Dark clouds blanketed the sky. A torrential downpour hammered the earth.
Booom!
Lightning flashed and thunder roared, shaking heaven and earth.
In the heart of the Central Continent, within the central lord's manor of Maple Leaf City, the City Lord stood pacing back and forth along a corridor outside a room.
He had a square face, naturally commanding even without trying. At this moment, his brows were tightly furrowed, his mood as turbulent as the sky above — anxious, on edge, consumed with worry.
Suddenly, he stopped, walked to the door, and pressed his ear against it.
Filtering out the roar of rain and the crash of thunder, he heard his wife's pained groans from within, along with the shouts of several midwives: "My lady, push harder, push harder!"
The Maple Leaf City Lord was already past fifty. He deeply loved his wife, the woman he had wed decades ago. He was a Fifth Transformation Gu Master, the most powerful fighter within several thousand li, and he held a position of great authority and influence, beloved by many. But there was one flaw in his otherwise perfect life — he had no heir.
Nine months ago, he had been ecstatic, for his beloved wife was finally carrying his child.
It was a blessing in his twilight years. The greatest regret of his life was finally being set right.
Yet even though he had summoned three renowned midwives from far and wide — two at the Third Transformation and one at the remarkable Fourth Transformation — the birth still ran into unforeseen difficulties.
"Why is this happening?!" The City Lord wanted to rage, but there was nowhere to vent his fury.
He clenched his fists. The prowess he had always taken such pride in was utterly useless now.
Though he possessed numerous healing Gu Insects, he was by no means skilled at assisting a woman through childbirth.
"Hah!" All he could do was rein in his emotions, lower his head, and resume pacing the corridor before the door.
"Waaah! Waaah waaah…" Suddenly, he heard the cry of a newborn.
Then the midwives burst into laughter inside: "He's here! He's here! It's a boy! My lady, you did it!"
"I… I have a child! My… son!" The City Lord froze for a heartbeat, then erupted into wild joy. He was about to fling open the door and rush inside to see—
Right at that moment, a strange fragrance wafted out from the room.
It was a scent that pierced the heart and soul — subtle, elegant, never cloying. Then it grew richer, coalescing into streams of luminous, iridescent light that drifted through the air like threads of flowing water, blanketing the entire house and extending several hundred paces in every direction.
"What is this?!" The City Lord halted, stunned.
What shocked him even more came next. The luminous currents in the air grew ever more numerous, and the fragrance became increasingly intense, almost overwhelming.
Above, the thunder and rain abruptly ceased. The dark clouds slowly parted, and beams of sunlight pierced through the gaps like pillars — and one magnificent column of light fell squarely upon the City Lord's wife's birthing chamber.
Then the streams of light gathered together, condensing into a crimson lotus the size of an entire house, hovering in midair, vivid and lifelike, lingering without fading.
"A heavenly omen!" The City Lord was thunderstruck. Inside the room, his wife and the three midwives stood frozen in place.
Meanwhile, high above the clouds, three Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals stood atop the sky, watching the City Lord's manor in Maple Leaf City. The miraculous phenomenon surrounding the child's birth had not escaped their eyes.
"He has finally come into the world." The Gu Immortal in the center — Elder Mei — let out a long sigh. He appeared elderly, with a kind and benevolent face, and a pair of extraordinary eyebrows that resembled two small, dark brown tree roots extending from his brow down to his chest.
"Truly remarkable — this child is blessed by the fortune of Humanity. His innate fortune is so dense that it has condensed into a Red Lotus canopy, visible to the naked eye! He is unmistakably a seed of an Immortal Venerable! It was worth the Heavenly Court expending three Wisdom Path Gu Immortals to divine his existence." The Gu Immortal on the left — Elder Tong — spoke with deep emotion.
He was a middle-aged man of imposing, mountainous build, his skin like burnished bronze gleaming with a cold metallic sheen. Standing upon the clouds, he was like a vajra tower — unmoved by the swaying of heaven and earth, heedless of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning.
Elder Mei nodded. "Throughout history, every Immortal Venerable and Demonic Venerable has shared one common trait: they possess the fortune of Humanity. Some do not display it in the early stages — it is hidden fortune, concealed fortune. Only when a certain period arrives does it erupt with full force. This child displayed such a phenomenon from the very moment of birth. No wonder heaven and earth could not tolerate him, sending calamity to destroy him. This is virtually unheard of among the records of past Venerables. If this child is nurtured properly, he will surely become the most dazzling among all Venerables!"
As he spoke, Elder Mei's body shuddered. He opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
"Elder Mei." Elder Tong frowned. "To resist that calamity, both you and I have suffered grievous injuries."
"Elder Mei!" The Gu Immortal on the right also showed his concern. He appeared as a young man of the human race, with a head of purple hair, surrounded by a ceaseless dragon-shaped aura.
Elder Mei looked toward the young Gu Immortal. "Elder Long, the Fate Gu has already revealed its prophecy. You share a profound bond with this child. When he ascends to the rank of Venerable in the future, you will be his Guardian of the Dao. Go — take him as your disciple, guide him, nurture him. You will help him achieve greatness, and he will do the same for you. The two of you are destined to shine throughout the history of humanity, immortal for all eternity!"