The Exile from the Zhou Empire (part 1)

Chapter Nine: The Exile from the Zhou Empire

Axel wandered through the layers of worlds, lost in a sea without a shore. The essence of his soul was gradually fading, as if invisible flames were consuming everything in their path, tearing away his clouds and leaving him bare before the void. The experience, with all its terror and mystery, was beyond description. He didn't know whether this was death or just another beginning, but what he was certain of was that the battle was not yet over.

The power he had drawn to escape the predator's grasp still lingered within him, as if it were a curse pulling away everything living from his body. He was shrinking, forced to become more fragile. He began to feel his soul unravel, as if its edges were being eaten away in those deep transitional moments.

In a moment of silent despair, he reached out into the void, searching for refuge, for a body to protect him, for a vessel that could sustain his fragile consciousness. But what his hand touched wasn't just emptiness; it was a faint feeling, a life emerging, not yet born. It was a weak soul, malleable, as though it had been waiting for that unknown force to fill it.

Without thinking, Axel poured all the remaining energy he had into that emerging vessel, mingling it with his weary soul. The moment was confusing, everything began to shift rapidly beyond his comprehension. Suddenly, he was in a human body, a body he had never seen before. A strange new vessel, trapped between two forces he couldn't escape: the overwhelming transformation and the loss of identity.

He could feel life flowing within him, as though his heart was breathing slowly, as though his limbs were growing rapidly. But in the heart of this transformation, there was a terrifying sensation invading his mind. His memories began to fade, day by day, as if dust was covering the pages of his memory until the features of his past became foggy. The more the memories faded, the more he feared he might forget everything, including who he was, where he came from, and why he was in this place.

Then, one ordinary day, Axel woke up in the body of a small child, surrounded by a mist, disoriented. His eyes were filled with doubt, and his mind was empty. In that moment, he realized that he knew nothing about this world, or even about himself, but he knew one thing for sure: his new name was Zhou Tian.

But he didn't know he was Axel. All he felt was the fog of the past, as though everything he had been through had been wiped out in an instant. He felt something strange creeping into his depths, a sense of connection to something greater than himself, but it quickly faded as he sank into the details of this strange new life.

In the days that followed his awakening in this new child's body, Zhou Tian found himself in a world full of deception, where he was the rightful heir to the throne of the mighty Zhou Empire. Although his memories were foggy, his body carried immense power, and the eyes of those who looked at him were a mix of respect and fear, as if they saw in him something more than an ordinary human.

In the throne hall, where he was supposed to learn how to rule the empire, he felt a profound sense of alienation. He was being taught lessons in politics, martial arts, and everything related to power and control, but all of it seemed distant from his heart. It felt as though the world he belonged to wasn't his, and everything around him was just a grand stage where he was playing a role that would have no real impact.

His father, the emperor, treated him with caution. He showed no true affection or care for him, only looking at him with eyes filled with concern. Their relationship was cold, and the emperor's gaze was filled with hesitation. While Zhou Tian pondered all of this, there was always an inexplicable feeling that haunted him, a feeling of a buried secret deep within him, a secret that bound him to the past he could not remember, but he chose to ignore it.

One day, the old priest in the court confronted the emperor with a strange fervor:

"His eyes, they are bottomless... and the blood that flows in his veins, it is demonic! I am certain of this! There is nothing but this force that will make him terrifying and merciless to such a degree. Everything you've built, Your Majesty, will be destroyed by his hands. The empire that stood proudly against the cultivators of the high rank, which could fight a mid-tier sect, its future will end with him, and you will die too!"

The priest's words were like shards, each one embedding itself deeply in his heart. He didn't understand how a man could see in someone like him a threat to the empire he was ready to die for. Even his father, who had once considered him the hope for the empire's future, now looked at him with eyes full of fear and hatred, making him feel as though he had been struck by a sword from someone closest to him.

"You say that my heir... will destroy everything we've built over these years and will kill me?" the emperor asked, his voice choked with the words.

The priest nodded slowly and said, "I saw in my dream flames devouring the palaces of the empire, and a terrifying force from this boy, when he steps into cities, leaving behind only death, and nothing but ruin. He is not your enemy now... but he will become the enemy of the whole world."

The priest responded.

Zhou Tian didn't need to hear more. In his father's eyes, he saw fear... not fear of the priest, but fear of him.