Chapter 2: The Nine Provinces
The four hundred eighty-fourth awakening.
A stifling heat spread through Liang Yuan’s entire body. In a flash, he burst from the crust of Planet One and emerged onto the surface, only to be greeted by endless gales and swirling sands.
“The temperature is high, and the sandstorms are fierce.”
Liang Yuan frowned, sensing that things were not as they should be. With a single thought, he took in the entirety of the planet—there was not a trace of life to be found. Yet to his astonishment, he sensed water on this world.
Water?
He had not created any water resources—where had it come from?
Liang Yuan’s figure flickered and vanished, reappearing before a vast expanse of ocean. Taking in the scene, he closed his eyes, and in that instant, the true nature of this land was revealed to him.
When the sun was newly born, the debris scattered throughout the cosmos was swept up by its gravity, forming countless meteors that fell upon this planet. Water, formed in the depths of the starry sky, clung to those meteors. As the meteors plunged into the planet, the intense heat evaporated the water, sending it skyward as vapor, which then condensed and rained down from the atmosphere. The cycle repeated, gradually pooling into seas.
The laws of nature.
Liang Yuan exhaled deeply; for the first time in a long while, his heart—long since stilled—was stirred.
Night had fallen. Looking up, Liang Yuan was startled to see a full moon hanging in the sky.
“The moon?”
Surprised, his form grew hazy, and in the blink of an eye, he stood upon the moon.
Once there, Liang Yuan understood his location. He was on Planet Two.
“The moon... Hahaha, so this is the moon?”
He murmured to himself, a hint of delight rising within him. He did not know what state he was in now, but this feeling brought him joy. Endless days in the darkness had stripped him of much, but at this moment, Liang Yuan felt amusement once more.
He returned to Planet One. By natural progression, it was impossible to say when life would emerge—years, centuries, or eons hence—an outcome Liang Yuan could not abide. He resolved to hasten things along.
Yet among the three planets, it seemed he was the only living being.
Liang Yuan frowned in thought, then suddenly extended a hand and pinched his own finger until it broke the skin, creating a small wound.
A single drop of blood fell into the vast ocean, spreading and slowly sinking. Something seemed to be taking shape in the water.
“Good—let life be born of itself.”
He murmured, then cast his gaze once more to the celestial vault.
Unlike the last time, when the universe was utterly empty, Liang Yuan could now see several small stars.
They were suns.
Since the creation of this universe, cosmic debris had begun to fuse, gradually giving birth to stars.
It was a beautiful sight.
After months spent admiring the wind and rain, Liang Yuan yawned. He glanced at this still-primordial world and prepared to sleep once more.
He hoped that upon his next awakening, life would have appeared.
...
The four hundred eighty-fifth awakening.
The stifling heat of before had vanished. This time, Liang Yuan awakened in the deep sea—replaced now by biting cold.
As soon as he awoke, Liang Yuan sensed that his slumber had been far shorter than usual.
Before his eyes, algae flourished on the ocean floor, busy with photosynthesis. He could also see tiny fish, only a few centimeters long, darting through the water.
Life.
Yes, apart from himself, there were finally other living creatures—the long-awaited return of life.
Liang Yuan was well pleased. He quickly rose to the surface and, emerging from the water, looked toward the land.
The continent remained a single, massive expanse, barren and featureless.
Shaking his head at the sight, Liang Yuan set foot upon the earth and softly intoned, “So it is a single whole? Then let it divide—split into several continents, scattered across the world, so that every corner has a different landscape.”
Even before his words had faded, the ground began to tremble. Everywhere he looked, the earth shook and mountains swayed.
The land was calm no more; countless chasms split the once-smooth surface!
The sound of cracking earth, the thunder of collapsing rocks, the roar of erupting volcanoes—
Boom!
Stones flew, fissures yawned!
Under Liang Yuan’s influence, the immense continent began to shatter, and over the course of tens of thousands of years, it split into nine parts.
Liang Yuan was immensely satisfied. With a wave of his hand, divine power rained down once more.
Spurred by this power, seeds seemed to sprout, and tiny forms of life appeared upon the land.
With his encouragement, the evolution of life fast-forwarded by tens of millions of years.
“Grow, keep growing. Grow lush and dense, until intelligent beings appear.”
With this thought, Liang Yuan soared into the air, frowning slightly as he surveyed the nine continents—or rather, the Nine Provinces—at the world’s edge.
His energy was boundless, ceaselessly renewed.
These four hundred eighty-five awakenings had left him fully replenished.
He hovered above the heavens, watching over the mountains and rivers, the seas and lands—everything that he had created with his own hands.
Millions of years passed before his eyes.
He saw the algae multiplying in the oceans, the emergence of new species... and the rise of fish.
On land, some trees began to appear, though progress there lagged behind the oceans.
Beneath the waves, every manner of fish had arisen—some two or three meters long, others only a few centimeters. Some fed on algae, some on mayflies, some on their own kind...
During these millions of years, Liang Yuan had even ventured among the fish in the sea.
These fish were much like those he knew—breathing through gills—though their forms were myriad and strange. Among them was a great fish that seemed to be growing limbs.
Liang Yuan realized that this great fish was the result of the blood he had once shed. If all went as expected, this species would become the world’s first intelligent life.
He did nothing to hinder it.
He was curious to see what these mermen—or perhaps merfolk—would become.
After all, in his memory, merfolk existed only in myth and legend.
To witness a legend born before his eyes was an extraordinary experience.
Liang Yuan was in high spirits.
He decided to sleep again for a while, but not too long—he had done much during these millions of years.
He had managed the aftermath of the Nine Provinces’ formation, attended to the atmosphere, perfected the birth of clouds... all of which had scattered his focus.
He hoped that in his next awakening, he would see the merfolk.