In the end, the years returned to peace.
Cooking smoke curled through the Mortal Realm, while mist wreathed the immortal mountains.
Buddhist chants drifted softly over Spirit Mountain. The Daoist Sect cultivated in quiet seclusion, the hundred schools debated the Dao, and Immortal Qin farmed and wove. Each found their place and lived in contentment.
The winds of the Earth Immortal Realm had grown gentle; the clouds of the Three Realms had become leisurely.
Countless living beings lived and worked in peace, while powers from all sides coexisted harmoniously.
The peace Taihua and the inspection group had established stretched on like the eternal Star River, safeguarding the Earth Immortal Realm for countless ages.
Morning mist lingered year-round around Taihua's City God Palace, its halls hidden amid the Sea of Clouds. There were no great assemblies, no wars, no urgent matters. The Great Emperor's daily routine was no more than brewing tea by the window, watching the Star River turn, and listening to the winds of the Three Realms.
That day, the immortal official in charge of the Central Inspection Group entered the hall with light steps, holding a thin Immortal Dao dossier. His expression was somewhat helplessly amused.
"Great Emperor, all is peaceful throughout the Three Realms. It is only... a minor but troublesome matter has arisen."
Taihua lightly tapped the table with her fingertips as steam slowly rose from her clear tea. "Let me hear it."
"It is a small matter at the border. Someone from Immortal Qin was traveling through Xiniu Hezhou and passed Cloud Creek beneath Spirit Mountain of the Buddhist Sect. Seeing the plump koi in the stream, he grew hungry and caught three of them."
"When the Buddhists saw it, they assumed it was a deliberate provocation. Those fish had been specially raised by them,