Prologue

Zhang Jun felt the warm light of the sun on his face waking him. As with any other day Jun quickly hopped from his bed and began his morning routine. Setting out from his small courtyard Jun heard the usual roar of flame from the Morning Training of the Jun family. The Zhang family were known for their signature fire techniques which struck fear into the hearts of many. However, this was not the case for Jun as he had lived here with the Zhang family all his life.

Jun had been an orphaned on the side of the road as a baby. The aging patriarch of the Zhang family had taken him in and adopted him as a son. Due to Jun not possessing the family bloodline no Martial Arts skills were passed to him and only meager tasks like the one which he was going to now were available to him.

Passing by the main open courtyard on the way to the logging forest Jun saw all the youths of the Zhang family practicing their martial arts. Many of them had reached the First Stage of Qi Condensation, with a handful even reaching the Second Stage. The heat coming from the training grounds even reached Zhang Jun making him proceed with haste towards the forest.

Upon reaching a small cabin at the edge of a verdant forest Jun quickly went inside. Arriving inside Jun was greeted with the sight of a burly man sleeping behind the counter. Ignoring the man Jun passed by and headed towards the back of the building. Entering a large rectangular room lined with wooden chests Jun headed towards one marked with his name. Opening the chest Jun retrieved a Hatchet and a few miscellaneous supplies.  

Retrieving all this Jun closed and locked his chest back up and used the back door to leave the building. Directly exiting from the back landed Jun directly in the forest. Heading deeper into the forest Jun began the long process of chopping trees. Jun was used to this by now as he been working this job for three years now ever since he had turned twelve years old.

Jun quickly chopped up a few trees owing to his impressive body he had earned through his arduous years of work. Unexpectedly one tree suddenly starting crashing to ground which startled Jun. Diving to one side Jun managed to narrowly avoid getting crushed by the crashing tree. As Jun surveyed the tree he noticed that part of the ground had caved in from the tremendous force of the falling tree revealing a cavern of sorts.

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Intrigued Jun quickly cobbled together a small torch from the various splinters of wood laying around and lit it. Leaping down into the opening Jun landed on hard rock a few feet down. Jun quickly noted that he could see a faint amount of light coming from deeper within the Cavern. Curious, Jun quickly headed forward through the cramped corridors of the Cavern banging his head a few times on the rocks.

The Cavern suddenly opened up growing spacious. Delighted by the newfound space Jun continued with haste as the Cavern drew deeper into the earth. Suddenly an eye catching gleam appeared and Jun quickly caught sight of small statue on a pedestal. The statue depicted a slumbering dragon. The dragon was giving off a shimmer of light which seemed to draw Jun closer until he could almost touch it.

Reaching out Jun’s fingers caressed the stony surface of the glittering Dragon. A pulse went through Jun’s body freezing him as he heard the quiet sound of an Ancient Dragon roar. Jun’s eyes went wide as he stared in horror at his hand which was beginning to feel pain as the statue grew hot. Suddenly green smoke started to billow from the statue rising upwards, condensing.

Two red dots suddenly appeared within the smoke, making out the shape of an Ancient Dragon’s head. Suddenly a hot breath could felt all over Jun’s body as the gaseous Dragon seemed to come to life, breathing. “Human, you are the first in millenia to hear my voice,” said the gaseous being.

“Long ago Dragon’s ruled the heavens towering over all creation with their might. However, many Dragon’s grew arrogant and their greed knew no bounds. The Dragon’s wantonly stole from many races erasing many lives in the process. Soon, Martial Artists rose up driven by the death’s of their people and waged war on the ancient race,” said the smoky figure.

“This war lasted for millions of years with the death toll quickly rising on all sides. Eventually the other races overpowered the Dragon’s with sheer numbers quickly destroying their worlds. Every single Dragon was hunted and annihilated in their entirety, except for me. I was a young dragon who was severely wounded yet I escaped the clutches of this ancient battle.” continued the Dragon.

“My time was drawing to a close rapidly. In my final moments I chose to leave behind a drop of my blood essence and a fragment of my divine soul. My hope is that a successor can carry on the legacy of my forgotten race. You are the only person to have ever stumbled on my legacy, thus making you the chosen successor as deemed by fate,” said the Dragon it’s eyes growing brighter.

“I shall impart onto you the legacy of my race in the hopes that you can resurrect the legend of the Ancient dragons.  The legacy of an entire race lies on your shoulders, carry the burden well, young child,” said the Dragon.

In no time at all a drop of blood seeped from statue and flew through the air entering into Zhang Jun’s body. It was a pain which imprinted itself on the deepest reaches of Jun’s soul. After a moments pause the gaseous Dragon flew towards Jun allowing itself to be inhaled. Once this was done the pain seemed to grow even more intense as even Jun’s soul was burning with agony. The searing pain was so intense that Jun quickly lost consciousness.