Respecting the Long Night, Tianming

The black night was silent as dead ash.

For the mortals of the realm who had yet to suffer beneath immortals, after tonight, tomorrow they would either face the yellow earth with their backs to the sky, or bustle through the marketplaces over firewood, rice, oil, and salt. To live on, they would seek a better life when daylight returned to the land.

Cultivators across the realm sought Longevity, cultivating behind closed doors. Some also traveled through the night for a single spirit herb, for a tangle of gratitude, grudges, love, and hatred. They called it the jianghu, then sought the illusory path of Longevity within it.

There were as many cultivation factions in the world as hairs on an ox, and cultivators were like wanderers of the jianghu. Some gazed upon the endless river of stars and asked what path it was they sought. In this silent yet turbulent night, they lived for a group of people.

The powerful and noble of the realm kept their lamps lit through Endless Night, racking their brains over whether to drift with the current or bring aid to all under heaven.

Not only the imperial dynasty—the races of the world were all the same.

They waited through Endless Night for tomorrow, heading toward the future, unknowingly joining the countless masses in their rush toward the unknown.

But tonight.

Sleeplessness was fated.

Before the hour had arrived, daylight abruptly rose.

The people of the realm were all jolted awake by the white light pouring through their windows. Stepping outside, they beheld the wondrous sight that had come from the Southern Border during Endless Night.

Xilang raised a heavenly pillar; Azure Cloud built a rainbow bridge. Bright lamps were lit in the homes of the people, and Spark spread into a prairie fire,