The Trial of Wrath
A vast, desolate landscape lay before him, a memory long buried within the recesses of his soul. His eyes scanned the remnants of a once-peaceful village, now nothing but rubble and ashes. He could still remember the laughter of his siblings, the warmth of his mother's embrace, and the strength of his father's voice. All of it was torn apart in an instant.
The day it happened, the Dragon Prince had descended from the skies, furious, destructive, and filled with an insatiable hunger for revenge. His gleaming scales, shimmering with gold, had cast a blinding glow over the village. And why? Because a young boy—just a child—had thrown a stone at him while he bathed in the nearby river. The rock had hit his head, and in his pride and anger, the Dragon Prince had razed the village to the ground, leaving nothing but sorrow in his wake.
Huddled in a corner, barely breathing, he had watched as the great Dragon Prince tore his family apart. His mother, father, brother, and two younger sisters—all gone in a flash of wrath and destruction. He had been too weak to do anything, too powerless to fight back. But as the Dragon Prince soared into the skies, leaving devastation behind, a spark ignited within him—a promise of vengeance, fueled by rage, pain, and the desire for justice.
From that moment on, his life was defined by one thing: revenge.
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He joined a sect, and his talents were quickly recognized by the elders. With his natural aptitude for cultivation, he progressed through the stages rapidly, earning the praise of his peers. However, no matter how high he climbed, his heart was weighed down by the memory of that day.
The only thing that brought him any solace was Tian Qingyu, a fellow disciple who had fallen in love with him. Her beauty was matched by her kindness, and her presence had been a light in the darkness of his life. But he was too consumed by the flames of wrath to see what he had.
While others sought balance and enlightenment, he sought power—enough to take down the Dragon Prince and his entire clan. He neglected Tian Qingyu, pushing her away with his single-minded obsession. She tried to reach him, tried to offer him a future where they could be happy together, but he refused. His heart had no room for love, only vengeance.
As the years passed, Tian Qingyu could no longer bear the distance between them. Heartbroken, she left him. She found someone else—someone who loved her and treated her with the care she deserved. They built a family together, while he continued down the path of destruction, growing ever stronger but lonelier.
He regretted pushing her away, but the regret was buried beneath his thirst for revenge. He told himself that once the Dragon Prince was dead, everything would be fine again.
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Years later, he achieved the pinnacle of cultivation: the Divine Godly Saint realm. With power rivaling the heavens themselves, he marched upon the Dragon Clan. His heart burned with rage as he destroyed their citadel, one flame at a time. None could stand against him. The Dragon Prince's allies, their followers, their kin—every single one fell before his wrath.
The Dragon Prince himself met a gruesome end at his hands, his life snuffed out just as mercilessly as the villagers had perished that day. But it didn't stop there. He hunted down the allies of the Dragon Clan, those who had supported them, and tore them apart. His hatred knew no bounds, his wrath endless. The world feared him, and in time, he became an overlord, ruling over the lands with an iron fist.
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Decades passed, and he built a new family—children, a clan of his own. But the peace he found with them was hollow, a fragile thing born from the ashes of his rage. He had not found peace, only power. The empty throne of vengeance brought no satisfaction.
One day, a Divine Tiger descended from the skies, his claws as sharp as the day the Dragon Prince had flown over that village. Without warning, the tiger tore through his clan, killing his wife and children, burning everything he had built.
Rage filled him once more as he confronted the beast. "Why?!" he screamed, his voice cracking with the weight of his anguish. "What did they ever do to deserve this?"
The Divine Tiger's eyes gleamed with cold detachment. "They were allies of the Dragon Prince, just as your family was once destroyed because of a child's foolish mistake. You claimed their lives in your wrath. Now I claim yours."
Realization dawned upon him too late. He had done exactly what the Dragon Prince had done to him. In his pursuit of vengeance, he had become the very thing he despised. The Divine Tiger tore him apart, leaving him broken and defeated.
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In the blink of an eye, he found himself standing once again at the foot of the pagoda. The weight of his sins bore down on him. Wrath had destroyed everything he had once loved and cared for—his family, his future, even Tian Qingyu.
As he looked back on his life, he felt a deep, searing regret. Regret for pushing her away, regret for allowing his rage to consume him, and regret for not recognizing the emptiness that vengeance had left behind. The power he had gained meant nothing without the love and life he had lost.
He knelt before the pagoda, finally understanding the lesson. Wrath, though powerful, was a consuming fire that left nothing but ashes in its wake.
And so, he rose again, his heart filled with humility and sorrow, vowing never to allow wrath to rule over him again.