Once, a war between humans and gods broke out.
An emperor with the name of a dragon sought to break free from the rule and oppression of the gods and establish a nation of humans. They fought against the gods, but humans were no match for the divine.
Countless people died.
Rivers ran red with blood, piled corpses formed mountains, and humans became playthings for the gods.
Then, one god betrayed their kin and sided with humanity.
The scales tipped.
A minute difference, bridged by the strength of humans and the power of one god. Humans began to grasp victory. The god who chose to help humans was exceptionally powerful among their kin, a dragon who ruled the heavens.
Thus, the war ended. The result was a victory for humanity. The remaining gods were either defeated and killed or fled the land, branded with the shame of losing to humans.
But even the god who helped humans was gravely wounded by their kin. Instead of being worshipped by the humans they saved, they were hunted, called just another god.
At the end of the hunt, the god who sided with humans and wished for worship knelt. Eventually, to survive, the dragon endured the humiliation of becoming a human's vassal and bowed their head.
The Chaos of the Hundred Clans (百氏之乱). The war between humans and gods.
No, now it was a fight against beings called Behemoths.
The dragon, now a vassal of humans, endured humiliation. At some point, they split themselves into twelve fragments. No one knew why, but the scattered twelve fragments had no names, no desires, nothing.
They spent an eternity in a dazed state, as if dreaming. Why live? What did they love, what did they want? Unable to answer, the twelve fragments wandered the world.
And then.
"Who am I?"
By answering that question, the twelve fragments gained self-awareness. They found things to love, things they liked. A reason to live.
Having established unique selves, they began to consider each other as family in the order they gained awareness.
Sui (岁).
At some point, they began to be called by the name Sui.
The twelve scattered fragments of the dragon.
Yujin, being dragged along, thought he should at least know her name, so he asked the woman.
"…We never introduced ourselves. What's your name?"
"Ugh, no need for honorifics. Just call me Nian. Just a run-of-the-mill blacksmith."
Where were they going? They seemed new to Dahuang too; did they even know where a forge was?
Yujin followed Nian without questioning, and she naturally arrived at a forge. People were hammering iron, making farming tools like hoes. It didn't look like a place for forging swords or weapons.
"Here! Give me that spear. I need to check it quickly."
"Excuse me... who are you?"
When Nian boldly reached for the spear, a blacksmith working there approached and asked. Nian looked at him, realizing her mistake.
"I need to borrow the forge for a bit."
"…This is a forge directly under Dahuang. And it's not suitable for forging weapons. We make hoes and farming tools here."
If a total stranger asked to borrow their workplace, anyone would react like that. But Nian thought for a moment, then, as if having a good idea, brought up Shu's name.
"Shu, she's my sister. You can ask her directly. Contact her now."
The blacksmith looked suspicious but tapped his terminal, seemingly contacting Shu. Getting an immediate response, he nodded briefly.
"She says she's coming here right now. If you could wait a moment..."
Before the man could finish, Shu appeared like lightning and grabbed Nian by the scruff of her neck. She bowed to the blacksmith and Yujin.
"Yujin, I'm sorry. Did Nian do anything rude to the blacksmith or you?"
"…Actually, I feel sorry for Nian. I was the one who showed her the spear and asked her to fix it."
Yujin stood awkwardly and spoke. He had entrusted the spear to Nian, seeing her as a skilled blacksmith. But seeing her get scolded made him feel apologetic.
"Nian."
"Aww, you're so mean to your sister you haven't seen in ages."
"You're always causing trouble, aren't you? If you were quiet like Dusk and just painted, maybe. Did you forget getting scolded by the Second Brother for setting off fireworks to see a show?"
Second Brother, and Dusk. Unknown information, but Yujin filed the names away.
"Ugh, that was..."
"Shu, I asked her to do it. Don't be too hard on Nian."
"Right! That human showed me the spear first and asked me to fix it!"
Shu bonked the screeching Nian on the head, said she understood, and spoke to the blacksmiths as she left.
Watching Shu's retreating figure, Nian looked at Yujin and snatched the spear with a whoosh. It was a speed Yujin couldn't even react to. Yujin looked at Nian in surprise, but Nian looked into his eyes seriously and said:
"Casting (鋳) is the masses (衆), meaning casting is the pillar of all phenomena (萬象). I never do casting work carelessly."
Nian‘s eyes were dragon eyes with vertical slits. Others might miss it in a flash, but Yujin, seeing that fleeting gaze, realized the woman in front of him also harbored immense power.
"Don't worry about your spear. I don't know what story this spear holds, but even I rarely get to handle a weapon like this. I'll check it as best as I can and contact you."
"Then, the payment..."
"Later. I have plenty of money and nothing I really want. I guess you could say I live for interest. But I do have one request now."
"If I can grant it, I will."
"Hah, you used informal speech with Shu unnie, didn't you?"
"That's because she told me to speak comfortably..."
"Now you're calling her 'she' again. Your eyes were weird from the start. But the request isn't much."
Nian shrugged and tapped the spear. Like it was truly nothing.
"Just get along well with Shu unnie while you stay in this neighborhood. You seem pretty decent."
"…Based on what?"
"A dragon's intuition. Now, go."
Yujin was pushed out by Nian. He didn't know what was what, but he realized one thing: Yan was a country full of mysteries.
'I need to investigate.'
Chongyue, Shu, Nian. And the boy said to be Nian's brother.
A subtle incongruity felt every time he saw them. Not unpleasant, but strange, like a thorn stuck in a finger.
What was this incongruity?
A lab filled with rice seedlings and various plant saplings, white and sterile. Shu and a woman were talking.
"In Experimental Plot A for superior rice varieties, the Originium activity rate during the growth period was 5%, with an average yield of 160kg per mu."
The woman reciting the results didn't look happy. As if nothing had changed.
"In Plot B, the activity rate was 8%. Yield 75kg. Plot C, 15%, survival rate almost zero..."
"Hmm."
"Each data point is not much different from last season, and almost no different from the year before last. The situation with other crops is the same."
Listening, Shu still looked at the seedlings with shining eyes. As if nothing was over, she didn't give up.
"…Aren't you disappointed at all?"
"What will change by being impatient? We have to take it one step at a time."
"15% is a barrier hard to cross. Once the Originium activity rate exceeds this figure, the survival rate of all crops and soil drops drastically."
Unlike Shu, the woman‘s expression was grim. Whether distressed by the lack of results or sorry for not being helpful to Shu, the reason was unclear.
"Do you want to give up?"
"…No."
Shu felt the gap at times like this. To the woman, it must feel like nothing was changing.
"We've researched for years, but there's not even a glimmer of hope."
"5%."
"Yes?"
"Decades ago, it was someone else then, but the 'barrier hard to cross' that person spoke of was 5%."
Recalling the distant past, her eyes remained unchanged. Within them lay a golden wheat field.
"Generations upon generations conducted experiments, and in a small corner, we barely found a variant resistant to Originium."
"The previous Tianshi spent such a long time..."
"Even without baseless rumors or scientific evidence, countless people in this sky and land worked hard to cultivate crops. After repeating thousands of trials and errors, we have the farms and crops of today."
Every time Shu spoke of this, she felt a gap and a pang in her heart.
"Maybe the next generation will wonder why we did things this way. Success is built upon countless failures."
In her eyes, there was a woman who dreamed of golden wheat fields.
"I believe. Someday we can overcome Originium and have 'Ten Thousand Qing of Fertile Land.' There was someone else besides me who said this."
"Teacher, what you just said...!"
"You can go now. Good work today. Thank you for always working hard."
The woman tried to say something but left. Shu remained standing, guarding the spot, fatigue in her eyes.
"…Having no one to rely on is this hard."
She recalled an old friend. A woman who left for the north and never returned. An ascetic who left on a long pilgrimage with a pouch of seeds in her heart. She hadn't forgotten.
Shu was able to answer the question 'Who am I?' thanks to that friend.
Ten Thousand Qing of Fertile Land.
Could she achieve that inherited dream?
Shu could no longer answer that question with confidence.