“They bestowed upon me the name Zhao Ming: ‘Zhao’ means born to face the light, while ‘Ming’ means buried in a prison sea.”, Bai Zhaoming, moments before her heart was carved out
Prisoner of Fate
She is the last Nine-Tailed Imperial Princess of Qingqiu, with a Hongmeng bloodmark burned into her heart. It is the bruised blood Pangu left behind when he separated Heaven and Earth, and the sinful child of destruction condemned by the Heavenly Dao.
On the night Qingqiu burned, the Four Symbols divine beasts defied fate to change her destiny:
- The Azure Dragon, Xuan Chen, tore out his sinews to form her meridians and gave her the name “Ming,” hoping she would be like a hidden dragon in the deep sea and live in peace all her life;
- The White Tiger, Bai Xuange, broke his bones to forge a blade and named her “Zhao,” hoping she would be like the light of dawn and break free of her chains.
A Bloodstained Journey:
To restore her kingdom, she shatters the laws of Heaven:
▶ She masters the Nine-Tailed Soul-Burning Art, only to see Xuan Chen’s dragon scales char and fall as the Eastern Sea dries up;
▶ She wields the White Tiger’s god-slaying blade, only to discover blood streaming from Bai Xuange’s golden eyes as the burial ground of weapons collapses.
When Heaven issues an edict striking her name from the Investiture of the Gods, imprisons the Azure Dragon in Leifeng Pagoda, and exiles the White Tiger to the Great Wilderness Ruins, she takes her fox tail for a brush and her bloodmark for ink, writing the most defiant declaration of war the Three Realms have ever seen:
“Heaven wants to bury me? Then I’ll burn down all thirty-three tiers of Heaven!”
Epitaph of the End:
The Gate of Return to the Ruins opens wide, and the chaos of Nether Oblivion tears the sky apart. The truth of Hongmeng rends her soul:
“Redemption is a sin, devotion is a blade, and all of us are mayflies in Pangu’s bruised blood.”
Smiling, she cuts the bloodmark from her heart and lets her nine tails transform into a vast white plum blossom, taking root in the breach of the Celestial River:
- Its eastern branch winds around the Azure Dragon’s sinew; the wind and snow cease where Xuan Chen’s soul scattered.
- Its western branch pierces the White Tiger’s blade; Bai Xuange’s last words melt into the frost.
The Vermilion Bird burns through the skies, carrying fire as it immolates itself; Xuanwu Xuanming bears the pagoda down into the abyss
The Four Symbols
My own book must be 5 stars 😄😄😄