1 Breaking Out

Forbidden Territory.

Near the Calamity Tree, the lush green vegetation, clear rivers and floating ancient land masses painted a beautiful scenery. Inside the surrounding dense jungle, terrifying beasts and animals lurked, yet they stayed at the outskirts of this place which was known as the deepest part of the Forbidden Territory, where the Profound Qi in the air was easily the most dense and pure and could even be seen by the naked eye.

There was a serene silence in surroundings except for the occasional breezes that came and went, whipping up fallen leaves on the grounds. This silence that had existed for many millennia in the deepest part, near the Calamity Tree, finally broke with a crack.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

If someone was here right now, they would undoubtedly be shocked. Right before the Calamity Tree, a green cocoon had cracks spreading throughout its surface, like spiderwebs. This cocoon, which had shown no signs of breaking even at the hands of divine beings and beasts, and had even survived many millennia seemingly with an invincible defence against the ravages of time, was finally breaking!

Unfortunately, just as the shell of the cocoon was about to fall off, a seven-layered, slightly transparent domain surrounded it, suppressing the thing inside. If one were to look closely, they would be surprised because on each layered domain, there was a mark. Furthermore, they were not just any random marks; they represented the very makings of the world.

The one which had a flame mark, represented the element of Fire, while the one with a waterfall represented the element of Water. The one with a seemingly cracked ground represented earth and there was one that looked like it was related to Earth, but it was different. It was simply a tall rock, showing off it's sturdy grey body. This rock represented Metal. There was another that looked very sturdy as well; it was an ancient tree, representing Wood.

The latter two were completely different from the previous five. Although, everyone knew that seven elements were what made up the world, they didn't know that before the five elements came into being, these two had long existed before them. In fact, it could be said the five elements were created as a result of them battling over each other for the world, which split and later came to be known as the Sun and Moon; Day and Night.

These two elements were Light and Dark. Unlike the five before them, these two were much rarer to get as one's affinity often leads towards one of the five elements. Light and Dark aren't how the five elements mutually suppress and support each other; No, these two only can equally be confronted by their opposite! Anyways, going back to the marks, Light was represented by a herb for it's superb healing abilities, while Dark was represented by a black flower for death.

Why these seven elements of the world came to form a small domain, even to the extent of overlapping over each other, casting away their instinctive differences, was unknown.

The seven-layered domain's marks glowed briefly before it disappeared, allowing the cracked pieces of shells to fall off, one by one. If someone from the Primeval Era were to be here, they would cough up blood and would be fuming in anger because what was revealed inside of the cocoon was not a Heaven and Earth treasure, but a small child.

The child was lying on the soft grass underneath, surrounded by broken fragments of the cocoon. He had long glossy black hair which was sprawled around him. His skin was as white and creamy as a newborn baby. His eyes were closed signifying his slumbering state, as his body was adapting at an extreme speed to the exposure of the air outside at a visible speed.

Although this child had been inside of the cocoon for innumerable millennia, he only broke out now, signifying him as a newborn but with a child's body that looked to be about eight years old.

"How... interesting. What others sought and the thing our ancestors protected in the past, turned out to only be a child." A Divine Beast remarked as it had just arrived at the scene, seeing a child sleeping on the grassy ground.

Soon, more Divine Beasts arrived. They had all been staying at the outskirts when they heard a sound from the deepest parts. They thought some impudent creature intruded into their sacred grounds and rushed in to apprehend the intruder.

"Should we kill him? He has the same characteristics of the Human race." A Profound Beast asked. It was just a young Profound Beast, among the few young Profound Beasts that came here.

"Fool. Just because he has the characteristics of the Human race doesn't mean he is a Human. After all, us beasts can also transform into our human forms." A Fox Divine Beast slapped the head of the Profound Beast with its tail.

Some of the other Profound Beasts that had the same thought lowered their heads after hearing the Divine Beast's explanation. They were a bit ashamed at the thought of killing someone that had just been born and experienced his first breaths.

"Although he is not a Human, it doesn't change the fact he is not the same race as us. We should think of what to do with the child." The Fox Divine Beast suggested, as it took some pity on the child. After all, it was just born and had no family, and never did either as it seemed.

"How abo—" The first Divine Beast that arrived here spoke only to get cut off by a majestic voice that sounded throughout the surroundings.

"Take him to the Spirit Race. All of us have approved of this decision."

The first Divine Beast was surprised hearing the voice of an ancestor, but complied. It went up to the child and picked him up, putting him onto his back. He then turned, and started going at a speed where some Divine Beasts couldn't see him, heading off to the direction where the Spirit Race lived.