"If they don't want to play with you, then I won't play with them either."
That was a sentence Li Sinian often had on the tip of her tongue when she was little.
Back then, Li Mu Yang had been dark-skinned and ugly, with slow reactions. Whether it was hopscotch, kicking shuttlecocks, or going down to the lakeside to catch fish, none of the other children wanted to bring him along.
Li Sinian was clever, adorable, and full of mischief. Everyone liked calling her out to play.
So whenever Li Sinian brought Li Mu Yang along, everyone wore painfully conflicted expressions: they didn't want to include Li Mu Yang, but they didn't want to give up Li Sinian, either.
Whenever she saw their hesitant expressions, Li Sinian would pout in deep dissatisfaction, snort coldly, and say those words.
But that was something Li Sinian could say.
Li Mu Yang had never imagined that such words could come from Lu Qiji's mouth.
"If they cannot tolerate you, then there will be no more humanity in my heart."
Lu Qiji was the Mother of Humanity, and the entire human race consisted of subjects sheltered beneath her wings. The incense offerings of all humanity could be transformed into the Power of Faith, allowing her to complete the Phoenix Nine Revolutions and be reborn through one nirvana in each lifetime.
Without humanity, she—the "Mother of Humanity"—would exist in name only. She would no longer need to bear this responsibility, nor would she be able to absorb humanity's Power of Faith.
She would no longer be immortal. Her life would be finite, and she might even die.
The Phoenix Clan was a true divine race.
Could gods die, too?
It was an unimaginable thing.
Besides, based on what Li Mu Yang knew of Lu Qiji,