Death Valley

Thunder bore down deep in the night sky. Tremors reached down and shook the desolate grass plain below.

In a certain tent in a small, close-knit settlement situated on the plain, a child voiced his unwillingness "Mother, is the thunder going to pass soon?"

"How can I know the will of the heavens, darling? If it is satisfied with our tribute, it will bless us with peace and you can go out and play tomorrow" The boy's mother clutched the boy in her arms while stroking his dark and curly hair. They were huddled up together under fur blankets in order to stay warm, with the exception of a leather bag containing the necessary utilities, there was nothing else.

The flaps of the tent made of dark leather swung open as a middle aged man wearing furs walked in. He also had dark curly hair and the fur coat couldn't hide his burly frame.

"The sacrifice of the evil beast seems to have been successful" The man took off his fur coat exposing a body which seemed to be chiseled out of marble, the only blemish on his physique were the dark set of tattoos extending across his entire body. The tattoo depicted an oppressive lion with a mane wreathed in flames.

Hearing the man, his wife let out a sigh of relief. She readjusted the fur blanket to let the half-naked man in and the family snuggled together. The man's body emitted a soothing heat which made the young boy let go of his frustration and drift off into sleep.

BOOM

Yin Yuhan woke up to the sound of lightning striking down like a sledgehammer. His parents were still deep asleep next to him either unfazed by the lightning or too tired to care.

He slowly got up and escaped the embrace of his father, taking care not to wake him up. Looking at the entrance of the tent, he made up his mind and put on the oversized fur coat creating a comical scene. Yin Yuhan hobbled over to the exit while burdened by the weight of the coat.

He poked his head outside and observed his surroundings. The embers of the flame used to make dinner provided a faint glow in the dark night. Rain was rare in the death valley where they lived. There was only blistering heat during the day and the bitter cold during the night accompanied by an occasional lightning storm.

Despite the fact that the lightning was considered as the wrath of the gods, Yin Yuhan secretly enjoyed watching it make intricate and colorful webs in the sky. He climbed on to a rock near the tent and looked at the night sky but the loud thunder which he heard earlier seemed to be the last of its kind.

"What?" Yin Yuhan saw a colossal dark shape quickly descend from the sky a distance in front of the camp.

BOOM

Just as he thought he was seeing things, a deep sound of impact resounded from the distance. Being kilometers away, he still felt a wave of air rush at his face. Wanting to alert his parents, Yin Yuhan frantically rushed back into the tent while almost stumbling and falling.

"Mother, father there is something outside, I saw it fall from the sky!" Yin Yuhan urgently pushed his father trying to stir him awake. The large man groggily rubbed his eyes and stood up. Even in the middle of the night he did not dare disregard the possible threat.

Opening the tent flap and going outside, the two figures emerged in the silent night.

"Look, it crashed over there and there was a big boom!" Yin Yuhan could only desperately point in the direction he saw the large figure as he had trouble articulating himself. His father looked in that direction with half-opened eyes before sweeping his gaze around the camp and finding nothing wrong.

"Stop going out and causing trouble, you know how tired I am. It was probably lightning which crashed down, now go back to sleep" Although he was angry, Yin Yuhan's father was too tired to discipline his son properly. Just as Yin Yuhan was feeling indignant, he was picked up by his father and brought back to bed. His large muscular arm hugged him and held him in place, a short period of time later he drifted off to sleep again.

The next day Yin Yuhan half opened his eyes feeling the familiar warmth near him gone. Just as he was about to get up, he overheard a conversation by his parents.

"Yes, Yuhan woke me up because he was scared of lightning" His father rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"He's already seven years old, but he's still acting like a baby. Doesn't he know you have to go hunting today?" Yin Yuhan's mother crinkled up her eyebrows looking at her sleeping son. Yin Yuhan pretended to be asleep but was burning with fury on the inside. His parents didn't believe him at all!

I am going to prove them wrong! As he thought that, he began concocting a plan.

Eventually the two left to go about their daily activities and Yin Yuhan sprang into action. His father was a part of the tribe's hunting party while his mother did miscellaneous tasks like mending and creating clothes, helping make food, etc. Yin Yuhan himself was free due to his young age.

Stepping out of the tent, he confidently decided to investigate the crash site. It should be close enough that he could come back before dark. Yin Yuhan stepped out of the tent and quickly found the rock he stood on last night. From there, it was easy to find the direction he had to go in. About a kilometer ahead of him was a small hill which obscured the view behind it. Yin Yuhan planned to reach it so he could find out what descended from the sky.

He greeted some other men on his way to the center of the village where others were having breakfast. Grabbing some berries and smoked sausages, he quickly raced away. The others were a little confused by his behavior but did not have enough energy to pay a child acting weird any attention.

Before the sun had fully risen, Yin Yuhan had worn a backpack full of food and set out!

The terrain was barren and occasionally rocky making it somewhat difficult for him to cross. Still, the short distance of a kilometer was easily covered in ten minutes. Yin Yuhan stood up on the small hill looking back at the camp in the distance before turning around.

"Huh, where is it?" In front of him lay a huge crater but there was nothing except splattered blood in its center. After a moment's hesitation, Yin Yuhan descended and headed to look closer at the crater.

"Ow!"

He arrived before the puddle of blood and dipped his fingers in it feeling that it was still scorching hot.

Confused, Yin Yuhan found a trail of blood which led out of the crater in a direction opposite the camp. He followed it while filled with curiosity and eventually came across a cave.

Filled with the natural fearlessness of a child, also commonly known as stupidity, Yin Yuhan didn't hesitate and entered it. It was a wide cavern which protruded inward for an unknown distance. His surroundings gradually dimmed the deeper he went in before Yin Yuhan was completely covered by the dark.

The moment he couldn't see the trail of blood anymore, Yin Yuhan looked up. In the deep darkness in front of him, two large yellow eyes the size of buckets stared at him. The pupils of the golden colored eyes were shaped like two thin diamonds with incredibly sharp edges.

As Yin Yuhan stared deeply into those eyes he felt reality slipping. They brought forth a boundless majesty which overwhelmed his own consciousness. It was like a boat facing an immeasurably tall wave. Despite being only seven years old and being ignorant of many things, Yin Yuhan still felt a primordial fear overtaking him.

Luckily, before he completely drowned in the boundless pressure, the pair of eyes slowly blinked.

Yin Yuhan regained control of his body which was covered in cold sweat. Just as he felt he could breathe, a boundless anger overtook him.

"My father hunts beasts everyday! I can't give up easily and disappoint my father!" Yin Yuhan held a deep rooted respect for his father and felt that he was a disappointment because of his unrealistic expectations. He dispelled his fear and didn't allow his body to buckle, standing firm.

The thing in front of him slowly opened its eyes again which filled with shock. "Impossible, this kid didn't run away?"

The pressure emanating from the eyes waned until Yin Yuhan felt it was manageable. Before he could even sigh in relief, a voice sounded in his mind.

"Young child, why do you not run away?" The being in front of him questioned in a booming voice.

"I don't want to disappoint my father and my tribe," Yin Yuhan answered in a straightforward manner. If he could see the being's face he would see a huge mouth contort in shock.

"You can leave, I'm in no mood to eat human today" With its expression twitching, the being finally spewed out.

Seeing that the latter didn't look like an evil beast, Yin Yuhan couldn't suppress his curiosity. "Can I ask you one thing before I go?"

"I think I changed my mind, even if I'm not hungry I have a duty to eliminate nosy brats like you!" The last part was said in a loud and ferocious part, but Yin Yuhan's expression didn't change.

"This fucker! This kind of determination at such a young age, is this guy's dad a fiendish barbarian? No, I have observed before there are just normal nomads using some shitty ripoff of the cultivation method of Ancient Dragon True Gods. Even then, what is this coincidence of me landing in a village with a dragon's inheritance? Not only that, this kid has a perfect and unblemished dao heart at such a young age"

"Moreover the faint dragon essence in this land is actually collecting on him!"

Yin Yuhan quietly observed the eyes which closed for a moment as if in thought.

"Fine, you have already disturbed me, what do you want?" Yin Yuhan's eyes brightened and he immediately asked without any reservations. "Can you teach me the way you made me feel so weak and scared just now?"

In truth, Yin Yuhan just wanted a technique to impress his parents and other children.

"Hahaha, what can you offer me?" The being felt the request was extremely funny.

Yin Yuhan frowned for the first time. This being seemed to be really strong so what could he offer? Suddenly his eyes lit up and he reached in his rucksack producing a large smoked sausage made of monster meat which he saved for lunch.