The moment that light appeared,
the top human cultivators all felt a shiver run through them. They looked toward the Sky City, horror flashing in their eyes.
What is that? Why does it carry such terrifying pressure?
Within that pressure, there was a bone-chilling intent to kill!
Someone was making a move inside Sky City!
Who was it?
Was it the four statues?
Or the person in the central altar?
Who were they targeting?
That terrifying light fell to the mortal realm in an instant!
Ji Wusi's expression shifted abruptly.
This direction…
Yun Jin!
Someone was attacking Xiao Jin!
Qing Yun, stunned, crushed the porcelain bottle in his hand. Someone inside Sky City was attacking Xiao Jin?
That kind of power… it probably already surpassed the mortal limit!
"Quick, head to Wushuang Sect!" Liu Li Zhēnzūn immediately mounted her steed.
She knew that even if they rushed now, it was already too late. But she couldn't think of anything else to do!
Lin Ya's wine gourd slipped from his hand, spilling the alcohol instantly. He didn't bother watching the chaos, having returned to Tianxing Sect earlier. Now, like a madman, he charged toward the teleportation array.
Everyone in Wushuang Sect froze for a moment, then surged toward Yun Jin's direction.
Suddenly, they realized something.
No wonder!
No wonder after leaving Sky City, the Sect Master had kept her distance. They thought she was lost in thought and didn't dare approach recklessly.
Turns out… the Sect Master was just trying not to put them in danger.
That light! It was aimed at the Sect Master!
In that moment, it felt like someone had hit slow motion, and everyone desperately raced toward Yun Jin.
But!
It was too late!
Way too late!
Though it feels long, in reality, the light's appearance and descent to the mortal realm lasted only an instant.
Hong Ye even used a secret method to burn her life and accelerate, but it still wasn't enough.
Yun Jin looked up at the sky, holding the Tai'a Sword, and charged straight at that overwhelming light!
The brilliance instantly enveloped her. For a moment, everyone's eyes burned painfully, and they briefly lost their sight. Even their divine sense couldn't extend beyond their bodies.
"No!!" Hong Ye yelled in despair.
Qin Ping trembled violently, tearing off the last page of his book. He could die, but the Sect Master couldn't, absolutely couldn't.
"Master…" Gu Jinghong's eyes bled tears.
Why!
Why had the master-servant contract been broken just before this? Otherwise, he could have known exactly what was happening to her!
The light's eruption lasted only an instant, but to everyone, it felt like a century had passed.
The next moment, the light vanished.
In midair, a figure slowly fell.
Everyone in Wushuang Sect, eyes bloodshot, rushed forward frantically.
"Sect Master!!"
Hundreds of streams of spiritual power converged, forming a soft net that caught Yun Jin as she fell.
She looked utterly pitiful.
Her bones were shattered, her blue robes soaked in blood, her sea of consciousness fragmented.
Struggling, Yun Jin shouted toward the sky, "Thanks to the four Immortal Emperors for your help! Demon, in five years, I, Yun Jin, will destroy you!"
Her voice rang out fiercely.
A cold, mocking laugh seemed to echo from the sky.
Then, the rift completely disappeared, leaving only the stars and moon suspended in the sky.
Sky City… had vanished into the void!
Yun Jin exhaled, asking the system quickly, "Can the five Immortal Emperors of Sky City still monitor the mortal realm?"
After deducting Emotional Value, the system replied promptly, "No. All four Immortal Emperors have temporarily lost contact with their divine artifacts. Contact will resume in five years."
Yun Jin finally relaxed! That's good! That's really good! Her final act of theater hadn't been in vain!
"Sect Master!" the Wushuang Sect disciples arrived.
Hong Ye trembled, pulling out pills one after another.
Qin Ping was about to use the power of his last book page.
Yun Jin, alarmed, hurriedly said, "Qin Ping, what are you doing? Put that page away! If you use it, you could die!"
"Hong Ye, what are you doing? Why are you crying?"
"Don't come closer, don't come closer! There's a bit of oxygen shortage here!"
"Ye Cheng, manage your juniors, I'm not dead yet!"
While speaking, Yun Jin gathered the power of the Five Elements, visibly healing her wounds.
By the time she finished speaking, she could move normally again.
She hopped a few times, grinning, "Finally, the act is over!"
Everyone: "???"
What?
An act?
They hadn't even had time to stop crying.
Yun Jin cleared her throat lightly, "Alright, alright, don't stare at me like that. My wounds will fully heal in a few days. Don't tell anyone outside—just say I'm severely injured and went into seclusion."
The Wushuang Sect disciples nodded dumbly.
"Okay, everyone disperse. Sky City has vanished into the void, there won't be a second attack." Yun Jin carefully comforted them as they still seemed dazed.
She had no other choice.
No one could know what happened while Sky City disappeared into the void.
While Yun Jin kept everyone calm,
in the void, Sky City…
At the central altar, a strange laughter echoed.
"You four really have skills. You gave protection, but still let her be severely injured. In the next five years, will she only be able to recover in seclusion? At that rate, five years from now, she'll have no choice but to be your offering."
A black shadow appeared in the air. It was a very lean man, with hollow features, but piercing eyes that made his entire face seem unbalanced.
The four Immortal Emperors' projections appeared above the four main cities.
Zi Mo Xiāndì said calmly, "Hei Yao, don't speak sarcastically. Our goal is to devour this small world. Whoever succeeds will rely on their own ability."
"Rely on ability?" Hei Yao laughed, "You four seem united now. But when you win, who will actually devour this small world?"
Jin Jian Xiāndì sneered, "You don't need to sow discord. We've known each other for tens of millions of years. Our bonds are beyond what you can imagine. Whoever devours the world doesn't matter."
"Exactly."
The other three Immortal Emperors nodded in agreement. Regardless of their private plans, they appeared united.
"Then I'll… wait and see." Hei Yao sneered, and the shadow vanished.
The other four projections disappeared as well.
In the dim space, Hei Yao slowly opened his eyes. Holding two branches from the Tree of Life, he chuckled. His Tree of Life… seemed almost ready to mature. Five years from now, it'd be time to give these four hypocrites a little surprise.
As for Yun Jin…
Hei Yao hadn't really considered her worth. He promised Lin Xiao a full-force strike. That was indeed his full strike under his current circumstances. He wasn't breaking his word.
But five years later… when he completely broke free, it would be different.
All living beings are ants. Why would a god pay attention to an ant's actions?
"Five years… hehe… five years…"
A sinister smile curved Hei Yao's lips. The final day was almost here. And he… was looking forward to it.
===
There's someone suddenly lecturing and tearing into me on AO3. It was under My Daughter is the Empire's Lucky Charm in the Head's Up chapter, which mostly talks about how I did my translation.
Their initial comment was just "DO NOT. SUPPORT. AI." When I saw that, of course I replied, explaining why I use AI in some cases, my reasoning, and all that. Just normal stuff. This notification came through on October 29.
In my reply, I said:
"Yeah, I get where you're coming from, and I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I know AI models basically 'steal' from people's work to train themselves, especially when it comes to creative stuff like art and writing.
But here's the thing: where I live, there are no Mandarin teachers or tutors. Maybe you can find some in the city center, but that's a good hour away from me. I'm completely self-taught. So honestly, AI is a huge help for me, especially with things like names—like the examples I gave. It's not just about translating a name, but knowing how to adapt a Chinese name written in Hanzi into a localized version based on someone's nationality, like 杰明·沃克 (Jié Míng · Wò Kè) or 利贵勋 (Lì Guìxūn).
How else would I figure out their 'real' names? Sure, people might know English or Western names since they're so global. But what about other languages, like Korean? I doubt most people understand the conventions for converting Chinese names into Korean or other languages like Thai. It's tricky.
Plus, the 'Mandarin teachers' here don't have Mandarin as their first language—it's probably their fourth or later. Most people here are polyglots and speak at least two or three languages, like Javanese for daily life, Indonesian for the national language, English, and maybe another one. So naturally, their knowledge on this specific topic is limited.
Also, AI isn't some brand-new thing; it's been around for a while, making life easier. Sure, there are unethical sides to how some companies handle AI training, but advanced AI has made a lot of tasks way more accessible for regular people.
So it all comes down to this: just use AI wisely. It's really up to the individual."
Then on December 5 (yesterday), they suddenly replied with this long rant:
"First things first! Using AI wisely is not using it for literally anything. Use your creativity. You think this is called using AI wisely? No. Do you know how much AI causes damage to our environment? I don't think you do. If you do not, then I think you need to learn more. Rapid development and deployment of powerful generative AI models comes with environmental consequences, including increased electricity demand and water consumption. The environmental impact of artificial intelligence includes substantial electricity consumption for training and using deep learning models, and the related carbon footprint and water usage. There are differences between generative AI and traditional AI. You can't pick names? Use name generator or Google search Chinese names bro, you don't need to use AI for that. And I see you use AI images for these people. You do NOT know how people who learn art feel when people use AI 'art' or AI images for their work. Learn how to draw! You don't want to? Appreciate the artists—humans—that work on real art, buy their commissions. That's how you appreciate humans, you dependent AI users. You can't speak Mandarin? Then LEARN. You can't learn? You're too lazy? Too bad, don't use Mandarin at all, then! Self-taught isn't using AI, my friend. Self-taught is teaching. We have YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, all social media channels that can help you learn what you want to learn. Using a shortcut like AI is lame. I bet you write all these paragraphs using AI. I know, you're right that AI is not brand new anymore, but that doesn't mean you need to depend on AI for everything, dude. At least put effort into researching or something. I am still young, and I use purely all my efforts to do arts—draw, sing, play instruments, write, EVERYTHING. It's not good, but it's REAL. Not an AI slop. It's not that hard to learn if you have the want to. So please—please, love our world by not using AI as often as you always do, dear friend."
It literally came as one giant wall of text, no paragraphs, no spacing, just full narration. For a fuck's sake, I felt so insulted reading that.
Of course, I fired back. I started with:
"First, I'm not sure if you misunderstood something, didn't bother thinking about my answer, have seriously bad reading comprehension, or just wanted to get all 'raging' and show off how awesome you are by tearing into my work, even if you're just talking about the 'Head's Up' chapter, which mostly talks about how I did my translation.
Let me respond to your reply that suspiciously reads like an accusation."
Then I began countering their points: "Using AI wisely is not using it for literally anything," "AI is bad for the environment," "You can't pick names? Use a name generator or Google search Chinese names," "You can't speak Mandarin? Then LEARN. You can't learn? You're too lazy? Too bad, don't use Mandarin at all, then! Self-taught isn't using AI, my friend," "And I see you use AI images for these people," "I bet you write all these paragraphs using AI."
Fuck, I'm still so fucking mad right now.
I just copy-pasted my answer below. I'll give you an update if they reply again.
---
First, I'm not sure if you misunderstood something, didn't bother thinking about my answer, have seriously bad reading comprehension, or just wanted to get all "raging" and show off how awesome you are by tearing into my work, even if you're just talking about the "Head's Up" chapter, which mostly talks about how I did my translation.
Let me respond to your reply that suspiciously reads like an accusation.
About this part, "using AI wisely is not using it for literally anything"—tell me, where in my "Heads Up" chapter, in my disclaimer, or in any of my previous answers do I say I use AI for everything?
And about "AI is bad for the environment"—of course I know. I even knew that because of AI companies, RAM prices shot up like crazy, and some big companies stopped producing for the general public just to meet AI demands.
As for "You can't pick names? Use a name generator or Google search Chinese names"—did you even read my answer? I only use that for foreign names written in Chinese. If you didn't know, I'm a translator, this isn't my original work. I can't just change all the foreign names into brand new ones and call it done.
About "You can't speak Mandarin? Then LEARN. You can't learn? You're too lazy? Too bad, don't use Mandarin at all, then! Self-taught isn't using AI, my friend"—again, where did I ever say I use AI for self-learning? I literally said, "AI is a huge help for me, especially with things like names…" I only use AI for a few things, not everything. Please read it again. I even made a point that many people here are polyglots, so their knowledge about specific topics, like foreign names in Chinese, is limited. So ask real-life people for help on this topic, because their knowledge or knowledge about other specific topics is limited.
About "And I see you use AI images for these people"—yeah, I admit that in the early days of my translation project covers, which you can see on my webnovel, I used AI for 5 projects. But after that, I switched and tried my best to make the covers myself. Now I have over 20 projects, and I mostly use Pinterest images or clean up the original cover, use it as background, and add the title myself. Good? Also, for the "pictures" chapter, where I put images of how I imagine them, I picked those from Pinterest, thanks.
About "I bet you write all these paragraphs using AI"—which part of this chapter says I did that? I literally wrote, "For translation, my process is a little more involved. I always have two browser tabs open for the same chapter: one with the original text and another with a machine translation. When I hit a wall or need a second perspective on a tricky sentence, I peek at the auto-translation to compare."
Do you even get what that means, or did you just catch that I use machine translation as the final version or something? If yes, then your reading comprehension seriously needs to be addressed.
You know Google Translate, right? Yeah, I fucking use it for reference. If you don't even know what Google Translate is, then I'm not sure how to even proceed with this. And if that counts as AI in your book, fine, then yes. I also use AI for picking synonyms or checking what the initial or literal wording sounds like in MTL.
Yes, I admit I use Grammarly and other tools to check my grammar. Is that freaking bad?
Also, if you're trying to argue that copying and pasting this into an AI detector proves I used AI for it, please know those detectors aren't accurate at all. Do you want to put my work into Turnitin or something? Well, this isn't a report or paper that needs plagiarism checks.
Honestly, I don't care if you do everything by yourself. Why? Because I do that too. I have a brain, and my intelligence is something I take pride in. From your tone, though, you made it sound like you were accusing me of using AI for everything in all my projects, and that's honestly insulting. So if my reply comes off aggressive, it's because it is. And when you added "So please—please, love our world by not using AI as often as you always do, dear friend" in your last reply, all the "my friend" stuff didn't soften the tone at all. It actually comes across as diminutive in a negative way.
Let me emphasize this again: I'M NOT THE AUTHOR. Everything I upload here is just a translation. Even if it's not 100% true to the original story, it's because, like I wrote in this chapter, "I see translation as a creative collaboration with the original text. While I will never change the main plot or the core heart of the story, the journey there will be uniquely shaped by my choices." So this isn't a full-blown fan adaptation or fanfic. The lowest accuracy is still around 70–80% true to the original story.
So before you attack someone with your "knowledge," at least understand who and what you're actually attacking.