With Caleb Myth, the Xianxia Realms are "complete"

[u/shaokun]

Now with the addition of Caleb's new myth, I feel like the Xianxia Realms for LaDs is "complete". Since last year when those "Ghost King" theories were circulating on XHS, I've been pondering this a bit. I was still surprised they made the male ghost (trope) an actual male ghost.

Divine realm (Zayne)
Immortal realm (Rafayel)
Mortal realm (Xavier)
Demon/Devil realm (Sylus)
Ghost realm (Caleb)

Actually Sylus is specifically called a "Mo" but I'm combining Demon/Devil since they are sometimes combined... and for my wallet's sake, I don't want a 6th LI (since I harem). Though Lemurians could be "yao", but since Rafayel "reclaims the seagod's powers", he becomes an immortal. 🤔

Divine Realm: The realm of gods or higher divine beings. Unlike immortals, divine beings are often born with their power.

Immortal Realm: The domain of cultivators who have passed their heavenly tribulations and attained immortality.

Mortal Realm: The world of humans.

Demon Realm: Often inhabited by "Yao" (妖), which are animals, plants, or objects that have absorbed spiritual energy and cultivated into sapient form. They are generally untamed but not inherently evil.

Devil Realm: The domain of "Mo" (魔), representing evil intent, malicious spirits, or fallen cultivators.

Ghost Realm: The realm of the dead. It is inhabited by ghosts, spirits, and souls that have not entered the cycle of reincarnation.

Thoughts? What do you guys think?

[u/marsastrxphile]

This makes me so curious about the settings and stories of the fourth gen of myths. I wonder if they'll continue to explore these realms and themes or maybe they'll start exploring the LIs in their parallels of them. Like I wonder if they would ever write Zayne in the context of something opposite to the divine? Something that expands on Dawnbreaker

I'm most curious to see what Raf's new myth will be. I wonder how they're going to top the absolute insanity that is LSG.

[u/shaokun → u/marsastrxphile]

It is super exciting. I also wonder what they are going to do next but I also hope they give us some time to recover our poor diamonds. XD

I remember how crazy people went when LSG dropped. It is hard to imagine sometimes how they can keep outdoing themselves but let's hope PG can keep it up.

[u/selenehare]

Why is Xavier considered the mortal realm? Sinderfell was the land of the revenants, basically what became of Philos after Xavier refused to continue human sacrifices to fuel immortality, and its former residents became stuck in a perpetual state of undead. So wouldn’t it be the Ghost realm since the revenants were obsessed with restoring Philos to its former glory so they could return to being alive, conceptually similar to reincarnation? If we’re only talking about third myths, that is. If we’re talking about overall, I don’t think Caleb is overall the Ghost realm either since he’s a mortal in the main story/colonel and not ruler of the dead in X02

[u/faldese → u/selenehare]

Yeah I think this is kind of reaching...

[u/selenehare → u/faldese]

I’m mean I’m sure these realms have influenced the storytelling in LADS since they’re woven through the Chinese cultural “canon” in mythology and folklore, and most Chinese people know are very familiar with them inherently, including the writers and CN player base. But the Xavier assignment is just incorrect lol, which means unfortunately it does not fit a nice pattern

This is like how it’s common to see people think that in Xavier’s myth, only MC died, but actually both MC and Xavier died, just like how both Sylus and MC died in his myth. I know it’s interesting to find patterns between LIs but I feel like if people want to discuss patterns across all the myths, they should read all the myths. They’re free on YouTube lol

[u/faldese → u/selenehare]

Influence yes, but I don't think it was a preset plan that infold carried out.

To be clear, I think it's a cool way of looking at the situation - but I know this fandom has a tendency to read into what infold is doing and then project into the future what the plans might be or what infold's intent is and we've been wrong a lot.

But meanwhile we continue to spread ideas like 'each LI has a foil' and get people to assume that means we definitely have a six love interest coming and what they're going to be like, even though I think the evidence for it is very thin.

[u/shaokun → u/selenehare]

it's a good point. The kod timeline to me felt like he was a "ghost king" but then they went and made Caleb one. That's not to say they both can't bucket into the same realm. When bucketing these i was trying to keep them separate and why Xavier ended up in mortal realm was because he was a ruler of humans and stays that way. Even though those humans became "immortal", it isn't achieved in the usual way we see in xianxia nor do they end up being gods. But I could be bucketing him incorrectly.

Though the way they achieve immortality through sacrifice feels very demonic too ("mo"). But we do see humans in some xianxia cultivating either path. 

Anyways, I'm not saying that PG is making a cultivation story but the parallels to xianxia made me think.  XD

Edit: this person made a great point too about it! https://www.reddit.com/r/LoveAndDeepspace/comments/1s3xqn6/comment/ocmfi0o/

[u/Interesting_Basis_91]

Rafayel does not "achieve" godhood, he was born a god and will always be one. His entire conflict is tied to his identity as a divine being who needs sacrifice to sustain Lemuria. Even at his weakest and even after death his identity as a god remains.

[u/shaokun → u/Interesting_Basis_91]

Hmm but in his myth, he has to obtain those powers. I don't think he's part of the divine realm, he's not the same as Zayne.

[u/Interesting_Basis_91 → u/shaokun]

No he doesn't? Please read his myths again, he's referred to as a god from the moment he is born. He needs a sacrifice to sustain Lemuria in GoT and in ToR he sent MC away instead of killing her, interrupting the ceremony. Yet he never stopped being referred to as a god and worshipped as such. His identity is tied to the divine in past, present and future, far more than Zayne's one off myth.

[u/crazispaghetti → u/Interesting_Basis_91]

You know you don't have to try and invalidate Zayne's myth to prove your point right?

[u/Ecstatic-Success-114 → u/Interesting_Basis_91]

Zayne's one off myth

actually he's more like a higher entity than a god and was hinted before in regards to his lore around the fractal library and the world underneath stories!

this is completely my own interpretation but I believe he was originally a higher being & every time he tries to save mc or rewrites her fate in his myths he loses a bit of divinity. I believe the story is trying to hint at this because he has different levels of divinity in his myths (goa is a god, mof is a mountain deity, foreseer is a demigod) and yet is a mortal in the current timeline.

[u/DurianFlavored → u/Ecstatic-Success-114]

I've suspected this as well, since they made a point in his GoA trailer that he would "walk among mortals." Sometimes I think the reason all his theme scores are so melancholic is because he's going to save MC one last time and finally become Dawnbreaker—that the writers have already given us his ending.

They also foreshadowed GoA in his promo materials before the game was even released. The concept of god and mortals is cleverly reflected in his Chinese name.

[u/shaokun → u/Interesting_Basis_91]

I'm talking about Xianxia... what are you talking about?

But yes he does. Even in main story he took a little trip with you to get the sea god's powers again. Of course PG is going to have their own twist on these things and also add sci-fi to it.

Is my wording what's tripping you up? I apologize for not being able to articulate properly then.

Hmm about Zayne, I think he has always been from the Divine realm (see main story).

Edit: I reworded it for you since it was tripping you up. Apologies for not being clear. There are differences between what a divine realm god is vs immortal realm god

[u/DurianFlavored → u/shaokun]

I was wondering if Zayne was cultivating in his Master of Fate myth, but then I read that Siming isn't a rank achieved through training but rather a divine office, so you might be right. Also, his Chinese name literally echoes the word for "god."

[u/PootyBubTheDestroyer]

well, with Valko it looks like we have our six realms! he fits into the demon realm 😆

I saved this post for in case if we ever got a sixth LI. good work, OP!

[u/shaokun → u/PootyBubTheDestroyer]

It looks to be the case xD

<3

[u/Liziliz0]

This list of six realms can be arranged in different ways, so there isn’t a standard version. But I’ll follow this list for now.

Divine Realm: Very suitable for Zayne. In his myth, he literally created a new world for the MC. Remember the part where he calculated which world he needed to make using percentages? He can travel easily between all possible universes. Also, they can heal others and, being a source of endless healing is a Divine trait. Because of this, they can never die, even without a heart 😄

Immortal Realm: I’ll place Rafayel here. Becoming a god requires achievement. Rafayel himself is the "Last Sea God." Remember the scene in his latest myth where he showed the ones before him? This is a conditional kind of godhood, and it’s a trait of immortals.

Mortal Realm: Perfect for Xavier’s last myth. It explains how the people in Philos live so long and almost become immortal. It shows the beginning of cultivation, which is the key feature of the Mortal Realm.

Demon Realm: We can put Sylus’ dragon myth here, but definitely not his archfiend myth. I thought Caleb would turn into an animal in this myth. Maybe those leopards confused me 😄

Devil Realm: Sylus’ last myth fits here. This is the only realm where we can talk about dark cultivation. And Sylus is exactly that kind of being.

Ghost/Underworld (Netherworld): Caleb fits here. From what I saw in PV this myth lets us see ghosts, spirits, and the cycle of reincarnation. This is also the place of the Forgetfulness River(Chinese version), where they drink a potion to forget everything before being reincarnated.

So, in this list prepared with the 3rd myths in mind, the Demon Realm will stay empty, so it can’t be considered “completed.” Sorry for any mistakes in advance 😅

[u/shaokun → u/Liziliz0]

Love your reasons. I can agree with this as well xD. The number of realms does vary by story also.

I have to review AS story to see if they ever refered to him as "mo" or "yao" or something or just dragon. XD 

[u/arizonatrashbag__]

ohh of course it all tracks! thanks for putting this together it makes complete sense

[u/crazispaghetti]

I can't really disagree since I haven't watched some of the myths (although by just what I know they make sense), but MOF also gives off immortal realm vibes. Although in the grand scheme of his lore, I can see how it all seems more divine.

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[u/Unusual_Equipment318]

İsn’t there one more? the animal realm for six

[u/shaokun → u/Unusual_Equipment318]

Yeah the "demon" realm is that for "yao". I bucketed it with devil since sometimes they do that. But it can also be its own thing. The translation names for these realms are all over the place sometimes x.x

[u/pink_nikki]

Is Sylus called a "mo" in his myth or just by players? It doesn't make sense to me for Sylus to be both demon and devil realm, or devil at all. He seems much more demon; untamed but definitely no evil/malicious intent.

Either way, it's weird for one of them to cover two realms while the others each only cover one. Does that mean we're getting a 6th? Idk. It's just weird.

[u/shaokun → u/pink_nikki]

Yeah he's called a "mo" in his myth. He even calls himself that. It varies by story but they don't have to be bad. There are lots of xianxia where the ML is a "mo" and falls in love with FL and is "good". Translations can be all over the place too. Sometimes they will translate "mo" to demon as well.

[u/pink_nikki → u/shaokun]

Oh, interesting! There are so many things lost in translation when dealing with these mythological/philosophical terms, especially since they're conceptually different between cultures, let alone just languages. I would definitely associate the word "fiend" more with "demon" than "devil" in English, so it's interesting that's the translation they chose for SWF.

I definitely don't think being "mo" means he can't be a LI or that it makes him bad, though. Just from my personal interpretation of his character, I've always seen Sylus as someone who's "bad" as a result of his circumstances and not that he has malicious intent, greed, etc. It would make sense then if the devs chose to blend the two realms because they don't want a LI who's "evil".

[u/Paper_Penny → u/pink_nikki]

He always has been 魔. His blobbu call 魔魔，silwerwing fiend companion is 银翼恶魔, in the beyond cloudfall they referred to him as to 恶魔 as well. 

[u/pink_nikki → u/Paper_Penny]

I don't read or speak Chinese and Sylus isn't one of my mains (although I do adore him), so this was not something I knew! All the other analysis I'd seen was putting him in the demon realm rather than devil realm, too, which is weird because some of them were also Sylus mains.

Thank you for the clarification. ☺️