Xyrin Empire
Chapter 744: Snow Plain

Chapter 744: Chapter 744: Snow Plain

Chatting with Lin is an intriguing affair. Although she’s an exceptionally powerful goddess, and her true body is a hundred times more flashy than that of my deadbeat father with his seventy billion dollars’ worth of flair, she still has an irrevocably timid personality. A few small jokes can easily fluster her, and relishing her frantic explanations has become a priceless source of entertainment — a taste for mischief that earns me scornful looks from Lilina, but it’s something none of us can get enough of.

Dragon God Girl, with her rabbit-like demeanor, prepared her favorite snacks and a popular drink among the Dragon God community for her guests. This beverage feels a bit like soda, invigorating the mind and greatly relieving tiredness. The packaging bag has this phrase written on it:

Let your two heads be refreshed for an entire afternoon!

For us, though, it’s just a delicious drink that’s harmless to mortals.

When we arrived, Lin was busy with official duties. She’s one of the few diligent members of the Divine Clan Tiaozi Five. Naturally, our conversation turned to her usual work. You have to understand; when the only God around you is a dumbo who can’t even turn on the World Tree without looking at the manual, I was incredibly curious about how a normal member of the Divine Race should work.

When the topic of her work came up, the ever-cautious Dragon God Girl perked up a bit. With a shy smile, Lin started introducing the world she governs.

Due to limited experience and ability, Lin only manages one world. She can’t even come close to Bingdisi, a super-achiever who acts as a Main God of a plane, or even Dingdang, a newly risen goddess, but she is more dedicated than anyone to the world she protects. Speaking of her people, Lin had a warm expression on her face and continually emphasized how "kind and obedient" her good children were and how her entire world was "filled with a spirit of hard work," resembling a mother proudly boasting about her child to outsiders.

This wasn’t the first time I had seen such a display of emotion.

The Star Domain Gods have very sincere feelings for the worlds they protect, akin to the love parents have for their children. Even the Rogue Goddess speaks proudly of her followers as her brave children. They are different from those hypocritical gods, who only feign care to deceive believers because the faith of mortals brings them power. Every Star Domain Divine Race truly loves those mortals that believe in them and takes pride in their every effort. Even Dingdang is no exception.

At first, I didn’t quite understand these feelings, especially upon seeing Dingdang joyously hopping around because a world she managed just overcame an epidemic. I found such emotions a bit baffling, but now I sort of understand how they feel.

The Star Domain Gods created countless worlds. To them, these worlds and the mortals they carry are like their own children. Such feelings naturally grow, causing them to even care for worlds they did not create, much like new parents smiling at unfamiliar children. These deities truly adore every orderly world from their hearts, and hardworking and courageous mortals with good conduct are their favorites.

This makes me believe that in the entire Multi-universe, only they are truly worthy of the title of deity — perhaps the unseen Huron Divine Race might also be deserving, but the Xyrin Apostles, who were once thought to have the potential to become the Third Divine Race in the Void, are probably not yet eligible, despite their formidable strength. The Apostles of the Old Empire clearly lack such a noble, philanthropic spirit.

Of course, just like every parent gets a headache from their child’s mischief, even the ever-unflappable Lin has her own troubles.

"Wars and such," the Dragon God Girl sipped her drink with an anxious look, "Even though I’ve already stepped in to mediate once, war seems inevitable. My followers are at war with another kingdom in the world, one that doesn’t believe in dragons but possesses a strong force. This means unnecessary deaths."

"If it’s just a war among mortals, can’t you easily stop it?"

I looked at her, puzzled, not understanding why Divine Races of the Star Domain, so powerful and loving toward mortals, seem so helpless against wars and other evils in their worlds.

Stopping this one war, what about the next? Lin shook her head with a troubled expression, "The precious thing about mortals lies in their potential for development and self-improvement. Gods can guide the operation of the entire world and establish moral norms for the entire Race, but they cannot directly intervene in their specific actions. Mortals’ destinies are their own, even if they choose death... There is a widely known situation where the more a God interferes with a world, the slower its development. When a God’s direct assistance reaches a certain level, mortals will completely stop progressing and even fall into endless devotion, abandoning their efforts altogether. Such worlds may entirely avoid man-made disasters, but when faced with catastrophes — like the invasion of the Abyss — they are almost instantly annihilated. We need to protect all of creation, not just mortals, so we absolutely cannot allow mortals to become a factor that hinders the evolution of the world."

"Spoiled child."

The barely three-feet tall Lilina, wise beyond her years, shook her head on the chair and lamented, "It’s not that heaven and earth are heartless; it’s that mortals are foolish. So, boss, could you not spoil Mercury Lamp too much in the future?"

I tapped Lilina on the forehead as a response to her attention-seeking behavior, then I felt a strong sense of empathy with Lin’s words.

Gods, even though they are akin to advanced civil servants, this job is really no cakewalk. I wisely refrained from asking which was more important in a god’s heart, the world or civilization, because the answer to this question seemed rather obvious: the primary mission of the gods is to maintain world stability, and only then to protect mortals. When these two conflicts...

Well, I guessed that mortals who believed in the Star Domain Divine Race probably wouldn’t do anything to destroy the world.

The Star Domain Gods’ protection of mortals was actually a kind of duty. Even though mortals repaid them with faith and offerings, to tell the truth, such things didn’t hold much value for the gods. So-called faith had no value to the True God, as a power within itself; the Star Domain Gods didn’t rely on mortal faith to strengthen themselves—such faith was, at best, a form of consolation—and there were plenty of mortals who sought to gain from the gods under the guise of faith. As for the offerings in the mortal world, those too were similar. The gods could create all things in the world, so mortals’ trinkets might be a novelty to them, but they were never of any necessary value. The theory that the gold and silver offerings before a divine statue might not be worth as much as a single lollipop illustrates this point.

So the gods are really just selfless models...

"If the problem were severe, they’d still intervene personally, although doing so might distort the development of their civilization," Lin said in a low voice, "For a civilization that believes in gods, the descent of their own gods would have a massive impact. Excessive zeal could very well lead them to act irrationally in the name of faith. A descent of mine thousands of years ago caused a major setback in that world’s scientific power. Who knows what bad things might happen this time... It’s tough to maintain their moral system with faith and yet prevent faith from suppressing science. Hey, Chen, could I borrow a few scientists from you?"

"Huh?" I was taken aback.

"I want to learn advanced physics or something like that, include it in the Dragon Holy Scripture, so when I descend myself, I can prevent a setback in their technology..."

I spit out a mouthful of soda, almost drenching Lilina: "Do the Star Domain Divine Race’s Holy Scriptures even have an order? Can anything be stuffed into it?"

Lin seemed a bit embarrassed: "I’m not very good at composing such things. When we of the Divine Race graduated, our thesis was to compile a set of Holy Scriptures for our own religion with ourselves as the Main God. Back then, I just copied a classmate’s work... even the name. It was the teacher who felt sorry for me and helped me revise it a bit."

This kid was too honest.

"Ah, right, let me show you my birthplace!"

After chatting for a while about the daily work of gods and some anecdotes about her own world management (which, at least to us, sounded amusing), Lin suddenly remembered something and cheerfully said,

"Your birthplace?" Qianqian and I spoke up at the same time.

"Yeah, above the Frozen Continent!" Lin said, getting up and walking excitedly towards a desk in the corner of the living room, "The birthplace of the Dragon God, where I was born! Although it doesn’t have lush forests and boundless grasslands like the Main Continent, it has really magnificent snowscapes and ice seals!"

The always unimposing "God" wore a shy smile, like a child boasting about their most treasured possession.

"Anuza, please adjust the temple’s manifestation coordinates," having received our response, Lin said to the crystal on her desk, "Go next to the Ice Sealed Valley."

That must be the name of a Divine Servant responsible for maintaining the castle’s operations. We heard a deep, respectful reply resonate through the air, followed by an immediate sense of spatial displacement around us, albeit fleeting. It seemed this was the adjustment of the temple’s manifestation coordinates taking place.

The parlor was located on the second floor of the castle, close to the outer wall, with a window directly facing outside. Now, the light that streamed through there seemed much brighter, and Qianqian, pulling me along, bounced to the window front. Looking through the slender transparent crystal, we saw a world dressed in a blanket of silver—an icebound expanse of land.

The group, intent on having fun from the start, immediately perked up, and Qianqian, who had always loved playing in the snow since she was little, didn’t waste a second before taking out a complete set of sleds and ski poles from her Personal Space. This magical scene instantly made me associate her with a certain blue robotic cat that can’t see its own hands when it reaches out.

"Wow—what a beautiful place!"

Running straight from the warmth of the castle to the icy and snowy outdoors, Qianqian felt no chill but instead excitedly frolicked in the snow. Following her was Visca: the equally lively Cat-eyed Loli had finally abandoned her stiff and silent Three-Non Sister, and was now high-spirited at the sight of the ice and snow.

Breathing in the fresh, cold air, I looked around with a sense of wonder at this pure white world. This place was near the entrance to a narrow valley known as "Ice Sealed Valley." The terrain here was a gentle range of hills, and farther away, one could see the continuous mountains and small patches of Floating Islands, all cloaked in snow. Nearby lay gently sloping hills and plateaus covered with snow, with the occasional plant or tree adorned with sparkling icicles. The so-called Ice Sealed Valley lay hundreds of meters ahead, a noticeably descending path that wasn’t very wide, perhaps gradually opening up below, worthy of its reputation as the number one gorge in the Frozen Continent. In front of the valley was a large stone with something written on it. Driven by curiosity, I went up to it and translated the inscribed words: "If you can read this, you’re probably about to slide down."

...

A few minutes later, Pandora silently pulled me out of the big snow pit down below.

Stepping on the soft snow, which squeaked beneath my feet, I grew curious about this perennially icebound world. Turning to the Dragon God Girl beside me, I asked, "Lin, does the snow here never melt?"

"The snow on the Frozen Continent is forever this way because it doesn’t have the concept of ’melting,’" Lin’s face was tinged with a faint blush—comfortable with the cold air here thanks to her upbringing, showing she was blushing from joy—and after the time we’d spent together, I knew this much, "It often snows here, but the source is always snowflakes lifted from other areas, not accumulated snow melting and evaporating. The snow of the Frozen Continent stays clean because it’s blessed by Divine Power. Ah—take a deep breath. The cold air of the Frozen Continent is good for the body; Grandpa said the cold air is very effective at treating migraines, especially on the right side of the left brain. After a night of work, a deep breath is all it takes to rejuvenate!"

Obviously, without a left brain of my own, I had no way to verify the girl’s claims.

Meanwhile, Qianqian busied herself building snowmen. Her method of doing so was quite peculiar, first getting someone to stand still, then sprinkling snow on top...

The willing sacrifice was an innocent-looking Combat Puppet. Thank you, soldier. My Qianqian always wanted to do this since she was little, and today her dream finally came true.

Visca was also very excited, but for various reasons, she had never played with snow before. So now, she followed Qianqian like a curious baby, bombarding her with questions. Qianqian, unreservedly, imparted her twisted view of the world and behavior patterns to the pure Little Loli, without a hint of guilt. Pandora watched with an expressionless face, but I keenly noticed she was holding a snowball; hopefully, Visca would realize it soon.

However, different from the joyous scenes of others, Lilina remained expressionless as she followed me, seeming uninterested in the snowy world here. I had never seen this typically wild Fake Lolita so lacking in energy. She was quite excited before arriving, so why did she become like this upon reaching the Frozen Continent?

My puzzlement turned into action, and I leaned over to ruffle the head of the quiet little girl following by my side: "Little one, what’s wrong? Not happy?"

Although I knew that deep down she was an older girl than myself, her appearance and habit of acting coy made me instinctively treat her as a Loli, a triumph of the soul of a Loli Fan.

"I don’t like snow," Lili said, her head hung low, not hugging her big head and maliciously acting cute for once. Her voice was even somewhat subdued, "It’s cold, and there’s no food, so hungry..."

At first, I was stunned, then I understood what she meant.

It was the psychological shadow left by those dark days that made this girl associate the "snow," which seems beautiful to most people, with fear. Perhaps it was no longer fear but some kind of revulsion.

"Sorry, it was supposed to be a happy time, and I ruined the mood."

My few seconds of silence seemed to have caused a misunderstanding with Lili. The typically shameless, sarcastic, and scheming priestess earnestly apologized, then forcefully kicked at the snow beneath her feet, "But I still don’t like snow. It’s too cold."

"Well, although I don’t know why," Lin interjected cautiously, "the snow in my hometown is what I consider the most beautiful scenery... Sorry..."

Feeling that the atmosphere was off and immediately apologizing, Lin, you might as well just resign yourself to being the eternal victim!

Lili’s mention of spoiling the mood wasn’t really to that extent, but I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel now, perhaps a bit of heartache. I patted Lili on the head, "Shall we go back to the castle?"

"No!" The young girl suddenly shook her head, "I want to become a heaven-defying loli, how can I be scared off by such a small challenge! It’s just snow!"

No, I think you really should go back: your spirit’s gone haywire again!

Lili solemnly issued her challenge to the snowy expanse, then wailed and charged towards Visca, who was learning to build a snowman. I cheerfully watched this quirky "loli" challenge her memories until she suddenly disappeared from my sight.

"Amazing speed!" I exclaimed in awe.

"Boohoo, I really still hate the snow!"

Lili emerged from two meters away, her head topped with a hat of snow, her whole body in a sorry state as she howled at the sky.

Lin quietly explained, "There are ice caves underneath, and some areas have very deep snow... Although it’s not dangerous for adults, it’s risky if you’re just over a meter tall..."

Pandora and Visca instantly stiffened, petrified.

If those two fell in, with some luck, they might just retain their silly hair (if they had any).

Lili acted as if she was grappling with the snow-filled pits everywhere and started running around joyfully. The one-meter-and-a-dime unlucky loli flickered in and out of sight across the expansive snowy silver landscape, like a master of stealth technique. The originally smooth snowfield was now filled with the traces of a little girl challenging her fate—a series of large holes. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)