Su Qing'er's fate was quickly sealed. The Emperor issued an imperial decree: Noble Consort Su was found guilty of conspiring with foreign enemies, stealing the national fortune, disrupting the state administration, poisoning the heir, and murdering her legitimate elder sister. With all these crimes combined, she was sentenced to public beheading.
On the day of the execution, the streets of the imperial capital were empty as everyone flocked to watch. When Su Qing'er was dragged to the execution grounds, her face was deathly pale. She did not struggle or cry out. She was like a candle wick that had already been hollowed out, quietly burning through its final stretch under the sunlight.
However, the national fortune of the Chiyan Imperial Dynasty could not be restored overnight.
Su Qing'er and Wei Lingling had stolen the fortune for so many years that the dragon vein was mostly depleted. Although a portion of the fortune began to flow back after Su Jinyu dissipated, the rate was as slow as a stream thawing in early spring.
Soon after, a severe drought broke out in the south. It had not rained for months; the fields were cracked, and refugees began migrating northward.
The Emperor was overwhelmed with anxiety. He issued several consecutive decrees to open the granaries for disaster relief, and dispatched envoys to the border to negotiate peace with the Taiyuan Imperial Dynasty to temporarily stabilize the border situation.
Lin Zhiyue felt she could not be of much help, so she did not interfere.
Three days later, in the evening, the notifications for the completion of all quests finally popped up.
A row of golden “Completed” markers stacked up on the system screen. Each sub-quest was accompanied by a reward of five Premium Draw Tickets. The side quests added up to twenty tickets, and along with the fifteen tickets from the overachieved main quest, a total of thirty-five Premium Draw Tickets were neatly lined up on the panel.
The reward for the quest instance outfit set was also distributed—Phoenix Palace and Golden Throne, a Purple Grade outfit. Sporting a blend of gold and crimson, it was embroidered with intricate phoenix and cloud patterns. The wide, solemn hem gave the entire ensemble the majestic aura of an imperial empress's ceremonial guard.
Lin Zhiyue tapped “Confirm Receipt,” and Phoenix Palace and Golden Throne automatically settled into the eleventh slot of her Wardrobe, displayed side by side with Mist-shrouded Verdure, Ode to the Frozen Frost, Dragon-Riding Dreamscape, Forest Spirit's Verses, Jinyao Fairy, Sweet and Clever Cook, Flowing Green Satin, Dusk Rose, and Mermaid's Love Song.
She glanced at the thirty-five Premium Draw Tickets again but did not rush to use them. Instead, she opened the preview for the Magpie Bridge Fairy Whispers card pool first. The entire set featured a color scheme of pale purple and silver-white. The hem of the skirt was dotted with delicate, starlit patterns, looking as though an entire galaxy had been tailored into a dress. It was topped with a silver star crown and paired with a jade flute.
Closing the preview, she left the thirty-five tickets untouched for now. Instead, she brought up the skill details for All Life Springs.
The system popped up a line of text:
【Forest Spirit's Verses · All Life Springs】
Active skill. Upon activation, with the host as the center, the vitality of plant spiritual energy within a hundred-zhang radius is drastically enhanced, and the growth rate of spiritual plants is significantly accelerated—withered trees can regain their green, and barren lands can sprout grass. Simultaneously, it triggers wide-range rainfall, which has a long-lasting purifying effect on areas where resentment accumulates. The duration depends on spiritual energy consumption. Cooldown is twenty-four hours after each cast.
Sitting at her desk, Lin Zhiyue read the description of All Life Springs twice, mentally comparing it with the Calming of the Vast Sea she had used before.
Calming of the Vast Sea targeted inner demons and resentment, whereas All Life Springs was geared toward the environment and spiritual plants.
She glanced at the pot of orchids on the windowsill, which had been withered by the heavy sands of the border. Reaching out, she pressed her hand against the rim of the pot and attempted to release a trace of the All Life Springs spiritual energy. Before her eyes, the orchid's leaves visibly straightened, and the dry, yellowed edges shed a layer to reveal the fresh green underneath.
The south had been without rain for months. The fields were cracked, the rivers had dried up, and the common people had already begun migrating northward, traveling in family groups along the roads.
Now that she knew the details of the All Life Springs skill, she suddenly felt that she might actually be able to help.
Returning to her room, she summoned the system and asked, “If I use Forest Spirit's Verses to bring rain to the south, does it count as a cultivator interfering in mortal affairs?”
The system screen popped up a line of text, its tone as flat as reading an instruction manual: 【Skills produced by the system are not subject to the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Dao's karma. The host's use of All Life Springs to improve the natural climate falls within the scope of system skills and is not included in the regulatory system governing cultivators' interference in mortal affairs.】
Seeing the words “not subject to the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Dao,” the last trace of worry in Lin Zhiyue's heart vanished.
Before dawn the next day, she set out.
She summoned Honghong directly in the courtyard. The Seven-Colored Deer revealed its true form—snow-white all over, with seven-colored patterns on its back flowing like a rainbow in the morning light, and a faint golden glow lighting up its antlers.
She vaulted onto the deer's back, already changed into Forest Spirit's Verses—a light-green gown with vine patterns, a woven gauze coat, and translucent wings unfurling behind her shoulders. Her golden hair fluttered gently in the morning breeze, the flower buds nestled within it dotted with tiny specks of light.
With its hooves treading on a seven-colored halo, Honghong soared into the air, carrying her through the clouds and speeding toward the southern horizon.
The Seven-Colored Deer was incredibly fast. The mountains and cities below flashed past through the gaps in the clouds. In less than an hour, they had entered the drought-stricken southern region.
When she looked down, the sight that met her eyes made her slow down—the earth was cracked, riverbeds were exposed, and withered vegetation clung to the ground as if it had been air-dried for a long time. The crops in the fields had collapsed into patches of grayish-brown, dry stubble.
The air was so dry there was not a trace of moisture, and even the wind carried the scent of dust.
Sitting on the deer's back, Lin Zhiyue immediately cast All Life Springs.
The skill “All Life Springs” spread outward from her body. A pale-green spiritual light, like a thin wave of water, rippled out from beneath her feet and blanketed the parched land below.
A moment later, the sky began to change. Grayish-white clouds gathered from all directions, piling thicker and thicker overhead, and then the rain began to fall.
At first, it was only a fine drizzle, but it quickly turned into a steady downpour. The rain fell onto the parched ground and seeped deep into the soil. The cracked crevices were filled with water, and the originally withered earth began to show a dark, moist hue.
The roots of the plants trembled slightly the moment the rain touched them.
The crowds on the ground were stunned at first, and then some began to cheer, while others knelt in the rain and kowtowed toward the sky.
They saw the snow-white Seven-Colored Deer high above the clouds and the pale-green figure seated upon its back. Her robes remained completely dry in the rain, and her wings glowed softly through the downpour, looking like a celestial envoy stepping out of a painting.
Someone cried out, “The Goddess has descended to the mortal realm!” and the people around them knelt one after another. The rain soaked their hair and clothes, but their backs remained straight and proud.
Lin Zhiyue did not stay on the deer's back for too long. Once she confirmed that the rain had stabilized and the vitality of the plants was slowly returning, she gently patted Honghong's neck.
The Seven-Colored Deer carried her as it turned and flew back through the rain in the direction they had come. The curtain of rain below continued to spread like expanding veins, covering more and more of the parched land.
As the wind swept past her side, lifting and lowering the edges of her woven gauze coat, Honghong's hooves left a fading, seven-colored trail in the wet clouds.
The crowd on the ground still looked up at the fading colored trail. Some clasped their hands before their chests, whispering prayers, as raindrops slid down their foreheads and the bridges of their noses, gathering at their chins.
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