With a quiet shift of thought, Song Miaozhu appeared beneath the towering paper-crafted locust tree.
She swept her wide sleeves, and five intricately folded lounge chairs emerged out of thin air, neatly arranged in the shade.
Each was built with purple sandalwood-patterned paper as the frame, cushioned with cloud-brocade padding, and had silk cords carefully wrapped around the armrests.
She extended her sleeves and gracefully reclined onto one of the chairs. The hem of her Hundredfold Artisan Robe draped naturally over the side, swaying gently in the breeze.
Before long, ripples stirred on the surface of Chengxin Lake as the paper-crafted Black Tortoise mount surfaced, ferrying Zhang Li, Yue Lin, and the others.
The tortoise's shell glowed faintly with the pattern of a Bagua array, and its four limbs stirred up delicate black waves with each stroke.
Even before they reached shore, Yue Lin could no longer hold back. With a quick step, she vaulted from the tortoise's back, landing lightly on the soft paper grass of the lakeside.
"Miss!" she called out cheerfully, droplets still clinging to her hair and sparkling in the sunlight.
Song Miaozhu raised a hand lazily and pointed to the lounge chairs. "Come sit. I've looked around carefully. This is the best view."
Her gaze drifted across the shimmering lake, the rustling blue paper bamboo forest, and finally came to rest on the majestic Paper Arts Immortal Palace in the distance.
Yue Lin hurried over and plopped down on the seat beside her without hesitation.
Stretching her limbs in satisfaction, she sighed, "This place is wonderful! If only we had something to eat. I'd bring you a bowl of ice cream right now."
She mimed scooping it with a spoon.
Song Miaozhu sighed with equal wistfulness.
Though she now ruled over the hundred crafts of the mortal realm, with culinary arts among them, she could not conjure any edible ingredients.
Everything within the Hundredfold Artisan Domain was crafted from essence-born materials. The locust tree was folded from calligraphy paper, the lake formed from calligraphic ink, even the floral scent in the air was stitched by the fragrance of a seamstress's thread.
Exquisite, yes, but none of it carried the vitality of the real world.
"Once I ask the Sovereign of Ten Thousand Spirits to imbue my sleeve-realm with the power of growth and life, I'll be able to plant and raise things there," she mused, gently brushing her sleeve.
She pictured transforming her personal space into a serene countryside retreat. Though her immortal body no longer needed food or drink, her mortal appetite remained. To her, true enjoyment of life could never be complete without flavor and warmth.
Then her eyes lit up. "Right, when I visit the human realm, I should definitely bring back some good food."
Already, her mind filled with images of mortal delicacies—flaky pastries fresh from the oven, steaming bowls of soup noodles, chilled seasonal fruits. Simple pleasures once taken for granted now felt like treasures, even for an immortal.
She tapped her fingertip. A swirl of rainbow-colored immortal energy flowed, forming a delicate tea set on the nearby table.
The teapot mimicked the celadon hue of Song Dynasty Ru ware. The teacups were painted with fine vine patterns, while the tea trays were crafted in deep red lacquer.
All of them had been shaped effortlessly through her authority over the hundred crafts.
As she gazed at them, she marveled again at the mysterious power the Heavenly Dao had bestowed.
When she became a Sovereign, the knowledge infused into her made one truth abundantly clear: the hundred crafts of mortals were divided into two domains. One was traditional craftsmanship—embroidery, carving, ceramics—passed from hand to hand, infused with the artisan's spirit. The other was mechanical manufacturing, created through machines and systems.
Traditional crafts, imbued with heart and technique, were known as the origin crafts. They resonated most deeply with the authority she held.
That was why, during this spiritual resurgence, only those who practiced traditional craftsmanship could absorb spiritual energy. The so-called "spiritual energy" was in fact a diluted form of the power of the hundred crafts, only perceptible to those in direct contact with its origin.
Mechanical crafts, while also achievements of human ingenuity, were known as derivative crafts. Their creation passed through layers of tools and machinery, dulling their resonance with the core authority.
It was like peering at a landscape through frosted glass. One might glimpse the shape but never touch its essence.
Not that mechanical inventions fell outside the realm of the hundred crafts. They were simply harder to attune with. Mortals had no way to sense that thread of connection.
Song Miaozhu gently stroked the teapot, feeling the spiritual flow within it.
The essence of the authority she now held was to breathe life into creations. This was why cultivators attuned to her domain nurtured their spiritual growth through crafted objects, rather than enhancing their physical bodies like the Lord of Myriad Lifeforms had.
All those paper-crafted creatures—humanoid and beast—were the result of this authority merging with the artisan's devotion.
Even her title, "Divine Artisan Sovereign" reflected that.
"Lingchu" (灵楮) symbolized her power to instill paper with life, a nod to her origin in the Secret Art of Paper Crafting. "Xuanji" (璇璣) represented her post-ascension mastery over the hundred crafts.
This authority was not about killing or attaining immortality. It was about creation, about breathing life into the lifeless, about the artisan's power to turn the mundane into the miraculous.
Which meant, if she wanted to use immortal power to create a computer, she absolutely could.
With a flick of her finger, rainbow immortal energy danced and twisted into shape, weaving like threads in the air. In moments, a sleek, ornate laptop formed before her.
It mimicked every function of its mortal counterpart.
But the Hundredfold Artisan Domain operated under different laws. No electromagnetic fields, no electrical currents. Even if Song Miaozhu conjured a generator, it would be useless here.
As expected, when she pressed the power button, nothing happened.
With a wave of her hand, the beautifully crafted laptop dissolved into multicolored mist, vanishing like a dream.
She shook her head lightly, not in disappointment but amusement.
Fortunately, she did not feel the sting of loneliness.
As the newly ascended Sovereign, everything in the Hundredfold Artisan Domain filled her with wonder. Watching the spirit-essences of crafted things frolic among the immortal palaces, studying the countless techniques recorded in the Celestial Artisan Codex, building her home, understanding her power—each of these could occupy her for years.
But a stray thought slipped in. Hundreds or even thousands of years from now, when all this novelty had worn away, what then?
She smiled to herself.
Most likely, she would be just like her two fellow Sovereigns, paying each other visits across their realms, or traveling together to the human world, tasting the food, enjoying the sights, basking in its mortal charm.
In the long journey of the immortals, one always had to find some joy.