The Endless Promise

19. A Tale Of Three

.

Sky Palace, Sky Realm...

The Sky Emperor, Zhurong Tianlong, was pacing in his study, his white and gold robes endlessly swishing as he moved...

"You're making me dizzy." His guest complained.

The 'guest' was dressed in light green robes with a long white overcoat lined in gold, and his jade pendant bore the symbol for 'Three'. The rank number for High Immortals.

But even among High Immortals, he was held in higher regard.

He who pushed and pulled the waves of mortal lives, guiding them through life-altering events, and leading them towards their destinies.

Fei Yun, the Immortal of Fate.

He looked annoyed because the Sky Emperor had summoned him, and he now sat on one side of the Throne hall.

He would much rather be scouring the Fate Mirrors for any hint of Yin Bailong.

Instead he was here...

Not doing anything in particular. Just sitting.

"When can I leave?" He asked quietly.

The Sky Emperor stopped pacing and looked over in frustration. "Tsk! Fei Yun, why can't you be more sympathetic?

"We lost the same loved one, we shared and lost the same good times, we share the same enemy, and we worry about the same thing!"

Fei Yun looked away. "Things cannot go back to the way they were, no matter how many times you order me to simply sit with you."

Tianlong gravely shook his head. "I must have offended the heavens in some way! My greatest friend can't even stand being in my presence."

A slight feeling of guilt settled in Fei Yun's heart, so he looked up at his friend. "Tianlong, I've made it clear. It's not anything you did. It's just-." He sighed.

"Where there were three, there are now two. If the two meet, won't the third be remembered?

"And the 'third' is now the enemy we 'share'...."

In a flash back, Fei Yun recalled he and his two friends kneeling outside this very hall.

"Hao! A Once-in-a-lifetime magical fruit has vanished, and none of you will say who ate it!" The Previous Sky Emperor thundered. "I will punish all three of you equally!!"

This memory was almost forty thousand years ago.

Back then, Tianlong was still the Crown Prince, and kneeling on either side of him were his two friends, Fei Yun and Yin Bailong...

Though Tianlong was the Crown Prince, none of the Immortals respected him, because a mutation from his mother's bloodline was limiting his cultivation growth.

This was because he had inherited his father's dominant bloodline as a flame dragon, but his mother, being a crystal Ice Lotus, had given him a recessive line, which clashed with his core essence.

Fairies praised the Emperor and Empress's undying love, despite their cores being natural enemies.

But those same fairies didn't hesitate to look down on the Crown Prince, the unfortunate result of his parents' stubborn romance!

Sky Realm's ruler had to be one of the strongest in his generation, but Tianlong wasn't even in the top fifty, and the officials jeered that his name *'Tianlong' was his father's wishful thinking, as Tianlong couldn't even fully transform into a full-fledged dragon!

(*Tianlong - Sky Dragon)

To solve the issue, his two friends drew up a plan and had stolen an ancient plum that the Sky Emperor's father had been growing since he was a little boy...