"Moon, Moon of Fantasy, Moon of Miracles, Moon of Dreams."
"The first moon, vast and formless, crumbled away."
"The second moon, drifting through treetops, threading years and weaving months."
"The third moon, descending into dreams, roaming through the void."
"The fourth moon, limpid and flawless, holding the blade upon the scales."
An ancient song echoed through the temple. Gathered around the cool fountain was a group in snow-white priestly robes, their faces hazy, with only the silver lining on their hems and cuffs catching the eye.
As the song was hummed, a woman veiled in light gauze walked forward with hands gently folded before her, approaching the edge of the pool. Her figure then slowly drifted upward. The bare tips of her snow-white toes tapped lightly, and an invisible current surged beneath her feet, forming a transparent dome of flowing water that enfolded her.
She floated before the towering white stone statue. Humming the airy tune, she raised her palm slowly. An invisible ripple expanded outward, and from the night sky above, the silver moon cast down beams of moonlight so dense they seemed tangible.
The moonlight fell into the pool, dampening the parched basin with dew, while inside the water vase held by the white stone statue, the far more precious, invisible Moon Tear Liquid condensed.
This nameless ritual lasted a long time, until the vase was brimming with Moon Tear Liquid.
Eventually, the singing faded. The others gradually departed from the fountain and the temple, leaving only the woman standing beneath the statue, her eyes closed in prayer.
The moon tears in the vase swirled once more, stirring faint ripples inside and scattering specks of lunar brilliance, while the liquid within dwindled further.
Until at last, only a single drop of extraordinary, transparent liquid remained.
This drop floated out slowly and seeped between the eyebrows of the veiled woman, merging into her body, washing over her until she seemed even more airy and ethereal.
Once it was all over, the unknown woman turned around once more, and in her dream Xilutaiya could clearly see the jade chalice cradled in her hands, the transparent, invisible liquid within gently swirling...
The dream broke.
Rubbing between her brows, Xilutaiya felt in remarkably good condition, as if she had taken part in the ritual in her dream herself. Though her Attribute Rank was currently at zero, her physical fitness had improved slightly beyond what it was before.
At the thought, she tested a leap and found she could effortlessly jump onto a broken stone pillar two meters high.
Not only that, but her running and reaction speeds were noticeably faster as well. This meant that even without a condensed Attribute Rank, she possessed the basic ability to protect herself when facing an ordinary first-order opponent.
Setting aside her recollections of the dream, Xilutaiya walked back to the edge of the pool. She examined the graceful white stone statue once again, pondering its origins and possibilities.
According to the conversation between the witch and the hag in her dream, they had once belonged to an organization called the Moon Council, which had waged war against the Silver Radiance Church for hundreds of years in the distant past over the Hour position of the Radiant Moon.
Being capable of contesting an Hour position meant that the leading figures of both organizations had to be at least Named Ones—mighty entities who possessed True Names and could influence the laws of a given attribute.
The fall of the Silver Moon Dragon had been a monumental event, an indelible chapter of history that transpired during the Eighth Era. Its demise meant that all six Dragons of the Law who had sealed the Star Dragon had lost their positions as Hours.
This directly led to the outbreak of the Dragon Hunt War. With dragonkind weakened, the dragons across the mortal realms were hunted down by allied armies and heroic figures from every quarter. The dragons and ancient dragons that survived the Dragon Hunt War departed to dwell in the Celestial Courtyard, the Dragon Realm, rarely ever seen in the mortal world again.
"So the Silver Radiance Church was wiped from history, was it?" She had never seen this name in any classic texts or records of secret history.
Recalling the ritual from her dream, she began to softly hum in imitation.
At first, it was clumsy, but the tune seemed imbued with some peculiar magic. As she hummed, she gradually discovered its unique cadence, growing more fluent and effortless with each note. Without needing to strain her memory, she was able to finish the entire song by pure intuition.
The melody had no set lyrics, only a few hummed syllables that shifted freely with her mood, unfettered yet rich with an evocative spirit that felt wondrous.
As the singing echoed through the temple ruins, all grew still. Faint, hazy silhouettes drifted back and forth—figures of those who had once inhabited this place and conducted various ceremonies here emerged, only to fade away.
That was forgotten history,
Dust-covered memories of the past.
They had rejoiced here,
Walked hand in hand here,
Until eventually,
They withered away piece by piece,
And the entire temple plummeted from the continent above the sea of clouds, sinking into this unknown World in Shadows.
Saint of Silver Radiance, Meleranke
A Named One who made a vow and worked alongside many like-minded souls to build Dream Lighthouses, guiding the return of the Lost Wanderers. The saint whom all members of the Silver Radiance Church followed. During the War of Cataclysm in the Eighth Era, she fell when the Golden Honey Dynasty breached the final Dream Lighthouse.
This Named One, favored by multiple Hours and deemed most fit to succeed to the position of the Radiant Moon, vanished from that moment on, and every legend concerning her was erased.
Silver Radiance Church: A massive organization that followed the Saint of Silver Radiance, Meleranke. It once spanned multiple continents and hundreds of nations, numbering followers in the hundreds of millions. They were dedicated to building Dream Lighthouses across the lands to guide the Lost Wanderers of the World in Shadows back to safe harbor, and to directing moonlight into the lightless Sea of Monstrosities to cleanse and purge its tainted realms.
Golden Honey Dynasty: A colossal dynasty that unified the Fifth Continent during the Eighth Era, with a population near ten billion. It waged several continent-spanning wars of annihilation, before finally being destroyed by the newly ascended Blazing Sun Hour, the Dragon of the Corona.
...
As she hummed the song again and again, the sole vestige of Radiant Moon power lingering in the temple ruins gathered slowly, congregating upon the beautiful white statue.
Gradually, a faint silver glow appeared along the statue's contours, spreading bit by bit until the entire sculpture was completely enveloped.
Xilutaiya opened her eyes and looked at the white stone statue before her. Its once motionless features now seemed to wear a faint smile. Then, piece by piece, the statue cracked and peeled away.
These dissipating fragments of Radiant Moon drifted up into the sky, wheeling and spiraling through the night-dark air before gently descending like feathers.
The silver shards gathered grain by grain like sands in an hourglass, recombining before Xilutaiya.
Meleranke Praying in the Lake
A poetic scripture recording the life and deeds of the Named One Meleranke, one of the three holy scriptures of the Silver Radiance Church. (According to its lore, it can perform two rituals and provides clues to the sixth-order profession Holy Maiden of the Lake; Meleranke bore the title "Holy Maiden of the Lake" in her youth.)
[Purity Ritual: Bathing in Moonlight] (Radiant Moon / Blood Law / Emerald Honey)
[Purification Ritual: Baptism in the Lake] (Radiant Moon / Conch Fish / Sleeping Winter)
Warning: Advancing to the profession of Holy Maiden of the Lake will be detected by high-ranking members of hostile factions (the Golden Honey Dynasty and the Moon Council).
Chapter 82