1687 Divinations and Prophecies
Long Tiankong arrived at the hill where the 9 wells were kept. He had thought he had arrived early, but there were many people already visiting the wells even before sunrise.
By the time it was his turn, the sun was already up.
Long Tiankong skipped the first 3 wells as they had nothing to do with the future and started from the 4th one. He knew he was only going to get one chance to go through them each, so he made sure to be calm when drinking the water from that well.
Flashes went through his mind the moment he drank it. Vague images and feelings.
He felt victorious. He saw himself standing proud. He could vaguely feel a feeling of superiority.
The emotions and images faded soon enough as he came out of the short trance.
Long Tiankong stood there, wondering what they meant. Did it have something to do with the upcoming tournament? Were they going to win?
He was told before coming that the first 3 wells that told the future only did so for immediate ones. They would be fulfilled in a short while. Whether that short while was based on anything or not, people weren't sure.
What was certain was that the first well most definitely told the most immediate future. Which meant his future had to be for the tournament.
'So, is this real?' Long Tiankong wondered.
He would have to find that later on. He moved on and drank the water from the next well.
Darkness, fear, love. A woman standing in front of him. Flowers swaying in a field. World ending.
Long Tiankong came out of that trance in shock. A feeling of dread filled him as if what he saw was the last thing he would ever see. It was hard to believe that he had most likely seen his own death.
'No,' he thought to himself. 'That cannot be. I don't want to die so soon.'
His eyes went toward the other wells. He needed to know. He needed to know if there was something after this.
He rushed to the next well and drank its water. Immediately, more visions and feelings filled him.
He was sad for a loss and happy for a gain. He saw the crown and a throne. He saw himself standing atop everyone. He saw a truth that would give him peace.
Long Tiankong came out of the trance this time with a rather solemn look on his face. So, there was more to him than what he saw before, if he was to trust these visions anyway.
'So I'm not going to die?' he thought. Either the two futures contradicted each other, or they were never meant to really be true. There was also the possibility of him understanding them wrong.
Long Tiankong sighed and stopped, looking at the last 3 wells. They were considered the most important ones. The ones that would tell the most important futures in the forms of prophecies. He could leave now and never feel the burden of potentially knowing what was coming.
He could live obliviously.
But no. He had come this far. He knew if he left now, he would regret not knowing what his life would have been.
So, steeling his resolve, he went over to the next 3 wells and jumped into them, one after another, where he heard 3 different prophecies.
When he came back out of the last one, his face was a grim one. He had not liked the last prophecy at all, for it told of his end.
'No, that cannot come true,' he thought. If luck was on his side, then these were just hallucinations of his mind, induced by whatever was in the water.
Thinking so, he left the wells.
Only, 3 weeks later. They were victorious in the tournament, beating every other continent in almost all of the various competitions. His spirits were as high as it ever was, and they all returned back to the Eastern Continent with their heads held high.
It was only when it all calmed down that the Crown Prince realized that the future from the first of the 6 wells had come true.
That troubled him for many days before he came to terms with the fact that what he had seen had most likely been the future, and as such, what was coming next was even more harrowing.
He lived days and days with the single fear of death. The only form of consolation was that if his death was to come, it would come once the other 4 divinations were proven true.
He believed the wells to show one's future in chronological order and as such he had nothing to worry about just yet. That did little to quench his fear of his death though.
He threw himself into other things to occupy his time, one of the main ones being Alchemy. He found himself to have talent in Alchemy, so he trained in it, learning for more than just distraction.
Long Tiankong learned to live with that fear, looking for ways how they could possibly come true.
Some hundred years passed with him feeling this way.
Long Tiankong got ready to depart for the Martial Transcendence Ground for what would most likely be his final time there. He was reaching close to the Saint Transformation realm, and he didn't want to bother with the secret realms anymore.
He had his duties as a Crown Prince to take care of.
Still, one last time, he decided to enjoy it and see how strong he was.
Queen Fen of the Fen Kingdom gave a small introduction to anyone who wasn't aware and let them enter.
Long Tiankong made the most of his days inside the secret realm, fighting those who met and gaining as many points as he could. He fought in the sky, on top of mountains, by the river, on top of trees, and in any other place he could come across.
Then, one day, he came across a field of flowers that gave him a weird sense of having been there before. Even though, he couldn't possibly have come here before.
As an Alchemist, he knew the name of the flower too.
Dancing Lily.
"Hey! You looking for a fight or what?" A voice called him from behind him.
Long Tiankong slowly turned around to find a young woman standing behind him, with a sword in her hand.
This was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. He stared at her, his eyes unblinking. Half of him was surprised by her beauty.
And the other half dreaded what this all meant.
He remembered the young man he had met in the Northern Continent and the future he told.
On the island where the Dancing Lily blooms, you will find the one you will call your wife.
"What's your name?" Long Tiankong asked the woman after a particularly long time.
"Hmm? I'm Jie Tianyue," the woman introduced herself. "Do you need my name to accept my challenge?"
Long Tiankong said nothing and instead thought about something. The prophecy the man had said had included more. It also said—
His thoughts fell apart when darkness took over the land and he looked up to see that something had indeed swallowed the sun.
