chapter I rises

beneath the water there live a thousand years old snakes he slept peacefully beneath the wave

but he heard a sound, the sound resembles the sound of a baby

curious to know it reach above to see the snake revealed himself to be a giant that was brown

but when examined closely you can see a pattern of dark blue and brown in the scale

the snake saw a little basket he came closer to get a better look until he heard a sound familiar to him

he looks forward to seeing an old man with the inner robe of red while outer robe of white with one hand holding a horsetail whisk, and a gourd on his belt, he had a long white beard that reaches its chest, a warm and calming look in appearance

he came close to the snake

"how long has it been, my old friend." asked the old man with a smile on his face.

the snake returned to the waters and suddenly with a huge splash a human jumped out of the water, the man wore all black with a hood covering his face.

"it's been so long that I had lost count, jiuyin, why did you come here, I thought I have reach my time'' says the man wanting to know why his friend came and why is there a baby here.

''for me, it is to come and visit you, we were sworn brothers after all'' says jiuyin calmly "but for the majesty" he said with two hands raised in a respectful manner as if the queen was there to see " its a different question."

"does it have to do with the baby'' says the man as he looks at the baby.

''To tell you the truth, the majesty ordered me to bring this baby to you, she wanted you to do one thing and that is to raise this child as if it was yours" said jiuyin as he touched the sleeping child peacefully.

"What happens if I refuse this baby," the man with his hand crossed in refusal.

jiuyin then uses his finger to count and predict the future he then stand up,

"you can refuse, but I have seen what had happened to you in the future, especially since you have something that may cause the world you have sworn to protect be perished, it is why the majesty bring this baby, she had foreseen something horrible," jiuyin said in a calm voice yet you can feel a fear a sense of fear from his words.

the man after hearing felt concerned as he remember what he had become,jiuyin then continued

''the baby can bring hope to this world adding that it can be a cleansing to you".

"what must I do." says the man while wondering how must he raise this child.

''simple enough, raised him, feed him, and train him only in water ability"jiuyin said with a smile on his face.

"as long as it doesn't unleash the monster." said the man holding the baby with two arms.

"do you know a place that is perfect for this young child ?" the man said wondering where should he go from now.

"I've seen a small cave in the south you should go there and check it yourself." says jiuyin.

"you're not coming." says the man expecting jiuyin to join him.

"Sadly no, but I guess we will meet again in 15 years." said jiuyin preparing himself.

"to us, it will be like a blink of an eye, I hope to see you again, old friend," he said before he unleash a small cloud to ride into the location.

''we will, old friend" jiuyin said while his cloud is prepared right by his side he step on the cloud and return to the heavens.

meanwhile in the heavens palace

within the library was a girl that was adorned in black green armour, the pattern in the armour resembled that of a word for mountain, she had her black hair tied in a bun which cause many to mistake her for a man she had a long silk cloth that was called yu yi which every deity requires to wore to fly, except the majesty and those who ride in clouds

she was searching for something she remembers the queen gave an order to find a scroll that was written by 'the man' she doesn't know him but she had heard of his achievement she had trouble finding them though, as each scroll was covered in their coloured cloth

meanwhile, jiuyin had just arrived and he had received a message by he and the majesty loyal messenger tianji she had white hair, 9 white fluffy tails, wore in white with a pattern that resembles black ink when mixed with water she was a personal fox to the majesty herself and now she came to jiuyin with a message from the majesty

"the majesty had ordered you to meet xuannu in the library." said Tianji in a worried and concerned voice

"is there a reason why I have to meet her at this moment." said jiuyin

"right, the majesty ordered you to meet her because something bad was happening on earth right now." said tianji while following jiuyin behind his back

"How bad can it possibly be." said jiuyin wondering how big can this problem be

"well, long story short the four divine guardians had fought each other, with the white tiger begin the fight, and now the four guardians began to fight each other trying to know who is the most superior." said tianji following jiuyin

"is that so, I hope xuannu prepared the thing necessary for this." said jiuyin while walking toward the west wing which is where the library belongs

meanwhile within the library

jiuyin enter the gate to the library he sees two sections of records, etc one was the oracle bone, and the other was the bamboo scroll section, just as he was about to go to the oracle bone section he heard a loud sound of something falling, with a voice of a woman the voice came from the bamboo scroll section

jiuyin came to see scattered scrolls, and a woman that wore black armour fell from the stool she is what jiuyin had been looking for her name was xuannu one of the two well-known princesses of this palace

jiuyin came to help her out, he help her pick up the scroll asking

"you must have received the queen order, right ?" said jiuyin hoping she would say yes

"of course I do, I just need to wait for you, that's all." said xuannu tidying up the fallen scroll

"so any plan to solve this problem." said jiuyin

"I do, but you gotta need a bigger cloud that's all." said xuannu with a smile on her face

meanwhile, xuannu brought jiuyin to the stable there he saw a twin creature one gold, and one silver, both have the body of a horse covered in fish scale, the head of a dragon with antlers like a deer, and their feet resembles the feet of a deer, they were the qilin, jiuyin saw this realize it was a bold decision as they only appear when a great ruler arrives in this world but he also notices the one element that was lacking in the earth, as he notices that there are only metal, fire, wood, and water there is no earth element.

"xuannu, I am quite impressed with the way you thinking, but why must I bring two instead of one ?" said jiuyin curiously

"well the first reason was simple, when the silver one doesn't have his brother right by his side he became quite aggressive to anyone, and as a girl who has a sibling I can understand how it felt to be separated from your siblings, the second one though..." before xuannu could finish her word the silver one roared and the sound of lightning can be heard not far.

"thunder." jiuyin said as he realize why, why he must bring two instead of one, the two symbolize the yin (silver) and yang (gold) of this world.

"give me the rope." said jiuyin in a sound of preparing to see what happened

xuannu brings two ropes one normal one for the gold and a rope that was made purposely to tame an aggressive beast (even deities)

a few minutes later

"all done." said jiuyin as he tied without breaking a sweat, he uses the two ropes to bring them to the earth below, and he was prepared to see what the fight had caused

meanwhile, the four guardians had fought each other for at least a day, the fight had caused the ground to turn blood red, they all unleashes their greatest abilities upon one another with the white tiger mauled, the crescent dragon flew and attack repeatedly, the vermillion bird with its tail of flames burn everything in its way, the back turtle defend with its shell while the black snake the swirl around him was spitting waves upon waves of water.

the battle was fierce and almost no sound can be heard until one sound appear out of nowhere, the sound was loud enough to shake the earth below, they look at where the sound came from only to see the man they feared, jiuyin was standing on a cliffside with the two qilin standing side by side.

the battlefield was all in silence since the four guardians were too afraid to move nor do they dare to make any voice especially when this man was around.

"all of you know what will happen if you all kept fighting, right ?" said jiuyin in a disappointed tone

nobody dares to make a sound so jiuyin continues.

"It is decided that none of you is worthy to be the ruler of this land and it is decided that he is worthy." said jiuyin while pointing at the gold qilin

the guardians all look at each other in confusion but they also understand the decision.

jiuyin notice one of them and decided to take off the rope that was on the silver qilin he then continues said

"if any of you was able to defeat any of these two, you will be qualified as the new ruler of this land" just as jiuyin finished his sentence the white tiger suddenly sprinted, with its claw prepared it jumped at the silver qilin, but, just as he touches the silver qilin, the silver one disappeared, before the tiger could reflect on what happens the silver qilin reappear with the speed like thunder, with its hooves prepared along the way he stomps at the tiger stomach. the impact was enough to cause a crack in the ground.

"you're lucky he didn't go for the head." said jiuyin looking at the white tiger as it was laying on the ground beside him.

"whose next ?" jiuyin said with the confidence shown in his face but he was hoping that this ends now

the four guardians seeing what had happened to the white tiger decided to give up and bow to the golden qilin, the white tiger after regaining its consciousness bowed down to the golden qilin as well.

the four guardians then retreat to their direction with the vermillion bird to the south, dragon to the east, black turtle to the north, and white tiger to the west, jiuyin stopped the two qilins.

"Sadly I have to separate you two." said jiuyin in sadness the silver one hearing this felt sadness but jiuyin continues

"silver one, come closer." said jiuyin while telling the silver one to approach to him

"sometimes in this world I can understand how it felt to be separated from your kind, but sometimes we need to be separated to grow even though you two will not be living together, you two can still meet each other secretly, as long as you don't get caught adding that I need you to protect your brother secretly." said jiuyin to the silver one

"even though I may not know when and how often you two met, I hope that it can be a precious memory for both of you." said jiuyin with a smile on his face

the silver one after hearing this look at his older brother one last time before using his lighting ability to go find somewhere else to hide only came when his brother is in a time of need.

the gold one approach to jiuyin

"you have your mission to guard this land since you are the new ruler after all, and don't worry as I know that someday you two will meet again, I promised but it is not today," jiuyin said calmly

the gold one after hearing this decided to go and explore this land, jiuyin stand up after seeing the separation between the two.

"I wonder what this land would look like after many years." jiuyin said as he look at the ground, while summoning the cloud to ride him back to the heavens, curiously he counted using his fingers he smiled as he knew something great will be grown in this place.

a few years later it was a cloudy night a father and a son was running they were escaping from something, they are not the only one running as an entire village are trying to running away from the danger that had destroyed theyre village they dont know who or what was attacking theyre village but it is inhuman for sure as the fire it burnes was black in color which makes it hard to see and the people could dissapear at any second as the attack was coming at night and they cant see a thing and they all can only run without a care for what in front of them but they kept hearing a sound of a dragons roar but they cant see where it is came from until the cloud that was covering the moon faded and they see a reflection of a dragon hovering above the escapee the dragon doesnt fly all the way as it requires to land on the rooftop to jump one after another it causes some of the escapee to be buried alive by the rubble of the house, the surrounding area resembles hell as he heard the sound of people buried alive, some people are screaming for their lives as they were buried, some cries out for help but everyone was running forward the child notice his father was missing while the surrounding was in an inferno of flames he cant find where his father is nor can he hear him, until he notice the dragon had landed in front of him, it resembles a snake like dragon with four legs its scale was pure black so does everything on the dragon body even its eye, as the dragon prepared and lounge its attack.

he awakes breathing heavily he notices that he was sweating non-stop he has been repeating this dream nonstop for the past couple of weeks, the curtain was pulled and a general entered he was very muscular and in full armour made of bronze, with etching of a face of a sleeping man in it he had long black hair that was untied with a small moustache on his face that create a triangular shape and a helmet that resembles the head of a man.

"having a nightmare again, my lord." said the man without showing a stern look

"yes, it is the same, no changes one bit." says the man sitting on the side of the bed as he was wearing a single layer of white robe at the moment

"it has been the fifth time ever since we plan to invade the capital city." said the general showing a concerned tone in his voice but without showing any expression on his face

"I know, general xing would you mind bringing my mask here." said the man with his head facing down as if he doesn't want the general to see his face

"yes, my lord." he said as he go to get the bronze mask on the table beside the armour stand the mask resembles the mask of a man with wide ears and it fully covered its face with only two holes for the eyes which you cant see its expression as the hole was pretty small

"how was the battle going so far, general?" said the man as he was wearing the mask with a small cloth to tie the mask

"We are very close to the main capital shall we prepare for the battle, my lord ?" general xing as he prepared to get the armour ready for the man to wear

"no, but I would like to go outside to see the situation first would you mind helping me wear my armour?" said the man in a caring tone as to him general xing is his most trusted and most loyal general he could ever have

"it would be an honour." said the general as he take the armour

minutes later the general pulled the curtain and the man got out to see the camp he sees the morning sun just appear and his soldier was eating their supplies.

"my lord, would you like to eat your breakfast first, my lord ?" said the general with its two palms covered one another in a respectful manner

"yes, and also another thing." said the man as he turned back to look at the general

"what is it ?" said the general

"if we were to invade the capital city I need you all to do one simple promise." said the man in a warning tone with seriousness can be heard in his voice

"what would that be ?" said general xing curiously

"do not kill nor harm the innocent civilian, women, and children." said the man warned his general

"like usual, my lord." said the general as he notice that in every battle or invasion his lord does not dare to hurt the innocent civilians he sometimes wondered why is it to get more support? or was there something more to it but to him this is the type of lord that he would willing to follow instead of the leader of the other tribe as they would be more barbaric than him

"now, where is my breakfast at?" said the man touching his stomach

"Follow me, my lord." said general xing as he pointed with his arm in a manner of respect

meanwhile, on the other side of the camp, the leader has seen the number of forces that his enemy as he had been outside waiting for her wife he been walking in a circle for the past hours as he is worried about her he wondered if she was able to survive after giving birth to his child, and if the child could also survive alongside with her, as he began to panic and thought of her scream had caused him wanted to barge in and help her but all that was thrown out of the window when he heard a sound of a baby crying, he heard the sound like the sound of joy as he now has an heir, but now he is concern about his wife when the door open the caretaker came out with a word of congratulation spoken to the leader

"it is a boy, my lord." says the caretaker as she is holding a baby boy in her hand

the leader holds the baby in its arms

"can I enter to see my wife?" said the leader with worried and concern appear on his face

"she is in there resting you can enter, but don't be too loud my lord." said the caretaker as she step aside

the leader brought the baby into the room he saw servants bringing out a bunch of bowls, clothes that were covered in blood and some weird substance, and there he saw his beautiful wife lying there on the bed her skin looks pale and he notice how tired she looks as he got closer and closer

"This is our child, my bride." he whispered as he hold their son with both arms as he sat down to see his wife

"let me see him closely." the bride said as she showed both of her arms ready to hold the baby

the leader gave the baby gently to his wife as he take a good look at his wife

"have you decided the name for our child, my dear." said the wife as she looked at her husband excited

"Huang...Xuan yuan." said the leader as he stand to look at the bright sky through the window as he remembered a constellation that went by the same name adding that he was born in the months of lion

"Huang Xuan yuan." a fitting name as she thought in her head but she heard the sound of footstep coming from the window outside

a man barge in giving a report said

"my lord, here is a letter from the barbarians that are not far from our city." he said as he showed the letter had a tear on top of it indicating it was shot by an arrow

the leader look at the letter and notice it was a request as it written

'i leader of 9 tribes and known by the name king of yan requested you to surrender or else you shall face thousands of arrow shot to you as you see your city burned for the cause you did long ago' the leader look at the last sentence 'the cause you did long ago' he though as he remember a massacre he had caused even to this day he still can't forgive himself for what foolish act he had done during those time

to him, this may be a redemption he ordered

"inform the civilian of young and old alongside the entire soldier to move as far away from this capital as they can he will face this battle all by himself."

the reporter after hearing this dare not to refuse and he went away running as quickly as he can

the leader turned to see his wife shocking reaction to this just as she was about to speak, the leader stopped her and said

"This child needs you, I can't afford to sacrifice anyone, especially you and our child." said the leader in a caring tone as he touched his wife's face, as he touched her face teardrops start to appear on her face, as he looked at her he kissed her and whispered "live well, and take good care of this little one, it is my last wish, and if there is a next life I wish I will reunite with you once again, this shall be my last promise to you." he left just after he had said these word.

a few hours later outside the city gate the city was in the desert with the wall defending the city was made of nearby clay and sand the man/ king of yan waited outside riding on his horse he looked at the tower to see nothing no archer, no one alarming the soldiers, nothing he wondered have he get into a trap set by the leader, which is why he requested archer to prepare themselves but with the arrow nocked but not drawn, he waited and waited until he raised his arms, the archers drew theyre bow with a fast swoop of his hand the arrow was shot, some had hit the walls, but others reached inside the city wall but hearing no sign of people screaming he assumes that he must have ordered people to escape to somewhere which is a relief cause he can't bear to see innocence died in his hand, but soon he saw the gate was pushed open and he saw one man stand there wore in armour made of bronze with a spear prepared on his hand, and his expression tells the king that he is ready

"I see that you told your people to retreat, it is a relief to know that, my friend." said the king of yan impressed with the leader's decision

"I hope you're not planning to kill them, chi yan." said the leader as he know who this man behind the mask was hearing from the voice

"so you remember me since when have you able to remember the innocence that has died in your hands as you pursue to became glorious and be remembered by history as the 'man who slew the dragon', you do remember what had happened to the people after you slay that dragon, right?" said chi yan in a threatening voice which sounds like sharp blade to the leader who heard this loud and clear

"yes, I do, I could never forget you, young one, and I have regretted my action ever since then, I could never forgive myself for the amount of blood that was on my hand." the leader said as he look at his hand

"even if you regretted your action, will those people, my family, and many other innocents be brought back to life!!!, no, no matter what you have done the amount of blood debt that you owed will have to be paid with your own life!" said chi yan in the sound of furious that can be heard by everyone

"I know that the only way I can repay the blood debt was with my own life, so please go ahead and behead me as long as my life can bring thousand of people a way to live, it will be a worth it." said the leader as he closed his eyes and accepted his faith

chi yan raised his hand with the archer behind him and drew their bow, with the hand down valleys of arrow was shot. the leader heard the sounds of the arrow falling towards him and there in his mind he think of his loved ones especially his wife saying the last goodbye in his mind, chi yan alongside the soldiers sees the body fall after the arrow had stopped the body was fully covered in arrow that it almost impossible to recognize who it is, seeing this scene chi yan sigh and said to general xing

"give him a proper burial." said chi yan as he rode his horse in the other direction, as general xing ordered the soldier to bring the body somewhere else to be buried.

above the heaven jiuyin sees the entire event unfold in front of his eyes, he now puts his eyes upon the escapee before tianji arrives once again

"miss xuannu wanted to meet, master jiuyin." said tianji emotionlessly the tone of her voice tell jiuyin that this meeting would be a lot more relaxed

"I'm guessing this meeting was a lot more relaxed, was it ?" said jiuyin still looking at the escapee that was on earth

"correct, she is now waiting for you at the library as usual." she said as she turned to walk away

"understood." said jiuyin wondering if the subject of this meeting have something to do with the escapee that he is watching

upon the library xuannu was now wearing in her casual clothes it was a robe that was in the colour of black that covers her entire body she doesn't wear it often as she only wore it whenever she is in a less busy time she was sitting on a chair reading a history text recounting the event that happens before especially the 'black dragon incident' which she has a lot of interest in especially the tactic that was used to fight such dragon she was quite immersed to the story as she barely notices that jiuyin had entered and had sat on the chair not far from the chair xuannu sat on

jiuyin waited, and waited...and waited it was until jiuyin coughed that xuannu realized that jiuyin had sat there for a while

"you here !?" xuannu said surprised seeing jiuyin was there

"tell me, xuannu, why do you want me to meet you here." said jiuyin having enough of xuannu's shenanigans

"right, right, follow me." xuannu stands up as she brings jiuyin to a scroll section, she pulls out two types of scrolls one was called 'the sword technique of Xuan yuan but the other one is what caught jiuyin in surprise as it was 'the spear and sword combination of the ying dragon as this was a spear technique written down by his sworn brother adding that both books were written in the same oracle script it proofs that it was written down by his sworn brother one was his creation and the other was simply a commission

"why did you show my brother works" jiuyin ask wondering what was the plan that xuannu had planned

"the majesty have ordered me to get this book to prepare for what shall come" xuannu said calmly as if she knew what jiuyin would say next

"what did majesty had planned" said jiuyin with seriousness appear in his eyes

"i dont have the courage to ask that far of a queation"said xuannu shake her head slowly

"but..." said xuannu suddenly

"she wanted you to kept these two until the two are ready" said xuannu holding jiuyin hand to give it to him

"what do you mean by two" said jiuyin curiously and hoping that xuannu would answer everything

"the plans of the heaven cant be revealed, jiuyin, it cant be revealed"said xuannu sigh as this is first time she sees jiuyin acting out of character but she knows that if she answered she will be in big trouble

"at least i know one of them and i think that is enough" said jiuyin regain his posture

"i see, if thats the case then ill get going, now" said xuannu as she walk out of the library

jiuyin left there wondering what have the majesty have planned he calculated the future but somehow he got no result as to what will happen in the future but he had a small guess in his mind and he hope that it is only a theory of his