As a storm brewed in the skies above, crackling with thunder and laced with streaks of violet lightning, Long Liu sat in quiet reflection. Her mind wandered, retracing the long and winding path that had brought her to this very moment.
She had once been a mere girl from a nameless village nestled in the wilderness, thousands of kilometers away from the Dao Seeking School. Born to a family of farmers, her destiny had been one of obscurity—fated to live and die as a mortal. But fate, ever cruel and unpredictable, tore her world apart.
Bandits descended upon her village like a plague. In a single night, a community of ten thousand was reduced to smoldering ashes. Men were slaughtered, women raped, and every home consumed by flame. She was among the few who escaped the carnage, fleeing into the dark forest with only desperation as her guide.
