The night was dark, yet the heavens burned bright with countless stars. A full moon loomed overhead, casting silver light over a small, rundown village nestled at the base of the Red Mountain. The sound of the wind howled through the cracks of wooden huts, yet inside a humble house, another sound overpowered it—
The painful cries of a woman in labor.
"Just a little more! Keep pushing!" an elderly midwife urged, her wrinkled hands steady as she helped bring the child into the world.
The woman in labor, her delicate face drenched in sweat, clenched the thin straw mat beneath her. She was breathtakingly beautiful despite her exhaustion—her long black hair clung to her flushed skin, and her silver eyes trembled with emotion. She had once been a lady of status, yet now she lived in poverty, stripped of everything but the child she was about to bring into this world.
With one final, agonizing cry, the baby was born.
A sharp wail filled the air. The midwife sighed in relief and quickly cleaned the newborn before wrapping him in a thin cloth. However, her hands trembled as she examined the child.
"Madam…" she hesitated, her voice barely above a whisper. "His eyes… they will not open."
The mother, still catching her breath, pushed herself up weakly. "What do you mean?"
"His body is perfectly healthy, but no matter what I do, his eyes remain shut."
A deep silence filled the room.
The mother reached out, taking the tiny baby into her arms. Despite her exhaustion, warmth filled her heart as she gazed at her son's peaceful face. His tiny hands clenched the fabric of her robe, as if he already knew she was the only one he could rely on.
She smiled softly, ignoring the midwife's worried expression.
"It doesn't matter," she whispered, brushing a gentle kiss against his forehead. "He is my son. That is all that matters."
The wind outside suddenly grew still, as if the heavens themselves acknowledged the birth of someone extraordinary.
A Faint Memory
Inside the newborn child's mind, fragmented memories stirred.
'Where… am I?'
He did not yet have the ability to move, nor could he speak. But within the depths of his soul, something ancient whispered.
He remembered.
A different life. A different world.
A world where he had been nothing more than a lazy, carefree young man who did nothing but read martial arts manhwa and fantasize about reincarnating into a world of warriors and gods.
Then, the memory of his death surfaced—the ground shaking, the roof collapsing, his body being crushed under the weight of stone and wood.
And then… darkness.
But that was not the end.
A light had appeared before him, and with it, the voice of a deity.
"You, who have drowned yourself in tales of strength and legends, shall walk the path you so admired."
He had been given a chance. A second life.
And within that realm beyond life and death, he had been brought before a treasury of ancient gods—a place forbidden even to divine beings.
At the center of it all had been a pendant, glowing with both golden divine light and black demonic energy.
His past self had reached for it without hesitation.
The moment his fingers had grazed the pendant—
It shattered.
Two streams of powerful, ancient blood had surged into his body, burning through his veins and embedding themselves deep within his very soul.
The blood of the strongest Martial God in history.
The blood of the most fearsome Demon God to ever exist.
His memories blurred after that, but one thing was certain—his very existence had changed that day.
And now, here he was, reborn into a new world, but with a body too weak to handle the power sleeping inside him.
It was clear why he could not open his eyes yet.
His body needed time.
As his mother held him close, he felt the warmth of her embrace. Even though his mind was filled with chaos and unanswered questions, one truth remained—
This was his new life.
And he was destined to become something beyond mortal comprehension.
A Mother's Struggle
The days passed, and the woman who had given birth to him worked tirelessly to care for her child.
Her name was Lan Mei—a woman who once belonged to a prestigious family but had long since abandoned that life. Now, she worked in a small village restaurant owned by an elderly couple who had taken her in when she had nowhere else to go.
Despite her circumstances, she never once showed regret.
Her only concern was her son.
But the village was unkind. Whispers spread about the baby who never opened his eyes.
"That child is cursed."
"Perhaps the heavens have punished her for her past sins."
Lan Mei ignored the cruel words, but deep inside, she worried.
She did not care for the rumors, nor for how the villagers viewed her.
But she feared for her son's future.
Would he suffer because of his differences? Would he be ridiculed and outcast?
One evening, as she cradled him in her arms, she whispered a quiet prayer.
"My son… I don't know what fate awaits you, but I will protect you with everything I have."
Outside, the wind howled once more, but within the small home, there was only the warmth of a mother's love.
And the slow, steady pulse of something powerful growing within the child—waiting for the day it would awaken and shake the heavens themselves.
End of Chapter 3.