The year was 2025, and autumn had come to Jing'an City. One evening, as the city settled into the golden hues of twilight, an unprecedented phenomenon began to unfold in the sky above.
The bustling metropolis, usually filled with the ceaseless hum of traffic and the kaleidoscope of neon lights, seemed to pause for a moment. The clouds overhead began to churn violently, rolling and twisting as though stirred by invisible hands. A deep, resonant rumble echoed from the heavens, vibrating through the streets and alleyways alike. Then, a shadow appeared—a colossal, sinuous shape gliding gracefully across the sky. It was unmistakably a dragon, its scales glinting faintly like molten metal under the dimming light.
The dragon's immense form coiled among the clouds, and a ghostly, almost imperceptible roar reverberated across the city, shaking the hearts of all who heard it. Pedestrians froze mid-step, car horns blared in confusion, and construction machinery gradually fell silent. Office workers pressed their faces to windows, eyes wide with a mixture of fear and awe. Everyone held their breath, as if even a single whisper might disturb the divine presence soaring above.
"This… is a dragon?"
Li Tianyuan lifted his head to the sky, his eyes reflecting the faint, flickering light of the dragon's scales. He was a senior at Jing'an University, returning home from a dinner with friends, and yet all the normal fatigue he felt seemed to vanish in an instant. A strange, exhilarating fear gripped him. Memories of his father, long gone, surfaced suddenly. In his youth, his father had once said quietly:
"If the shadow of a dragon appears in the world, the heavens and earth are about to change.""A dragon is the symbol of divine power, and the surest sign that spiritual energy is awakening."
Those words had once sounded like mere folklore, the kind that elderly people recite at family gatherings. Yet now, faced with the phenomenon in the sky, Li Tianyuan could not tell whether he was dreaming or staring at reality itself.
A sudden, deep voice broke the silence beside him.
"Destiny has been set. Spiritual energy is awakening."
Li Tianyuan spun around, his pulse racing.
Under the dim glow of a streetlight at the corner, a white-haired Taoist stood. His wide sleeves flapped lightly in the wind, his robe simple but elegant, and his face, though lined with age, carried an aura beyond the ordinary. His eyes were deep and penetrating, seeming to see far beyond the physical world.
"Who… are you?" Li Tianyuan asked, heart pounding.
The Taoist stroked his long beard, voice echoing with a resonance that seemed to come from centuries past:"I am Fuyuan, a disciple of the Maoshan Sect."
His gaze never lingered on Li Tianyuan. Instead, he looked skyward, toward the fading dragon shadow, worry hidden behind his calm exterior.
"This shadow is no illusion. It is a sign that the seal is weakening."
"The seal… is breaking?" Li Tianyuan's voice trembled. "You mean… the legendary spiritual revival?"
Fuyuan nodded slowly, letting out a long sigh."The Hundred-Year Pact has reached its end. Starting next year, no earthly restriction will remain. Gods and demons will reemerge, monsters will run rampant, and the world will plunge into a new chaos."
Finally, the Taoist turned his gaze toward Li Tianyuan, his eyes locking onto the young man as if trying to peer into his very soul.
"And you… are destined to be a key player in this coming calamity."
The wind howled through the streets, and the dragon shadow completely vanished, leaving only rolling clouds and a palpable sense of oppression. Li Tianyuan felt his heart hammer against his chest, as if some unseen door to the unknown was slowly opening before him.
Even after the dragon disappeared, the sky remained unsettled. Dark clouds twisted and rolled, whispering secrets of things yet to come. Streetlights reflected off the chaotic traffic, and sirens wailed from distant corners. Many people attempted to record the scene with their phones, but only captured blurred light and shadow; the dragon could not be documented.
Li Tianyuan's mind raced. The Taoist—Fuyuan—had vanished like a phantom after leaving those weighty words. For a moment, he questioned his own senses, but the fiery, oppressive pulse in his chest reminded him: everything had been real.
He wandered back to his apartment in a daze. The phrases Fuyuan had spoken echoed relentlessly in his mind:
"The Hundred-Year Pact has reached its end.""Gods and demons will return, and humanity will face new chaos.""And you… are destined to be a key player."
Li Tianyuan was no hero, merely an ordinary university student trying to make his way in the world. Yet tonight, it felt as if an invisible hand had pushed him into a whirlwind of the unknown.
Late at night, he finally picked up his phone and checked social media.
#JingAnDragonShadow#SpiritualRevival#WorldPhenomenon…
The hashtags were already trending. Some claimed it was a rare meteorological reflection, others said a drone malfunction, and a few joked about a film promotion. But among the countless posts, one stood out:
[Old Archive Exposed]In 1927, the National Government of Nanjing established the "Sealing Array." The Hundred-Year Pact is now nearing its end.Attachment: Fragmented archival footage.
Li Tianyuan hesitated, then tapped to open the video.
The footage was grainy, seemingly captured secretly in a museum, yellowed with age and marked by scorch stains. Just a few lines of text sent a chill down his spine:
📜 Republican-era Archive Fragment[Confidential]File Number: Y-B—1927—Mystery No. 11At the foot of Mount Zijin, an array was set for seven days and nights, guarded by over three hundred Taoists and more than a thousand soldiers. This formation, called the Sealing Array, drew upon the mountain's dragon veins and used talismans and blood sacrifices as keys.Once completed, yin and yang went awry, and celestial phenomena shifted dramatically. At the time, President Chiang declared: "Within a century, there will be cracks."Hence, the pact was named the Hundred-Year Pact.[Archive damaged, likely burned deliberately]
The faded writing carried a weight that seemed to press down upon Li Tianyuan's chest.
A chill crept through him. His father had spent years obsessed with strange texts and mystical folklore, insisting magic and yin-yang principles were real. Li Tianyuan had dismissed them as tales, but now reality had dealt him a sharp, undeniable blow.
The dragon shadow was real.The seal was real.The Hundred-Year Pact was real.
"Why am I seeing this?" he whispered, feeling a cold shiver crawl down his spine.
Footsteps suddenly echoed outside his door. Someone prowled the hallway, searching. Li Tianyuan instinctively turned off his phone and held his breath. The steps faded, but the unease lingered like a shadow over his heart.