held painful memories, not happy ones.
It was like making An Yu return to Baiyan Village before its inhabitants were resurrected…
Iris wanted to leave this place of sorrow as quickly as possible, only staying because Luo Ling seemed to have discovered something.
—And it had to be Luo Ling in her bird form. If it were Amethyst, Iris wouldn’t be so patient.
After a moment, Luo Ling, sensing Iris’s unease, nudged her head with her wing and said,
“Let’s go, use the method Granny Moonflower gave you.”
“Okay, okay…”
Iris, relieved, quickly began preparing the new secret ritual.
Iris’s rituals were performed using tortoise shells and divination tiles. She meticulously inscribed new patterns on the shell and prepared a new tile.
After placing the shell and tile together, Iris closed her eyes and began to shake them.
She looked a bit like… a fortune teller…
Except fortune tellers were fake, and Miss Iris… was the real deal.
“Found it!”
Iris opened her eyes and tossed the tortoise shell.
The surrounding scenery instantly lost all its color, fading into darkness, a bizarre, distorted landscape appearing, but it wasn’t Victoria.
Misty mountain peaks, raging rivers, ancient cities in desolate plains, battlefields littered with skeletons and corpses…
These were all scenes from the “Origin Point of Silence,” the Great Xia Imperial City, some similar to the myths Luo Ling knew, others completely different.
After a brief moment of distorted transition, Luo Ling and Iris found themselves on a barren hill.
It should have been near sunset, but the sunlight was more intense and scorching than anything Luo Ling had ever experienced, even the feathers on her wings felt like they were melting.
She looked up and gasped.
Ten suns hung in the sky, scattered randomly.
Yes, one sun was almost setting, but…
…there were nine others!
The tenth sun was just rising in the east, like the first light of dawn.
This meant…
…in Qing Qiu Kingdom, night never came.
Iris, also having never encountered this, covered her head with her sleeve, trying to shield herself from the sun as she hurried towards some shade.
But there were no normal trees here.
Only withered trunks and a few sickly saplings with sparse, yellow leaves.
Under the scorching suns, life was almost nonexistent.
“This is also a kind of Doomsday…”
Luo Ling sensed the familiar Doomsday aura, similar to Victoria’s, and sighed softly.
This fragmented Origin Point also couldn’t escape Doomsday’s gaze.
When Doomsday truly arrived, all places, at all times, would experience its power, transcending time and space.
However, this also showed that Mount Fajiu and Qing Qiu Kingdom were truly separate spaces, Mount Fajiu’s Kingdom didn’t have this ten suns disaster…
“Why did Sister Moonflower choose such a desolate place…”
Iris grumbled, using her abilities to slightly improve a small area, accelerating the growth of some trees, trying to create some shade.
But the trees withered faster than they grew, even using her Mountains and Seas Authority, Iris couldn’t overcome the ten suns disaster plaguing Qing Qiu Kingdom.
Just then, Iris’s phone rang. She answered, and a strange, female voice, yet with a familiar tone, spoke,
“Oh my, little Iris, have you arrived? Everyone’s waiting for you!”
This affected voice could only belong to one person Iris knew.
Moonflower.
However, unlike her usual cloyingly sweet loli voice, Moonflower’s current voice was clear and pleasant, likely her true voice.
“I’m here, but I don’t see anyone,” Iris said, looking around, not seeing any signs of life, feeling like her skin was about to peel under the scorching suns.
Encountering such a disastrous situation on her first trip, Iris almost wanted to cancel and go home.
“Oh right, my apologies… I forgot you’ve never been to Qing Qiu Kingdom before,” Moonflower said, slapping her forehead. “Wait, I’ll open the door for you… oh, I’ve found your coordinates, here you go!”
A hazy gust of wind and sand swept past.
Iris felt a sudden coolness on her burning skin.
The surrounding scenery instantly changed, the barren hill replaced by lush green forests covering the hills.
Luo Ling and Iris looked up, only a single setting sun remaining in the sky.
Just then, cheerful laughter echoed from nearby. Iris looked through the trees and saw a group of men and women in simple clothes, singing and dancing around a bonfire.
And within the vast forest, many similar small settlements were scattered.
“…….”
Luo Ling observed her surroundings in silence.
“What’s going on?” Iris, confused and bewildered, asked, “Were we… transported somewhere else? Or…”
“No, we’re still in the same place, the location hasn’t changed, but…”
Luo Ling’s voice echoed in Iris’s mind.
“The time is different, this Qing Qiu Kingdom… exists in the ‘past.'”
Before the ten suns disaster.
Similar to Transcendence’s method of delaying Doomsday, but much cruder.
Qing Qiu Kingdom was simply hidden in the “past,” not truly having reverted, the ten suns disaster still raging in the “present.”
Even so, hiding such a large area in the past and maintaining it required unimaginable power.
“Little Iris~”
Moonflower’s voice echoed from behind, and Iris felt a shadow above her before being embraced.
Iris immediately broke free, hiding behind a nearby tree and looking at Moonflower warily.
Moonflower, failing to hug Iris, looked slightly disappointed, then chuckled.
“I recognized you immediately, even your size hasn’t changed, so easy to guess, hee hee.”
“You… you’re Moonflower?”
Iris stared at the real-world Moonflower in shock.
Completely different from the small, loli form she presented at the Tea Party, the real Moonflower was a tall woman, her beautiful, fox-like face framed by alluring eyes that always held a mischievous glint.
More importantly…
Iris’s gaze lowered slightly, noticing her… ample bosom.
“Tsk.”
Iris thought she heard someone click their tongue in disdain.
Moonflower, arms crossed, examined Iris with her seductive eyes, her smile unwavering.
“Are you Sister Camellia?”
Iris was still in denial, finding it hard to accept Moonflower’s true appearance.
“She’s not, I am,” a slightly childish voice echoed from nearby.
A small figure appeared, Camellia’s expression slightly exasperated.
Also completely different from her gentle, matronly Tea Party persona, Camellia’s appearance wasn’t much older than the White Witch’s, her blonde hair and blue eyes clearly indicating her origin.
But besides these common features, what was even more striking… were her long, pointed ears.
Humanoid beings with such features were usually called elves.
Iris was even more confused now.
She looked at Camellia, then at Moonflower, feeling like switching their appearances would make more sense.
“Wait, could it be that Sister Snowdrop…”
Iris suddenly thought of Snowdrop, the most mysterious and reclusive Tea Party member.
Hearing this, both Moonflower and Camellia’s expressions turned strange.
Moonflower hesitated for a moment, then said,
“She’s… quite different…”
“Much bigger than us,” Camellia added, nodding slightly.
“Why have you summoned me?”
A cold voice echoed.
They looked towards the source and saw a tall, imposing figure emerging from the forest.
First, a pair of crystal-clear eyes, then a pair of magnificent… antlers.
As a cold breeze swept past, a divine deer, its skin like snow, appeared before them, its expression its usual indifference and coldness.
Even Luo Ling almost fell off Iris’s head.
“Are… are you Sister Snowdrop?”
Iris’s expression changed as she struggled to speak.
At least the first two were still human, but Sister Snowdrop… wasn’t even human?
Wait…
Not human?
Luo Ling suddenly realized something, turning her small head to look at Moonflower and Camellia, seeing their wary expressions, then, recalling past events, she instantly understood.
“No wonder… Snowdrop was never interested in the path to godhood.”
“No wonder… Snowdrop rarely participated in transactions or interacted with other Tea Party members, always so taciturn.”
“This is… the truth.”
Snowdrop wasn’t human.
She… or rather, It…
…was a Grotesquery.
