My consciousness had drifted through a boundless, dark ocean for ten thousand years, cold and lonely. Occasionally, vague flickers of light and fragments of sound passed by, but like ripples on the water's surface, they vanished in an instant, leaving nothing tangible to grasp.
Who was I?
Where was I?
This thought was like a faint spark, occasionally flickering amid the endless silence.
Who knew how much time had passed? Perhaps an instant, perhaps eternity. A warm and majestic torrent, like the wellspring of life at the dawn of creation, suddenly poured into this desolate "world" of mine. This power was ancient and sacred, carrying the essence of creation and origin. It felt so familiar that it made me want to cry.
Was it... the power of the Ancestral Dragon?
Nourished by that power, my frozen thoughts slowly thawed, and my scattered consciousness gathered again like countless rivers flowing into the sea. The tendrils of my senses gradually stretched out from the void, cautiously reaching toward the outside world.
The first thing I felt was the hard, icy surface beneath me, seemingly some kind of jade. Then came the elegant, rich fragrance of flowers in the air, refreshing my heart and mind. There were also many auras... varying in strength, but most carried a gentle, even concerned feeling. Among them, two stood out most clearly.
One was aged and profound, like a tranquil abyssal sea, filled with incomparable familiarity and affection. It was Grandpa Hei! He was here!
The other... the other aura was blazing and vigorous, like the midday sun, yet concealing power as vast as the stars. It was very close, almost right beside me, carrying an endless devotion that could nearly burn a person, the wild joy of recovering what had been lost, and... a deeply hidden,