The Endless Promise

3. Enemy And Hero

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Back at the Cave, this confused young man was oblivious to whatever his past misdeeds were causing in Sky Realm!

Instead, he was wondering if he was a ghost or evil spirit...

Ghosts were spirits of the dead who hadn't returned to the Sea of Fate for some reason, and Evil Spirits were ghosts who had been corrupted by demon energy.

But both Ghosts and Evil Spirits were dead humans.

He had never been a human.

He was one and the same Yin Xiaolong, the last dragon of the Eastern Seas, who was still unsettling Sky Realm, even after his death.

Everyone knew him as Yin Xiaolong, but his mother had intended his name to be Bailong, so he privately preferred that.

He eventually grew into the widely respected 'Herb Master', 'Healing Sage', and 'Lord Medicine'.

Impressive accomplishments, no doubt, and he had once been respected in both Sky Realm and the Mortal Realm....

But all that was eclipsed once he became the 'Black Dragon'...

Bailong shook his head, refusing to dwell on past events.

None would help him in this current situation, so he sighed and sniffed the air around him.

The air was fresh and crisp, though a bit stale because of the cave. But it was missing something distinct...

A dense and constant flow of pure qi in the air.

'So I'm in the Mortal Realm.' He concluded.

The Mortal realm had qi in the air, but it was nowhere close to the amount of qi in Sky Realm or Shadow Realm.

Only a few places on the mortal plains could boast such powerful qi flow...

After identifying his surroundings a bit, he raised his arms, bent his elbows, and flexed his fingers.

Then his knees, ankles, and toes.

He blinked a few times and rotated his head neck a few times.

The simple motions hurt so much!

But they hurt in a way which assured him there was no lasting damage.

He sat in the lotus position and began to read his body, and he gasped when he realized it wasn't his body at all...

He was in the body of a human!

'Am I still dreaming?!' he wondered, lifting his hand to touch his face.

But his face was bruised even worse than his body, and after touching it, the pain sufficient proof that he was wide awake!

"Is this a divine punishment?!!" He thundered aloud, and then covered his mouth.

'But my voice is the same! Is it really a divine punishment?!'

Sometimes, an immortal was sentenced to spend eternity living life as a human who would suffer, die, and then reincarnate into suffering again, all in an endless cycle.

But he shook his head.

His so-called crimes against heaven and earth would not let the immortals take such a risk... Those gold lightning bolts were designed to fry his entire existence!

"Then what happened?!" He had no answer.

So he yawned and began a few stretches. 'If I'm stuck in this body, I might as well get it to work!'