Fate Begins (缘起) **ON HOLD**

Chapter 3: Revelations

Chang Shan had finally awoken and remained seated on the ground rubbing his head.  Zhe Yan stepped over to him to ensure he was alright before helping the young man to his feet.  Handing Chang Shan an elixir to relieve headaches, Zhe Yan instructed him to get some fresh air and rest.

Zhe Yan suddenly recalled what Duan Liena had said about Duan Li Xiang falling into the Nine Heavens, locked in true form. He immediately opened a mind channel with Dong Hua and Mo Yuan.  As soon as their voices entered his mind, they both appeared in the infirmary.

Di Jun nodded and greeted Zhe Yan before walking towards the bed to meet the incredible young woman he heard about from Mo Yuan.

"Is this the young woman?"  Di Jun asked with great interest.

"Yes, Dong Hua."

Scanning her aura and powers, Di Jun took a few stumbled steps back before gasping in disbelief.

"This cannot be.  This is impossible.  How is she even alive and here in Kun Lun Xu?"  Di Jun asserted anxiously.

Zhe Yan and Mo Yuan looked at each other confused, as such a reaction from Dong Hua Di Jun was clearly abnormal.

"What is it, Dong Hua?"  Zhe Yan asked.

"Has she regained consciousness? Have you spoken with her?  Did she mention anything about a twin?"  Di Jun asked as his voice trembled.

Zhe Yan stared unblinking at Di Jun while thinking that the day just keeps getting stranger and stranger.  Di Jun was withholding something and not sharing with him and Mo Yuan, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

"Yes, she regained consciousness briefly and spoke to me after she transformed into one of her true forms. The young woman lying before you is the legendary mother of all phoenixes and dragons, High Goddess & Queen Duan Liena of AnXiān (安僊) of the Celestial Azure Fire Dragon & Phoenix Tribe. Her twin's name is Duan Li Xiang."

Di Jun and Mo Yuan took a few stumbled steps back in shock and surprise at what they heard.  Mo Yuan stepped towards Duan Liena and gazed at her with pure admiration and shock.

"Was their tribe not destroyed thousands of millennia ago? Dong Hua, your intended is from their tribe, is she not?"  Mo Yuan asked with confusion and interest.

Di Jun didn't reply and continued his cold stare into the void.

"Dong Hua, is your intended from their tribe or not?"  Mo Yuan repeated.

"Duan Li Xiang is my intended," Di Jun replied, barely able to allow the words to roll off his tongue as he continued to stare mindlessly into the void.

Mo Yuan looked at Zhe Yan, and they both looked at Di Jun.  They could feel confusion permeate the air around and throughout the infirmary, squeezing their minds and invoking intense curiosity.

"Dong Hua Di Jun!"  Zhe Yan exclaimed.

"There appears to be vital information you are withholding from Mo Yuan and myself.  May I suggest you exercise some transparency and tell us everything you know before things escalate and we end up losing both Duan Liena and Duan Li Xiang?"

"I have spent my existence believing I was the last of my kind, cursed to walk this immortal life without a tribe and family.  Until today. I am not alone and I am certainly not the last of my kind.  Brother Dong Hua, you, Mo Yuan, and I have walked this immortal life together and lived through every possible experience imaginable that has accompanied it.  You and Heavenly Father rescued me as a youngling when I lost my family during the first great inter-dimensional demon war.  If Heavenly Father hadn't found me, I would have perished.  You, Mo Yuan, Bai Zhi, and Bai Zhen are the only family I have."