It was late at night when Yan Zi finally returned to his room. The moonlight filtered through the thin curtains, casting a pale glow across the room. He undressed slowly, his thoughts heavy with the events of the day. The treatment, his unspoken abilities, and the overwhelming truth of his situation—all of it swirled in his mind, leaving him both exhausted and alert.
As he settled into bed, he sighed, pressing his hands behind his head and staring up at the ceiling. What a strange day, he thought. I never imagined I'd end up healing Yan Ru like that... or even have the chance to use alchemy. He closed his eyes, hoping for a restful sleep.
But sleep was slow to come.
His mind kept racing, reflecting on the hidden depths of his own potential—potential he hadn't even begun to grasp. Could there be more to me than I realize? The thought echoed in his mind, filling him with a strange sense of unease, as if something was waiting to reveal itself.
The seconds dragged on.
And then, suddenly, a peculiar sensation gripped his heart.
A sharp, unsettling feeling, like an invisible hand was clutching his chest, squeezing with growing intensity. What is this? Yan Zi thought, his eyes snapping open, heart pounding. He lay there, wide awake now, but the sensation did not subside. It intensified, as though something deep within him was pulling him, drawing him into the unknown.
Before he could make sense of what was happening, everything went blank.
A blinding light, so intense it seemed to pierce through his very soul, engulfed him. His body went rigid, his mind momentarily erased from existence. The world around him disintegrated into nothingness.
Then, suddenly, he was somewhere else.
He blinked, confusion clouding his vision. The landscape before him was nothing like the room he had just been in. He wasn't in his bed anymore. He was standing on the edge of a world that seemed to teeter on the brink of destruction.
The sky above was dark, swirling with ominous clouds. Thunder crackled, lightning flashing so violently it lit up the entire horizon in bursts of crimson and purple. Where am I? Yan Zi's heart raced as he took in the chaos unfolding around him. His body felt strange, like it didn't belong in this place, and yet... it was familiar, like a dream he could almost grasp but couldn't fully understand.
The sounds of battle rang out in the distance. Explosions shattered the air, sending tremors through the ground. He turned his head, and his eyes widened in terror at the sight. Gods. True gods. Towering, magnificent beings, each with power that defied comprehension. Their forms crackled with divine energy, their every movement sending ripples through space itself.
One god, whose very presence seemed to distort the fabric of reality, struck down another with a single swipe of its hand. The blow was so violent that the earth beneath them shattered, the shockwaves spreading out like a tidal wave of destruction. The gods clashed in the sky above, their power so fierce that it tore through the very atmosphere, causing the heavens to tremble.
"NOOOOO!" A voice cried out from one of the gods as he fell from the sky, his body consumed by a blinding light. A god is... dying? Yan Zi could barely comprehend the magnitude of what he was witnessing. The gods—immortal, eternal beings—were being destroyed in their own battle. The air was thick with the scent of burning flesh and the sound of tearing worlds.
The ground trembled beneath his feet as the entire landscape seemed to shudder. Cities, once grand, were now reduced to rubble, flames licking at the remnants of civilization. Mountains crumbled, oceans boiled away to nothingness. This is... chaos, Yan Zi thought, his heart thumping violently in his chest. This can't be real... is this some kind of nightmare?
Then, as if the destruction wasn't enough to break him, something even more terrifying happened.
A beam of pure, blinding light shot across the sky, cutting through the chaos. It illuminated everything in its path, bathing the gods and the battlefield in a celestial glow. The sound of it was deafening, a high-pitched wail that pierced the very soul. The light seemed to bend and twist as it reached toward Yan Zi. He could feel it tugging at him, as if it were calling him—beckoning him to come closer.
The moment it touched his eyes, a flood of information crashed into his mind.
A voice. An ancient, all-knowing voice filled his ears, speaking words he could not understand fully but felt deep within his bones.
"This is the end of the True Gods."
The voice echoed through his mind, reverberating with the weight of ages. The True Gods... destroyed? Yan Zi thought, struggling to keep his senses intact as the light overwhelmed him. What kind of world is this? What happened to them?
The voice continued, as if explaining the grand destruction of an entire era, the fall of divinity, the cataclysm that shattered the heavens themselves. The True Gods, once all-powerful, had fought among themselves, and in the end, they had brought about their own downfall. This was their final battle—their last moment of existence. The world had been left in ruins, and the heavens wept for their fallen rulers.
Before he could process it further, the light intensified, blinding him completely.
And then, just as quickly as it had all begun, everything went dark.
His body jerked awake with a gasp, his heart racing in his chest. He sat up in bed, drenched in sweat, breathing heavily. His room was exactly as it had been before. The moonlight still filtered through the curtains. Everything was quiet, as though nothing had happened at all.
It was just a dream, Yan Zi thought, his hands trembling slightly as he wiped his forehead. He exhaled, trying to calm himself. But it felt so real... His heart still pounded from the shock of the vision.
His mind replayed the events, the destruction, the gods falling, the terrifying light. He couldn't shake the feeling that it was more than just a dream. That it meant something. Could it be... a memory? Or a warning? The thought made his skin crawl.
But how could it be real? He had no connection to the True Gods. No cultivation. How could he dream such a thing? The questions swirled in his mind, his thoughts jumbled and unsure.
He shook his head. "No... it was just a nightmare. A bad dream." He sighed, trying to shake the unease that clung to him. But deep down, there was a nagging feeling that something—something important—was hidden within that vision.
The morning light would come soon, and with it, the final day before the clan battle. But for now, all Yan Zi could do was sit in the dark, trying to calm the storm inside his mind.
The morning sun filtered softly through the window, casting a warm, golden hue across the room. Yan Zi groggily blinked his eyes open, his body still heavy with the remnants of sleep. His mind, however, was far from rested. He sat up, rubbing his temples as a dull ache pulsed at the base of his skull. What a strange night... he thought, his eyes unfocused as he tried to make sense of the dream—or was it a vision?
He reached for the edge of the bed, his fingers brushing against the cool wood. Was it real?
The images, the destruction, the gods battling each other—it all felt so vivid, so... terrifyingly real. The power of the gods, their final struggle, the universal chaos they unleashed—it was more than just a dream. His thoughts twisted, trying to latch onto something, anything, that would explain the madness of the night. If that dream was real... then why did they start fighting? What led them to the end of the True Gods?
Yan Zi closed his eyes, clutching his head as if to physically hold his thoughts in place. The pain from the dream seemed to have followed him into the waking world. His mind raced, trying to find some kind of understanding, but it only grew more chaotic.
The images of the gods—immortal, untouchable beings—tearing each other apart kept replaying in his mind. Was it just greed? Was it ambition? His heart tightened, and his breath quickened as he tried to remember the voice, the voice that had explained their fall. But what was the reason? He muttered to himself, frustration building. What could possibly lead to the end of an entire era of gods?
A sharp pain shot through his head, making him wince as his mind spun out of control. Ahh, my head... He placed a hand on his forehead, feeling the heat rise from his skin. The more he thought about it, the more overwhelming it became. The questions, the doubts—they swirled around like a storm he couldn't control.
His breathing became shallow as the weight of the unknown pressed down on him. This isn't normal. I shouldn't even be thinking about this. It's just a dream. Just a nightmare. That's all it is. Isn't it?
But even as he tried to convince himself, the nagging sensation of something being terribly wrong lingered. Something about the gods' downfall, something about the destruction of the heavens, felt like it was calling to him, something beyond the boundaries of mere dream and reality.
His fingers gripped the sheets tightly, his knuckles turning white. I need answers, he thought, but how? He had no cultivation, no power to dig deeper into this mystery. All he had were these disturbing visions—visions that didn't seem to belong to him at all.
With a frustrated sigh, Yan Zi let his hand fall to his side. He stood up slowly, still feeling the dizziness from the intensity of the dream. Focus. I need to focus on the present. The clan battle is tomorrow. I can't afford to get lost in these questions.
But even as he said that to himself, the nagging feeling remained, like a shadow that clung to him, refusing to leave. As he got dressed and prepared for the day ahead, the last remnants of the dream continued to haunt him, refusing to let go. The weight of the gods' fall, the end of an era, was still heavy on his chest, as if the very fate of the world had somehow become intertwined with his own.
Why me? he thought, shaking his head. What does any of this have to do with me?
But the more he tried to push the thoughts aside, the more they pressed in on him. A sense of inevitability lingered in the air—something beyond his understanding was coming. And though he couldn't make sense of it yet, he could feel it... something is about to change.