Clouds of cotton candy drifted across the blue canvas. In the center, the radiant sun gently bathed the world in its light. Birds were singing, and flowers were blooming.

From villages to cities, people streamed in and out of their homes. It was both a busy and beautiful day. Everyone was in a cheerful mood to burn off the excess joy.

And why wouldn’t they be?

Today was the coming-of-age ceremony for the crown prince! The future 11th emperor!

It was a mandate for everyone to stop working and celebrate. Even the most workaholic were going to relax.

However, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, the capital city was eerily quiet. No one knew when it had begun, but someone had pointed out that there was nothing going on inside the imperial palace.

Once this odd realization hit everyone, the streets had mostly quieted down with people whispering all over the empire’s capital. It was scary. Where was the emperor? Where were the parades?

Most people had thought that perhaps everything was just slightly delayed, but, as the sun rose directly above everyone, even the most optimistic ones had begun to quiet down.

***

“Crown prince! Please! You’ve been here for an entire two days! The people are worried! Please make a public appearance!”

A young man stopped pacing back and forth. His golden robes had 9 eastern dragons intertwining with each other. He angrily swung around to chastise the attendant who had called him out.

“Fool! Know your place! A measly ceremony is nothing! My imperial father has been gone for far too long! How do you think I feel?!”

Suddenly, a crack of thunder resounded across the sky.

The crown prince snapped his head towards the sound and rushed outside.

He made it just in time to see light blasting down from the skies and lighting up the ground everywhere. For a moment, the thing known as a shadow was gone.

The wail of a dragon rang out throughout the world.

From the most populous cities to the most remote villages, everyone streamed out from their homes to watch this mystical phenomenon in the sky.

Upon looking up, everyone dropped to their knees in prostration and fear.

In an era without lightspeed information transmission, everyone saw the same thing in the skies.

Big dragon scales, each the size of entire villages, made up an incorporeal, golden dragon. While the width was around the sizes of entire cities, the length was much more unbelievable with the dragon intertwining the planet more than once.

It was so majestic yet woeful.

Visible marks of gashes and shattered scales were spread throughout the serpentine body. From these wounds, golden blood leaked out into the air only to dissipate into qi. Continuous wailing seemed to signify the ever-so-close creeping of death.

“No!”

The crown prince dropped to his knees. His despondent expression was as if everything that he truly loved had been cruelly destroyed in front of him. And it had. Anyone with advanced cultivation knowledge would know that powerful, dying cultivators would dissipate and return to qi.

Only one question reverberated throughout the crown prince’s mind.

‘How?’

***

In a cavern, crystallized spirit stones, from the walls and ceilings, lightly shone on the body of water in the center. The shimmering surface hid the murky darkness where light could not penetrate. Yet, from the depths, the naked body of a man slowly floated out.

As soon as he was exposed to air, his eyes shot open.

***

In a mountain range, clouds of mist drifted in between giant hills and steep mountains. At the bottom of a steep mountain, the unsuspecting wall was blasted apart, sending a sea of dust and boulders flying outwards.

Amidst the smokescreen of the dust, the silhouette of a person could be seen.

“Divine… huh...”

***

On the valley that surrounds the city, a golden-armored giant stood whilst watching over the city. Behind him, formations of men, in blood-red robes, stood at attention, and war flags flew gallantly in the wind.

"General, we are ready!"

"The son of heaven has fallen..."

***

In a jade temple, a lady seemingly floated across the jade floor with delicate steps. Her robes fluttered as she gracefully drifted in an ethereal manner. As she came to a stop outside, she looked up at the skies.

She gave a deep sigh and turned around.

***

A scholarly man sat in a chair and rested his head on his arm. Sitting in a hall, his eyes were closed. In front of him, arrays of men silently stood and waited for his orders.

The closed eyes of the scholar rippled like a disturbed lake before gently opening.

"Now is the time to act."