“Here you go.”
In her spiritual world, Su Yun had only managed to lay down a few slabs of white jade with golden veins. Her fingertips touched the illusory brickwork, the sensation of coldness still lingering on her skin.
She was wholly focused on building that grand Heavenly Court, when Mo Qingqing’s gentle yet commanding voice suddenly interrupted her.
A pen, warm and smooth as jade, and a similarly delicate jade tablet, were gently placed in front of her, as if appearing out of thin air.
Su Yun tilted her furry little head, her soft ears quivering slightly, her eyes filled with confusion and puzzlement. She couldn’t understand Mo Qingqing’s intentions at all.
“The Ruler wants to create some new magical beasts to train us,” Mo Qingqing explained.
“She wants us to write our own ideas. That dragon-phoenix you mentioned before, I thought it sounded pretty good.” Her slender fingers tapped lightly on the jade tablet.
“Besides, I’m quite curious what magical beasts exist in your world.”
“Um… Master,”
Su Yun carefully cradled the jade tablet and pen in her hands as she spoke.
“My world doesn’t even have magic.”
She feared her answer might disappoint Mo Qingqing, or make her seem useless.
“Oh?” At her words, Mo Qingqing’s captivating eyes narrowed slightly, one brow arching in surprise.
“I think I did hear someone who studies parallel worlds mention this once,”
Mo Qingqing mused for a moment, her fingertip tapping her chin as her thoughts seemed to drift far away, across the endless sea of space and time.
“He said the place we’re in is like the center of a vortex, where huge amounts of magical power are gathered.
The farther you go from here, the less magic there is, until in some extremely distant worlds, it’s all but dried up.”
She looked at Su Yun. “It seems your original world was pretty remote, huh.”
“Then how did you even come up with things like dragons and phoenixes?” Mo Qingqing asked, her curiosity piqued.
“Because in our world, there’s no magic, and no powerful beings like these. So we imagine worlds with magic, and dream up these mighty creatures.”
Su Yun tried hard to explain.
“Dragons and phoenixes are revered as auspicious and divine beasts in our world…”
“Hmm… Well, just go ahead and write whatever comes to you.”
Mo Qingqing was clearly interested, but too lazy to think about it herself.
She pushed the jade tablet and pen to Su Yun, signaling her to be creative, her manner easy and unconcerned, as if to say “write whatever you want.”
“Alright… I’ll give it a try…” Su Yun gripped the jade pen, her fingertip touching the cool stone.
Her spiritual world seemed to open instantly, an ancient scroll slowly unfurling in her mind.
The forms of mythical beasts and ferocious monsters from ancient legends flashed before her eyes, grand and majestic, like scenes in a magic lantern.
She pondered—if these magical beasts were meant for a “trial,” then gentle auspicious beasts probably wouldn’t be fitting…
Hmm, ferocious beasts might better suit the requirements for a “trial,” right?
Let’s start with Qiongqi…
Meanwhile, deep within an ancient and magnificent castle.
The Rule Ruler, Ning Peng, sat upright on His throne forged from star iron, exhaustion and displeasure written clearly on His brow.
In the air before Him floated countless magical beast design drafts, submitted by various witches and sorcerers.
But several dark lines appeared on His forehead at this moment.
“A giant potato with two green onions stuck in it? What do you call this? ‘Scallion Potato Man’?”
His voice trembled with barely suppressed anger, like the rumbling of ancient mountains.
“And this one, an earth dragon made from a dozen greasy pancakes stuck together?!”
He waved a hand in irritation, flinging a greasy, food-scented draft back into the air, where it turned to dust in an instant.
“You look more like a pancake yourself! Is cooking your own food so hard?! Why do you have to make every edible thing into a magical beast?!”
These witches and sorcerers, they really couldn’t go three sentences without bringing up food. Their thinking had become completely fixated on endless food beasts.
He sighed, suppressing his discomfort and disappointment, and mechanically continued flipping through the strange and repetitive “magical beast” designs.
Until He saw a proposal unlike any other—a design filled with an ancient and wild aura, as if it had traveled from the primordial wilderness.
“Qiongqi: a black tiger, with twin wings, the size of an ox, shaped like a dog, fur colored like an ox, four-footed, with wings. Eats people, starting at the head, cruel and bloodthirsty, loves evil and hates good, prefers to eat the loyal and upright, eats people whole, from head to foot…”
“Kunpeng: In the Northern Sea there is a fish, its name is Kun. The Kun is so huge, no one knows how many thousands of miles it spans. It transforms into a bird, its name is Peng. The Peng’s back is vast beyond reckoning. When angered, it flies, its wings like clouds hanging from the sky. It can stir the sea for three thousand miles, and soar up to ninety thousand miles in a spiral…”
Jiaolong, Taowu, Hundun, Taotie… one after another, exotic and ferocious beasts, never seen in this world before, their abilities and lore bursting with novelty and grandeur, appeared before His eyes.
Such imaginative and fresh designs instantly rekindled His long-dormant interest. Even His ancient eyes glimmered with light.
“Good, good, very good,”
Ning Peng’s voice carried a rare note of delight. “Mo Qingqing? This is…”
“The Time Seed’s adopted daughter—though she calls herself a disciple,” the butler beside Him, a scholar clad in silver robes, supplied respectfully and precisely.
“Oh…”
Ning Peng raised His head slightly, His gaze piercing countless dimensions and streams of time, tracing all the way back to the moment Su Yun and Mo Qingqing first met.
Glimmers of how Su Yun came to this world, and how she was “adopted” by Mo Qingqing, flashed through His mind.
“I remember now.”
“So that’s it—a soul from another world…born from the dreams of mortals? Because they could not possess such things, they yearned for them all the more, constructing these mighty gods and monsters in their fantasies… What a pity, I haven’t the time to go plucking mortals myself.”
His voice grew indifferent.
In that instant, all of Su Yun’s past was laid bare before Him.
“Very well, let these little troublemakers…”
A playful curve appeared on Ning Peng’s lips.
“Experience the power of mortals for themselves!”
“But before that, let’s send out the academy admission notices…”
“All of you, go to school!”
His voice echoed throughout the castle, brooking no refusal.
Su Yun, immersed in sketching her world of mythical beasts, suddenly froze mid-stroke.
In her hands, the jade tablet suddenly glowed with several shining words, the script ancient and mysterious, yet perfectly clear.
“Enrollment… hm… notification?”
She struggled to read the characters.
“Master, look, this just appeared all of a sudden…”
Su Yun dared not neglect her duty, and promptly offered the tablet to Mo Qingqing with both hands.
She knew any oddity must be reported to Mo Qingqing at once.
“Hmm?”
Mo Qingqing took the tablet, a puzzled look on her face. She had been wondering what Su Yun might write, only to see these abrupt words.
She began to read, the lazy expression on her face slowly fading away.
“The academy will open in seven days. At that time, all high-level and lower personnel must attend without exception?!”
Mo Qingqing’s voice rose several notches.
“Enrolled: Mo Qingqing, Su Yun??!!”
Upon seeing her and Su Yun’s names on the notice, Mo Qingqing was completely bewildered.
What on earth is this?
Go to school? Fine, she hadn’t been before anyway.
But why… why did this little one have to go too?
Her eyes fell on Su Yun’s innocent face, then back to the name on the tablet.
Mo Qingqing’s mind raced, instantly recalling all those times she’d called Su Yun her “disciple.”
“Could it be… just because of that?!”