“A child is born into the world only once.
Whether he becomes a dragon or a mortal… is decided by the path he walks.”
The storm had followed him.
Rain lashed against the tiled rooftops of Qinghe City as though the heavens themselves refused to rest.
Thunder rolled across the night sky without pause, shaking windows and rattling the ancient stone walls that had protected the city for generations.
To most people…
It was merely another storm.
To cultivators…
Something about tonight felt different.
A faint pressure lingered within the air.
So subtle that ordinary people could not perceive it.
Yet enough to leave experienced cultivators with an unexplainable sense of unease.
Deep within Qinghe City stood one of its oldest families.
The Yuan Clan.
Built against the eastern foothills, the estate resembled a small city more than a residence.
Towering walls surrounded rows of elegant courtyards, training grounds echoed with the memories of countless generations, and ancient trees stood like silent guardians over the clan’s history.
Tonight…
The estate remained awake.
Servants hurried through the corridors carrying steaming basins of water.
Physicians entered and exited one particular courtyard with increasingly anxious expressions.
Outside the largest room stood a young man whose footsteps had not stopped for nearly two hours.
His robes, once immaculate, were now wrinkled from pacing.
Rain splashed beyond the corridor.
He never looked away from the closed doors.
His name was Yuan Zhen.
Third son of the Yuan Clan Patriarch.
Years ago, his name had spread throughout Qinghe City.
Young.
Talented.
Gifted.
The future pillar of the Yuan Clan.
People once believed he would eventually surpass even his elder brothers.
Then…
Everything changed.
Three years ago.
One expedition.
One mistake.
One battle that should never have happened.
His cultivation no longer advanced.
His once brilliant future quietly faded into memory.
People stopped calling him a genius.
Some even whispered another word.
Failure.
Yuan Zhen had long since stopped caring.
His hand unconsciously rested against the old scar hidden beneath his robes.
The scar no longer hurt.
The memories did.
A gentle voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
“Young Master.”
He turned.
An elderly steward bowed respectfully.
“The physicians have changed the medicinal herbs once more.”
Yuan Zhen nodded.
“Has Lady Yue awakened?”
“Briefly.”
“And?”
The steward hesitated.
“She asked whether you had eaten dinner.”
Yuan Zhen stared silently for several moments.
Then…
He laughed.
A quiet laugh.
Half relief.
Half helplessness.
“She’s still worried about me?”
“Even now?”
The steward smiled.
“Lady Yue has always been that way.”
Yuan Zhen lowered his head.
“…Idiot.”
His voice was barely above a whisper.
Yet the warmth within those two words carried more affection than a thousand grand declarations.
Before either man could continue…
A cry of pain echoed from inside the room.
Yuan Zhen’s expression instantly changed.
His body instinctively moved toward the door.
Only to stop.
He clenched both fists.
There was nothing he could do.
Nothing except wait.
Waiting…
Was somehow more terrifying than any battlefield.
The door slid open.
An elderly physician stepped outside.
His forehead glistened with sweat.
“Physician Zhang!”
Yuan Zhen immediately stepped forward.
“How are they?”
The old physician sighed.
“The mother is safe.”
Yuan Zhen released the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.
“But…”
That single word caused his heart to tighten once more.
“The child…”
“…is unusual.”
Yuan Zhen frowned.
“In what way?”
Physician Zhang slowly looked toward the dark sky beyond the courtyard.
“I have delivered children for forty-eight years.”
“I have seen premature births.”
“I have seen twins.”
“I have even witnessed children born with exceptional spiritual roots.”
He paused.
“But I have never…”
“…felt Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi gathering around an unborn child.”
Silence.
Several nearby servants exchanged nervous glances.
One quietly made the sign used to ward away misfortune.
Another lowered her head, pretending she hadn’t heard anything.
Yuan Zhen’s brows furrowed.
“Is that dangerous?”
“I don’t know.”
The physician answered honestly.
“I simply…”
“…do not know.”
A distant clap of thunder shook the estate.
The old physician instinctively looked upward.
For just a heartbeat…
He thought he saw the clouds above the Yuan Clan slowly rotating.
When he blinked…
Everything appeared normal once more.
“…Perhaps I imagined it.”
He quietly excused himself before returning inside.
Yuan Zhen remained standing alone.
Rain.
Thunder.
Silence.
Minutes passed.
Then…
Heavy footsteps echoed through the corridor.
Every servant immediately lowered their heads.
“Elder Patriarch.”
“No.”
The steward whispered.
“The Patriarch.”
Yuan Zhen turned.
An elderly man approached with steady steps.
His hair had long since turned silver, yet his back remained perfectly straight.
Every movement carried the calm confidence of someone who had spent decades standing above others.
He wore no extravagant robes.
No dazzling ornaments.
Yet his presence alone caused the noisy courtyard to become completely silent.
This man…
Was Yuan Lie.
The current Patriarch of the Yuan Clan.
He stopped beside his youngest son.
Neither spoke immediately.
Instead…
The two men quietly looked toward the room where the cries continued.
After a long silence…
Yuan Lie finally spoke.
“How is she?”
“The physician says Yue is safe.”
Yuan Lie nodded once.
“And the child?”
“…Unusual.”
Yuan Zhen repeated everything Physician Zhang had told him.
The Patriarch listened without interrupting.
His expression remained unchanged.
When Yuan Zhen finished…
Yuan Lie slowly closed his eyes.
His spiritual sense quietly spread across the courtyard.
Nothing.
The rain continued falling.
The spiritual energy remained exactly as it always had.
Ordinary.
He opened his eyes once more.
“…Do not overthink it.”
“Children often bring strange omens.”
Yuan Zhen wanted to ask another question.
Instead…
A cry echoed from within the room.
Not the mother’s.
A newborn’s.
Both men froze.
The storm outside seemed to hesitate.
Only for the briefest instant.
Then the rain resumed.
Even louder than before.
The cry echoed throughout the courtyard.
Not loud.
Not weak.
Clear.
Strong.
Alive.
For a single heartbeat, every servant stood frozen.
Then the courtyard erupted into movement.
“The child is born!”
“Quick!
Inform the kitchens!”
“Prepare the ancestral hall!”
Excited voices filled the estate as servants hurried in every direction.
Yuan Zhen, however, heard none of them.
His eyes never left the wooden door.
Slowly…
It opened.
Physician Zhang emerged once more, exhaustion evident upon his weathered face.
Yet this time, a smile rested beneath his white beard.
“…Congratulations.”
“You have a son.”
Yuan Zhen remained motionless.
It was only after the physician repeated himself that he finally stepped forward.
“My… son?”
The old physician chuckled softly.
“Would you like to hold him?”
Without waiting for an answer, he carefully placed the small bundle into Yuan Zhen’s trembling arms.
The world seemed to fall silent.
The infant’s face was calm.
Too calm.
His tiny fingers rested peacefully against the blanket while his dark eyes slowly wandered across the unfamiliar world.
No crying.
No struggling.
Only quiet observation.
“…”
Yuan Zhen couldn’t help smiling.
“So this…”
“…is my son.”
Behind him, the Patriarch approached with measured steps.
Yuan Lie lowered his gaze toward the child.
His expression remained unreadable.
After several moments, he gently placed two fingers against the infant’s wrist.
Everyone nearby instinctively held their breath.
The Patriarch closed his eyes.
Spiritual Qi flowed silently through his fingertips.
The examination lasted only a few breaths.
Then…
He withdrew his hand.
Yuan Zhen immediately asked,
“Father?”
Yuan Lie looked at the sleeping child before calmly replying,
“Healthy.”
Nothing more.
No praise.
No concern.
Simply…
Healthy.
Several nearby servants quietly released the breath they had been holding.
The Patriarch himself had examined the child.
If he said the baby was healthy…
Then there was nothing to worry about.
Only Yuan Lie remained silent.
For the briefest instant…
He had felt…
Nothing.
Not weak Spiritual Qi.
Not strong Spiritual Qi.
Nothing at all.
Almost as though the child’s body contained a quiet emptiness beyond his understanding.
The sensation disappeared so quickly that even he questioned whether it had existed.
“…Perhaps age has finally caught up to me.”
He dismissed the thought.
There were simply too many unusual things about tonight’s storm.
Inside the room, a gentle voice suddenly called out.
“…Zhen…”
Yuan Zhen immediately hurried inside.
His wife lay exhausted upon the bed, strands of damp hair clinging to her forehead.
Despite her pale complexion, she smiled the moment she saw her husband carrying their son.
“You finally smiled.”
Yuan Zhen laughed.
“I’ve been smiling this whole time.”
“You’ve been worrying.”
She corrected him softly.
He opened his mouth to argue.
Then quietly admitted,
“…You’re right.”
She slowly reached out.
“May I?”
Without hesitation, Yuan Zhen carefully placed the infant into her arms.
The baby remained unusually quiet.
His eyes slowly opened once more.
For the first time…
Mother and son looked at one another.
A warm smile spread across her face.
“So…”
“This is the little troublemaker who kept everyone awake tonight.”
She gently touched his tiny cheek.
“I don’t care whether you become a great cultivator…”
“I don’t care whether you’re a genius.”
“I only hope…”
“…that you grow up safely.”
Yuan Zhen lowered his head.
“…He will.”
“I’ll protect both of you.”
Outside the room…
The storm gradually weakened.
Rain still fell.
But softer now.
As though the heavens themselves had finally exhaled.
The newborn slowly closed his eyes.
Darkness welcomed him once more.
Yet…
It was no longer empty.
Fragments drifted through the darkness.
Rain.
Lightning.
A glowing screen.
White words.
A voice.
The path was never lost.
It was hidden.
Find it.
The words faded before he could understand them.
Another image appeared.
A city.
Towering buildings.
Countless lights.
Then…
Nothing.
The fragments shattered like broken glass, disappearing into the endless darkness of his mind.
Only one feeling remained.
Loss.
As though he had forgotten something precious.
Something…
He had once devoted his entire life to.
His tiny fingers unconsciously tightened around the blanket.
Then relaxed once more.
Outside the Yuan Clan…
Night slowly passed.
Hidden beyond endless mountains…
Within a forgotten ruin untouched for countless ages…
A weathered bronze bell hung silently beneath a collapsed stone archway.
Dust covered every inch of its surface.
Ancient vines wrapped around its frame.
No living creature had approached it for longer than history remembered.
Without warning…
Dong—
A single bell chime echoed across the empty ruins.
The sound was neither loud nor violent.
Yet it traveled farther than it should have.
Across mountains.
Across kingdoms.
Across the Human Realm itself.
Then…
Silence returned.
The bell never rang a second time.
No one knew it had happened.
No one knew why.
Far above the endless heavens…
Beyond stars unseen by mortal eyes…
Something ancient…
Opened its eyes.