Shen Yue just stood in front of the grand door of the First Temple "Ruins of Creation·Forbidden Fruit Court", the fake covenant fragment in his hand that recorded "responsibility" was still emitting a faint light. Before he could catch his breath, the ethereal and majestic voice of the guardian spirit once again roared in the depths of his consciousness:
"You have changed the initial punishment by eating the fruit of wisdom and taking responsibility for yourself. However, leaving the origin is the beginning of withering. Now, time will flow for you again, and you are still Arius. You will experience the wild years after exile, and face how the turbid air grows from people's hearts and permeates the earth. Your mission: In this decadent world, do your best to protect the remaining spiritual light in human nature, and try to plant a different cause in the fate of Kyle and Belial, and retain a glimmer of life."
After the voice fell, a strong sense of time and space separation came again. The vision twisted and rotated, and then solidified. Shen Yue found himself standing in a barren wasteland, the sky was lead gray, and the ground was cracked. Behind him, the once fertile land of origin had been completely blocked by a dazzling wall of light, and two spirit guards holding flaming swords stood in front of it, blocking the way back.
He was Arius again. Lilith leaned against him, and the two of them were wearing the simple animal skins given by the guardian spirit when they first left the Holy Garden, barely resisting the knife-like cold wind on the wasteland. This wind was unprecedentedly bleak, and it was completely different from the eternal spring in the Holy Garden in his memory.
"Arius... We..." Lilith's voice trembled, looking at the wall of light with incredible despair, "We can't go back, right?"
Shen Yue shook his head slowly, his heart felt like a rock was pressing down on him. He conveyed the cruel facts he learned from the guardian spirit, his voice was hoarse: "The spirit said that touching the forbidden fruit has made us... vulnerable to foul air. If we stay in the Holy Garden, we will eventually be tempted by the hidden darkness and sink completely. Exile is for isolation, and it is also... the price we must bear."
Lilith's tears rolled down, hitting the dry soil and evaporated instantly. "Then... what should we do? How to live here...?"
Shen Yue held her hand tightly, conveying a little warmth, and seemed to convince himself: "Live. Live tenaciously in this abandoned place. Maybe... I can leave something for those who come later."
They began a difficult livelihood in the wasteland. The climate became violent and unpredictable, alternating between scorching heat and severe cold. The flowers that were once within reach now quickly withered into dust in front of his eyes, and the towering trees also lost their brilliance and turned into dry bones. Death is no longer a distant concept, but a reality that is played out at all times. When Shen Yue buried the first withered flower with his own hands, the pain that came from the connection with the essence of life far exceeded any mourning in the world. He understood that the loss of "eternal life" meant that all things would eventually return to the law of extinction.
He gradually realized the form of the "turbid air" mentioned by the guardian spirit. It is not a physical entity, but more like a kind of... entropy increase, a diffuse force that accelerates decay and amplifies evil thoughts. It was brought out as they left the Holy Garden, like a plague, corroding from the heart. He must teach his descendants to be wary of this invisible enemy.
Years passed in the struggle for survival. Lilith gave birth to Kyle and Belial. Shen Yue (Arius) repeatedly told them the teachings of the guardian spirit, the memories of the Origin Land, and the lessons of his own violation of the ban. He hoped that this would build a dam to resist the invasion of turbid air.
However, as the tribe multiplied, division was inevitable. Kyle, strong and pragmatic, led some of his people to the plains where water and grass were relatively abundant. They farmed, hunted, pursued material wealth, and gradually built a village. Belial, who was introspective and pious, led another group of people to retreat to the barren but high mountains, trying to maintain a simple life and continue the awe of the guardian spirit and the invisible "spiritual contract".
Shen Yue (Arius) has lived for nearly a thousand years - in the spiritual world trial, the concept of time was extremely compressed and stretched. He witnessed the increasing prosperity of the plain settlements, and also noticed how the turbid air quietly spread through desire: competition, jealousy, vanity... People's hearts became lax in abundance. Although the Belial lineage in the mountains lived a hard life, they remained relatively simple, and the glimmer of spiritual contract still existed.
At first, geographical isolation protected Belial's descendants. But with population growth and scarce resources, life in the mountains was hard after all. The younger generation began to look at the plains with curiosity. The women of the descendants of Kell are healthy and lively, and their lives are full of colors and vitality that are unimaginable in the mountains.
The crisis quietly came during the communication.
"Grandfather," a descendant of Belial named Seran, with admiration for the plains woman Aisha in his eyes, and also with confusion about the bitter cold in the mountains, "Why can't we live like them? The plains are rich, and their women... they bring joy. Why do we have to stick to this barren mountain?"
Shen Yue (Arius) felt depressed, and he tried to explain: "Seran, under the prosperity of the plains, turbid air is surging. Excessive material desires will blind the soul and forget the spiritual contract. Your purity will be gradually assimilated."
But the throbbing of youth and the yearning for a better life, can it be easily stopped by the old warning? Seran finally married Aisha. Like the first domino to fall, more and more Belial young people choose to marry women from the Kell clan. Blood blends, and lifestyles begin to confuse.
Shen Yue (Arius) was saddened to find that among the descendants of Belial, the reverence was gradually fading, the heavenly rules of the guardian spirit were regarded as constraints, and some even began to question the legend of the origin. The binding force of the "Ten Sacred Oracles" seemed pale and powerless in the face of the temptations of reality.
He felt a deep fatigue and powerlessness. He had summoned his tribesmen and told them about the stars, origins, rules and the price of degeneration on the mountains. His voice was hoarse, but he only got the recognition of a few elders and the impatience of young people: "Ancestor, these stories again! We live in the present!"
The real outbreak point originated from a sacrifice. The Kyle clan brought rich output, while the Belial clan offered the piety of the soul and the only wild fruits in the mountains according to tradition. The turbid air magnified Kyle's pride and contempt for Belial's "useless" piety. Deeper, it was a secret jealousy that his father (Arius) seemed to prefer Belial's "spirituality".
Shen Yue (Arius) sensed the surging darkness in Kyle, which was the product of the combination of turbid air and negative emotions. He tried to intervene, reiterating on the high platform that the guardian spirit valued "heart" rather than "things". He had long talks with Kyle and Belial separately, hoping to resolve the invisible rift.
But he failed. Or rather, he could only delay it, not eradicate it.
In an evening filled with jealousy and anger, Kyle raised a stone to Belial. Shen Yue (Arius) failed to stop the fatal blow - perhaps, this was exactly what the guardian spirit wanted him to experience, the inevitability of "the darkness of human nature" under the catalysis of turbid air. He hugged Belial's still warm body and cried silently. This was not foreseen, but a tragedy that happened in front of him, which he tried but failed to save. Kyle was exiled in fear, regret and the accusations of his people, and his bloodline will wander with this sin. Shen Yue (Arius) lost two sons at the same time - one died an untimely death, and the other was swallowed by darkness. The two paths in his bloodline were tinged with tragedy at this moment.
The turbid air, as if breaking free from the last shackles, accelerated its spread. Shen Yue (Arius) felt the complete collapse of a certain balance between heaven and earth. He understood that the "cleansing" of the guardian spirit was coming - the torrent of destruction was the final judgment on this land and human heart deeply polluted by the turbid air.
He must seize the last chance.
He summoned the remaining descendants again, under the former holy mountain. This time, he did not tell the history in a long speech, but directly declared: "I am Arius! I brought original sin and turbid air! Look around you, look at the end of Kyle and Belial! The water of destruction is coming, cleansing everything! But the guardian spirit left a glimmer of hope!"
The crowd was in turmoil, and fear began to spread.
He held up a parchment scroll made of special materials that he had kept close to his body - it was the essence of the guardian spirit's teachings, the truth of the origin of the land, and the method of maintaining the spiritual contract that he had spent a lot of effort to record. "Who is willing to repent? Who is willing to carry this fire after the destruction and rebuild the connection with the guardian spirit?"
Selan, with a face full of vicissitudes and regret, was the first to kneel down: "Grandfather... I was wrong. I am willing to take this responsibility!" Then, some people who were awakened by the tragedy also knelt down.
Shen Yue (Arius) solemnly handed the parchment scroll to Seran, his voice was full of endless fatigue, but also a hint of determination: "Take it and survive. Find the pure land that has not been completely swallowed by the turbid air. After the flood, follow the instructions of the scroll, rebuild the altar, and call for the guardian spirit. This is... the last hope."
The sky suddenly darkened, thunder rolled, and the earth began to tremble. The breath of the flood was clearly audible.
Shen Yue (Arius) took a last look at the blocked holy garden light wall, and then looked at Seran who was kneeling on the ground, holding the scroll tightly, and his descendants behind him with fear and hope. He has tried his best.
A strong pulling feeling came, and the scene in front of him turned into fragments.
He returned to the spirit world, in front of the First Temple.
The voice of the guardian spirit carried a hint of indistinguishable emotion, perhaps recognition, perhaps a sigh: "The trial is complete. You faced the fall and interfered with fate. Although you failed to prevent the tragedy, you kept the fire in the ashes. The scroll contains the hope of maintaining the spiritual contract."
A new pseudo-covenant fragment appeared in front of him, emitting a soft and tenacious light. The words engraved on it seemed to flow: "The tenacity of Arius, protecting the spiritual light in the turbid flow, and inheriting the seeds of the contract."
Shen Yue took the fragment and felt that it contained not only power, but also a heavy responsibility and a faint expectation for the future.
...
Reality, the Temple Library.
Shen Yue picked up the feather pen, and the ink condensed at the tip of the pen. He wrote new words on the parchment, his strokes more steady than the last time:
"The second trial is over. In the land of exile, turbid air spreads, and brothers kill each other. However, the spiritual contract is not broken, and the seeds of hope have been sown before the flood."
The chief Xuanji appeared silently, he leaned over to read, his old face had no expression, but his deep eyes seemed to reflect the vicissitudes of the ages. He gently closed the scroll and whispered: "Turbid air comes from the human heart, and it can also purify the human heart. What you are doing is to strive for possibilities for the future. Shen Yue, what you are reshaping may not only be the contract of the past, but also... the road to the future. Keep going."