Ling Xi Treads Through Blood

In the beginning, heaven and earth had just taken shape, and the primordial chaos had yet to fully dissipate. The world seemed shrouded in a veil of mystery. Deep within the endless, boundless mountains lay a small village cut off from the outside world. Its simple, kindhearted villagers made their living by hunting and gathering herbs, leading quiet, uncomplicated lives.

One night, the sky was scattered with stars. For some unknown reason, a fierce wind suddenly rose, howling like a legion of ghosts and demons and setting the trees rustling in the mountain forest. Then thick bolts of lightning split the sky, illuminating the world as if it were day, while rolling thunder made the earth tremble. Amid the gale, rain, lightning, and thunder, cries of pain rang out from the home of Old Li in the village: his wife was in labor.

With a loud wail, a baby boy came into the world. At that very moment, the thunder abruptly stopped, and strange seven-colored clouds appeared in the sky, shining straight down onto the roof of Old Li's home and bathing the whole house in a dreamlike glow.

The child's grandfather, a weather-beaten old man of uncommon insight, witnessed this celestial phenomenon and was deeply shaken. After a moment's thought, he said slowly, "The heavens show strange signs at this child's birth. He is destined for greatness. Let's name him Li Tianci."

But no one knew that whenever Tianci fell asleep, a faint blue-green light would shine from between his brows, looking just like a lotus bud about to bloom. And hidden within that lotus was a secret capable of overturning the entire world.