The waves of the East Sea roared endlessly, yet beneath their rhythm lay a stillness that few could sense. Taiyi stood at the edge of a cliff-like coral reef, his silver hair flowing like threads of moonlight against the waters. He was no longer the confused, wordless boy who had been found wandering near the Dragon King's patrols. A few years had passed, and though outwardly he remained quiet and harmless, within him had begun to stir something sharp, something unfathomable.
He had learned to speak their language, though he chose his words carefully. He had learned to fight, though he rarely revealed his full strength. To most, he was an orphan of unknown origin, a boy with peculiar horns but no dragon's aura. They laughed at him in hushed tones, pitied him in polite ones, and overlooked him in the most important halls. Taiyi accepted it all in silence, wearing the mask of meekness like a second skin.
But beneath that mask, his mind sharpened daily.
---
The palace of the Dragon King glittered with scales of jade and pearl. The throne room was alive with whispers as nobles and warriors gathered, debating the latest raids from sea demons. At the far edge, standing dutifully behind the general who had once found him, Taiyi listened quietly.
"Your Majesty," one noble declared, bowing with arrogance, "allow me to lead the vanguard against these sea vermin. We need not waste resources on unproven children."
Another voice scoffed. "And yet we are wasting them on this boy," the youth said, gesturing at Taiyi, his tone dripping with contempt. "Horns do not make him a dragon. He is but a stray caught in the tide."
The court chuckled. Taiyi lowered his gaze, his blue eyes as calm as a frozen sea. He said nothing, and by saying nothing, he let them sneer. He let their laughter grow. But within, he memorized each word, each face. He was not offended; he was calculating.
The Dragon King raised a hand. "Enough. The boy is under my protection. Let him be tested in time."
And thus the matter ended. But in Taiyi's heart, a seed of strategy sprouted: Let them think me harmless. Let them think me weak. When the tide turns, their surprise will be their undoing.
---
Later, in the training yard, the dragon youths sparred. They were fierce, their scales glimmering, their auras pressing heavily. Taiyi entered with quiet steps. The same youth who mocked him at court smirked. "Let us see if the stray can even hold a blade."
They fought. Taiyi moved with measured hesitation, blocking but never countering with full force. He stumbled once, deliberately, and laughter echoed. He allowed himself to be bruised, beaten back, thrown to the sand. But just when his opponent grew careless, Taiyi shifted—a subtle twist of the wrist, a step into shadow. The youth crashed into the ground, breathless.
The crowd gasped. Taiyi quickly bowed, as if apologizing. "I… was only lucky," he murmured, his eyes lowered, hiding the glimmer of calculation within them.
That night, alone in his quarters, Taiyi pressed his bruises and smiled faintly. Luck? No. Patterns. Flaws. Patience. He was learning the art of kingship not in grand declarations, but in silence, in observation, in calculated restraint.
The perfect king is not the one who roars first—but the one who roars last, and leaves none to challenge him.
---
The Test of the Pirate Fleet
Weeks later, a crisis shook the East Sea. A pirate fleet of sea demons surged across the waters, looting sacred sites. The Dragon King dispatched forces, but the enemy proved cunning. In the chaos, Taiyi found himself aboard a small vanguard ship, watching as dragons clashed with monstrous forms.
The general who had raised him shouted, "Stay back, boy!"
But Taiyi's calm eyes gleamed. He watched the flow of battle—the overconfidence of dragon warriors, the coordination of the pirates. He saw where the enemy ships clustered too closely, where the currents bent in their favor. Moving unnoticed, he whispered to a weary helmsman: "Turn the ship—there, toward the rocks. Push them with the tide."
The helmsman hesitated but obeyed. Moments later, a pirate vessel rammed into hidden coral, breaking apart. The tide shifted. Confusion spread among the raiders.
The general glanced back at Taiyi, astonished. But Taiyi only feigned innocence, as if he had done nothing. He was content with no recognition, only the knowledge that every battle taught him more about leadership, about control, about how the world could be bent with subtle pushes rather than brute force.
---
Far away in the Fire Realm, it has been many years now since Feng Jiu opened her eyes to blazing skies. She was a phoenix now, fully awakened, yet the joy others felt on her behalf did not reach her heart. Phoenixes bowed, flames danced in reverence, and her sister Feng Xia embraced her tightly. But Feng Jiu only felt… hollow.
They told her she had failed her tribulation, that she had been unconscious, that her awakening was nothing short of a miracle. She nodded, but unease gnawed at her chest. Something was missing. Someone was missing. At night she dreamt of blue eyes in endless water, but each time she reached for them, the dream dissolved.
Training began anew. Phoenix flames surged from her hands, burning hotter and purer than ever before. Elders praised her talent, calling her destined to lead their clan into glory. Yet when she smiled, the expression never touched her eyes. What is it I have lost? Why does my heart ache with no name to its sorrow?
She swore to herself quietly: one day she would find the truth. Even if the heavens themselves tried to erase it.
---
Chaos in the Higher Realms
While the seas and skies fostered new heirs, the higher realms plunged into turmoil. The Peace Goddess, her fury unchecked, hunted gods across the cosmos. Palaces that had stood for millennia burned under her wrath. Whispers filled the divine halls: Her son is gone. She will not rest. Even supreme deities hide from her shadow.
Wu Jing, the golden-robed god she had once fought, still bore scars from their year-long clash. He no longer smiled so easily. Other gods debated in secret: should they unite against her, or exploit her chaos to carve new territories? Old alliances shattered, new ones formed in blood and betrayal. The heavens trembled on the brink of open war.
And amid the chaos, the wheels of fate turned silently, unseen by most. A dragon boy with silver hair plotted his rise in the depths of the sea. A phoenix girl searched for the missing piece of her soul in the flames of the skies. And somewhere beyond their reach, destinies long sundered in past lives waited to entwine once more.