Peace Order

The mountains rise high, the waters flow long, and the starlight shines brightly.

As night falls, the heat of the day dissipates, bringing a refreshing relief. Li Guanyi has hunted some prey, and after preparing it, he plans to roast some meat to eat.

After days of eating buns, with the taste in his mouth long gone, the Fire Qilin eagerly cooperates, spitting out a burst of fire, lying there with its eyes wide open, glistening brightly, staring at the roasting meat without blinking.

A young man in simple clothing, resembling a ranger of the martial world, turns a wooden stick.

The surface of the roasted meat is brushed with honey, and grilled with Qilin Fire. The greatest martial arts myth of the current era, controlled personally by the Qin Emperor, gives the skin a golden hue and emits an incredibly enticing aroma.

The Fire Qilin is already impatient.

"Is it ready? Is it ready?"

Its eyes sparkle, and if it weren’t still controlling the fire, drool would be flowing.

"I want to eat good fruit!"

Li Guanyi tousles the Fire Qilin’s head and smiles leisurely:

"Don’t worry, there’s food for you."

"As the saying goes, haste makes waste."

The Fire Qilin dismisses this: "I’m a Fire Qilin! I’m not afraid of heat!"

Li Guanyi chuckles: "That’s true. I forgot about that. Just wait a little longer, it’ll be at the perfect level of doneness soon. If it’s half-raw, it won’t taste good and might give you a stomachache."

Pausing, he adds with a tease:

"However, you’re a Fire Qilin, so that probably doesn’t matter."

The Little Qilin solemnly replies: "No, it’s very important!"

Li Guanyi opens his mouth.

Seeing the little creature earnestly concerned with perfect doneness, he feels a bit powerless.

Not really understanding you Qilin.

He looks up, gazing beside him at a large rock, where a silver-haired girl sits hugging her knees, quietly staring at the sky. Suddenly, she speaks softly.

"The light of the White Tiger Seven Stars has suddenly increased by one stellar brightness."

Her silver hair gently moves in the night breeze, seemingly carrying a thin layer of starlight. Her Shaking Light eyes have tiny sparkles, with a faint golden mark on her brow, enveloped in starlight, she appears ethereal, not like a mortal.

She’s recording changes in the celestial phenomena.

She plans to organize centuries of scattered and disjointed astronomical texts during the chaotic era into a cohesive record, from the Western Regions to the Turkic areas, from the Central Plains to the Southwest, where different people from different ethnicities all gaze at the stars above.

This is an endeavor that past astrologers and stargazing mages wouldn’t even venture to dream. To achieve this, it requires not just the knowledge of a stargazing mage, but also an era of stability and peace, a unified nation, and an emperor capable of making all different tribes submit and offer their secret transmission manuscripts.

The silver-haired girl observes the celestial phenomena, lifting her pen to write something on the scroll beside her.

Until Li Guan speaks: "The roast is almost ready."

The ethereal and delicate girl, seeming to be detached from this world, moves her gaze, then stands up, brushes the dust off her clothes, and carrying the manuscript hailed by later generations as the opening masterpiece of astronomy and celestial studies, lightly hops down from the stone.

Thud.

Her shoes lightly sound as they touch the ground.

Her silver hair lifts in the moonlight.

Then she tumbles forward with a graceful motion.

Li Guan raises his hand to catch the girl.

The silver-haired girl’s face remains calm, steady on her feet, and her voice still devoid of ripples, says:

"My legs are numb."

Li Guan chuckles, releases his grip, and smiles: "After all, Shaking Light, you sat there for a long time. Hungry? Here, it’s about ready to eat."

The Fire Qilin feels somewhat full.

After considering for a moment, the Fire Qilin abandons trying to understand these matters.

Why bother!

As a lucky creature, not really understanding you humans.

The good fruit is ready!

The Fire Qilin lowers its head, joyfully and happily begins to feast.

Li Guan casually flicks out sword qi, slicing the roasted meat into thin slices to share with Shaking Light, and while doing so, asks: "The White Tiger Seven Stars shining brightly, does it mean the next generation of the White Tiger Sect is about to emerge?"

The silver-haired girl chews the roasted meat in small bites, then shakes her head slightly after swallowing, her voice tranquil, devoid of ripples:

"The White Tiger Sect was born amidst the chaotic fortunes of conflict, in this era of universal peace. Even if someone bearing White Tiger Heavenly Destiny is born, they’ll become war generals of the peaceful era rather than instigators of chaos. They cannot be called the White Tiger Sect."

The girl’s expression neutral, her cheeks slightly puffed, moving modestly.

Chewing, chewing.

Swallow.

Li Guan chuckles, extending a hand to wipe the traces left at the corner of the silver-haired girl’s mouth.

Shaking Light is already accustomed to such interactions.

She looks up, watching the starlight flow across the sky.

"The White Tiger Seven Stars span across the vast night in the west. We are already close to the place of the Stargazing School, throughout generations, the Stargazing Lineage has always had connections with the White Tiger Sect. But for the first time, rather than our descendants seeking the White Tiger Sect, the sect comes to us."

"Maybe this matter has caused some internal changes within the school, resulting in such a difference."

Li Guan gazes at the sky.

During this time, he and Shaking Light have journeyed from Jiangnan westward, witnessing many sights along the way, all recorded in her scroll. Now they are finally entering the place of stargazing.

And at last, they will meet Shaking Light’s teacher and master’s wife.