Sovereign of the Ashes

Tourmaline’s impulsive move actually worked in their favor, giving Sein and the others a surprisingly smooth start in the Myriad Springs Worlds.

Just as the God of Dusk Desire had said, most of the Spring Lords here were quite peaceful.

They were calm by nature, shaped by the gentle, all-embracing qualities of hydro elemental laws.

Perhaps because Tourmaline was getting along so well with the giant red fish, even Gurgling Spring—the nearest Rank Four being—seemed drawn in.

The rich hydro elemental aura radiating from Tourmaline gave the Spring Lords an instinctive sense of familiarity.

Sometimes, that was all it took. Even a first meeting could turn into easy rapport, as long as the other party’s presence felt right.

That was exactly what was happening between Tourmaline, the giant red fish, and Gurgling Spring.

The other nearby Spring Lords were clearly intrigued as well.

Gurgling Spring shifted into a mass of clear, rippling water, surging and swirling around Tourmaline.

At the same time, the two green ribbons wrapped around Tourmaline’s arms began to move on their own without any wind, dancing gracefully alongside Gurgling Spring.

As a large-sized star domain, the Myriad Springs Worlds was home to many well-traveled beings.

Quite a few of the Spring Lords had already noticed that those green ribbons were anything but ordinary.

At the same time, the faint but imposing dragon aura Tourmaline radiated made it clear she was no typical Rank Four dragonkin either.

Only after Tourmaline had finished “frolicking” with the local powerhouses did Sein finally step forward and introduce themselves via mental focus.

“We’re travelers who lost our way and happened to pass through this region. We usually deal in interstellar trade. We’ve heard the Myriad Springs Worlds maintain connections with many powerful civilizations in the nearby star domains, so we were hoping to use those routes to continue our journey.”

He deliberately did not mention the Magus Civilization.

There was no telling whether this star domain viewed Magus World as friend or foe.

If some Magus Civilization powerhouse had offended someone here before, Sein had no intention of taking responsibility for the trouble they had caused.

Fortunately, it was also difficult to immediately identify them as beings from Magus World just from their appearance alone.

Gurgling Spring, standing closest to them, was the first to respond.

The hydro elemental shifted into a human form and spoke in a soft, feminine voice. “If you’re looking to travel to other star domains, I’d suggest visiting the plane where my brother, Vitality Spring, resides.”

“There are many spring-based teleportation arrays there, with stable routes connecting to numerous nearby small and medium-sized worlds. If you wish to reach more distant or unusual civilizations, you’ll need to venture deeper into the Myriad Springs Worlds,” Gurgling Spring explained.

Like most elementals, hydro elementals did not truly possess a fixed gender.

But as they matured, they often developed distinct personalities—and sometimes even leaned toward a particular gender.

Gurgling Spring clearly favored a feminine form.

After thanking her, Sein prepared to leave with Tourmaline.

They had originally planned to head to Vitality Spring Plane anyway. The God of Dusk Desire had mentioned his network of teleportation routes.

But based on what Gurgling Spring said, it was unlikely that any of those routes led back to the Magus Civilization.

Beside them, the Rank Five giant red fish eagerly swam closer, offering to guide them.

Its name was Crimson Featherpyrus—a rather odd name that did not quite match the naming style of the Myriad Springs Worlds.[1]

Still, judging by its bright, earnest gaze and the way it happily played with Tourmaline, Sein had no reason to doubt it. He believed that might indeed be the fish’s real name.

Likewise, Tourmaline also gave it her real name.

Sein, on the other hand, was more cautious. He introduced himself as the “God of Ashes”.

After playing for a while, Tourmaline seemed to notice Sein’s gaze. She shrank down from her massive dragon turtle form and returned to his side in her human form.

But she could not stay still for long.

At Crimson Featherpyrus’s invitation, she soon jumped onto its back, grabbing onto its dorsal fin as they sped through the starry sea.

The water-vapor energy in this region was incredibly dense, and the hydro elemental laws were especially active.

From time to time, strange natural phenomena formed as those laws gathered and shifted.

Sein kept hearing what sounded like waves crashing in the distance.

But on closer listen, it was just Tourmaline’s excited laughter echoing through the void.

The God of Dusk Desire was stunned by how easily Tourmaline got along with the native powerhouses of the Myriad Springs Worlds.

It was the first time he had ever seen a Rank Five being from this cluster willingly act as a mount.

Of course, the Crimson Featherpyrus was not actually her mount—they simply got along extremely well.

As Tourmaline’s unique dragon aura spread outward, two beings sensed it at the same time—one deep within the Myriad Springs Worlds, and the other far away in a distant star domain.

Torrents of pitch-black law-infused spring water surged and churned inside and outside this large-sized star domain.

At its very center stood a massive, exquisitely beautiful black lotus.

A closer look at the lotus throne revealed that it had already reached the eleventh grade and was still growing.

Eleven fully formed lotuses bloomed upon it, while a twelfth had only emerged halfway.[2]

The law power fluctuations and overall grade of this black lotus throne far surpassed even Sein’s Faceless Mask and Magic Cube!

Those treasures still had plenty of room to grow in the future, but for now, they were nowhere near the level of this lotus throne.

Atop the lotus throne, a mass of pitch-black water shifted slightly. He carried a faint but unmistakable aura of destruction. He turned his attention toward the direction where the dragon’s aura had just appeared.

The sheer force of that aura meant nothing to him.

But the trace it carried felt... familiar.

With the vast power and divine perception he possessed, nothing within, or even beyond, the Myriad Springs Worlds was truly hidden from him if he chose to look.

Before long, another mass of black water appeared before him.

Compared to the one atop the lotus throne, this presence was far weaker.

This was Dark Spring, a peak Rank Six being well known even on the outskirts of this world cluster.

Yet in front of the entity on the lotus throne, he showed complete submission.

“Lord Destruction Spring, what do you require?” Dark Spring asked respectfully.

“Bring those little ones to me. I’m interested in them,” Destruction Spring replied.

Within the shifting black waters, the figures of Sein, Tourmaline, and the others appeared clearly.

Yet neither Sein nor Tourmaline had any idea they were being watched.

Dark Spring looked at the reflected figures, then replied, “Understood.”

Translator’s Notes:

1. The fish’s name is 红羽飞棠 (Hóng yǔ fēi táng), which literally translates to “Red Feather Flying Birchleaf Pear.” It sounds much more like the name of a bird than a fish. I chose to render it as “Crimson Featherpyrus”, since Birchleaf Pear’s scientific name is Pyrus betulifolia. ☜

2. In Pure Land Buddhism, the ninth-grade lotus throne (known in Chinese as Jiupin Liantai 九品蓮台) refers to the nine distinct levels of spiritual classification for practitioners reborn into the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha. Instead of being born from a physical womb, beings in the Pure Land are born transformationally out of lotus buds. The “grade” of the lotus throne a person receives depends entirely on their spiritual realization, karmic merit, and devotion accumulated during their lifetime.

This is also why, in the Buddhist tradition, we burn origami lotuses. We believe they serve as a portal for the deceased into the afterlife, and offering them is an act of filial piety to ensure our deceased loved ones are comfortable in their next destination. This is what an origami ninth-grade lotus throne looks like, but it can come in various forms and sizes. I don’t know how to fold one myself, so I usually buy the premade ones from stores:

☜