Arc 2: Chapter 1 — Arrival & the Echo of the Dragon
The sky was a canvas of swirling grey, the last breath of twilight clinging to the edges of the world. The Mortal Realm waited—its valleys deep, its peaks crowned in cloud, its air thick with ambition and ancient secrets.
1️⃣ Fen Hao's Fall
With a shudder of power, Fen Hao broke through the Boundary—a wall of raw energy separating the immortal heavens from the mortal lands.
For an instant, there was weightlessness—
Then the world claimed him.
Mountains clawed at the sky, valleys yawned open below. He fell like a dying star, wind tearing the breath from his lungs. The impact shattered the air—
Wood splintered, tiles cracked as he crashed through the roof of a humble home in a forgotten village.
Pain flared sharp and hot, blood filling his vision.
He tasted iron, and the world spun in a blur of dust and shadows.
2️⃣ The First Encounter with Ziyan
The house shuddered around him, dust swirling like ghosts.
In the dim light, he saw her—Ziyan. A girl with silver hair and eyes like fresh blood, standing frozen. At her side, a small boy clung to her sleeve, his gaze wide with fear.
For a heartbeat, silence claimed them all.
Fen Hao forced himself to rise, blood dripping from a cut on his brow.
Ziyan's voice was quiet but steady, her eyes unwavering despite the tremble in her breath.
> "Who… who are you?" she whispered.
3️⃣ The Dragon Altar Resonates
Before he could answer, something ancient stirred beneath the earth.
Far below the village, in the bones of the world, a Dragon Altar awoke.
Carved with dragons locked in eternal battle, its stone pulsed with a dark, cold light—
And in that instant, Fen Hao's blood answered.
A roar thundered in his mind—
A call, a promise… a curse.
He staggered, clutching his chest as if his heart might tear free.
The altar's voice was wordless but deep as eternity.
It knew him.
4️⃣ Ziyan's Care
He collapsed.
Outside, the winter wind howled. Inside, silence fell heavy and soft.
Ziyan hesitated—fear flickered in her eyes, but she stepped forward anyway.
She knelt beside him, brushing the blood from his face with trembling fingers.
A stranger fallen from the sky—yet something in the quiet rise and fall of his breath called to her.
For a week, he lay still, caught in fever and restless dreams.
Ziyan tended his wounds, her brother peeking from behind the doorway, eyes round with questions.
She did not know who this boy was—only that he had fallen like a star from the heavens.
And somehow, she could not turn him away.
5️⃣ The Demon Lord's Search
But peace was fragile, and danger moved in the shadows.
Far away, in a fortress of bone and iron, the Demon Lord stirred.
He was ancient—eyes as cold as the void, skin pale as polished marble.
> "A strange bloodline…" he murmured, his voice a whisper that made the air shiver.
> "…it stirs again."
His power reached out, seeking the echo of Fen Hao's blood.
And he found it—like a flare in the night, calling him closer.
6️⃣ The Abduction & the Journey to the Demon Lord's Castle
On the seventh day, cold air bit through the small house.
Demon soldiers in black armor broke through the door, iron chains in hand.
Ziyan and her brother clung to each other as Fen Hao rose unsteadily to his feet, blood crusted at his brow.
Bound at wrist and ankle, they were led away through the night—
Past the fields where the dead once lay, past villages that bolted their doors in fear.
The Demon Lord's fortress rose ahead, carved from bone and shadow, a monument to a thousand years of blood.
7️⃣ The Demon Lord's Terrifying Power
In the throne room, the Demon Lord waited—
Eyes blindfolded, yet seeing more than any mortal ever could.
He rose slowly from his throne, the weight of ancient power in every step.
He turned his gaze first to Ziyan, his voice soft and cold.
> "Show me," he said.
A darkness flared in his pupils—
A power older than the world, born of blood and ancient sin.
He saw Ziyan's Origin—a hall of five thrones draped in crimson silk and moonlight. One of them was hers.
Then his gaze fell on her brother—
A flicker of a boy, bathed in alien light, his future sharp as a blade.
Finally, his eyes turned to Fen Hao—
And the world bled red.
Under a sky the color of spilled blood, Fen Hao stood with a sword in his hand—
His hair silver, his eyes burning like twin moons of blood.
A woman's voice echoed in the vision, soft and final:
> "Get lost."
The Demon Lord drew in a long breath, his body trembling.
He rose from his throne and stepped forward—
And he knelt, one knee pressed to the bone floor.
> "Welcome, Demon God," he said softly.
> "We have waited for you… a long time."
The soldiers around them fell silent—
Fear and awe mingling in the cold air.
8️⃣ The Dragon Altar's Final Whisper
Deep in the earth, the Dragon Altar shuddered—
Its stone cracked, runes glowing with ancient light.
A single word echoed in Fen Hao's mind—
A whisper of fate, a promise of what was to come:
> "Come…"
End of Arc 2: Chapter 1