A New Life...
693 Words
The rain continued through the night.
Its gentle rhythm echoed against the worn wooden roof.
Inside the small house...
Only the crackling fire disturbed the silence.
Mira slept lightly.
The child within her would soon arrive.
She could feel it.
Every passing day made it clearer.
---
Outside...
Garrick sat alone beneath the small porch.
A half-empty clay bottle rested beside him.
His eyes stared into the darkness.
He wasn't thinking about gambling.
Nor the debts.
Nor the men who came demanding payment.
For once...
He was simply afraid.
He had barely managed to provide for one child.
How would he feed another?
He clenched his fists.
"...I'll figure something out."
Whether he believed those words himself...
Even he didn't know.
---
The following morning...
Blackstone Village awoke to an unusual visitor.
An old herbalist carrying a bamboo basket walked into the village.
His beard reached his chest.
His back was slightly bent.
Everyone simply called him Old Wen.
He wasn't a cultivator.
He was just a wandering physician who traveled from village to village treating ordinary illnesses.
Whenever he visited...
The villagers welcomed him warmly.
---
Old Wen stopped at Garrick's house.
"I heard your wife is expecting."
Garrick nodded.
"Any day now."
The old physician smiled.
"Then I've brought a few herbs."
"They'll help with the pain."
Mira tried to refuse.
"We don't have money..."
Old Wen waved his hand.
"Then repay me after the child is born."
"If you still can't..."
He laughed.
"...buy me a bowl of soup someday."
---
Elena watched the old man prepare the herbs.
She memorized everything he did.
The amount.
The order.
The smell.
Old Wen noticed.
"You've got sharp eyes."
Elena smiled shyly.
"I want to help Mother."
The old man chuckled.
"A good daughter."
---
As he prepared to leave...
Old Wen looked toward Mira.
Then at the child she carried.
A strange feeling passed through him.
Not fear.
Not excitement.
Just...
Curiosity.
He frowned slightly.
"Odd..."
"What is it?"
Mira asked.
The old man shook his head.
"Nothing."
"Perhaps I'm just getting old."
He smiled and continued down the village road.
---
High above the endless heavens...
The Legendary Golden Dragon slowly opened its enormous golden eyes.
Stars drifted around its body like grains of sand.
It looked toward the Grand Dao.
Then toward I.
"You've made your choice."
"I have."
The dragon lowered its head.
"When it begins..."
"You will disappear."
"I know."
"You may never awaken again."
"I know."
The dragon remained silent.
Even after billions of years...
It still couldn't understand why I would willingly surrender everything.
---
"I."
The dragon finally spoke.
"What if he fails?"
For the first time...
A smile appeared on I's face.
"Then..."
"The fault will be mine."
Not his.
---
Far away...
Hidden within the endless darkness of the God Realm...
Qiongqi slowly opened his eyes.
A servant knelt before him.
"My Lord."
"The Golden Dragon has secluded itself again."
Qiongqi nodded.
"Has I appeared recently?"
"No, my Lord."
Qiongqi looked toward the endless void beyond his palace.
"...Strange."
"It has been centuries."
"Perhaps..."
"He truly has left us."
He dismissed the servant with a wave.
For the first time in countless ages...
A single thought crossed his mind.
"If even I can disappear..."
"Perhaps..."
"...the throne above all thrones is no longer occupied."
It was only a thought.
A fleeting one.
But...
It would one day become the most dangerous ambition in all of creation.
---
Back in Blackstone Village...
Night fell once again.
Mira suddenly gripped the edge of the table.
She inhaled sharply.
Garrick immediately stood.
"Mira?"
Another pain.
Stronger this time.
She looked into his eyes.
"...It's time."
The news spread quickly.
Someone ran to fetch Old Wen.
Another hurried to call the village midwife.
Elena stood frozen.
Unsure whether to be excited...
Or frightened.
Outside...
The wind picked up.
Inside...
A new chapter of history was about to begin.
And across the endless Five Realms...
Not a single soul...
Not even the mighty gods...
Realized that the greatest mystery since the dawn of existence was about to be born in the smallest and most forgotten village imaginable
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