The Pale Court

The duo of Yazu and Mingyu soared across the purple sky, the edges of the world blurring around them. Within minutes, the vast purple sea below receded, giving way to land. The plain that stretched before them was cold and desolate, dotted with vegetation of exotic colors—likely the effect of the nether realm's peculiar atmosphere.

The land was nearly barren. The few creatures that existed slithered or crawled in forms so strange that Mingyu's mind rejected them before he could truly register what he saw. Not that he would have recognized them even if they belonged to the mortal plane.

As they flew on, something loomed ahead. At first glance Mingyu thought it was a cloud—but no, clouds didn't move like that. This thing crept across the land like a living tide: a fog of dark grey streaked with violet light, speckled with sparks of red, blue, and purple starlight. It radiated an eerie, oppressive presence that made Mingyu shiver involuntarily. Yet the human-winged crow pressed onward, cutting through the sky at terrifying speed. Soon, they reached the fog's edge.

The formless mist rose from the ground to the clouds, forming a looming boundary. As the crow prepared to enter, Mingyu felt an instinctive resistance. His body refused to pass through the threshold, as though warning him of the lurking danger beyond.

He struggled to calm his nerves as his body resisted the crow's push. Then, at last, they slipped through to the other side. A calm, serene stillness washed over Mingyu—though not in a good way. It felt as if the bundle of mists had commanded his body to be still, and he had no choice but to obey.

As they crossed through and the mist swallowed their bodies, an image slammed itself into Mingyu's mind. A silhouette—a woman—wavered before him, and as it began to sharpen into something real, his body ignited with heat. His skull throbbed, his eyes strained against a pain so sharp it felt like they might burst. He was being forced to witness something, dragged into a vision that seared him from the inside out. Just as the agony peaked, a blinding light tore through the scene, and everything—pain, image, fire—snapped away.

When Mingyu opened his eyes, the suffocating fog had vanished. The crow no longer surged forward but hovered in place above nine colossal stone pillars jutting out of the fog-swathed abyss below. Yazu scanned the surroundings in silence contemplating his next move.

Mingyu could make out five figures below—just silhouettes at first—but the moment his gaze locked onto them, he found himself blinking hard, rubbing his eyes as if they were deceiving him. Each of the five cast shadows that didn't behave like shadows at all. They spilled out from their bodies, crawling across the pillars and pouring into the fog below, where they swirled and stretched into hazy, shifting images—things that, for lack of a better word, could only be described as extraordinary.

The first figure Mingyu managed to focus on was wrapped in a river of blood—an entire crimson current spilling from his pillar and churning impossibly alive. Opposite him stood a woman with a river of her own, but hers was calm, serene, a still blue ribbon that felt extremely peaceful beside the boiling red torrent.

To the other side, a forest of skeletal trees rose—gnarled trunks of bone intertwined into... something otherworldly. A man, seated in a meditative posture, sat on the pillar. Across from him stood a woman wreathed in a garden of shadows, lotus-shaped silhouettes amidst other dark flowers blooming from her form, swaying under an imagined wind only they could feel.

And then there was the last figure: a massive man with open furnaces for eyes, surrounded by the raging image of a volcanic range. Ash and molten lava spewed in violent bursts, casting sensations of melting heat that Mingyu felt even from afar.

But as he tried to take in more, a sudden and crushing pressure slammed into him, tearing his gaze away without thinking.

Then, without warning, the crow seized Mingyu and swept him toward the empty pillar at the far end of the lineup. The landing was brutal, slamming his body against the stone, sending a painful shock through his bones. The moment he hit, a shadow stretched from the pillar into the fog, twisting and writhing until it formed a vivid image: a river of deep, swirling purple, sometimes calm, sometimes roiling with violent currents.

Mingyu's heart leapt as recognition struck—this was a fragment of the purple ocean that encircled the island cave. The vision pulsed, as Mingyu's breathing became heavy and a thrill of both awe and unease surged through him.

Mingyu sat in silence with the crow, not daring to make a sound, waiting for something unfamiliar to him. He noticed three unoccupied pillars and inferred that three more members would soon join this gathering.

Sure enough, someone arrived.

It was… a single moth. Mingyu's brow furrowed in confusion, but before he could question it, the moth began to multiply—one became two, two became four, and the numbers kept doubling until the swarm condensed into a human form.

He was sturdy without being bulky, radiating a scholarly air, clad in flowing white robes. He paused to survey the area before gliding toward a pillar. From his pillar, a shadow extended, forming a shifting scene—sometimes a forest, sometimes the open sea—flowing and changing as if alive.

Not long after the moth, two new figures emerged from the imposing fog. Before the first could fully appear, the air grew impossibly cold, frost blooming, slithering silver veins engulfing the stone pillars, snow drifting slowly from unseen heights.

From the icy haze, a pale maiden glided forward. Her features were exquisite and otherworldly—white hair cascading, flowing with imagined wind, eyes with a piercing azure—evoking a presence similar to Yue Ying's, yet feeling utterly alien. She paused to survey the assembly, her gaze penetrating, then inclined her head slightly before soaring toward an empty pillar.

As she landed, a shadow extended from her base, spreading across the ground, taking the form of a frozen landscape. Ice and frost rippled outward, crystallizing by her presence. The chill settled over the area, sharp yet serene.

Then a blinding warmth flooded the space. Light poured in like the dawn breaking over a forsaken world, melting the frost and filling the fog with golden radiance. Clouds swirled from the mist, and a low, haunting whale's call echoed through the void.

From the fog emerged a colossal whale, luminous and immense, its body woven from pure, radiant light. It moved with grace, its presence simultaneously terrifying and comforting, radiating serenity, warmth, and a sense of profound, unshakable majesty. The space trembled under its weight, the air quivering with the power of its being, and all who beheld it felt an almost sacred awe settle deep into their bones.

"Enough of this, Liu Guang Xuan Jing. We have important matters to attend to."

The words reverberated with an unexplainable power and authority, compelling obedience without question. The whale lingered for a moment, pouting slightly as if sulking at being interrupted, before it condensed into a brilliant white light, taking the form of a woman whose skin was brilliantly radiant—her beauty divine and awe-inspiring.

She scanned the area, gliding past the pillar she was supposed to occupy, as if searching for someone. When her gaze landed on Mingyu, she paused, smiled warmly at him, and then proceeded to fly to her own pillar. Immediately, a grand city, glowing with radiant light, spread from her shadow, filling the surrounding space with majesty and splendor.

Once all nine images fully formed, they dissolved into nine radiant beams of light that wove together, shaking the entire area. From deep within the fog, new pillars of gold and marble began to rise, walls and floors taking shape until finally, a vast hall was completed.

Each of the nine spirits took a seated position reminiscent of a royal princess's arrangement: a crescent formation, halving gracefully on either side. At the far end, a throne remained empty, just as before.

Each of the nine seats was unique, crafted and engraved with intricate patterns reflecting its master—bone etchings, lotus curls, volcanic ridges, frozen swirls, drifting runes of light. On the foreheads of all nine figures, various symbols pulsed with an otherworldly glow.

Mingyu was left speechless by what was unfolding around him. It felt as though he had stumbled into a gathering of high-level existences, beings far beyond his station, a meeting he had no right to witness. He felt small, insignificant, utterly out of place.

One of the seated members rose. So far, none of the others had spoken; the voice that had echoed through the void seemed to have been transmitted telepathically. Mingyu guessed that this man must be the host of whatever gathering this was. It was the one whose shadow spilled out a forest of ash trees and skeletal trunks, twisting and shifting like the remnants of some ancient world.

He had an astute figure, sharp features, and deep grey eyes. His flowing black hair framed his face, partially concealing it and lending an alluring air of mystery. Draped in robes of stars and night, he exuded an otherworldly presence. He seemed scholarly, yet simultaneously intimidating. His posture spoke of authority, and he moved forward with a graceful gait.

"All of you must have felt the disruptions in your domains," he began, his voice calm and mellow. "I convened you all to discuss possible measures."

"Possible measures?" a male voice interrupted. It came from the man with red hair and fiery eyes. "What do you mean, possible measures?"

"For the disrupted wave of energy, of course. Aren't you afraid that someone might be attacking the Nether Continent?" the convener retorted.

"Attacking the Nether Continent? Other than the Seven Gods, who else would have that much power?" a vibrant female voice—Liu Guang Xuan Jing—asked.

"You need to remember that Her Majesty isn't in full strength right now. All she can use is a law projection," the standing man responded.

"She's almost reaching the Law Acquisition Realm, isn't she? Maybe that wave came from her ascending to that realm," the man dressed in white robes with a dark gaze suggested.

"Yes, but the resonance from mortals is not enough—she needs more students," the standing man defended.

"Speaking of resonance, could this be caused by Her Majesty's brother? From what we know, he has awakened his divine consciousness as well," a woman dressed in red and blue, covered in shadowed flowers, asked.

"Ying Lian Sheng Mu, that is highly unlikely. He doesn't have anchors for his law projection," the man replied.

"But what if it was Mother?" Ying Lian Sheng Mu responded after a long pause.

"Mother?" A sense of unison echoed as many of the gathered went into thought.

"You can't be serious. You all know the situation with the Upper Realms. The universal shift is rapidly approaching, and the Upper Realms are already disintegrating. All the immortals and saints have abandoned their divinity to escape the calamity. The same goes for the Seven Gods—they have all gone to sleep, leaving only a sliver of their consciousness in the mortal realm," the man said, his voice rising higher and higher.

"Exactly. What if one of the higher beings has awakened their consciousness? Maybe the Great Mother has reawakened?" Liu Guang Xuan Jing supported. The words hung in the air. Liu Guang Xuan Jing, a woman with glowing skin and eyes bright like the sun, stole a glance at Mingyu as she spoke.

After what seemed like a long moment of silence:

"We can contact the Guardian, allowing for Her Majesty's brief descent. This would alleviate all worries—whether it be intrusion from higher beings, a side effect of the impending phase change, or Her Majesty's stabilization of her authority," the standing man finally suggested.

"Do we really have to do this? Contacting Her Majesty through this means might bring unknown consequences, putting both her and ourselves in danger," Liu Guang Xuan Jing asked, troubled by the suggestion.

"It's better than the alternative. Not knowing what we are facing is far worse. Better to be prepared," the man answered.

"You all are very comfortable discussing such issues with an outsider among us," a scratchy voice said. A man clothed in official robes interrupted, four arms extending from his body. His skin was red, his face fierce, but his posture calm, and his eyes serene as the night.

"You have finally decided to speak, Xue Xiu Yan. I was waiting for someone to mention him," a deep voice came from the man seated directly across from Mingyu.

Mingyu tried hard to fade into the background, straining to make out the conversation these unbelievably powerful beings were having. Suddenly, he couldn't help but want to shrink into his own skin.

"San Ming Yazu, your guest has a strange stench I can't explain. I smell all kinds of things from him. Care to explain?"

San Ming Yazu scanned the area before his eyes landed on the standing Gu Feng Xiao Wang. "You must be familiar with him," he said calmly, as if the other held all the answers.

The Bone Emperor chuckled slightly before turning back to his crowd.

"We are here to discuss the threat shaking our domains. Let's not waste time on unnecessary matters."

"As the convener of this meeting, shouldn't you at least ensure that no one unauthorized has access to Her Majesty's court?"

"He seems to be a mortal cultivator," Wang Chuan Ming Ji said softly. "I can take care of it."

"He doesn't smell like a complete mortal. He carries the scent of death."

Every spirit turned to look at the red-haired man. He chuckled.

"It seems every one of you has given your tacit approval…" The man suddenly stopped, as if something had caught him off guard.

"Have you decided on the next action? I need to return to my domain quickly."

"What's the rush?"

"If you're going to take any more time, I will…" he started, standing up.

"Okay, fine. Let's have a vote on whether we summon the Guardian or not."

The participants exchanged glances before beginning, channeling their energy toward the center. Gu Feng Xiao Wang, seeing this, retook his seat and followed their lead.

The area grew increasingly saturated as a thick fog spread, curling and twisting with unnatural density. Mingyu felt his body tremble as the cloud deepened and the entire hall began to rumble. Anxiety and fear churned within him, yet he didn't know what to do.

Soon, light from the purple moon pierced the fog, landing at the very center. Soft, simple chants filled the air. When Mingyu's eyes fell upon the bright light, forming a human-shaped silhouette, he felt his vision hollow out. A familiar numbness overtook him, the same as when he first entered this place, until his body went completely blank and the world seemed to vanish.

Just as darkness threatened to consume him, a soft, female voice called out to him.

"Ghost sister."

Mingyu opened his eyes to see Mingyao standing before him. The nine Nether Spirits were gone, and in their place stood a tree made of a spectrum of colors, its branches and leaves shimmering, drifting through every hue imaginable.