Chapter 566: Farewell, Honored Goddess
For thousands upon thousands of years, through the rise and fall of dynasties and the transformations of the world, her influence had never faded.
Military strategy had gained new variables because of her. Political structures had been shaped by her. Even in the economic lifelines and the livelihoods of ordinary people, the imprint of her wisdom could be found everywhere.
In the histories written by the official chroniclers of later generations, she was recorded under the divine title of the Divine Maiden and entered into the official annals in *The Chronicle of the Divine Maiden*.
Folk artists, meanwhile, spared no ink in depicting her deeds in illustrated books and weaving them into tales of legend. Amid the sharp crack of storytellers’ wooden clappers, she became an eternal white moonlight, shining upon generation after generation.
But that was all still to come. At this moment, Yue Fuguang’s voice vanished from the sky for an instant. Then the winds and clouds churned overhead. A gust swept past, and rain suddenly began to fall from the heavens—rain made of flowers.
Countless multicolored petals drifted down from the rift in the firmament, each carrying a faint, delicate fragrance. The moment they touched the ground, they dissolved.
When they landed on the iron armor of the Imperial Guards, the armor became smooth and lustrous, as good as new. When they fell upon the shoulders of the common people, their aches and illnesses seemed to ease in an instant.
When they settled in the trembling hands of the civil and military officials, the headaches, insomnia, and palpitations that had plagued them for years vanished as though they had never existed.
Emperor Mingxi stood rigidly in place, allowing the petals to cover him as he stared at the spot where Yue Fuguang had undergone her divine dissolution. There, he saw a phantom figure slowly beginning to take form.
“She... she’s the Divine Maiden!” This was the true Divine Maiden—not the fifteen-year-old Yue Fuguang they had seen before.
She possessed flesh and bone as white as jade, a bearing as serene as autumn waters, and eyes that seemed to hold ten thousand stars within them. Even the flower rain swirling around her lost its color before her beauty...
【Host, look! I created this body according to what you once described—bones of white jade, the spirit of autumn waters, stardust for eyes, and a countenance adorned with every flower. Isn’t it breathtakingly beautiful?】
Yue Fuguang nodded. “It’s insanely beautiful!”
She shouted, 【System, charge ahead—for the sake of both our bodies!】
This time, Yue Fuguang did not look back. Her pace was neither hurried nor slow. Each step landed upon empty space, yet sent out tangible ripples, one circle after another, spreading outward. They passed through the sea of clouds, through the palaces and towers of the imperial city, through the mountains and rivers, and onward toward the distant horizon.
In an instant, the skies above the entire imperial city were blanketed by a vast storm of petals.
At last, the people emerged from their shock at seeing the Divine Maiden once more. Some burst into loud sobs. Some knelt and prayed. Some frantically stretched out their hands, trying to catch the drifting petals. Most simply prostrated themselves again and again, knocking their foreheads bloody without seeming to notice.
“Farewell, Divine Maiden!”
“Farewell, Divine Maiden!”
“Farewell, Divine Maiden!”
The voices began in the imperial city and spread outward like ripples beyond the walls.
The overlapping cries, shouts, and prayers intertwined into a single immense sound, surging like a tide, each wave higher than the last.
Yue Fuguang stepped onto the final level of light.
The rift in the firmament widened further and further. Light poured through it like an inverted waterfall, enveloping her entire form.
At the very last moment, she could not resist turning back one final time.
“May Heaven and earth be prosperous and peaceful, and may all under Heaven unite in harmony. May Huaxia endure for countless generations, and may an age of peace never end. May the people live in comfort, and may every harvest be abundant.”
Yue Fuguang used every blessing talisman she had on her.
【Host, you just threw them all out there. Are you planning to live on air from now on?】
“Whatever happens later can wait until later. For now, let me be extravagant one last time.”
As for the twenty-four words she had left behind—how many of them would ultimately come true, and how long they would endure—those were no longer her concern.
Because, amid the radiance at its most brilliant, her figure grew nearly transparent. The boundary between her form and the light blurred more and more until, at last, she merged into that expanse of radiance, like a drop of water flowing into the sea.
The rift in the heavens began to close slowly. Starting from the lowest step, the staircase of light faded away, transforming into countless tiny points of light. They spiraled through the air like fireflies for a moment before gently drifting down toward the mortal world.
In scarcely any time at all, the final thread of light vanished from the horizon.
The sky returned to its clear blue. White clouds drifted lazily past, as though nothing had ever happened. Only the incense and candles still burning upon the Altar of Heaven, the multicolored petals scattered across the ground, and the tear-streaked faces of the hundreds of thousands gazing up at the sky bore witness to all that had taken place during that brief period—the time it took for a single stick of incense to burn.
“Your Majesty... I, Xie Fei, send off our dynasty’s... Divine Maiden with gratitude!”
Emperor Mingxi slowly knelt once more and bowed in solemn reverence. As emperor, he saw Yue Fuguang off with the utmost respect. He also thanked her for the final blessings she had bestowed upon Great Xia—blessings that kept him from falling into utter panic after suddenly losing the Divine Maiden’s protection.
At that moment, the civil and military officials could no longer withstand the weight of their grief and awe. Alongside their emperor, they dropped to their knees and bowed three times toward the empty sky.
The civil and military officials lowered their heads in silent obeisance, while the armored Imperial Guards knelt in unison with the clamor of ringing metal.
He rose to his feet. His knees trembled faintly, but he no longer accepted anyone’s help.
“Deliver my edict.” His voice was steady. “First: Grant a general amnesty throughout the realm and reduce taxes for three years, in gratitude for the Divine Maiden’s protection. Second: Establish shrines to the Divine Maiden in every province and prefecture. Offer sacrifices in spring and autumn, and let this be observed forever.”
The assembled officials stared in astonishment, then prostrated themselves and cried out in unison, “Long live Your Majesty!”
The people’s wails gradually subsided, transforming into a shared, ceaseless hum—something between a prayer and an expression of thanks.
The wind fell still.
Upon the altar, a golden petal drifted gently down and landed precisely on Emperor Mingxi’s still-upturned left shoulder. For a long while, it did not fade away.
The End