1 Chapter 1

The sound of falling water could be heard throughout. Inside the waterfall lay a small wooden temple. A plaque was positioned crookedly above the front door, reading "Waterfall Shrine". Inside the shrine was a small lantern. It was made out of some sort of black iron and a bluish light flickered from inside. The glass was extremely dirty, with dirt and soot covering it, and the once shining metal frame had been reduced to a rusty and brownish-black color. Only one lonesome lantern rusting away, with the ages.

This lantern had been lit up in this small room for millions of years, through countless storms and wars. Laying here for ages, its presence mystical and profound. Only so few people have been inside the shrine and peered upon this lantern, looking at it as if it was some holy artifact that should not be touched. It was almost as if the lantern was alive...

"Pov change"

"AAHHH!" The Lantern was pissed off.

Rotting away with the centuries, the Lantern had seen many people stare at him with somewhat awe. Kings, Emperors, Saints, they all acted as if he was some sort of archaic heavenly artifact that shouldn't be touched. Humans were supposed to be greedy! The Lantern used to be just a random lantern that had been carried around as a normal lantern would.

But then that changed, when an old monk took him up a winding mountain road, behind the waterfall and set The Lantern down, here in the old temple. Well, at the time, the temple had been brand new, no peeling paint or dusty floors, just a small, modest-looking temple. He said some mysterious long and boring mantra, and then he came into sentience. Then, that monk just left him there.

Forever. Every day, the Lantern, the possibly only Lantern in the world to receive enlightenment just lay there. Lanterns do not have legs. But apparently, they have eyes, kind off. Sort of like a spiritual sense or something. The Lantern could also sleep, which is very innovative for a lantern. The reason the Lantern was screaming was that The Lantern was permanently rooted to this spot unless someone picked him up. After a few days of contemplating the doors and the walls in front of him like they were heavens secrets he quickly got bored.

When boredom struck The Lantern, his mental state quickly dropped and then became replaced by anger. He began to hate the giant wooden walls and looming doors. (Lanterns are little) Then, one day, he heard footsteps. Shivering excitedly, the Lantern screamed. But no voice came out. Then, the doors to the temple opened, revealing a cloaked figure...

A tall figure walked in, revealing an intimidating aura. A sword hung at the man's side, gleaming in the morning light. The sound of water splattering could be heard as the looming figure stepped into the temple and took off his hood. A grim pale face was revealed. The man had sharp blue eyes and flowing dark hair. Getting rid of the cloak he revealed a majestic-looking robe engraved with the image of dragons. It was almost as if the dragons were swimming around. The man radiated an imperial aura, like that of a king, looking down on his subjects. He grimly looked down at the Lantern.

Majestic Figure: "What is a with this room, how mystical, just one lantern sitting in the middle of this room, how profound!"

Lantern: ...

"Profound? Profound? I mean I am majestic but arent you supposed to be like, an important figure if someone else saw you like this then wouldn't they die from ridicule!?" The Lantern felt depressed.

The majestic figure looked on at the Lantern with awe, staring at it for hours.

"Thi- This Lantern transcends common sense, what kind of heavenly artifact is this, when I try to look into it, it looks like I am staring into the abyss!" The "majestic" figure trembled.

"Something like this, should not be touched! From now on, this shall be taboo, and for as long as I live, I shall not mention this to another soul!"

The Lantern: ...

"AAAHHHH"

The Lantern screamed.

"Aren't humans supposed to be greedy sinful people?!" The Lantern cried.

"I just want to leave!"

From there on, every person who went up this winding path to the Shrine inside of the Waterfall all said the same thing.

"How profound!"

Emperors, Saints, Immortals, Grandmasters, Fairies, Dragons, Phoenixes all said this one word.

"I may admit that I am way more handsome than the rest of you but how am I profound?"

"If I am profound then why don't you just go worship a torch! This is pissing me off! I just want to leave this stupid shrine!" The Lantern exclaimed to no one in particular.

"Do people outside all worship household items or something?" The Lantern murmured profoundly.

(Back to present)

"AAAAHHHH!"

The Lantern still screamed and cursed at the Heavens, which happened to be his daily routine. Centuries and millennium had past and the Lantern's mental state could still be said to be quite stable, as The Lantern could still think clearly. After cursing at the Heavens for the first part of the day, he started muttering some inconsistent stuff. Soon, some wisps of energy started gathering around the Lantern. They formed around the Lantern, swirling in a funnel. This was one of the ways that the Lantern alleviated his boredom. Through cultivation. One day, one grand scholar had visited the shrine and started mumbling some random jibberish about piercing the heavens and the Lantern had gained enlightenment from this and started his long slightly arduous journey through the long and harsh cultivation world. The scholar had said, along with "how profound" that the cultivation world was a hard, dog eat dog world, but for the Lantern, it was a hobby, as no arrogant young master or snobby rich cultivator would insult him for no apparent reason. He just cultivated, making countless breakthroughs, the scholar also said that "the road to immortality is harsh and unforgiving" The Lantern did not think this because it was already partially immortal and every time a heavenly lightning tribulation gathered, when it hit him, for some reason it would be absorbed slowly into him, maybe because the metal is conductive? Also, another thing that the scholar said was that a cultivator would go through lots of grief and they would slowly watch there loved ones and friends die, bu the Lantern had no friends, the only time The Lantern felt sad was when that occasional ant perished.