Childhood (1)

6,000 years ago, there was an anomaly in the skies of Mortal Realm, Deity Realm and Heavenly Realm. On one side of the sky, the clouds were pale purple; the other half was covered with crimson clouds. That abnormality remained for three whole days, and the clouds didn't move despite the wind and rain. 

Purple clouds symbolized prosperity, and crimson clouds symbolized chaos. Heavenly Realm's Celestial Diviner announced that the abnormality meant that either a great hero was born, or someone who would disrupt the balance of the three realms.

When the Second Prince Consort gave birth to a baby boy with no sign of spiritual energy within him, the Heavenly Emperor was gravely disappointed. When an aptitude test proved that the little prince truly couldn't cultivate and was a waste, the Heavenly Emperor barely bothered with him anymore, relieved that he wouldn't cause the fall of their realm since he was powerless.

From the moment the little prince was born, his future was destined to be bleak. 

A few years later, a major shift of power occured. The previous Devil Emperor of the Dark Dynasty who had defended his throne for more than three generations was overthrown by a new Devil Lord. The newly crowned Devil Emperor, Lin Jun had slaughtered his way into Ghost Palace and defeated the old Devil Emperor in a duel that sent Dark Dynasty shaking. 

In his reign, he brought the Dark Dynasty to more powerful heights, and had gathered many allies and even united many dark powers under him. Lin Jun was also known to be wild and ambitious. During a martial meet of Heavenly Realm's powerful experts and rulers, he specifically sent his subordinates to challenge experts from the Celestial Tribe, Heavenly Realm's ruling family.

When Dark Dynasty's competitors beat the majority of their challengers, other powers interpreted it as Lin Jun planning to revolt against the Celestial Tribe's rule. Worried about the chaos that might ensue if it was true, the royal family sent troops to maintain the order and spy at the border of Dark Dynasty.

Plenty of soldiers mysteriously vanished near Dark Dynasty's territory, and although the Devil Emperor didn't say anything, the Heavenly Emperor was convinced Lin Jun had secretly sent his own people to eliminate the troops he had sent. 

Determined to investigate and discipline the Devil Tribe, the Heavenly Emperor sent his favoured second son—who was also his best general—Lord of the East, to the frontlines at Dark Dynasty. Sadly, he never returned, and was presumed to be dead.

Thus, a line was drawn in the sand, and the fragile peace between the two ruling parties started to break. Discord and distrust from thousands of years ago surfaced again, and the relationship between the Celestial Tribe and the Devil Tribe gradually worsened.

The Celestial Tribe mourned the death of the Second Prince for years. There were vicious rumours of the little prince causing the fate of his royal father, because ever since his birth, inauspicious things started happening in the once prosperous royal household. The day he was born, his mother's personal handmaiden fell through a rogue portal that suddenly materialized out of thin air. On the eve of his fourth birthday celebration, one of the Emperor's royal consorts died of an unknown cause. When his mother assigned two guards for him, one of them died within the week and the other vanished just like his father.

Because of all the accidents happening on the little prince's birthdays, more and more began to believe that he was the reincarnation of disaster, and that the people around him were bound to have something tragic happen to them. 

In the end, the little prince was separated from his mother and sent to a lonely corner of Celestial Palace. The rumours were finally proven right, for when he was isolated, life went back to being peaceful again.

As the years passed, the little prince was not allowed to take part in any major gatherings and barely stepped outside his palace. Even his visits with his mother were few and far in between. He became a story palace maids gossiped about until the Heavenly Emperor issued an imperial decree that stated whoever spoke ill of the little prince and the late Second Prince was to be sentenced to death.

The prince who would either save or destroy Heavenly Realm became a whisper lost in the wind.