Court of the Silver Moon.
Columbina summoned all the Moon Spirits to the center of the sea of flowers.
Forty or fifty little fellows, emitting a soft white glow and trailing two long, full braids, floated sparsely in the air around her.
She cleared her throat and explained the matter of selecting a few Moon Spirits to learn painting in detail, using a method they could understand.
Finally, she announced, "Those who want to go, come to my side."
The Moon Spirits understood. After a few seconds of silence, they surged toward Columbina, scrambling to be first.
In the blink of an eye, they had completely surrounded her. Some crashed straight into her arms, some "climbed" up her arms and back, and others simply hovered over her head and shoulders.
Layers upon layers of dense light clusters completely submerged Columbina's white figure.
Trapped in the center, Columbina was squeezed to the point of immobility by these soft yet eager little fellows.
She panicked slightly, flusteredly pushing and brushing aside the clusters of light around her, her voice coming out muffled from the gaps between them:
"Stop... stop... help!"
Coppelia, observing from the side, stared blankly at first, then couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing that slightly panicked cry for help.
"Don't rush! Don't rush!" she said while walking over quickly, reaching out to push aside the Moon Spirits on the periphery that were still trying to squeeze in.
She reached her arm into the mass of soft glimmer, groped around, and grabbed Columbina's left hand, which was waving wildly from within.
The Moon Spirits blocking the outside also seemed to realize their actions were too hasty; they retreated one after another, re-suspending themselves in mid-air.
Once the pressure eased, Coppelia immediately exerted force and pulled Columbina out of the pile of Moon Spirits.
Columbina held her hand, her chest heaving slightly as she took a few breaths to calm her somewhat rapid heartbeat. She looked at the surrounding Moon Spirits, who were still jubilant and full of anticipation, feeling a bit troubled.
"They all really want to go... I don't want to refuse them. But painting doesn't require so many Moon Spirits. If I have to choose, I'm afraid they'll feel it's unfair." She looked at Coppelia. "What should I do?"
Coppelia scanned the Moon Spirits that had scattered but were still staring intently at them, thinking for a moment.
"Let's have an exam first..." She whispered a specific screening plan to Columbina.
Columbina nodded and floated back in front of the Moon Spirits.
"I know you all really want to go," she raised her voice. "But the spots are limited. I will test you with a challenge. Only those who pass can go to learn."
She paused, not wanting the little ones who failed to be sad, and added, "Those who don't pass, don't be sad either. There will be other tasks for you later."
She emphasized finally, "You all have the opportunity to help me."
The Moon Spirits trembled slightly upon hearing "spots are limited," appearing somewhat nervous. But hearing "all have the opportunity," they relaxed again, jumping up and down cheerfully to express their understanding.
Seeing that their emotions were stable, Columbina began to explain the rules of the exam.
The content was simple. She would cover the sea of flowers with a layer of a special Lunar Force Field. When Moon Spirits flew within it, they would trail a bright, lasting luminous track behind them.
The task for the Moon Spirits was to use a "one-stroke drawing" method to outline Columbina's half-body silhouette on the sea of flowers using these light trails. The few that drew the most resemblance would win the spots.
Columbina first took Coppelia to the top of the ten-meter-high "moon" at the end of the cavern hall and sat down. The view here was the best, very suitable for "proctoring." Afterwards, she went down to set up the "exam venue" and returned to the "moon," sitting next to Coppelia.
The sea of flowers was wide enough to accommodate four Moon Spirits "taking the exam" at the same time. The Moon Spirits consciously lined up, floating into that special force field in groups of four.
They began to dance, dragging bright ribbons of light behind them.
Some Moon Spirits clearly had no concept of form; the "avatars" they drew were crooked, like flattened potatoes. The feather decorations on the head became a few messy short lines, and the outline of long hair was as scribbled as straw blown by the wind.
Others were quite talented. The trajectories they flew were stable and smooth. A rounded oval outlined the foundation of the face, and a smooth arc across the forehead represented the straight bangs.
Two elegant long arcs extended from the sides of the head, curving downward to define the range of long hair covering the shoulders and back. Arc-shaped lines, broad at the root and narrowing at the tip, simulated those iconic wing-shaped feather ornaments.
Columbina and Coppelia sat on high, looking down at the various works constantly lighting up and dissipating in the sea of flowers below.
Encountering one that was exceptionally vivid, Coppelia couldn't help but tap her finger lightly and call out: "You pass!"
As for those that didn't look like her at all, Columbina was originally thinking about how to speak to comfort them. But she quickly discovered that these little fellows were very self-aware.
After finishing drawing, if they didn't hear that "You pass," they would float into the air themselves and examine the work they left on the sea of flowers. If they found the lines crooked and the face unrecognizable, their light clusters would dim for a moment, and then they would silently float aside, neither pestering nor angry.
That appearance was as if they had sensed their master's difficulty in advance and actively shared her burden.
This unique exam lasted for two or three hours. In the end, three Moon Spirits with the most stable trajectories and vivid styling were selected. Their light clusters appeared brighter than their companions, revealing a joy of being recognized.
"Where should we send them to learn?" Columbina asked Coppelia.
Coppelia recalled for a moment. "In Mondstadt, didn't we meet an old man named Walker? He is very good at painting. We can go find him."
"I thought of him too." Columbina nodded.
"Good," Coppelia stood up. "Then I'll take them to apprentice."
She remembered something and asked, "By the way, you're going to Natlan too, right? I didn't have time to ask yesterday, how is the situation there?"
Columbina recounted the living sacrifice ritual she saw, the abnormal stagnation of the Ley Lines, the unexplored traces of underground humanity, her guess that Xbalanque might not have been born yet, and her thought to provide limited help.
Coppelia understood. She thought for a moment and first answered the question about Xbalanque.
"You can pay attention during your underground exploration to see if the humans there have mastered an ancient energy called 'Phlogiston.' If the current humans of Natlan haven't even touched Phlogiston yet, it means Xbalanque won't appear until a long time later."
She described, "Phlogiston glows, usually orange, orange-red, or deep red, and looks like it has a very high temperature."
"I'll remember that." Columbina engraved the characteristics in her heart.
Coppelia continued to explain the anomaly of the Ley Lines: "Natlan's Ley Lines were shattered during the War of the Buried Fire. Later, an angel merged into the broken Ley Lines. That angel is called the Night God. Natlan's Ley Line space is thus called the 'Kingdom of the Night God.'"
"The reason you can't explore the Ley Lines smoothly is likely related to Natlan's Ley Lines being incomplete. By the way, the Night God knows many things about Natlan and is also easy to get along with. If you want to chat with her, you can pay attention to the obsidian that exists in certain places in Natlan; the people of Natlan use obsidian to communicate with the Ley Lines."
Columbina memorized the matters of the "Night God" and obsidian, then asked about an unfamiliar term: "Angel?"
"A race created by the 'Heavenly Principles' a long time ago, specifically responsible for guiding humanity," Coppelia explained simply.
"What do you think about my wanting to help Natlan?" Columbina asked her final concern.
Coppelia looked at her: "There is absolutely no problem. Just do as you think."
"Good." Columbina felt settled in her heart. "Then I'll send you to Mondstadt now?"
"I'm ready."
Columbina called the three selected Moon Spirits to her side. With a flash of white light, she, Coppelia, and the three Moon Spirits disappeared from the Court of the Silver Moon. After transiting through Fontaine once, they appeared on a land that was both familiar and strange.
Mondstadt.
But it was no longer the Mondstadt covered in ice and snow in her memories.
After standing firm, Coppelia couldn't help but look around, comparing it with the impression in her mind.
The surrounding peaks, originally towering and wrapped in ice and snow, had mostly been flattened at the top, revealing the white rock mass underneath.
The once whistling, bone-piercing ice wind had been replaced by a warm and gentle breeze, blowing on the face with the scent of budding vegetation. The heavy ice and snow covering the earth had long vanished without a trace, revealing the dark brown soil underneath that had not yet fully recovered its vitality.
The life force of this land was slowly returning. Although it was far from reaching the vibrant scene of everything competing to grow in the future, as far as the eye could see, sporadic meadows could be seen growing close to the ground. Low shrubs took root in leeward places, and a few clusters of wildflowers drilled out of sun-facing rock crevices.
The air was filled with the moist scent of thawing soil. All things were hibernating, stirring with the impulse to move.
They stood by the shore of a large lake. The lake water was clear, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds. In the center of the lake was an island, and on the island was the "New Mondstadt City" currently under construction.
The sharp peak that once existed in the center of the island had been flattened, making the terrain relatively gentle and suitable for building houses.
The sounds of dinging and clanging came over. Workers stepped on scaffolding built from logs, working on the stone architectural skeletons that were taking shape.
Coppelia's gaze fell on that stone bridge, and she paused, recalling the scene of herself leisurely hunting pigeons on this bridge.
Thinking of pigeons, she subconsciously turned her head to look at the "little pigeon" Columbina hovering quietly beside her.
Columbina felt her gaze and said softly, "People's lives are slowly getting better."
Coppelia turned back, gazing at the city growing amidst the clamor, the corners of her mouth raising slightly: "Yeah..."
The two of them, taking the three curiously looking Moon Spirits, walked toward the sizable tent settlement area outside the lake shore. The new city was not yet built, so the residents were temporarily living here.
Columbina familiarly led Coppelia to a relatively wide tent with thick fabric.
"This is the place," she said. "By the way, help me ask what kind of remuneration is needed to teach Moon Spirits to draw."
Coppelia smiled and nodded: "That is a matter of course. There is no such thing as apprenticing without paying tuition. Leave this to me."
The two bade a brief farewell. Columbina took one last look at the three Moon Spirits and Coppelia, and her figure quickly disappeared.
She first went through Fontaine, then detoured to Nod-Krai, and finally arrived at the crimson earth of Natlan. It would have been more convenient to go to Natlan directly from the rainforest and desert, but she didn't want to get close to that place where she had experienced nightmares.
Columbina returned to the vicinity of the massive mountain she hadn't been able to explore deeply yesterday due to the arrival of twilight.
Columbina extended her senses into the interior of the mountain, found a corner where no one was active, and teleported into the underground space.
Her perception spread out first. After confirming there was no immediate danger nearby, she began to wander silently through this massive subterranean labyrinth.
The air in the underground caverns was completely different from the surface, carrying a dry scorching sensation. An orange-red crystal embedded in the rock walls emitted warm-toned light, illuminating every part of the cavern clearly.
Thick metal pipes appeared in the passages. They were laid along the rock walls or the ground, their surfaces polished smooth, reflecting the red light of the crystals. A low and continuous "humming" sound came from inside the pipes, the sound of some viscous fluid flowing at high speed.
Even from several meters away, one could feel the heat radiating from the surface of the pipes, which made the air distort slightly. It was precisely these pipes that maintained the temperature of the entire underground space at a scorching level.
The craftsmanship and material of these pipes were starkly different from the tribes on the surface who held crude stone tools. They required a series of technologies such as smelting, forging, and welding.
"The tribes here are obviously stronger," Columbina muttered to herself, advancing along the direction of the pipes. "The high-temperature substance transported in these pipes... could it be Phlogiston?"
Carrying this question, she floated deeper along the passage. Encountering guards that couldn't be bypassed or closed doors, she simply teleported past them.
After a path that twisted downward, she arrived at an open cavern resembling an arena. A group of lean and strong young men were practicing offensive and defensive movements under the leadership of a muscular instructor.
Their body surfaces faintly flowed with colorful radiance, mainly orange-red, mixed with golden yellow and blazing white. The light flickered uncertainly with their exertion, looking colorful and magnificent.
Columbina had never seen humans whose bodies could glow like this.
"That light... is orange-red. The pipes I saw earlier also had a very high temperature." She compared in her heart, immediately associating it with the characteristics Coppelia described. Glowing, high temperature, orange-red or deep red.
"The people here have most likely really mastered Phlogiston!"
Her spirit lifted. Following those crisscrossing pipes, she continued to explore deeper into the underground.
On the way, she saw the pipes branch off, connecting to some massive, complex blast furnaces. Shirtless craftsmen busied themselves around the furnaces, utilizing something with extremely high heat surging from within to smelt metal and hammer implements.
Columbina focused her gaze. Those implements being forged, quenched, and polished had sharp edges and hard angles; they were obviously weapons.
From the scattered conversations of nearby craftsmen, she caught that key word:
"...Open the Phlogiston valve a bit smaller!"
"Phlogiston." They were indeed using it, and using it to forge weapons.
"Perhaps... the war really is about to begin." Her mood was somewhat complex.
She didn't stay long in the smithy, continuing downward along the main pipe. The pipe became thicker and thicker, the temperature higher and higher, and even the rock walls began to glow with a dark red hue.
Finally, in a huge hollow extremely deep underground, she found the source of the pipes. They connected to a series of even more massive mechanical devices.
From these machines, several thick pipes like giant pythons extended out, their ends submerging directly into a vast "lake."
That "lake" was not water, but a viscous, bright orange-red liquid constantly rolling with bubbles. The light and heat it emitted caused the entire air above to distort and churn violently. Heat waves assaulted the face; even from a distance, one could feel that terrifying high temperature sufficient to melt rock.
"This must be Phlogiston." Columbina hovered at a safe distance, gazing at this source of power. "The people here are utilizing it to produce tools and weapons."
Having gained a basic understanding of the situation underground in Natlan, Columbina decided to end this exploration.
Next, she planned to try communicating with the abnormal Ley Lines of this place again.
She sought a secluded corner and sank her consciousness into the earth beneath her feet. However, that intense sensation of stagnation still existed. She couldn't establish a clear link, let alone obtain effective information.
"Still no good." She was somewhat helpless.
Coppelia said that the "Night God" was easy to get along with, so she definitely wouldn't refuse so flatly.
The greater possibility was that these Ley Lines had suffered heavy damage in the ancient war. After being shattered, it was naturally difficult to "communicate."
She remembered Coppelia's other hint: try to find obsidian.
"I wonder if there is any here..." She began to roam the underground space. While moving, she continuously cast a part of her attention toward the "tactile sensation" of the Ley Lines, looking for those special fluctuations that might arise due to the existence of obsidian.
About half an hour later, her senses captured an anomaly.
In a relatively "noisy" and chaotic Ley Line background, the signal coming from there was not only exceptionally strong but also presented a regularity.
She first used her perception to penetrate the rock strata, confirming no one was nearby, then teleported directly over.
This was a relatively open cavern. The cave walls were ordinary dark rock, but a massive black stone with strange runes engraved on its surface was impressively embedded in the very center.
It was about as tall as two people, pitch-black throughout, yet the interior seemed to hold countless fine, precipitating stars. Under the illumination of the cavern's crystal light, it circulated a profound glimmer.
Obsidian! Joy rose in Columbina's heart. She approached this giant stone, reached out a hand, and slowly probed her senses into it.
The feedback was starkly different from before. The stagnation was greatly reduced, and the flow of the Ley Lines became clear. Although there was still a barrier, she could already faintly capture its direction and rhythm.
"Sure enough, some stable anchors are needed to communicate." She probed her consciousness deeper into the interior of the obsidian, as if diving along a passage constructed of pure darkness and starlight.
With the "deepening," she suddenly felt a slight tremor from her Gnosis, like a resonance.
She immediately collected her mind, ended her consciousness roaming in the Ley Lines, and refocused all perception on herself.
Then, she discovered the surrounding environment had completely changed.
She was in a space of absolute darkness.
Beneath her feet was a smooth, cold floor paved with obsidian, extending forward, backward, left, and right, with no end in sight. A layer of thin and uniform gray mist shrouded the ground, reaching only ankle height, flowing slowly.
Looking up, there was no sky, only endless darkness.
In this dark void, every few hundred meters, an extremely slender, sharp-tipped obsidian pillar floated vertically. Like silent tombstones, they were quietly frozen there, emitting a texture even more profound than the surrounding darkness.
Columbina looked around. She could feel that here, the flow of the Ley Lines had become unprecedentedly orderly and complete, like silver rivers meticulously combed, running smoothly along established trajectories in the dark background.
She had a conjecture about this place: "Is this... the Kingdom of the Night God?!"
Just then, as if from the farthest place in this dark space, an ethereal female voice drifted over leisurely:
"Kanon?"
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