Ancient Ruins

Having familiarized herself with the new abilities of her Destiny Card, Xilutaiya moved like a fish in water, traversing this distorted forest. When the unknown became known, fear diminished greatly, and the same held true for her now. Once again breaking free from the grey-white world and stepping into a forest clearing filled with color, Xilutaiya discovered a curious sight: in the center of the clearing lay the remnants of stone-brick structures, among which was a fountain pool rising from the ground. However, this fountain had long since run dry; the pool held only fallen leaves and stones. Approaching the pool warily, Xilutaiya found nothing strange, yet the fountain itself felt entirely out of place with its surroundings. The stone bricks on the ground and the surrounding dirt were separated by barely a foot, yet they were starkly different—as if this fountain did not originate here at all, but had been forcibly wrenched from elsewhere and crashed into this world. Perhaps, just like me, it was originally a structure from the outside world, Xilutaiya thought. Her gaze shifted to the center of the fountain, where a vase carved from white stone stood; water must have once flowed from it. Leaving the abandoned fountain behind, she pressed onward. Passing through layers of woods, Xilutaiya stepped into a new area. Danger was immediately apparent here: three leopards of abyssal black and deep blue surrounded her, poised to strike. [Starshadow Cheetah] (First-Order · Alien Star): A cheetah corrupted by Distortion; even the starlight upon its body has grown dim and indistinct. Method of attack: unknown. "Roar—!" The lead cheetah struck first. Sprinting at high speed, its body shifted into strange hues as if stepping into the folds of the world, vanishing from the sight of ordinary creatures. Invisibility? No, it felt more like traversing another dimension—one separated from reality by merely a hairsbreadth. With keen, focused eyes, Xilutaiya reacted calmly. When the cheetah lunged from the side, she dodged in anticipation and swung her blade, tearing open a gash across the beast's back. Though the first cheetah's attack was thwarted, the other two did not pause. Accelerating in turn, their bodies likewise shifted and morphed, slipping into the peculiar dimensional rift. Unfortunately, this eerie mode of attack had no effect on Xilutaiya. She easily tracked their movements and struck precisely at their vitals. After several clashes back and forth, the leopards were bloodied, while she remained unscathed. "Any other transcendent lacking keen perception would probably suffer quite a bit at your claws," the girl said softly, flourishing her short sword with an agile twirl. "Then again, since we're all 'Alien Star,' there's no need to put on airs." Realizing they were no match for the young girl, the three cheetahs lowered their heads with low growls. After a moment's hesitation, they turned and bolted, escaping into the grey-white world toward the nodes of other colored bubbles. "Oh? They actually know how to run away?" This was the first time she had encountered foes that fled since traversing so many colored bubbles. Perhaps these beasts were sturdier, had not been completely corrupted by Distortion, and still retained a fair share of intelligence. Pursuit was out of the question. Traveling through the grey-white world consumed a significant amount of attribute power; she could not afford such extravagance. Having driven off the three cheetahs, Xilutaiya paced around the clearing, searching for anything of value. "Is there a puddle here?" She noticed a small pool of water in a crevice between stone slabs. The water inside was remarkably clear, like morning dew. Its presence in this distorted forest was almost unbelievable. No wonder the three of them gathered here. After some thought, Xilutaiya took out a wooden bottle and scooped up some of the clear water. She didn't know if it was drinkable, but she decided not to drink it unless she was dying of thirst. After packing up and finding nothing else, Xilutaiya stood and pressed forward. By now, she was not far from the stone pillar ruins she had spotted from the mountain summit. ... After much hardship, Xilutaiya finally arrived at the architectural ruins within the forest. The area of this colored region was several times larger than any node she had seen along the way—exceptionally vast. Only when she actually stepped inside did she realize just how immense the structures were. Judging from the standing columns and broken walls among the ruins, this must have once been a grand temple, built entirely of white stone. The style was grand and elegant, possessing a distinct aesthetic beauty. Regrettably, Xilutaiya had never seen an architectural style like this in any history books, and she also wondered whom this temple had been built for. This world indeed possessed godlike entities: beings beyond the 'tenth order.' Most were wielders of the laws of certain attributes, and such great existences were often the overlords of multiple eras. In the Second Era, the Vault Sea Era, the overlords were the ancient True Fish roaming the celestial sea. At their largest, they could reach millions of kilometers in length; the simple movement of their bodies could alter the flow of the entire Vault Sea, guiding the shifts of its waters. In the Third Era, the Sun and Moon Era, the ancient True Fish perished, boiled by the Blazing Sun, and the entire Vault Sea was split apart. Light gases expanded and spread, leaving the world exceptionally vast and empty. In the Fourth Era, the Star Beast Era, the Primal Beasts gazing up at the starry sky became the overlords of the age, and this marked the origin of the 'Primal Beast' attribute. In the Fifth Era, the Fairy Era, 'Emerald Honey' and 'Insect Moth' reconciled, giving birth to fairies. They began resisting the Primal Beasts' dominion over other attributes and nurtured the World Tree that supported heaven and earth. Its root system gathered the remains of all True Fish, binding them into a unified, unbroken land. The fairy monarchs began dividing the four seasons, governing the rise and fall of the sun and moon, and degraded the 'Primal Beast' into 'Beast Fang.' In the Sixth Era, the Seven Dragons Era, a black serpent burned the roots of the World Tree and was severed by the fairy monarchs, only to transform into seven dragons. They gnawed at the World Tree and devoured the fairy monarchs, becoming the seven dragons of law governing the seven attributes of sun, moon, and stars, shattering the unified earth. In the Seventh Era, the Erosion Era, the Dragon of Stars—one of the seven dragons—summoned the descent of the Alien Star to strike this world. The Vault of Heaven Paradise plummeted, and countless living beings perished here. ... Recalling this complete secret history in her mind, Xilutaiya searched for clues among the ruins. It should be a product of the time after the Seventh Era, she reasoned. Worldly structures before that were essentially destroyed, and humanity had not yet risen back then, so they wouldn't have built on a human scale. As Xilutaiya calculated in her heart and crossed the open grounds within the ruins, pairs of eyes opened in the shadowed corners of the forest, peering at the unfamiliar figure in this ancient site. A faint buzzing spread through the woods, rippling outward... Before long, Xilutaiya halted. She had spotted the only intact large fountain among the ruined structures. Crystal-clear water flowed from a vase carved of white stone, held by a statue of a veiled woman. Though it was merely a sculpture, the woman's gossamer dress was exquisitely detailed. Ribbons bound the shoulders and wrists, cinching the long slits in the garment to reveal the woman's slender figure as well as the fair skin of her shoulders and arms. The water flowed ceaselessly, sending up a faint, refreshing mist that rejuvenated Xilutaiya and washed her with wave after wave of soothing comfort. This was... the aura of the 'Radiant Moon.' To her astonishment, she realized that the clear water filling the pool was purified water imbued with the 'Radiant Moon' attribute. A resource this precious, fully infused with intact attribute power—even having only recently stepped into this world, she could guess what an invaluable heritage it was. Why is it unattended? Has no one ever come here? Just as the thought crossed her mind, alarm bells suddenly blared in her head. Countless droning buzzes rose from the woods. The vibrating flutter of wings grated on the nerves, and when Xilutaiya turned back, she saw an overhead sky of white bees swooping down like an inescapable net. [Withered White Bee] (First-Order · Insect Moth): A peculiar type of bee that feeds on tree nectar and can turn to stone to hibernate. They are the mortal enemies of the 'Radiant Moon.' — Attribute [Insect Moth]: (The crawling primordial life, the fledgling coleoptera succeeding the ancient scutigera.)