"I am Fatty," the turtle announced with deliberate irreverence, ignoring the dozens of weapons that had suddenly appeared in the hands of palace guards. "Guardian spirit of the Xuanwu bloodline, keeper of ancient secrets, and apparently this young human's newly bonded companion. Though I must say, after sleeping for three thousand years, I expected my new partner to be taller."
The throne hall erupted into barely controlled chaos. Guards reached for weapons while shouting orders at each other, courtiers screamed and pushed toward the exits, and even Emperor Hao Lanyang stepped back in shock. Only Hao Longdi remained unmoved, though his hand instinctively moved toward the legendary sword at his side—the blade he had taken from the last Meng Emperor and had never failed to end any threat he faced.
"Peace!" Hao Ren called out, surprising himself with the authority in his voice. The command seemed to carry supernatural weight, and the panicking crowd actually paused in their flight. "He means no harm. I can sense his intentions as clearly as my own thoughts. We're connected somehow."
Indeed, he could feel Fatty's emotions as if they were his own—amusement at the humans' predictable panic, ancient weariness from his impossibly long slumber, and underneath it all, a fierce loyalty that felt as unbreakable as the foundation stones of the palace itself.
"Connected is putting it mildly, young master," Fatty said, waddling closer to Hao Ren with surprising grace for a creature of his bulk. "You're the first Xuanwu inheritor to appear in three millennia, boy. The bloodline that once commanded the respect of dragons and ruled vast underwater empires has finally returned to the world."
"Xuanwu?" Empress Tiansha Cho stepped forward, her face pale with recognition and growing understanding. "That's... that's impossible. The Xuanwu divine bloodline was lost during the Great Calamity three thousand years ago. My clan's most ancient records spoke of it only in legends, claiming it was one of the Four Sacred Bloodlines that guided human civilization in the primordial age."
"Your clan preserved more truth than most," Fatty confirmed with something approaching respect in his ancient voice. "The Tiansha were among the few families who maintained fragments of the old knowledge after the suppression began. That pendant you carry, young empress, was crafted by Xuanwu masters in the age when gods walked openly among mortals and humans could achieve True Immortal realm through their own efforts."
Minister Chen, despite his obvious terror at addressing a legendary creature, managed to stammer out a question: "Guardian spirit... if the Xuanwu bloodline has truly returned, what does this mean for our empire? For our continent?"
Fatty's expression grew serious for the first time since his appearance. "It means, honored minister, that the powers responsible for suppressing human potential are about to discover that their carefully maintained control has a very significant crack in it. The awakening of a primordial bloodline cannot be hidden or ignored—it sends ripples through the spiritual fabric of reality itself."
As if summoned by his words, a tremendous roar echoed from the direction of the Eastern Great Forest. The sound was so powerful it shook the palace foundations, sending dust cascading from the ancient beams overhead and causing several courtiers to fall to their knees. But this wasn't the roar of any normal beast—it carried intelligence, recognition, and something that sounded almost like a greeting.
"What was that?" Hao Ren asked, though part of him already suspected the answer based on the growing connection he felt to the natural world around him.
"A forest lord," Fatty replied, his playful demeanor completely replaced by grim seriousness. "One of the ancient intelligent beasts that rule the deepest wilderness areas. They can sense the awakening of primordial bloodlines from vast distances, and they remember the old alliances from before the suppression began."
Another roar answered the first, this one from the direction of the Demon Beast Sea to the west. Then a third from the northern mountains, followed by a fourth from the southern wastelands. Within moments, it seemed as if every powerful creature on the continent was announcing their awareness of what had just occurred in the imperial palace.
"Some will see you as a potential ally," Fatty continued grimly, "others as a threat that must be eliminated before it can grow strong enough to challenge the current order. The next few days are going to be very interesting indeed."
The implications hit everyone in the hall like a physical blow. Hao Ren's awakening hadn't just marked his entry into the cultivation world—it had announced to every power on the continent that something fundamental had changed in the balance of spiritual energy.
"Grandfather," Hao Ren said quietly, meeting the Dragon Emperor's steely gaze, "I think my cultivation journey is going to be significantly more complicated than we anticipated."
Hao Longdi's weathered features curved into what might have been a smile, though it held no warmth and considerable anticipation for the conflicts to come. "Good. I was beginning to worry that forty-five years of peace had made our family soft. It seems the blood of conquerors still runs true in your veins, grandson."
As the distant roars continued to echo across the land and Fatty settled beside his new partner with protective vigilance, Hao Ren realized that his fifteenth birthday had marked not just the beginning of his cultivation journey, but potentially the first day of a new age for the entire Stormforge Continent.