The East Sea trembled under the weight of betrayal.
The jade pillars of the Dragon Palace, proud and eternal, had begun to crack—not from age, but from the fangs of ambition. Ao Shen's schemes, once hidden in shadow, finally revealed themselves in the open.
The great dragon king that once proudly ruled the East Sea has been felled by his son and is now held hostage. Taiyi stared at all of this all while playing chess with a calm expression as if it meant nothing.
His resolve was unwavering and although he wanted to offer his assistance he knew it was too early. The sea has been too calm recently so they needed a ride awakening and that was what he was giving them. Opening their eyes.
The great hall was filled with the roar of the ocean as Taiyi stood at its center, his silver hair gleaming faintly in the dim light of the throne room. Across from him stood Ao Shen, clad in golden armor, his eyes burning with hatred and envy.
"You should have stayed a pawn," Ao Shen sneered. "Adopted son or not, you were never meant to rule the East Sea. That seat is mine by birthright!"
Taiyi's gaze was cold, unyielding. He did not speak. Words were wasted on a man drowning in his own greed.
The clash erupted like thunder. The sea itself seemed to reel as Ao Shen unleashed torrents of draconic might, summoning storms, whirlpools, and lightning that lashed the palace. But Taiyi's sword—simple, unadorned, yet sharp beyond reason—cut through every illusion, every strike, every storm.
Taiyi wielded his sword like an old veteran that had fought many battles. Many that saw him were shocked. He was always the bullied one but today it was different. It felt different. He was different.
He stared at the sword and a smile could be seen on his face. Everyone always saw him as cold but to him there was nothing he adored more than his sword.
"Accompany me old friend. I didn't plan on picking you up anytime soon but let's just do it and then go on a journey," Taiyi whispered and the sword in his hand hummed.
And then he moved.
The brothers clashed for three days beneath the sea. Coral mountains crumbled, leviathans fled, and even the currents stilled in dread.
The East Sea was left a mess. No one would've thought that Taiyi who was always a coward would dare to fight with his brother who is a war god. Someone who has been fighting for his whole life.
Taiyi was calm and steady. He wanted his sword to be able to cut through everything and he will make sure of it.
Out there somewhere, he knew that something was waiting for him.
At last, Taiyi struck true. His blade pierced Ao Shen's defenses, tearing through his golden armor and leaving him broken on the palace floor.
Blood pooled across the jade tiles. Ao Shen coughed, eyes burning with both hate and fear.
"Kill me… if you dare."
For a long moment, silence reigned. Taiyi's sword hovered inches from his brother's throat. His cold eyes betrayed no mercy, no pity. And yet, the blade did not fall.
"I want nothing of your throne," Taiyi said at last, his voice low and calm. "Rot in your palace. Scheme as you wish. I will not stain my hands further for a crown that means nothing."
With that, he turned, his blood dripping with every step. His body was broken, wounds deep, but his spirit remained unyielding.
The Dragon King who was held in a cell finally opened his eyes shortly after that, he has watched everything and saw Taiyi leave without any hesitation in his heart.hmHis heart was heavy, for he knew Ao Shen's venom would only grow and he knew that Taiyi would not come back anytime soon.
He knew that it was time to finally stop sleeping and get things running the way it used to be.
Years passed.
Taiyi wandered the endless oceans, his once-youthful fire tempered into cold steel. His wounds healed, but the battlefield in his heart did not. Again and again, visions plagued him—the ancient war, the screams of the fallen, a child's cry lost in the chaos.
To the world, he became a phantom. A man cloaked in silence, wandering the seas with a blindfold covering his eyes. Some thought him crippled, a swordsman robbed of sight. But beneath that façade, Taiyi honed his art to terrifying heights.
Every sea beast that lunged at him was met with flawless swordsmanship. Without sight, he learned to hear the whispers of the ocean, to feel the current of killing intent, to strike with precision that bordered on divine.
His name spread among sailors and wanderers alike. The Blind Swordsman of the Sea—cold, untouchable, unprovoked until crossed, and then merciless.
His cultivation surged quietly, surpassing even the mightiest generals of the East Sea. Yet he hid it, burying his bloodline deep, for he had no wish to be chained by the past.
---
Far above, in the sealed Fire Realm, destiny stirred.
The cracks in the seal widened, shimmering with ancient light. The Phoenix flames that once protected their realm now yearned to break free. Feng Jiu, her crimson hair flowing like molten fire, stood before her ancestors' altar.
The voices of the ancients echoed in her soul. When the seal breaks, lead our people home. The land remembers us, and we left behind a path for your return.
Feng Jiu closed her eyes, and with the voices came fragments—shards of memory she had long buried. A battlefield. A silver-haired man. A child's cry. And above all, a name.
"Tie Ling."
Her heart trembled. She did not know who the girl was to her, only that the name pulsed with meaning, pulling her toward the truth.
When the seal shattered, the Fire Realm blazed like a second sun. Feng Jiu rose from the flames, crowned in fire, and her people knelt before her.
"Rise," she commanded, her voice both gentle and unyielding. "The age of our exile is over. We return to our ancestral lands."
And so, the Phoenix Clan followed her, wings blazing, reclaiming the skies that had been lost for countless years.
But Feng Jiu's heart remained restless. As the queen of fire, she bore the duty of her people. Yet within her, the echo of that battlefield, the fragments of that silver-haired man, and the mystery of Tie Ling gnawed at her.
She began her search—not as a queen, but as a woman seeking the truth of her past.
---
Taiyi wandered the seas, blindfolded, sharpening his sword against the cruelty of the world.
Feng Jiu soared from the flames, carrying her clan into a new dawn, yet haunted by memories she could not fully claim.
Neither yet knew that their paths, carved apart by war and sealed realms, were slowly turning toward one another once again.
But in the shadows, the name Tie Ling—their daughter, lost to time—waited like a spark upon dry wood.
And sparks, when touched by flame or steel, could ignite storms no realm could contain.
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