[Announcement: The Grand Celestial Secret Realm Expansion]
[Announcement: Afterlife Requiem Underworld Twilight Bridge Realignment]
[Announcement: Emberstone Farm Staff System Integration]
[Quest Available: Aura of Abundance]
[Quest Available: The Fermentation Grotto]
[Quest Available: Building a Smoking Shed]
[Quest Available: Shepherd's Secret Herb]
[Quest Available: The Infusion Laboratory]
This was way too much for me to understand when I had just gotten up. I closed the pop-ups and yawned, stretching my arms above my head before getting up to brush my teeth and wash my face.
A steaming breakfast was waiting for me in the dining room, along with a note saying that my son and husband were out for a walk and that we should meet up at the southern field I had designated for the first day of the spring planting.
I drank my coffee and ate the buttered toast with orange marmalade as I mentally brought up the pop-ups again.
[The Grand Celestial Secret Realm Expansion:
A secret realm will open in 30 days.]
I almost choked on my drink when I read that. Secret Realm?
The map that went with it indicated that it would appear in the desert farm.
The words “secret realm” were underlined, which meant I could mentally click on them for more information.
[The Grand Celestial Secret Realm:
When the children of the gods ascended to the mortal realm, they left behind many of their belongings. The Grand Celestial Secret Realm contains many immortal-grade relics.
Hint: Many ancient flora and fauna can be found there!]
Wow! I sat there drinking my coffee and rereading the text for a long time. This sounded pretty epic!
I checked the timer and set it to give me a reminder two days before the event, not that I thought I would forget it or anything.
Then I checked the next announcement.
[Afterlife Requiem Underworld Twilight Bridge Realignment:
The Heavenly Jade and Flower Deity are building a bridge to connect the underworld realm to Emberstone Farm.
The structural alignment may cause harmless ripples of spiritual resonance across the land.]
Clicking on the words “spiritual resonance” showed me a list of possible effects such as [Aurora Ripples], [Spirit Blooms], [Reverse Rain], [Starry Fog], and [Jade Haloes]. All of them were simply illusory light shows. For example, the [Aurora Ripples] were just curtains or spirals of light in the night sky, and [Spirit Blooms] were short rays of light sprouting from the ground. Likewise, [Starry Fog] was a nighttime fog that had glowing particles of light in it, and [Jade Haloes] was a nimbus or corona that might appear around a person. The most unusual was [Reverse Rain], which was beads of light shooting up from the ground like rain.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
This must be related to the quest I got, which would allow me to resurrect my mother and father.
[Great Restoration Decree of Samsara Severance and Life Reversal, Resurrection of the Crimson Pearl Flower and the Underworld Defying Heavenly Jade:
Plant the flower seed and stone in a deep hole. When the roots of the plant reach the underworld, a new Flower Deity will be born.]
This made it clear to me that my mother and father’s resurrection was a team effort. While I was growing the seed on Emberstone Farm to reach down into the underworld, they were building a bridge on their end to reach up to the mortal realm.
The last announcement was the most urgent.
Last night, there had been a huge commotion at the New Year’s Eve party when my household staff got System messages. Lari and Kharli opted to stay up late to answer questions from the others, while Mo and I, who were feeling sleepy, went to bed.
[Emberstone Farm Staff System Integration:
Energy levels are rising, and the workers must integrate with the System to continue working at the farm. Your chosen people are now authorized to receive daily, weekly, and monthly tasks.
The owner of the farm may add or remove workers as needed.
Rewards: Lifespan and Health points]
Interesting! I clicked on the word “integrate” and was marveled at this new development.
[Worker Integration:
The convergence of the energies of the heavenly, mortal, and underworld realms at the farm will make it difficult for ordinary humans to live there. Workers may choose to accept tasks that will allow the System to make changes to their bodies to upgrade their capacity to thrive in a high-energy environment.]
There was no other information about what exactly these changes were, but I could guess that it was something similar to the human cultivator sects in this world. A few humans, perhaps one in a thousand, were born with something called a “spirit root” that allowed them to absorb qi, which made them more powerful and longer-lived compared to regular, non-cultivator humans.
I then read the information about the quests and finished off my breakfast with a few slices of fruit. They were all super cool and would make Farming more fun, but they could wait until after the planting season.
Outside, the air was cool, but the morning sun bathed my face with its warmth. I walked to the field where I was to meet my apprentices and family, avoiding the mud by using the stone pathways I had made. My farm was currently covered in fresh green grass, still short, but fragrant with the scent of spring. Beyond the cultivated land was the Ancient Hill Forest, the trees massive and covered with moss. The canopy overhead filtered the sunlight into scattered patches on the ground, creating a dappled pattern that shifted as the breeze moved the branches. The air smelled of rich soil and growing things.
As I went further south, the ground sloped almost imperceptibly until I reached the river’s edge, where the water surged high and heavy with snowmelt. I walked over the picturesque stone moon bridge that I had placed over it. The water ran clean and clear over the rocks, and I amused myself by dropping a few stones into it to hear them plop.
Soon my goal came into view, and my son Eggy ran to meet me. Behind him, I could see Prince Baiyu, the nanny, and my apprentices, Lari, Kharli, and Mo.
“Mom! Happy first day of spring!”
We hugged.
My dragon child had been born two months ago in this world, but if one counted his age in the dream world, he was a little over three years old, and his current height reflected that. His human form was that of a toddler with short blue hair, large blue eyes, and his winter pale skin was a light wheat color from being outdoors all day long. His nanny, who, in a funny turn of events, was named Nani, told me he was sure to turn brown in the summer and then turn paler as the year progressed, as the Azure Dragon clan members always did every year.
Prince Baiyu approached me at a more sedate pace. “Good morning, love.”
He kissed me on the cheek, and I went on tiptoe to return the favor.
Prince Baiyu was the son of the Lady of the West. He was tall and handsome, with blue eyes and white hair pulled into a high ponytail that reached all the way down to his waist.
The three of us walked to my apprentices and the nanny. I was about to suggest starting our work today when I saw one of the maids running towards us. I could tell from her excited expression that she had something important to tell us.
By the time she reached us, she was too out of breath from running. Between short, quick breaths, she managed to say, “My lord, my lady, a secret realm has opened!”
Shoutout time!
***
- This is the first chapter of Book 4 and I had to take my time writing since this particular part of the book is the most crucial. It will determine whether people will continue reading this book. I hope it's good enough!
- Are the pop-ups in the beginning too many? I mea, I feel like the System would have a lot, but if it's annoying I will remove them.
- Thanks for reading!
- Please let me know if there are any errrors.