The East Sea stretched vast and endless, a kingdom of waves and storms. Beneath its surface, coral palaces gleamed like stars, and the armies of the Dragon King gathered like living tides. War drums thundered through the currents, echoing across the deep.
Taiyi stood silently among the soldiers. His silver hair shimmered faintly, his face calm, unassuming. To the common soldier, he was just the adopted son of the Dragon King—shadowed always by Prince Ao Shen's brilliance.
And that was exactly how Taiyi preferred it.
---
East Sea Campaign
At the council of war, Ao Shen's voice rang proud and sharp:
"We march directly at the rebel stronghold. Their morale is high only because they believe we are hesitant. I will break their spirit with my spear!"
The generals murmured their agreement, though their eyes betrayed unease. Direct charges against entrenched enemies were costly.
Then Taiyi stepped forward, his movements unhurried. He placed a white stone on the jade map.
"Strike their supplies. Cut off their lines, and the serpent starves. Then let Prince Ao Shen deliver the final blow. Victory will be certain."
The generals shifted, considering. A safer strategy. But Ao Shen sneered.
"You would have us crawl in shadows like rats, brother? Where is honor in that?"
Taiyi bowed his head slightly, his voice even.
"Honor feeds no kingdom. But victory builds it."
The words hung in the chamber like a cold tide. Even the Dragon King, who sat silent, let his gaze linger longer on Taiyi than on his own son.
Ao Shen's face darkened, but he could not openly refute it. With forced laughter, he waved his hand.
"Very well. Let my brother scurry through shadows. When the time comes, I will be the spear that pierces the enemy's heart."
The generals nodded. But as they filed out, more than one pair of eyes turned toward Taiyi with newfound respect.
---
The battle unfolded as Taiyi had predicted.
Rebel camps, cut from their supplies, grew restless. Food ran thin, weapons dulled, morale frayed.
Then, one night, a strike team led by Taiyi himself slipped into the heart of the enemy's hidden depot. The defenders jeered at first. "A mere boy dares to stand before us?"
But the jeers turned to silence when Taiyi's spear pierced their commander's throat in a single motion. His calm face did not change, not even as the man's body crumpled into the sand.
The depot burned, and panic spread like oil through the rebellion.
When dawn came, Ao Shen charged gloriously with the main host, scattering foes who had already broken under Taiyi's unseen hand.
The soldiers cheered the prince's name, but the generals knew the truth. It was Taiyi's mind that had won the battle before it began.
And Taiyi, standing silently behind the glory of his brother, allowed them all to believe otherwise.
For every enemy slain, for every whisper ignored, his shadow lengthened. He was the perfect son: unyielding in battle, scheming in council, calm in victory. A king in the making.
---
The Phoenix Realm – Trial of Ashes
Far across realms, the Fire Realm burned with another storm.
Feng Jiu stood within the Trial of Ashes. Flames licked at her skin, searing wings, bone, and soul. She screamed, but she did not yield.
The flames revealed visions—chains of duty, cages of law, thrones of ash where she sat as a hollow idol. Voices thundered in her skull.
"Be pure."
"Be unfeeling."
"Be holy."
Feng Jiu's body trembled, her feathers turning black, skin splitting under the torment. But her eyes burned scarlet, unbending.
"I am not your vessel."
She spread her wings, flames shattering around her. The chains of illusion melted.
Then came another vision—faint, distant. A silver-haired boy, his face calm as the sea. A child's laughter between them, warm, achingly familiar.
Tears burned down her cheeks. "Who…? Who are you?"
The flames roared higher, testing her resolve.
But she only spread her wings wider. "I am Feng Jiu! Not a saint. Not your puppet. I will burn, and from ash, I will rise!"
The inferno exploded. For an instant, the elders thought she had perished.
Then the sky above the Fire Realm split open. A colossal phoenix, scarlet and gold, burst forth from the pillar of flame. Its cry shook the realm itself.
The elders fell to their knees, blinded by her radiance.
"Impossible… she commands the Primordial Flame…"
"No one has… since the First Phoenix Emperor…"
From the burning skies, Feng Jiu descended. Her body was whole, but her aura blazed with unmatched might. Her crimson eyes swept across the council—unyielding, defiant.
The elders trembled.
"This cannot be left unchecked."
"She will challenge the throne—"
But Feng Xia, calm and regal on the dais, raised her hand. "No. She will take it."
Gasps spread through the hall.
"Elder Sister—" one tried to protest.
Feng Xia's gaze silenced them. "The fire itself has chosen her. To resist would be to fight the will of our realm. From this day, Feng Jiu is not merely my sister. She is the Queen of Flames."
The phoenix army roared in unison, their wings filling the sky with scarlet light.
Feng Jiu, still trembling from her ordeal, lifted her chin. Her voice carried like fire through the wind.
"I will not be a caged ruler. I will not be the silent saint you crave. If I must lead, then I will burn a path not only for this realm, but for all beyond these sealed skies!"
The hall shook with the force of her declaration.
And though the Phoenix Realm was sealed from the outside world, every elder present knew that her flames would not remain caged for long.
---
In the East Sea, Taiyi's shadow grew sharper. In the Fire Realm, Feng Jiu's flames blazed brighter.
Neither knew the other's fate.
Neither understood why that faint, distant laughter still echoed in their hearts.
But destiny was already moving, weaving their paths ever closer.
The perfect king in shadow.
The crowned queen of flame.
And above them both, unseen, the heavens stirred.
---