Moonlight Once Illuminated Returning Clouds

 In this era, eternal night shrouded the world.

 Bioluminescent creatures were rare, and their appearance often signaled dread, fatality - one must swiftly flee their territory.

 Countless dangerous beings lurked in the boundless wilderness.

 Any creature daring to radiate light amidst such perils demonstrated supreme confidence, likely possessing overwhelming power.

 Qin Ming soundlessly slid down the tree, hiding in forest shadows, his mind turbulent.

 This was no ordinary luminous being - it illuminated the entire night sky.

 In this sunless, moonless age, such radiance defied all logic.

 "Moonworm!" He'd heard the legends.

 Elders often told children of ancient times when sun and moon existed. When met with puzzled stares, they'd reference the Moonworm.

 "Should you glimpse the Moonworm, you'll understand the moon's true form."

 No identification was needed when Moonworm appeared - its solitary brilliance dominated the firmament.

 Initially, the glowing mass rose gently. Qin Ming wondered if imagination conjured the faint worm-shaped silhouette.

 Now its radiance blazed like a divine halo, resembling neither insect nor mortal being - a celestial disc bathing the wilderness in silver.

 Most insects perish with winter's frost, yet elders claimed this Moonworm had dwelled fifty years in these mountains, rarely venturing beyond deep valleys.

 By local custom, it ranked among the region's enduring "Celebrated Beasts", its power rivaling ancient mountain overlords.

 Qin Ming gazed transfixed. Was this how the moon shone in antiquity?

 Night transformed under the heavenly lamp. Obsidian forests turned argent, heavy darkness banished from hillsides.

 He ached for that lost age of celestial lights, though knowing Moonworm's glow paled before the true moon's ten-thousand-mile radiance.

 Silence reigned. Boar kings, predators, all creatures held their breath.

 Suddenly, a streak of light pierced the sky. As Moonworm departed, darkness reclaimed the land.

 Qin Ming's chest tightened with longing. When could he traverse eternal night as freely?

 Seizing the lull in predator activity, he hauled his blade-horned deer and wolf-donkey hybrid over hills toward Twin Trees Village.

 Deep in mountains, a shrill cry echoed then ceased - Moonworm had claimed another powerful life.

 Village lights appeared. Qin Ming glanced back at the swallowing darkness, ancient moonlight's ghost lingering in his mind.

 His stomach growled, anchoring him to reality. Survival came first.

 At the frost-rimed village gate, children's eyes widened at his prey. "Brother Qin... you hunted blade-horns alone?"

 Their Adam's apples bobbed hungrily. "Come feast at my home," Qin Ming laughed.

 Soon his courtyard brimmed with roasting meat. Lu Ze and Liang Wanqing helped prepare the meal, noting Qin Ming's healing shoulder wound.

 As he devoured meat, his body thrummed with renewal - tendons reforging, bones crackling, senses sharpening.

 Postnatal embryonic rebirth - his flesh sang with second genesis.

 Villagers soon gathered, amazed he'd slain mutated beasts. "Has he achieved rebirth during golden age?"

 Qin Ming distributed meat to all households, ignoring protests. "Five jin per family."

 Children ate until round-bellied while elders marveled at the steam rising from Qin Ming's metamorphosing body - flesh purification surpassing ordinary rebirth.

 Yang Yongqing's beard quivered witnessing the transformation. "Such vitality! Could he approach those prodigies from Brightmoon City?"

 As drowsiness overcame him, Qin Ming's last thought was of funeral meat for Granny Zhou's family. His thunderous heartbeat echoed through the hut, white mist enveloping his hibernating form.

 The village buzzed with possibility - their first golden-age reborn in decades. Yet Yang sighed. Raw talent couldn't bridge generational advantages. Those city-born prodigies remained untouchable.