An Overview of the Faith Crises in the Xianzhou Alliance
A popular science historical article providing an overview. It discusses the religious life of the Xianzhou people before they resisted Abundance and The Hunt's ascension.
Part I
According to the Xianzhou legend, a hero and the Flint Emperor joined forces to fire an arrow of light to destroy the Muldrasil of wingweavers. Afterward, the hero vanished into the unknown until THEY ascended to become the Reignbow Arbiter. THEY then returned and took to protecting Xianzhou till the present.
This incident is quite peculiar if we look at it now. For Xianzhou citizens who have an average lifespan of 800 years, the war took place only four generations ago, and it can even be considered modern history. Still, the myth of fire deification, which was never proven, is a historical event known by most Xianzhou citizens.
For a more thorough discussion about this matter, we must talk about the Crisis of Belief that spanned from Year 3400 to 4000 Star Calendar.
First and foremost, one thing is certain: The title of "Reignbow Arbiter" came about earlier than the official appearance of The Hunt as an Aeon. After the hero destroyed the Muldrasil with the Flint Emperor, "Reignbow Arbiter" became THEIR title. THEIR original name thus was tabooed and never mentioned in any writings.
Not long after the hero's "sacrifice," the Null disaster broke out. The little remaining faith the Xianzhou people had in Yaoshi wavered because of the mara-struck. They had to decide whose Path to follow after giving up on the Aeon they once believed in.
The IPC contacted the Alliance in the first millennium of the Alliance's voyage. Their Preservation beliefs gradually influenced the Xianzhou people. From the way they named the Aeon, we can see that the Reignbow Arbiter is the only Arbiter besides the Firmamend Arbiter. After Merciful Medicus turned into the Plagues Author, many of Xianzhou's peoples naturally decided to follow the Path of Qlipoth, the god of the skywall. They became known as the Firmamend Sect.
During the 600 years of the Crisis of Belief, the Firmamend Arbiter was once the pillar of the Xianzhou Alliance's beliefs. Although Xianzhou people's faiths have changed drastically by the present, traces of the Firmamend Arbiter can still be seen in the many names of places and buildings leftover from that bygone era, such as the Yaoqing's Amber Avenue, the Luofu's Skywall Delve, and the Zhuming's Firmamend Temple.
Among the structures, the two most magnificent ones are the Firmamend Temple built by the IPC in the Zhuming and the Amber Palace in Cangcheng. The former is now an affiliated academy of the Zhuming Artisanship Commission, whereas the latter has faded away over time along with Cangcheng, leaving only some videos and a poem by an untraceable author:
"From the rails do I perceive the Celestial Hall, and upon clouds can I stride above the leagues of all. In the distance rises the apex of Firmamend high, and the skywall is parted from the peaks mountains though their nearness is nigh."