Witch God Abyss (Lily) - Chapter 1

The imperial city of Xuan Kingdom, Zhongdu Hengjing.

Shen Yuan, a disciple of the Divine Sect, rode on horseback, following a line of sedan chairs as they entered the East Harmony Gate of Hengjing City.

Although this group looked travel-worn, their clothing and accessories were exceptionally luxurious.

Shen Yuan appeared to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, with black hair mixed with strands of blue.

Her eyes were blue, though not striking.

On cloudy days or indoors, they looked only slightly lighter than ordinary black eyes.

Today, they were to enter the imperial city.

Before dawn, the Sect Leader brought people to groom and dress Shen Yuan.

“Today, you must wear the full ceremonial attire.”

Shen Yuan rubbed her eyes.

A junior sister held a lamp nearby.

She pouted, dissatisfied, “It’s not even dawn?”

The Sect Leader said nothing, only raised his chin. Senior Sister Su Luo stepped forward and pulled Shen Yuan out of bed.

Her hair was styled, but Shen Yuan still hadn’t opened her eyes fully.

The ceremonial dress had six layers, making her gasp for breath.

“Master, it’s already May. Six layers of clothing—I’ll die of heat.”

The Sect Leader ignored her.

In her heart, Shen Yuan cursed these hypocritical adults and their hypocritical adornments countless times.

She couldn’t help muttering, “Master, this gold ornament is too heavy. My neck’s about to break.”

The Sect Leader’s face was stern, his tone unreadable.

“Use some magic. As long as others can’t tell, it’s fine. Today is our first time entering the imperial city. The procession must be perfect!”

Shen Yuan kept whining, trying to avoid wearing the formal ceremonial dress.

“Master, back in Wubei, even the Holy Lord didn’t require this…”

“You said it yourself—that was in Wubei.”

The Sect Leader dropped his usual playful demeanor with Shen Yuan and said seriously, “The three major sects are gathering in the imperial city. The Wood Clan from Yudong arrived five days ago. The Wind Sect, already here in Hengjing, is watching us. Be serious.”

“Oh.”

Shen Yuan reluctantly sat on the drum stool, letting Senior Sister Su Luo apply her face makeup.

Su Luo had already arranged Shen Yuan’s hair ornaments and began applying makeup.

When the makeup was done, Su Luo led Shen Yuan to a large bronze mirror and asked, “Look, isn’t it beautiful?”

Shen Yuan was stunned.

“Is this still me? This hairstyle, with these ornaments, is practically bigger than my head?”

Su Luo’s face fell.

“Is the hairstyle I did not look good-looking?!”

“No, no, the Senior Sister’s hairstyle is naturally the best-looking in all of Wubei. No, no… now that we’re in Zhongdu, it’s the best-looking in all of Xuan Kingdom.”

Su Luo rolled her eyes.

“That’s more like it.”

Shen Yuan looked at herself in the mirror again—dark brows, dotted lips, floral makeup on her face.

The towering, layered hairstyle was practically a pavilion.

The six-layered ceremonial dress, mainly blue with red accents, reflected the hint of blue in Shen Yuan’s eyes.

“Senior Sister, I think… I really look prettier. You didn’t use some illusion magic, did you?”

Su Luo smiled, satisfied, picked up the lacquered box, and left with the other junior sisters.

“I never demand much of you, but today, entering the city, you must be dignified. Don’t fool around with Little Princess Zhou,” the Sect Leader instructed Shen Yuan again before leaving.

Shen Yuan bowed.

“Yes.”

In Shen Yuan’s memory, she had never traveled so far.

Before setting out, she had complained that the Sect Leader could have used an instant teleportation array to move everyone directly to Zhongdu Hengjing, sparing them the exhausting three-thousand-mile journey.

“Master, you can move eight thousand soldiers with one array. Little Princess Zhou’s entire entourage, including guards, is only five hundred people. With your magic, you’d recover in twelve hours at most. The Wood Clan from Yudong had to ride horses to escort Princess Duan Yule because they didn’t know this array. Why do we have to ride horses too?”

The Sect Leader said, “This represents imperial dignity. This journey is also to announce to the entire realm that His Majesty has summoned the imperial daughter to the palace to establish her as the Crown Princess, the future Empress who will rule the world.”

“Oh.”

Shen Yuan was reluctant to ride horses, but along the three-thousand-mile journey, her curiosity kept her occupied, and she didn’t feel tired.

Little Princess Zhou, in the carriage, was different.

She was stuck inside the carriage the whole way.

Her grandmother demanded that she wear a veiled hat whenever she stepped out and absolutely forbade lifting the veil.

It was May and June, and she was suffocating.

So, whenever possible, Shen Yuan let Little Princess Zhou lift the carriage curtain to breathe.

As the ceremonial procession entered the city gate, Shen Yuan forgot the Sect Leader’s instructions. She tapped the edge of the sedan window with her longbow.

The bow’s gold-tipped end made a small but clear sound against the wood.

A slit opened in the sedan curtain.

Shen Yuan glanced around and whispered, “Master’s not here. When I cough, Little Princess, put the curtain down.”

A faint “mm” came from inside the sedan.

Inside was Little Princess Zhou—Zhou Yizhi, eleven years old.

Shen Yuan said, “This whole journey, my eyes, ears, and even my mouth haven’t been enough.”

Little Princess Zhou asked, “Your mouth?”

“Yeah. The Central Plains has so much good food. I only have one mouth and one stomach—not enough.”

The girl in the sedan chuckled softly.

“Cough!”

Shen Yuan shrugged.

She was supposed to warn the princess, but her master was already nearby, and she hadn’t even noticed.

The curtain dropped with a “snap.”

Shen Yuan braced herself for a scolding, but there was no movement.

She relaxed.

“Right, with so many people around on this main street, even if Master’s temper flares, he won’t reprimand me here.”

Just as Shen Yuan was about to tap the sedan window with her bow again, she noticed the longbow in her hand had turned into a snake, stretching out and flicking its tongue.

She jumped, nearly screaming, and almost threw it away.

Then she realized it was her master’s illusion magic.

Shen Yuan pretended nothing was wrong and hung the snake on the saddlebag.

It would disappear in a couple of hours anyway.

For the rest of the journey, Shen Yuan behaved and didn’t speak or act recklessly.

Princess Demao’s Mansion.

Shen Yuan was brought to her room.

She hurriedly removed her hair ornaments and peeled off four of the six layers of the ceremonial dress.

Without changing into something else, she opened the door to leave.

The Sect Leader stood at the door, hands behind his back.

“Where are you going?”

“Master, I…”

“Little Princess Zhou has important matters today. Don’t disturb her.”

“Oh… then when can I…”

The Sect Leader extended his hand, holding Shen Yuan’s small bundle.

“Seven days from now, you’ll enter the palace too. There’s no time to play. Starting tomorrow, practice everything I’ve taught you for me to see.”

“Oh, got it…” Shen Yuan took her bundle and went inside to change.

Finally back in her own clothes, Shen Yuan let her hair down and tied it simply.

She pulled a booklet from her bundle, containing intelligence about the other two sects.

The current Emperor, Long Qianshan, was a devout Taoist.

Every famous mountain and river in Xuan Kingdom had a Taoist temple granted by imperial decree, enshrining the Holy Lord Qingxuan.

The kingdom’s name came from the “Xuan” in the Holy Lord’s name.

Thirty years ago, the masses witnessed the former dynasty’s Crown Prince, Duan Qingxuan, ascend to immortality, earning the title Holy Lord.

After ascending, Holy Lord Qingxuan left behind two demonic beasts as chief ministers—one to awe the court, the other to dominate the battlefield.

The National Master, Wen Li, was of unknown age.

Sometimes he seemed as steady as a hundred-year-old elder, other times like a young man in his twenties.

Over the past thirty years, court officials had changed several times, but the National Master always looked like a man in his twenties.

It was said that over three hundred years ago, in the records of the former dynasty’s Master Yuan, there were portraits and accounts of Wen Li.

Moreover, Emperor Long Qianshan had a half-brother, Long Muxue, known as Immortal Master Muxue.

Even more mysterious, he appeared every eight years riding a winged stag above the sacrificial altar.

Demons, ghosts, gods, and saints—Xuan Kingdom couldn’t be more lively.

In the thirty years since Long Qianshan’s ascension, the Taoist sects and immortal schools, once suppressed and declining under the previous dynasty, had flourished.

Now, there were countless Taoist sects and immortal schools.

Among them, five stood out.

The Divine, Wind, Wood, Shadow, and Dark sects, each with their strengths.

The Divine Sect controlled water, associated with blue.

The Wind Sect controlled wind, associated with white.

The Wood Clan governed life, associated with green.

The Shadow and Dark sects practiced demonic secret arts, mingling only with selected figures.

Unlike the Divine, Wind, and Wood sects, which aligned with the imperial nobility, they avoided court affairs.

“The Wind Sect’s Fu Fengli has completely white hair.”

Shen Yuan touched the blue strands in her hair, thinking, “Her entire hair is white? Isn’t that impressive?”

The Sect Leader stood at the door.

“I told you before, and you forgot.”

Shen Yuan stood and bowed.

“Master.”

The Sect Leader glanced at the scattered booklets on the floor.

“Since His Majesty summoned Little Princess Zhou to the palace, I gave you this intelligence. It’s been almost three months, and you still haven’t memorized it?”

“Ugh, I hate memorizing these sect relationships. I’d rather copy spell formations a hundred times.”

“I’ll explain it again,” the Master said patiently. “After disciples of each sect form their core and master their sect’s techniques, their bodies show color changes related to their practice. The more obvious the color, the less skilled they are, as their magic is scattered across their body instead of focused in their core. Fu Fengli is fourteen, and only her hair is white, which is fine. If by sixteen her eyebrows, eyelashes, eyes, and skin all turn white, she’ll struggle to achieve greatness. By then, the Wind Sect’s ‘Wind Fox’ title will pass to someone else.”

Shen Yuan stared unreservedly at the Sect Leader’s eyes.

“So, Master, only one of your eyes is jade-colored. That’s amazing!”

“I told you, that’s natural!”

Shen Yuan turned to the bronze mirror, looking at her hair and eyes.

“If my hair doesn’t turn completely blue before I’m sixteen, does that mean I’m better than Fu Fengli?”

“You shouldn’t worry about Fu Fengli but the Wood Clan’s Li Mushang.”

Shen Yuan flipped through the booklets on the floor.

“There’s hardly any information on Li Mushang. Doesn’t it say she looks like a six- or seven-year-old girl?”

“That’s just hearsay. Li Mushang is the Wood Clan’s great leader, not a disciple.”

“Wow, then isn’t she decades old?”

“More than that. If I’m not mistaken, she’s probably over a hundred years old. Unlike the Wind Sect, which recruits disciples everywhere, the Wood Clan is different. Li Mushang personally teaches no more than three disciples. No one knows how many others she has. When I visited her in Yudong, she refused to see me every time. Very cautious.”

“Oh, I get it!”

Shen Yuan seemed to have a revelation.

“She’s an old monster like Master. She doesn’t dare show her true face, afraid…”

The Sect Leader cut her off.

“How are you talking?”

“Hehe. Everyone says the Master is hundreds of years old but looks only twenty. If that’s not a monster, what is?”

“You little brat!” The Sect Leader raised his hand to strike but flicked her forehead instead.

Shen Yuan sat upright, hands on her knees, and asked, “Master, you never tell me, but I know I’m different from my sect siblings.”

The Master was suddenly speechless.

Shen Yuan said, “Master, I’m a monster too, right?”

The Sect Leader flicked her forehead again.

“Don’t get smug. You’re just a bit more gifted than ordinary people, learning spells faster and using them better.”

“Ouch! Master, that hurts. Keep flicking my forehead, and I’ll get dumb!”

Shen Yuan rubbed her forehead, muttering.

“I think you’re too clever! A bit dumber would be good.”