Chapter 24
In a vast, desolate wasteland, where life seemed nonexistent, something strange began to unfold. The ground trembled, quivering as if responding to a force beyond comprehension.
From beneath the barren soil, a faint red energy began to pulse, a crimson glow that mirrored the blood-red clouds hanging in the sky above.
For a time, the ground merely glowed, an eerie calm settling over the wasteland. Then, suddenly, it trembled again. From its cracks, a strange liquid seeped out.
At first, it was only a trickle, but soon it surged, spreading endlessly across the desert, covering the barren land like a crimson tide.
Then the liquid began to emit a soft green glow. Life started to stir. Grass sprouted, vibrant and thick, carpeting the desert floor. Trees shot up in moments, their leaves brimming with energy.
Flowers blossomed, fruits ripened, and insects buzzed to life. Butterflies flitted across the rejuvenated land, the once-dead terrain now overflowing with vitality.
But the true surprise was yet to come. From the remaining green liquid, a figure began to form. First, vague and formless, it gradually solidified, coalescing into a small baby.
At first, it seemed ordinary, but when the child opened its eyes, two pairs of glowing, vibrant energies shone from within, piercing the world with a presence that defied reality.
The baby crawled... and as it moved, it grew. Faster than any natural process, faster than imagination itself, the infant grew into a child, then a youth, then a young man in the prime of his twenties.
His body refined, his posture composed, his face calm yet commanding. His eyes, filled with a mixture of curiosity and recognition, fixed on the crimson clouds above... the source of the life around him.
He remained silent for a long moment, absorbing information about this world, the laws that governed it, and the forces at play.
Though he appeared mature, he was a newborn in experience, learning the essence of existence in mere minutes.
Gratitude swelled in him. He looked up at the crimson sky and whispered words he barely understood but felt deeply:
"Mother… Father…" His smile radiated genuine appreciation for being given life, for the opportunity to exist in a world brimming with energy and potential.
Even as he evolved, the changes continued. His hair subtly shifted, fine points emerging at the tips; his ears elongated slightly, nose refining.
The pants he wore shimmered and strengthened with his evolving form, the very knife at his side glowing brighter and sharper, responding to the transformation of its wielder.
He was evolving into an elf. Under the strange crimson night phenomenon, the liquid had gained sentience and become humanoid... but that was far from the end.
Far from the Heart Continent, on a remote island, a massive volcano loomed. Heat rolled off it in waves, thick as steam from molten lava.
Despite the intense heat, several cultivators sat in disciplined meditation, their robes and attire marking them as members of the same sect.
Their eyes were closed, their bodies still, absorbing the volcano's raw energy. Fire-based cultivation demanded extremes, and this volcano offered the perfect crucible.
But even for them, the heat was punishing, relentless, slamming against their bodies like hammer blows.
"Wait… is it just me, or is the volcano getting hotter?" one of the cultivators, a woman in her late twenties, muttered to herself. She tried to ignore the feeling, continuing her meditation... but curiosity got the better of her. She opened her eyes and looked down.
Her heart skipped a beat.
The volcano was turning red, its surface trembling and churning as if it were on the verge of eruption. Her pulse froze. This was no ordinary volcano. A single eruption could bring devastation beyond imagination. It was supposed to erupt once every hundred years.... and now, though it wasn't its time, it was about to explode.
The eruption would be enough to aid cultivation, yes.... but the junior disciples below her? They were far too weak. Exposed to that heat, they wouldn't last a second.
She snapped her hand, destabilizing the flame qi surrounding them, forcing them to stop. In a few concentrated moments, she conveyed the danger to her juniors through spiritual sense. The message was instant: move. Now.
They scattered.
Seconds later, the volcano erupted. The ground trembled, sending bone-rattling shockwaves through the air. Lava spat skyward, and the cultivators were thrown violently, slamming into the hardened earth.
The woman looked on in horror. It was already too late.... there was no way her juniors could survive the heat and the molten torrents racing toward them.
But then… something strange happened.
The rising lava didn't consume. It coalesced, forming a compressed orb of blazing heat, a swirling cocoon of energy. The fire and magma condensed into a single, intense ball of primal heat.
Her eyes widened. Unexpected. Impossible. What could absorb that much qi energy? Normally, such a concentration could shatter entire realms, allow someone to break through countless cultivation stages…
Unable to contain her curiosity, she flew closer, even as the heat slammed into her, forcing beads of sweat from her brow. She used every heat-dispersing technique she knew, channeling her energy to shield herself, inching closer and closer.
And then she saw it.
Through the heat, the swirling qi, and the molten aura, she froze. Her breath caught. Whatever was inside that blazing orb… it wasn't just absorbing the energy. It was alive.
What she expected was perhaps an artifact or a naturally formed treasure. What she wasn't expecting was a baby.... a human baby.... sleeping peacefully inside the massive fireball.
Slowly, the baby's eyes opened, revealing not one, but two pairs of blazing, flaming eyes.
Prezy froze. A crippling fear gripped her like icy chains. The gaze… it wasn't directed at her. It was locked on the crimson hue in the sky. The fire baby stared at the heavens for a long moment before closing its eyes again.
Prezy had been holding her breath the entire time. She exhaled slowly, her mind racing. If she had any doubt before, it was gone now. The crimson sky… it had to be the source of all this. She couldn't tell if it was divine wrath or a blessing, but she knew she had to report this.
Her sect master would need to see this child in flames. Without hesitation, she took off with heaven-defying speed.
Meanwhile, the life forming inside the volcano wasn't the only thing gaining sentience. There was more.
Far across the vast ocean, a seemingly ordinary pebble on the riverbed began to emit a soft, blue glow. Deep beneath the waves, creatures of all kinds felt the light's pull, drawn with curious, almost reverent gazes.
The pebble's glow intensified, bursting outward into the ocean, reaching toward the crimson clouds above as if challenging them, greeting them, or calling them.
None of the ocean creatures could understand the pebble's intent.
Gradually, the glow condensed, transforming the pebble into a small prawl. Within it, a young child emerged.... not a fish, but a hybrid of human and aquatic form. The upper half was human; the lower half, a fish.
The energy radiating from this little merman was staggering. Slowly, he opened his eyes.... azure blue hair framing a gaze that pulsed with immense authority.
The waters surged, the ocean beasts kneeling before him as if acknowledging a king, a leader.
But the merman's gaze was fixed elsewhere
not on the creatures bowing before him, not on the coral throne forming beneath him.
His eyes were locked on one thing: the crimson hue stretching across the sky. A faint recognition flickered, and then he closed his eyes.
Another race was being born from the strange phenomenon.
The crimson hue continued to breathe life into the realm. Sentient creatures arose across the lands, entirely new races appeared overnight, and existing races began evolving in ways no one could have anticipated.
And yet… that was far from the full extent of the crimson sky's power.
To be continued...