Luck of a thousand lifetimes

The couple were two rogue Foundation Establishment cultivators who had hung up their wandering boots after discovering they were with child.

They left behind their nomadic lives and settled in a small town within a rank-four kingdom. The kingdom, however, soon fell on hard times as unrest spread throughout its territory. The cause was a growing discontent among a faction of the kingdom's soldiers, primarily those of commoner birth, who felt they were treated unfairly compared to their noble-born counterparts.

At first, the outcry was minor, easily ignored by the ruling elite. That changed dramatically when a rising star among the kingdom's military, a commander of common birth whose exceptional abilities had allowed him to climb the ranks, took a drastic step. He killed one of the princes charged with suppressing what the nobles derisively called the "rubble rebellion." His actions lit the spark for a full-blown uprising.