Chapter 1: The Shadow of the Lotus
Twenty years had passed since the day Ying Yue and Bai Jiu sealed the ancient evil beneath the Celestial Temple. Peace had reigned across the lands—but peace, like all things, is fleeting.
In the heart of the Yunlan Kingdom, a young man walked alone through the sacred forest where crimson lotuses only bloomed under twin moons. His name was Fu Gui—tall, composed, with raven-black hair bound in a golden ribbon. His eyes carried the quiet storm of his mother and the steel of his father.
He knew only fragments of his past. His mother, once a goddess. His father, a fallen immortal. But deep inside, something burned. A pull. A dream that returned again and again—of a voice, a flamebird calling his name from the sky.
That night, destiny stirred once more.
---
Far across the land, at the base of Mount Fenghua, a girl jolted awake from a haunting dream. Her name was Mei Lin—a quiet healer's apprentice raised in the shadows of old myths. Her hands were gentle, her voice soft, but her eyes held questions that no one could answer.
"I saw her again," she whispered to the night. "The woman with wings of fire. She said... I must find him."
A name echoed in her heart—Fu Gui.
She had never met him. She didn't even know if he was real. But something within her ached at the sound of that name.
And far above, in the heavens long sealed, an ancient force awakened. Watching. Waiting.
The children of gods and phoenixes were stirring.