In the depths of the Star Dou Forest, where strength was the only law and humans entered only with trembling hearts, an eerie silence had settled. Spirit mist drifted like a silver veil between the colossal trees, refusing to let even a single ray of sunlight touch the ground. The air was heavy—so heavy it felt as if every leaf, every shadow, and every whispering breeze was holding its breath.
And perhaps they had good reason.
Because today, after thousands of years of waiting, a moment had arrived that even history itself had forgotten once existed.
Gu Yuena, the Silver Dragon King and true ruler of the forest, stood before a radiant egg set at the center of a sacred ring of ancient stones. An egg no one—perhaps for thousands of years—had believed still held life. An egg the gods themselves had thought destroyed in the great war against the Dragon God.
But now, under Gu Yuena's delicate yet powerful hands, the egg trembled ever so softly.
Behind her stood Di Tian—the Beast God, a being with a dark, regal aura and a gaze that could kill a human without laying a claw on them. Beside him stood the Scarlet King with nearly three hundred thousand years of age, Zi Ji the Hell Dragon, Xiong Jun the four-hundred-thousand-year-old Demon Bear, and hundreds of other spirit beasts arranged in an unnervingly orderly line.
No one spoke.
No one even blinked.
Such a moment had happened only once in all of history.
And now, it was happening again.
Crack—
Crack… crack…
The faint but unmistakable sounds of the egg's hard shell splitting filled the forest. Jagged lines crawled down the white-and-silver surface like silent lightning. From the tiny gaps, a warm golden light spilled out—light that, like the first breath of a newborn sun, pushed back the misty darkness of the forest.
The Scarlet King whispered under his breath, unable to stop himself.
"A light… like this? This… this can only be—"
But his voice died halfway.
Because suddenly—
A sound like a mountain shattering—like an ancient dam collapsing—roared through the forest and shook everything to its core.
Half the eggshell exploded outward, and a wave of spirit power so immense burst forth that the ground trembled beneath the feet of even the strongest beasts. Even the ancient, suffocating mist split for a heartbeat. The air darkened… not from fear, but from a power too overwhelming to comprehend.
Every beast—even those with tens of thousands of years of cultivation—felt something warm flare in their hearts, as if their very being was hearing the heartbeat of a creature far beyond them.
Di Tian's voice wavered, just slightly:
"This… this is the aura of the Dragon God."
Gu Yuena stepped forward. Her eyes shone, but her breathing remained calm—calm, yet heavier than ever. Through the golden and silver glow pouring from the egg, a small shape finally revealed itself.
The shards continued to fall away…
And then—
A tiny dragon, no larger than a wolf pup, emerged from the light. Its scales were an astonishing blend of gold and silver—a color that only one being in history had ever possessed. A color that signified dominion, legacy, and divine blood.
The Dragon God.
Not exactly him—
But his legacy.
His child.
Gu Yuena stared at him for several long seconds. No one knew what ran through her mind. Fear? Love? Pride? Or perhaps a glimpse of destiny yet to come?
Carefully, she reached forward and lifted the little dragon from the fragments. His eyes were still closed, but his breath was warm—warmer than any living creature in the forest.
The usually cold Scarlet King couldn't hold himself back:
"It's as if… as if the Dragon God has returned."
Xiong Jun let out a proud, excited growl.
"Of course he has! This is the Dragon God's child. He was never going to be ordinary!"
Di Tian stepped closer, respect and a hint of worry in his gaze.
"My lord… what will you name the prince?"
Gu Yuena studied the tiny dragon's face—searching for something within a creature who had yet to see the world. Then she whispered softly:
"His name… will be Gu Yushang."
The name rippled through the gathering like a spark.
Yushang.
The Dragon God's child.
His final legacy.
But the joy did not last long.
Gu Yuena's expression shifted. A faint crease formed between her brows. Instantly, everyone sensed something was wrong.
Di Tian asked quietly, "My lord?"
Gu Yuena answered softly, but with unshakable firmness:
"Yushang cannot stay here. His divine aura is too strong. If he continues to grow… the gods will awaken. We are still wounded from the last war."
The Scarlet King clenched his teeth.
"Damn the gods! How much more destruction do they want?"
Zi Ji spoke anxiously, "But the human world… it's dangerous. If he doesn't know who he is… if—"
Gu Yuena cut her off.
"If Yushang stays here, the gods will destroy him. The only way… is to hide him."
Di Tian's voice dropped.
"How?"
Without lifting her gaze from the infant dragon, Gu Yuena said,
"All of you… will give him your power. I will seal his divine aura and send his spirit into the body of a human infant. I will form that body myself, at the moment of transfer.
This way, no god—even the judges—will be able to recognize him."
Di Tian hesitated for the first time in the last hundred thousand years.
"And… will he ever return to his true form?"
"When our seal breaks… and when fate calls for him."
A heavy silence fell.
Zi Ji bit her lip.
"My lord… this means leaving him among humans."
Gu Yuena replied gently:
"No. It means protecting him. The Dragon God was not defeated. He will simply… return through another path."
None of them argued.
Because they knew Gu Yuena's word was final.
And above all… they knew she was right.
The beasts stepped forward.
Di Tian raised his claw, dark green light swirling around it. Xiong Jun released a fierce crimson glow, the Scarlet King a light like blazing sunlight, Zi Ji a hellfire hue, and the others followed one by one.
Hundreds of glowing streams—gold, silver, green, red, black—rushed toward Yushang's tiny body.
The forest shook.
The trees bowed.
The ground groaned beneath them.
And in the center of that light, the newborn dragon's small body floated.
Gu Yuena was the last.
She lifted her hand, and pure silver light burst from her palms—light so powerful even the gods feared it. It was the ancient power of the Silver Dragon King, a power capable of bending time, space, and destiny.
Silver intertwined with gold, with black, with red, with green…
The lights twisted, circled, merged—
And then—
A blinding explosion of light swallowed the entire forest.
When the glow finally receded…
The small dragon was gone.
In his place, resting in Gu Yuena's hands, was a human baby—fragile, peaceful, utterly ordinary.
Small.
Weak.
No divine aura.
No hint of who he truly was.
The Scarlet King whispered in disbelief,
"He's… completely human."
Di Tian murmured,
"No aura, no power… no one will ever know."
Gu Yuena touched the child's forehead with her fingertip.
"We have sealed him. Even if the gods look at him with their own eyes… they will see nothing but a human."
Then, with a voice softer than the wind—yet heavier than the entire forest—she added:
"But this is only his shell. Yushang is the Dragon God's heir. The day the seal breaks… both the human world and ours will tremble again."
No one spoke.
"Di Tian… take him to the border of the Star Dou Forest. Stay with him until you're sure a human family has taken him in."
Di Tian gently lifted the child into his arms. For a brief moment, the baby's eyes opened—and the blinding silver glow stole Di Tian's breath away. When the tiny eyes slowly closed again, only then did he manage to inhale.
It felt as if, for that instant, the depths of his soul had been laid bare.
He took a deep breath, held Gu Yushang tighter against his chest, and began walking toward the forest's edge.