The wheels of fate began to turn once more.
A story once left incomplete whispered back into motion, threads of destiny weaving themselves into the tapestry of a new era. Yet, even as lovers were bound by fate, the heavens seemed determined to test their path. Taiyi and Feng Jiu had been torn apart, thrust into different realms, their reunion hidden in the distant mist of time. Would they find their way back to each other, or would the heavens deny them once more?
---
The East Sea.....
The vast blue expanse of the East Sea stretched endlessly, waves rising and falling with ancient power. In this kingdom of dragons, a young boy drifted ashore, silver-haired and horned, yet utterly devoid of the aura that should have marked him as one of their kind. His draconic bloodline slumbered, dormant as if sealed away, leaving him frail in the eyes of those who would judge strength alone.
The boy—Taiyi, though he scarcely remembered more than that name—stared blankly across the endless horizon. He was no more than a teenager in appearance, yet inside he was as newborn as a child fresh from the womb. He had emerged from the chaotic lotus with nothing but a faint instinct, a hollow identity, and a gnawing emptiness in his heart.
Before he could wander further, the sea split with the disciplined march of an army. Soldiers clad in white armor descended, their spears brimming with dragonic pressure.
They surrounded the boy, gazes sharp and wary. Yet Taiyi did not flinch. His blue eyes were calm, detached, like a still pond that revealed nothing of what lay beneath.
One soldier, their general, stepped forward. He crouched down, inspecting the boy. "Little one… who are you? Where are your parents?"
Taiyi tilted his head. The words were foreign, incomprehensible. He did not understand—he did not even know how to answer. His hand pressed against his stomach, the low growl of hunger louder than his thoughts.
The general exchanged uneasy glances with his men. At last, one soldier produced a piece of dried meat, holding it out cautiously.
Taiyi seized it with both hands and devoured it like a starving beast, gnawing and tearing until nothing remained. Only then did the general's sharp eyes soften.
"This one… he is not ordinary," the man murmured. "We cannot leave him here."
The general motioned, and the soldiers escorted the boy deeper into the sea, toward the dragon palace. Fate had already begun weaving him into a new identity—the adopted son of the Dragon King, though he himself remained oblivious to what awaited him.
---
Phoenix Realm.....
Far away, in the sealed Phoenix Realm, another story unfolded.
Feng Jiu's eyes fluttered open to the radiant glow of golden flames. The entire realm seemed to exhale in relief, phoenix cries echoing across the skies. She had awakened—reborn as a pure phoenix, her bloodline fully fused.
Attendants and elders fell to their knees, their joy unrestrained. "The Ninth Princess has returned! The heavens have blessed us once more!"
But Feng Jiu did not share their joy. She stared upward at the endless sky, a faint emptiness gnawing at her heart. Her body thrummed with fiery power, but her soul felt incomplete—as if something vital had been stripped away.
"You had fallen into a deep coma after failing your tribulation," the elders told her with reverence. "It is a miracle that you survived, that you have risen stronger than before."
She nodded faintly, but doubt lingered in her gaze. Somewhere beyond this sealed realm, something… someone… was missing. She could not name it, nor remember it, but her heart whispered of a bond she had lost.
A sigh escaped her lips as she accepted her new reality. She would train, she would rule alongside her sister the Phoenix Empress—but she would not stop searching. Someday, she swore, she would uncover the truth of what she had forgotten.
---
The outer space.....
In the boundless outer space, chaos reigned.
The Peace Goddess—serene no longer—descended upon the celestial palaces like a storm. The death of her son had shattered the calm for which she was revered, leaving only fury and vengeance in its place.
Her blade sang as it cut through divine halls, gods scattering in terror. One after another, great deities went into hiding, unwilling to face her wrath.
"Peace, what are you doing here?" A voice rang out, smooth and mocking. A man in golden robes appeared, his presence suffused with majesty.
"Wu Jing." The goddess's eyes glimmered with venom. "This is no concern of yours. Crawl back to whatever hole you came from. I am not in the mood to play."
But Wu Jing only smiled. "Your son defied the laws. His obliteration was inevitable. Better you accept it and move on."
Her answer was steel—a single sword strike that split the void.
Wu Jing's eyes narrowed, and a golden spear appeared in his grasp. "So be it. Let us settle this the old way."
Their battle ignited the heavens. For a year they fought, shattering stars, sundering divine palaces, rending the void itself with their blows. Each strike of the Peace Goddess was merciless, aimed not at wounding but at killing. Her aura was venomous, coiled like a serpent waiting to strike.
Wu Jing, for all his strength, felt the chill of danger. He abandoned his smiles, fighting with all his might.
Yet before their clash could end, a supreme power descended, quelling the storm with one raised hand. The battlefield stilled, but the damage had already been done. Outer space had been plunged into chaos, and the name of the Peace Goddess once more carried both awe and dread.
In the depths of the East Sea, the boy called Taiyi would soon face his first trials.
In the sealed Phoenix Realm, Feng Jiu would struggle against the confines of fate.
And in outer space, the heavens trembled under the wrath of a goddess.
The wheels of destiny had begun to turn again. The story that was left incomplete would now march toward its conclusion—yet whether it would end in love or in tragedy, none could say.