"The Twin Dragons… that ruled the world?" Shin dry-heaved. He'd never heard of this story, even with his insatiable thirst for knowledge. In fact, for someone who now possessed the Celestial Dragon Spirit, he knew pitifully little about it.
"That's right," Zishen replied with all his teeth being shown. "It is a tale long passed, dating back to the origin of the world itself. Before humans ruled the lands, before the age of cultivators…" The Azure Dragon twisted its body once, and its serpentine torso was placed right before the startled youth. "Come, my prince. Let me take you to the shrine of the Celestial Dragon."
Shin was urged onto the Azure Dragon's back. Zishen was just as sturdy as he was big. Shin's bum rested comfortably on the Tier 9 Spirit Beast as if it were a sofa made out of pure stone. Shin's Celestial Dragon was a little pissed off that its master wanted to ride another instead of itself, but since it could take corporeal form, the Spirit made due by nestling close to the youth.
"Mmmm… Hold on tight, my prince..."
Whooooooooshhh!!!
The Azure Dragon took off high into the air, alongside its numerous descendants. They climbed up the Celestial River, ignoring the no-fly zone that had been set in stone since the beginning of the Eight Ancient Clans of Water. No living being other than the Azure Dragon's bloodline had ever been to the top of the Celestial River. It was a sacred land that has been untouched for generations. Thus, when Shin arrived at the top, the first thing he saw was a bed of weeds.
Stone statues that should have been guarding the shrine had deteriorated beyond belief as no single structure stood tall. Remnants of broken stone and granite were littered all over, and a few gorgeous oak trees stood on by. However, there was one single construction that remained standing, even after five hundred years without any human care. Shin took one deep breath, calming himself before he stood face-to-face with the colossal structure. The opened mouth of the original Celestial Dragon. That was what laid at the peak of the mountain.
Water bearing the same colour of the Celestial River flowed out of the dead Dragon's mouth, creating an everflowing supply of dense mana for the Empyrean Wonder. Oddly enough, Shin felt magically attracted to the skull. Perhaps it was due to the Celestial Dragon Spirit that he had.
"Is this really..." Shin tried to ask, only to be greeted by Zishen's nodding head.
"Yes, my prince… This is the real skull of the Celestial Dragon that passed many aeons ago..."
"..." Shin didn't doubt the Azure Dragon. Taking a few long pauses, the youth sucked in the mana-rich air of the peak. Every single element in the world, not just the water-element, was amplified to its absolute peak. It took the young man a few seconds to really calm down as he turned to the decrepit shrine that paid homage to the Lady of Water.
Just like life itself, nothing in this world was ever eternal. Five hundred thousand years was long enough for the monument to fade out of memory. Shin was certain that back in its day, the Lady of Water's shrine would have been the most spectacular marvel the world has ever seen. He cupped a mouthful of water using his hands and drank directly from the Celestial Dragon's skull.
'Sweet...' Shin thought to himself. "How did the original Celestial Dragon pass away?" The young man didn't know much about the Celestial Dragon, but he did know the story of the Lady of Water.
Back during the era of the first men, every single cultivator contracted with Terrestrial elements such as earth, fire, lightning or wind. The Lady of Water, who loved the oceans so much, hated the fact that she had to contract with a Spirit that didn't have to properties of water. However, no one knew how to contract with a Water-Elemental back then. So, the young woman ventured out into the ocean, drinking nothing but seawater and eating fish she caught to survive. Alas, no human could live on sea forever. In due time, her end was nigh. Taking pity on her, the Celestial Dragon decided to form a contract with the woman, allowing her to become the first-ever Spirit User with a Water-Element.
However, after that tale, stories regarding the Celestial Dragon had been cut clean. No one knew where it went or what happened to it. It was as if the mighty Celestial Dragon had just… vanished.
"Mmmm… It died of old age..." Zishen decisively replied.
"Huh?"
The Azure Dragon shook its head, seemingly in agony. "Unlike humans, we Spirit Beasts have no passage into the Immortal Realm. We can live for thousands, sometimes even millions of years. However, the heavens are fair. Even if we become the most dominant beings in the world, there's nothing we can do to beat mother time." Zishen elaborated. He looked at the skull of the deceased Dragon and felt like he was looking into his future. "When the time comes, all of us would return into the oceans. That's the cycle of life. For the new to come, the old must go. The Celestial and Terrestrial Dragon knew that."
"Terrestrial?" Shin perked his ears as a question flowed out.
"Mmmm… Right… We have to begin from there..." The Azure Dragon quickly realised its mistake. "Long ago, when the world was still developing from a blob of spiritual energy, the first life forms were created. They possessed power surpassing Spirit Saints, and they wielded the elements as if they were part of their bodies. Their power was capable of breaking the continents in half and creating lush forests with just a breath. Mmmm… They went by many names in the past, but nowadays, we just refer to them as the Titans of Old."
"..." Shin listened in intensely. Not because it was related to his own circumstance, but because of his natural curiosity.
"The Titans of Old were mighty beings, but they were just amalgamations of spiritual energy. They had no intelligence and fought on instinct. The residue energies that they created soon spilt into the virgin world, empowering every living thing with a little bit of their powers. Millions of years passed, and the small beings soon morphed into hungry monsters that we now know today as Primordial Beasts." Taking a pause, the Azure Dragon looked fondly towards the skull of the Celestial Dragon.
"The Ancient Primordial Beasts were strong. They had sucked in power directly from the Titans of Old, and their might was unfathomable. They possessed intelligence and wit and superior breeding methods. Each generation became stronger than the last until… The Dragon Race came about..."
"The Dragon Race..." Shin muttered alongside the Azure Dragon.
"Mmmmm… The Dragon Race were mighty. They had absorbed the most spiritual energies from the Titans, and they only breed to create the best offsprings. There were no taboos in their culture. The strongest pair of Dragons would always breed, and the pattern would continue for thousands of years. That was until… The Celestial and Terrestrial Dragons were born."
Zishen spoke of the stories as if he was personally there to witness them. Of course, that was far from the truth. Zishen's ancestor was a servant to the Celestial Dragon. That's the only reason why he could obtain this much information that was unknown to the outside world. Rather, the Azure Dragon's bloodline was the only one that remembered, since they remained relatively untouched since the Lady of Water's era.
"The Celestial and Terrestrial Dragons were abnormalities. Unlike their predecessors, they possessed the power of absorbing all elements which meant that they had one special ability… The power to eat the Titans of Old."
"Eat them?!" Shin screamed. He then looked straight at the Celestial Dragon Spirit coiled around his body. That adorable little cerulean Koi that accompanied for this long had morphed into something that ridiculous?
"Mmmm… That's right… Time was also on their side… The Titans of Old, after fighting for thousands of years and losing that much of their elemental energies, were weakened. By the time the twin dragons came to be, the Titans of Old mostly stayed dormant. Basically, the Titans were dying stars waiting for their last flicker of light to burn out. So… The Celestial and Terrestrial Dragon helped them."
"One by one, the two Dragons fought and devoured the Titans. They may have been crippled by time, but the Titans were no pushovers. Each and every fight was gruelling, some even nearly ending the lives of the two mighty Dragons. However, in the end, the Titans of Old were no match for the hungry and young duo. While the Celestial and Terrestrial Dragons could use all the elements the world had, in the end, they began to develop preferences based on which Titans they ate."
Zishen floated towards the Celestial Dragon's skull and placed his claw within the water source. Five distinct colours flew out from Zishen's claw and coloured the backdrop like a rainbow. "The Celestial Dragon dominated the Water, Light, Mind, Space and Time elements. On the other hand, the Terrestrial Dragon ate the Titans that possessed the Earth, Fire, Lightning, Wind and Darkness elements."
"Wow..." Shin finally understood why he could sense the other elements, even back during the time of the Sovereign Koi. "To think that beings like that existed..." It was an age even before the first Spirit Immortal. An era that no one remembers.
"Mmmm… That's right..." Zishen agreed. When he first heard of this story from his father, he was stunned as well. It really was a pity…
"Alas… So what if the twin Dragons dominated the world? They still couldn't outrun death..." The Azure Dragon heaved out a heavy mist, blinding the young man for just one moment. "Once the Celestial and Terrestrial Dragon took down the Titans of Old, they found themselves alone at the very peak. There was nothing else to hunt. They were already the strongest… So, they turned against each other..."
'Just like humans, huh...' Shin sneered inwardly. Humans, Dragons… They were all the same. Greed was intrinsic in their nature. It was the same then… now… and possibly… forevermore.
"They fought for thousands of years. Their battles changed the continents and rose ocean levels. Broke the stars and melted the core. One wanted to close the world with land, the other wanted to cover it with water. It took them millions of years to settle their disputes. In the end, half the world would be enveloped with earth while the other half… would become endless ocean paradise. That's the origin of the Terre Continent and the Celestial Ocean."
"What made them stop?" Shin questioned. For two of the world's most dominant beings to cease their fighting, something significant must have happened.
Zishen smiled bitterly, "Time itself… After millions of years, the two mighty beings could feel their lifespans waning. The disease that plagued the Titans of Old. No, the disease that plagues all living beings, was now at the Celestial and Terrestrial Dragon's footsteps."
"I see..."
"Mmmm... To ensure that their legacy lives on, the two Dragons decided on a truce. The Terrestrial Dragon decided to merge with the Terre Continent. That way, it's spiritual energy would continue to glue the continent together as one large landmass. The Celestial Dragon took a drastically different approach..." Zishen moved its eyes away from the skull and stared straight at the floating Spirit around Shin.
"W-What?"
"Mmmm… The Celestial Dragon contracted with the Lady of Water to preserve its Spirit… Together, they created Celestial Island and the Celestial River… The Lady of Water had even given birth to many children to diversify her blood… All in the hopes of the Celestial Dragon's rebirth..." Zishen smiled. "Our Azure Dragon clan must train and ensure that the Celestial Dragon's bloodline lives on. It took five hundred thousand years but finally… We're here..."
"..." Shin gulped. For the Azure Dragon clan to stand their ground for five hundred thousand years… How much dedication did that need?
"So, my Prince… Please accept our oath of fealty!"
✵✵✵
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