The East Sea was never truly calm. Beneath its glittering surface, storms brewed in silence, and old grudges stirred like leviathans in the deep.
It began with whispers—pirates had returned. Marauders from the Abyssal Trench, half-demons clad in rusted shells, raiding merchant ships that supplied the East Sea palace. The Dragon King summoned his generals at once, and among the chosen youths to accompany them was Taiyi.
Most laughed at the idea.
"The weakling? He'll be more burden than help."
"Perhaps they want him fed to the trench beasts."
Taiyi, however, accepted without hesitation. He bowed silently and followed, his calm blue eyes betraying nothing.
---
The pirates came with fury, their ships like blackened reefs bristling with spikes. When they clashed with the Dragon King's forces, the sea turned red with blood.
Taiyi stood among the dragon youths, spear in hand. The clash of steel rang in his ears, but he did not rush forward. He watched.
Long Rui roared, charging headfirst, his power wild but uncontrolled. Others followed, scattering their strength, each fighting for glory rather than victory.
But Taiyi remained still, drifting in the current like a piece of seaweed, ignored by friend and foe alike. He observed the pirates' movements, the way their formation shifted, the signals they used, the moment their flank thinned when one of their champions struck.
Only when a wounded soldier fell near him did Taiyi finally move. He slid forward with no wasted effort, his spear thrust precise and sudden, piercing through the throat of a distracted pirate. The man barely had time to scream.
Taiyi took another step, then another. Each strike was quiet, efficient, as though he were pruning weeds in a garden. He never sought the strongest opponent—only the careless, the arrogant, the distracted. By the time Long Rui realized Taiyi had entered the fight, five corpses already drifted in his wake.
---
But fate tested him further.
A pirate warlord emerged—a giant shark-blooded demon, wielding a bone club that shattered coral pillars with each swing. Even the dragon youths hesitated before his monstrous presence.
Taiyi's calm gaze fixed on him. He felt no fear, only a familiar stirring inside—a fragment of memory, a battlefield drenched in blood, a voice whispering of power.
The warlord's club swung toward him with crushing force.
Taiyi stepped forward.
The world seemed to slow. His body moved not with strength but with precision, slipping through the narrow gap between death and survival. His spear thrust upward, not to kill but to strike the warlord's gill, the hidden weakness.
The demon howled, thrashing violently. Taiyi did not flinch. His movements were calm, measured, as if he had already fought this battle a thousand times before. With each precise strike, he forced the beast into retreat.
But he did not finish him. Instead, as the warlord stumbled back bleeding, Taiyi shifted his stance to make it seem like luck. He let himself be struck, thrown hard against the rocks, blood spilling from his lips.
The others rushed in to finish the beast, claiming victory for themselves.
Taiyi lay on the seabed, breathing heavily, hiding the calm gleam in his eyes.
---
When they returned, the court hailed Long Rui and the others as heroes. Their names were sung in the coral halls, their glory shining bright.
No one spoke of Taiyi. No one saw the corpses he left in silence. No one saw how the warlord had nearly died before anyone touched him.
But the Dragon King saw.
From his throne, he studied the boy with silver hair and calm eyes. He saw the deliberate humility, the patience, the ability to conceal strength behind weakness.
He endures insult like stone, hides his claws until the strike, and fights with the mind of a ruler.
The Dragon King's gaze deepened.
"This child," he murmured to himself, "is not simple."
---
That night, as the sea rested under the moonlight, Taiyi sat alone once more. He washed the blood from his spear, his face expressionless.
He whispered quietly, as if to no one, "If weakness is the mask that lets me live… then let them laugh."
His reflection in the water shimmered, not of a boy, but of a king who had yet to awaken. Maybe Taiyi already had a recollection of who he was or maybe he was still struggling to remember but what is known for a fact is that maybe he doesn't want to remember.
Maybe the figure that he always sees in his dreams every night is someone that he wants to see again but he feels that he is no longer that person and has already made peace with a past he knows nothing about.
So what if he was a god? An emperor maybe? What difference does it make? Maybe living his life like this is already satisfying.
----
In the outerspace realm,
The peace goddess watched all the scenes of Taiyi's childhood since his rebirth not knowing what to say. She wanted to interfere and tell Taiyi that he should remember their promise but she felt that maybe she should let things be as they are.
Taiyi is happy in the East Sea living his life as a cowardly Prince always hiding in the shadows while Feng Jiu became the genius of the fire Desolation realm living a peaceful life. According to the peace goddess this might be the best outcome but fate had something else in store for them.
"My son, I really hope you will live a peaceful life and maybe at one time come back to the chaos, to where you truly belong ," the Peace goddess murmured with a smile on her face.
Taiyi who was in the Eastern Sea suddenly found tears falling down his face but it did not matter. He just stared at the sky with a peaceful smile on his face. He didn't know much about his past but it was all okay.
Not that it ever made sense as he felt that it would only burden him. He stared at the sky one last time before he turned.
----
In the fire Desolation realm,
Feng Jiu who was in meditation suddenly coughed a mouthful of blood waking her up from her meditation. For a moment her mind was in chaos. She could hear people talking.
Visions of bodies littered around in an ancient battlefield. She saw a figure of a man seated on a throne with a sword in his hand. He sat there unwavering staring into the void as if waiting for someone or maybe for something.
She was dazed for a moment causing her qi to circulate in reverse and it almost harmed her. The more she levels up and awakens her bloodline the more these memories become real.
She knew that something had happened but she didn't feel like remembering what happened. She didn't know why but she just felt that way." Phoenix, what happened?" Feng Jiu finally asked and a phoenix mark lit on her forehead. A phoenix flew from the mark.
The phoenix was her primordial spirit and her form." What do you mean?" The phoenix asked in a cold tone." You know what am talking about," Feng Jiu said." Just forget about. Its nothing worth mentioning. It is nothing important. Infact it will only hold you down," the phoenix said before it disappeared.