The mortal world.
Great Unity Dynasty, Qingping Province, Tongyun Prefecture.
By now, all of Qingping Province was under Taiping Dao's control. Word of Taiping Dao providing the people with Dan Water had spread, drawing people from every province to flock there.
Although Hong Sovereign had diverted water from the Heavenly River and eased the drought across the world, the common people still found survival difficult amid these troubled times.
The government was corrupt, livelihoods lay in ruin, and powerful clans, wealthy landlords, and separatist warlords ran rampant.
There were far too many such things, forcing the people of the realm to leave their homes in search of a way to live.
The Qingping Bian Clan.
One of the greatest aristocratic clans in the world.
Yet now, its ancestral residence was shrouded in smoke and warfire, and even its collateral branches had been uprooted one by one.
The Bian Clan's ancestral shrine.
Within black-lacquered railings stood five great doors, above which hung a plaque—Bian Clan Ancestral Hall.
A white stone path stretched ahead, with towering pines and emerald cypresses on either side. Upon the terrace stood ancient bronze tripods of blue-green patina and other ritual vessels; inside, incense and candles blazed brightly amid brocade curtains and embroidered drapes.
It was solemn and dignified in the extreme.
A Daoist stood with his hands behind his back before the many ancestral tablets. The swaying candlelight made his features somewhat indistinct.
At the highest point stood several statues of deities, majestic beyond measure.
The Daoist looked at one of them. A glint of golden light seemed to flash through his eyes—or perhaps it was merely the candlelight's reflection.
```text [Deity: Divine Lord Qingping (Without Virtue)]
[Born of the Qingping Bian Clan; after death, a golden body was molded through incense offerings. Granted a divine