Yun Ruyi's gaze grew profound. "Sunlight and rain nourish grass and trees without distinction; the four seasons turn, ordering life without favor. The strong have their domains, the weak their footholds. All things seek a path to survival within the rules, each finding its own place of peace."
Her gaze swept over the richly dressed nobles in the street, and over the beggars in ragged clothes; over the sturdy youths, and over the elders in their twilight years. In her eyes, there was no difference between these living beings beneath the Heavenly Dao.
"It grants no fortune to one person alone, nor blesses one clan alone with prosperity."
Her voice grew ever more distant and ethereal, as though resonating with some vast will.
"This absence of feeling is the very essence of impartiality."
Yun Ruyi turned her head slightly, her gaze settling on Yun Qing, Yun Tianluo, and Xia Wushang. In those ethereal eyes, the trails of light and shadow cast by their respective Dao Paths were reflected.
Chaos evolved, exquisite radiance shone, and the Imperial Way towered majestically. Though none of the three had truly begun to attain the Dao, the nascent forms of their Great Daos were already apparent.
Her eyes curved into crescents, and in that moment, she regained a little of the liveliness and playfulness Yun Qing knew as belonging to "Yun Ruyi."
"Chaos nurtures life, the exquisite beholds the world, the Human Emperor bears all things."
She softly recited those three phrases, each seeming to carry the weight of destiny.
"Your Daos are all... close to Heaven."
As her words fell, silence filled the room.
The clamor outside the window seemed cut off by an invisible barrier. Only that ethereal, elusive resonance flowed slowly through the light and shadow, spreading outward in circles like ripples.