Martial Union
The drums of war thundered across the plains of the Wan Shui Empire. At the forefront stood a lone figure draped in silver armor, his crimson cloak dancing with the wind. His gaze, sharp as a dragon’s claw, swept across the battlefield. His name was Huan Bai — the War Demon, the youngest divine general in the empire’s history.
At fifteen, he had silenced rebel cities. At twenty-two, he led men against beasts that tore mountains apart. At twenty-seven, he ascended to the rank of Divine General, one of only three in the entire empire. His name was etched in legends, sung by poets and feared by kings.
But even war gods have hearts.
In a rare moment of peace, the general crossed paths with Wu Hua, the flower of the Xiantian Sect. Graceful, serene, and unshaken even by his terrifying presence. Love, unexpected and fierce, bloomed like wildfire. They married in the spring, where cherry blossoms rained like snow.
On his thirty-second birthday, the war demon smiled brighter than ever before. His son, Li Bai, was born under a sky filled with stars, as if the heavens themselves bowed in blessing.
But fate, as always, was cruel.
In the same year, during a border negotiation with the Tiansha Empire, General Huan Bai was betrayed and captured. His soldiers returned without him. His armor, broken. His spear, snapped. His fate — unknown.
And as if destiny wasn’t yet done, Wu Hua vanished days later. No body, no trace. Only silence.
The empire grieved its war god. But not all shared in the sorrow.
Young Li Bai, now the son of a "fallen hero" and a "runaway woman," grew under the weight of whispers and cruel laughter. “A cursed child,” they called him. “The disgrace of a vanished bloodline.”
But in the stillness of rejection, something stirred.
On the eve of his seventh birthday, when the cold moon was high and dreams were thin, Li Bai sat alone in the courtyard of the orphaned manor. No one celebrated. No one remembered.
And then — boom.
A sudden pulse. The earth trembled. The stars above flickered strangely, as if acknowledging a forgotten truth. From within Li Bai’s core, a spiraling path of light and darkness emerged. It did not follow the known elements. It was not fire, not wind, not sword, not beast.
It was Primordial Dao — the root of all creation, the seed of all destruction.
Unseen by all, the world had changed.
The spirit child had awakened.
