Immortal Realm
Absolute darkness. Nothing existed beyond the void.
Then two eyes opened—white, radiant, like stars igniting in a dead sky.
A voice echoed, ancient and weary:
"My Dao has reached its end."
---
CRACK.
The world split—not like glass, but like bone. Fractures tore through space itself.
And from within emerged a translucent river.
Impossible.
The immortal did not struggle.Did not scream.
He simply let himself be carried.
Maybe this time… I'll find it.
The river swallowed him.
And the Immortal Realm fell silent.
---
Mortal Realm — Four Great Rivers Region
Nameless Village
The woman was bleeding.
Too much.
Her hands trembled, her body thin to the extreme. She had no strength left—yet she couldn't stop.
"Just a little more…" the midwife whispered. "Please…"
The prostitute didn't answer.
She only clenched her teeth and pushed one last time.
A baby's cry filled the room—weak, but alive.
The woman smiled, small and exhausted.
"I…" Her voice faded. "…will I live?"
The midwife looked at the child, then at the mother, and lied.
"You will."
The woman closed her eyes, still smiling.
"Good."
And she never opened them again.
The midwife stared at the body, then at the baby.
Another orphan. Another casualty of war.
She sighed and carried the child to the orphanage, where so many others waited—without mother, without father, without anything.
Only life.
And the fragile hope that life would be enough.
---
Eight Years Later
The boy jolted awake, a hand pressed to his chest, his heart racing.
Around him, other children slept, unaware.
But he couldn't breathe.
Because memories flooded in—like a river breaking a dam.
Thousands of years.
Battles.Loneliness.Power.Emptiness.
I… succeeded?
He closed his eyes and examined the body.
Small.Fragile.Mortal.
Basic talent in the five elements.
It could have been worse.
It could have failed entirely.
He inhaled slowly, and for the first time in millennia, he felt something strange.
Not power.
Not knowledge.
Hope.
---
He raised his hand—just a small gesture, almost imperceptible.
And the heavens answered.
Clouds parted. Golden light poured down upon the village.
Auspicious signs.
A heavenly blessing.
The children woke in awe.
"What is that?!"
"The heavens are shining!"
Sai didn't respond.
He only watched.
With this, the karma of my birth is repaid.My mother gave me life—so I give prosperity to her village.We are even.
Pause.
Now I must find what I lost at the peak.
He looked at the other children—laughing, hugging, sharing their joy.
Together.
Bonds.
That is what I need.Not power. Not immortality.But people to walk with me.
He smiled—genuinely—
For the first time in millennia.
---
And far from there, in another village…
Another boy woke up.
Cold sweat. Trembling hands.
Blood. Screams. Parents lying dead on the ground.
Wang Tao clenched his fists until they bled.
But the nightmare wouldn't stop.
It never stopped.
And with determined eyes, he moved toward his mission.
The Four-Leaf Clover Sect…