The sky of the Spirit Realm had always been that same clear, profound violet-purple for thousands of years.
Wispy clouds as fine as silk brushed gently across the horizon, the sun and moon alternating without fail, everything in perfect order.
Since the dawn of this world, the laws had grown ever more complete, and all living creatures each found their proper place.
Majestic mountain ranges stretched endlessly, winding rivers flowed ceaselessly, nourishing the lands in all directions.
The demon race, the human race, and the spirits—though occasional frictions arose, none had ever stirred up great turmoil.
In the bustling streets and alleys, crowds came and went, the sounds of hawking and laughter never ceasing. In the remote villages, chickens and dogs could be heard from neighboring homes, peaceful and serene.
Cultivators rode their swords through the sky while mortals farmed and wove on the earth. Though disputes occasionally erupted, for the most part, they coexisted peacefully—an idyllic land in every sense.
Yet on this night, the celestial phenomena changed without the slightest warning.
At first, a thread of eerie azure silently seeped from the northern horizon.
That blue color spread like ink dropped into clear water, rapidly blooming outward. In the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, it had already swallowed half the sky.
Pedestrians in the night markets stopped in their tracks, children forgot the sugar figures in their hands, and elders stroked their beards as they looked up.
Gasps of amazement and speculation rippled through the crowds, everyone assuming this was some auspicious omen unseen in a thousand years.
Suddenly, a streak of starlight pierced through the void.
When the first meteor tore through the night curtain, people didn't even have time to press their palms together and make a wish.
Then came the second, the third... a full twenty blazing trails of light sliced across the heavens in succession.
They dragged long tails of ghostly blue flame, like a gorgeous yet cruel fireworks display blooming at the four edges of the Spirit Realm.
"It fell over by Mount Xu!" the soldier on watch at the city gate tower screamed at the top of his lungs.
"The Eastern Sea! The Eastern Sea too! Three of them—fell into the sea!" The coastal fishing villages erupted in chaos as people scrambled to higher ground, pointing at the dark surface of the water.
Where the meteors fell, there were no explosions, no smoke—only ripples of azure spreading silently before vanishing without a trace.
Cultivators summoned their magical artifacts and soared into the sky to investigate, while common folk burned incense and knelt in prayer for safety.
A secret unease spread rapidly beneath the surface of celebration, and no one could say whether this was fortune or calamity.
Just then, a voice rang out.
It did not enter through the ears but resonated directly in the depths of every living soul.
It was not a roar, yet it was more earth-shaking than any thunder. It was not a whisper, yet it was more piercing than any breeze.
"I once made a covenant..."
The voice was as vast and ancient as the deep sea, every word carrying the power of the tides.
"When this world reaches completion, share with me the water-aspect laws..."
The oldest cultivators in the Spirit Realm suddenly changed color, remembering an ancient legend nearly forgotten.
"Now this world has reached completion, yet the promise remains unfulfilled..."
The voice continued to reverberate, and fine cracks began to appear between heaven and earth, as if the entire world were trembling.
"Since this is so, the original covenant is void. This world shall endure this calamity."
The final four words fell like a judge's brush—resounding and absolute.
In that instant, all sounds ceased.
Even the wind stopped flowing, rivers froze in place, and birds locked mid-air.
The entire Spirit Realm seemed like a bowstring pulled taut, and the next moment—
The earth began to groan.
First came subtle tremors, like the restlessness before a giant beast turns over.
Teacups rattled on tables, wind chimes rang under the eaves unprompted. People looked at each other in confusion, not yet realizing what was happening.
Then the shaking intensified.
Beams creaked, roof tiles came clattering down. Crowds on the streets scattered in panic, livestock whinnied in distress.
The ground shook harder and harder until the first crack split open down the middle of the street.
"The earth dragon is turning over!" someone shrieked.
But this was no ordinary earthquake.
Along the shores of the Eastern Sea, fishermen watched the water retreating rapidly, revealing a seabed never seen before.
Some elders went pale, remembering the warnings passed down through generations—when the sea retreats, great disaster follows.
Their premonition was quickly confirmed.
Where the sea met the sky on the distant horizon, a white line slowly rose, growing ever higher until it formed a colossal wall spanning the heavens.
A tsunami had come, over a hundred zhang tall, surging toward the continent with the force to annihilate everything.
At the same time, the earth tore apart.
Mountain ranges collapsed, plains cracked open, and magma surged from below, intertwining with the towering floodwaters to create an apocalyptic tableau of water and fire.
Cultivators brought out their treasures one after another, forming arrays to protect the common folk, but against the might of heaven and earth, individual power seemed so pitifully small.
In the depths of the Eastern Sea, the water suddenly bulged upward, forming a massive whirlpool.
At the center of the vortex, something was slowly rising. First, a shell the size of an island emerged, covered in ancient and mysterious patterns.
Then came massive legs covered in scales, each one comparable to a mountain.
Finally, head and tail appeared—a turtle's head and a serpent's tail, with eyes like the sun and moon.
The Black Tortoise had revealed itself.
The very existence of this ancient divine beast could alter its surroundings.
The seawater around it became denser and heavier, and the waves naturally calmed within a hundred zhang of its body, as if bowing before a sovereign.
The Black Tortoise raised its head, its gaze seemingly crossing ten thousand li to take in the devastation of the Spirit Realm.
Its eyes held no anger, no sorrow—only an indifference forged through the ages.
"The covenant is broken. The karma is yours to bear."
The Black Tortoise's voice rang through heaven and earth once more, but this time only eight brief words—cold as ice, heavy as Mount Tai.
With that, the ancient divine beast glowed with azure light, its body gradually turning ethereal.
It finally transformed into a streak of light, shooting skyward, leaving the Spirit Realm without looking back, disappearing into the depths of the starry sky.
That departing figure showed not the slightest hesitation, nor any trace of reluctance—it even carried an indescribable... panic.
As though what pursued from behind was not the apocalyptic catastrophe it had personally unleashed, but some deeper, more terrifying karma it refused to be tainted by.
...
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