📖 Sunken Pearls in the Tear Sea

Once in a coastal fishing village, there lived a woman known only as Lady Lin her true name lost to time. Wise and well-read, she was versed in reason and skilled in reading the stars. The village was ever at the mercy of nature, with thick hazes veiling both day and night. One day, heaven and earth shifted their appearance, and a cataclysm struck without warning. Whirlwinds engulfed the land and torrents rose in fury. Swept away by the surging tides, Lady Lin was drawn into the Dragon Palace, where she met the Dragon Crown Prince. She asked, "Great deity, you are revered as a divine protector, but why do you not protect us?" The Crown Prince replied, "I am no deity, but the son of the dragon. Heaven's will is without compassion, and each disaster follows its course. Should one seek to defy it and alter the cycle of cause and effect, one must face the destruction of the soul." Lady Lin laughed and said, "Does that mean both body and spirit shall be lost, with no path to reincarnation? If I may guard the land and its people, I shall not falter!" The two spoke at great length. Moved by Lady Lin's resolve, the Crown Prince gifted her the Dragon Pearl Embryo, granting her the chance to transform into a dragon. In time, the Crown Prince gave his life to save the mortal world. And Lady Lin, bearing the Dragon Pearl, became a dragon and took her place as a protector. What passed between lies beyond the reach of common knowledge. Eastern Sea Chronicles - Sunken Pearls in the Tear Sea

On a shrouded, moonless night in August, in the Year of Jimao, the wind and rain pressed low. She had not glimpsed a single star in two days. In this fishing village by the bay, the lives of hundreds were tethered to that unreachable sky above. Unreasonably, a surge of indignation struck her, but soon she found it absurd. "If the heavens have feelings, why do they send forth endless tides, year after year, sweeping away all that lives?" A single tide could undo years of toil, let alone the hurricanes spoken of only in elders' tales. Since childhood, she had known that the tides would rise as summer tipped into autumn. And with tides came panic the whole village would go on alert, fleeing toward the distant hills. Those tides followed no pattern, and in their monstrous surges, loved ones would often vanish, never to return. So this night, she stayed awake, keeping watch, longing for a sign of the tide's coming, so she could rouse the village in time. It must have been past the fifth hour, yet darkness lingered and no dawn in sight, bringing a gnawing unease to her heart. Then suddenly she saw it. A pillar of cloud rose, bridging sea and sky, approaching from the horizon. She quickly loosed a signal arrow, but the fierce wind devoured it. She ran toward the village, shouting loudly, yet the storm swallowed her voice. She ran with all her might, daring not to look back, fearing the tide had already been upon her. Still, the village seemed impossibly far away. Then she looked down. The sand and mud under her feet had been swept up by the whirlpool, and she was running inside it the hurricane had arrived. There was no time for fear. The wave rose, vast and final, and crashed upon her. As she floated upon its crest, one thought passed through her mind: "Perhaps the deities have turned their faces from this world."

She awoke slowly amidst soft, star-like sand, and the first thing her eyes met was a sky of sparkling azure. Instinctively, she sensed the sky was not as it ought to be. Could this be the world beyond death? She rose to her feet and walked forward, each step sinking into the soft sand. She felt as though she were surrounded by seawater, both cool and warm, yet she could still breathe. Towering reefs stood all around, with vines hanging down like veils. Their shapes were strange, yet held a garden-like grace. Aimlessly, she chose a small path at random and pressed forward. Upon reaching a wide clearing, she beheld a scene beyond anything she had ever known. Shrimp and crabs scuttled, conches and shells raced, and schools of fish darted by, all weaving a merry bustle. And there, by the roadside, stalls stood just like those in the human world, yet adorned with countless wonders. At the pearl stall, she saw a fair-skinned woman nestled within a shell, offering pearls of various colors. And the coral bonsai, rumored to be hoarded only in the vaults of nobility, were on full display. Dazzled by the splendor of the place, she stood rooted, when suddenly a hand patted her shoulder. Startled, she turned around. Before her stood a man clad in splendid attire, tall and imposing, with horns on his forehead. His brows were faintly furrowed, calm yet commanding. "Human, you were swept away by the tide, and I saved you from death. Why linger here still and trespass upon the Dragon Palace Sea Market?"

She paused, "The Dragon Palace Sea Market?" Before long, she regained her senses and anxiously asked, "Is there anyone else here besides me?" The man shook his head, "No. The hurricane was a calamity of nature, and you were saved only because you happened to enter the domain of the Dragon Palace." She stepped back half a pace, her expression clouded with sorrow. Under the hurricane, how could the villagers possibly survive? Clenching her fists, she cried out in anger, "Since there exists a Dragon Palace Sea Market, then surely there is a Dragon King. We have offered prayers day and night, never lacking devotion, not for wealth, but for peace. And now, when calamity strikes, where is this deity?" The man's expression remained unchanged, and he shook his head in response: "There's no deity here, but the Crown Prince of the Dragon Clan. Although we bear the power to transform into dragons, we are not deities and cannot interfere with the will of heaven. Should we do so, our bodies would perish and souls be scattered, forbidden from reincarnation." Only then did she understand: The tides surge year after year were but the natural order a ruthless cycle of weal and woe, heedless of human desire. She bowed slightly, with a hint of apology. "Forgive my offense. May I ask... is there any means to help the villagers resist the assaulting tides, making them no longer live in fear?" The Crown Prince replied, "To defy the might of heaven, one must first possess great power. Our clan has no ties with humankind. If we resist heaven's will for the sake of humans, we cannot escape its judgment. We have no cultivation suited to humans, but I do hold a Dragon Pearl Embryo, which is of little use to our kind but can grant a human the form of a dragon. However, those who want to refine it must endure the pain of having their tendons torn, bones extracted, and body reshaped. Worse still, to challenge fate is to invite divine punishment. Under heaven's wrath, both their body and soul shall be annihilated, with no hope of reincarnation." Resolutely, she said, "All whom I loved are surely gone, claimed by the flood. Now I'm all alone, unafraid of death." "I fear not the loss of my body, nor the banishment from reincarnations. If I gain the strength to overturn the seas, even at the cost of my life, I shall protect the land that nurtured me." "I beg you grant me the Dragon Pearl Embryo and the method of cultivation. Not for my own sake, but for the lives of countless people." The Crown Prince was silent for a moment, then sighed. "Do you know that the weal and woe are heaven's decree, tolerating no mortal control? That to rouse heaven's wrath is the end of your existence and the dissolution of your soul, leaving no future life?" "I know. And I am willing. All I seek is to defy destiny, for the sake of people in this world."

The Crown Prince asked, "If the dragon pearl can be refined, even a mortal can become a dragon. But the process is painful. Are you willing?" She remained resolute. "Yes!" In the first year, she merged with the pearl, enduring the heart-piercing pain. In the fifth year, she absorbed dragon blood, suffering the agony of internal incineration. In the 10th year, she grew dragon scales, causing the excruciating pain of flaying. In the 20th year, she formed dragon claws, enduring the pain of nails snapping. In the 30th year, she grew dragon tendons, suffering the agony of having her marrow extracted. ... In the 50th year, her mortal bones was replaced by dragon bones. In the 100th year, her mortal heart became a dragon pearl.

Normally, she resided and practiced cultivation in a guest house of the Crown Prince's palace, but she frequently travelled to the mortal world, using her still-developing magic to calm minor tides and rescue surviving fishermen. In time, she discovered the Crown Prince's hidden warmth beneath his aloof demeanor. There were moments when she found the Crown Prince overly strict as a teacher and rather cold as a friend. She shared these thoughts with the palace's clam maidens, who were somewhat fearful and worried, believing in the order of hierarchy and that it should not be overstepped. But isn't this as dull as the unyielding laws of nature? She wondered. She frequently traveled between the mortal world, and one day, she returned covered in wounds. When the tides rose again, she prepared to save more people but this time, the Crown Prince stopped her. The Crown Prince asked her, "Your relatives and friends are gone, and the people you once knew have faded with time over the decades. Moreover, your cultivation is still incomplete, and now you are injured. You travel between worlds, battle the tides and save strangers. You may endure the smaller floods, but what if the great flood comes? When life and death hang by a thread. Tell me, do you feel no fear?" She remained as resolute as she had been a hundred years before. "I have this power, so I bear this responsibility. It is not fate or destiny it is my choice. I do not believe in destiny, only in human will. Having your assistance is already a great fortune, and I still have the strength to resist. In the storm, countless people are more fearful than I am. If saving even one means my death, what does it matter?" The Crown Prince sighed seemingly moved then gave her an Elixir and allowed her to leave. The Crown Prince knew that ever since he'd given the Dragon Pearl to that mortal woman the one with a heart to save the world he had become entangled in a fateful web from which there was no escape. He had been taught since childhood that fate was predetermined, that karma and reincarnation were inevitable, and that the laws of nature could not be defied. Yet she insisted on doing the impossible walking a perilous path, defying all currents, challenging nature's laws, not for herself, but for the people of this world. He thought: if saving the people is a great cause, then why can't karma be reversed? If karma is predetermined, then isn't the so-called way of heaven unjust and unkind devoid of goodness or compassion? In her, the Crown Prince saw something new a power distinct from the millennia-old traditions. Was it a defiance of fate? Was it the destruction of the old to make way for the new? Was it a boundless love for all beings? Was it... He couldn't be sure she was too new, too radiant. He knew that such a new power might not necessarily avert disasters, but it would certainly bring peace to the world. The world did not lack a reclusive dragon Crown Prince, but it certainly needed a Dragon Maiden one who could save and aid the people. He thought, If this is an earthly bondage, he did not wish to break free.

A century later, another hurricane came. Lady Lin, on the verge of transforming into a dragon, fought the flood, but her strength waned and she nearly dissolved. At that moment, the Crown Prince emerged as a dragon to block the flood. Heaven, enraged, sent down eighty-one thunder strikes. The Crown Prince expelled a dragon pearl to protect Lady Lin, bearing the wrath himself. The law of cause and effect is invisible and nameless, with neither good nor evil, and without heart or emotion. His spirit faded completely, and his dragon remains sank into the sea, forming an immortal isle. Lady Lin, with his dragon pearl, transformed into a dragon. The true dragon left only his remains to form an isle, while the mortal woman became a dragon with his pearl. The Dragon Palace remained unharmed, but the one departed. The village still stood, yet the disaster lingered. The beings in the world live on precariously. Only the Heavenly Principle endures, shining with justice. Eastern Sea Chronicles - Sunken Pearls in the Tear Sea

She realized her feelings too late so late that before she could voice them, the Crown Prince had already been reduced to charred bones under the Celestial Bolt. In the small bay, no century-old acquaintances remained. The fishermen no longer knew her now they only addressed her as "Dragon Goddess." She found it amusing; if there truly were immortals, why would she need to become a dragon? Later, as she traveled through Humanity, she discovered that not everyone was struggling for survival, nor did all live in constant fear of impending natural disasters. She saw some born into luxury, living in abundance; others indulged in wickedness hoarding wealth through greed, yet living undisturbed. Only then did she become certain: the Dao of Heaven does not pity mortals, the Dao is never equal, the Dao is never just. The fishing village built a True Dragon Shrine to pay respects to both the Crown Prince and the Dragon Maiden, as well as the heavens. Whenever she patrolled the Eastern Sea, she would see the Immortal Isle formed from the Crown Prince's dragon bones. She picked up a pen and wrote a letter that would never be received addressed to her mentor and closest friend, pouring out her heart's deepest questions. "If the heavens have spirit, why are saviors condemned? If the heavens have righteousness, why are the innocent always slaughtered? If the heavens have benevolence, why do the wicked thrive? If the heavens have emotion, why do they bring disaster to the world upholding cause and effect as commandments, toying with mortals in their palm, treating all living things as sacrificial beasts?"

"After great sorrow, Lady Lin found enlightenment and shed countless tears. The Siren's tears turned into pearls, and the Dragon Maiden's tears became sea stars. The Dragon Maiden, compassionate towards the world, loving all beings, and mourning the departed one, decided to fight heaven. She transformed into a dragon to protect the land, and the villagers named the bay 'Zhenhai Bay.' The villagers, grateful to the Crown Prince and the Dragon Maiden but also sorrowful, passed down this tale as 'Sunken Pearls in the Tear Sea'." Eastern Sea Chronicles - Sunken Pearls in the Tear Sea