1688 More Divinations Come True
Long Tiankong stared at the sky as the sun was no more. All he saw up there was darkness, a void of nothingness. He saw death.
There was no sun in the sky. No moon, no stars. Nothing.
He stood watching, wondering if this was how it all ended. If his prophecies that he worried so much about meant nothing in the end as this was where it would all end.
He stood there for nearly an hour before it passed and the sun showed up once again.
Long Tiankong came out of his stupor and quickly looked around the sky, searching for what it might have been. He saw something moving away toward the north. Something… massive.
And to his surprise, the thing nearly blended in with the blue sky, with only a part of its outline showing through at the end. What he saw there shocked him even more, however.
Was… was that… was that a beast in the sky? No, he couldn't even say it was in the sky. It was somewhere beyond the sky, out in the space where no one could go to.
And it was a beast. While he couldn't make much of what he saw, he could make up a tail and two hind legs.
How was there a beast in the sky? How was it alive? How was it breathing?
Long Tiankong couldn't understand what he was looking at. His mind didn't work the way he wanted it to right then.
Finally, he gave up on trying to understand and looked around. He hadn't realized when, but at some point, the girl who had been there was clinging to him, shivering still.
He then realized he was shaking too.
The two comforted each other in silence and later decided to stick together just in case something like that happened once again. Long Tiankong got to know the girl more, and the more he learned about her, the more he realized he did find her attractive, both in appearance and personality.
He didn't care that she was a commoner who had lucked out by being accepted to a sect. He didn't care that she had nothing to her name except for herself.
All he cared about was who she was, and so about 15 years after their first meeting, he asked her to marry him.
250 years after that, Jie Tianyue married the Crown Prince of the Empire and entered the royal family.
Long Tiankong was very happy with what was happening in his life. However, in the back of his head, that one worry lingered, clawing at him slowly, digging deeper and deeper.
Another prophecy had come true. The future he feared was becoming real.
The feeling got worse when another one of the divinations came true.
Nearly 300 years after Long Tiankong's marriage, he ended up having to take over the throne his father left and become the Dragon Emperor himself.
The official reason given for the previous Emperor leaving the throne was that he had had enough of becoming an Emperor and wanted to live the remainder of his life in peace.
However, the real reason had been that the Emperor had fallen during his attempt at breaking through to Immortality.
Long Tiankong was sad about his father's passing but was also happy to see himself become the Emperor. There was never a doubt in his mind that he would become the Emperor, but until it actually happened, there was still a chance that his throne would be stolen by jealous cousins and others of his bloodline.
He was crowned the Emperor with a lot of fanfare that sent the empire into celebration for days. Fireworks shot through the sky at night.
The Azure Dragon himself arrived to bless the coronation.
Cheers, glory, and excitement filled the upcoming day for Long Tiankong. He was busied soon enough with new duties and responsibilities, barely having any time to even worry about the divinations and prophecies.
As an emperor, he made some mistakes here and there, but he learned from them and did better. He performed his duties to the best of his abilities and soon learned just how strong he was.
His words were true and whatever he wanted happened.
However, one problem did occur that he couldn't fix by just being an Emperor. No matter how hard they tried, Jie Tianyue could not get pregnant at all.
At first, they simply thought it was something that could be dealt with some time and small medicines. However, as time went on, they started moving on to more desperate options and ended up needing better treatments.
That was when they finally learned that Jie Tianyue had complications in her body, stopping her from bearing a child. Complications that the empire's renowned physicians and alchemists couldn't heal.
The news soon escaped from the close circles it had to be kept to but was held in from being leaked to the public. However, that had done all the damage it could.
Long Tiankong's subjects started mentioning in his presence that he should get concubines for himself. When told that he didn't love anyone but his wife, they told him that getting a concubine was not about love but about keeping alive a bloodline.
Long Tiankong ignored them all until his own wife started saying the same things.
"Dear, the Empire needs a prince and I cannot give you one," she said. "I know you love me, but you have a duty to the empire too. You must do what needs to be—"
"No!" Long Tiankong said. "I won't. We will have children and we will have 3." He grumbled. No matter how much he hated himself for him, he knew that to be true.
For he had heard it in the first of the three prophecies.
Three shall be your children; Men of honor. The One that rules, the one that leaves, and the one that is left behind.
"We will have them," he said. "I will visit his Majesty and see if he can help us somehow."
The very next day, Long Tiankong used his medallion to visit the Azure Dragon's realm.
The Azure Dragon's realm was one of beauty and majesty. A ring of forest encircled a ring of flower fields that encircled a massive pond, at the center of which was a massive establishment where the Azure Dragon stayed.
The Dragon Palace, in a way, had been made as a replica of this place, but a much worse version of it.
There were many beasts in the secret realm like there always were. The Azure Dragon needed people tending to his place and he trusted the beasts to do it.
Long Tiankong ignored the beasts and walked up to the edge of the pond before bowing steeply in the direction of where the Azure Dragon would be.
"Your Majesty! This humble servant of yours requests an audience," the Dragon Emperor said to the Azure Dragon.
After a short delay, a voice came from close by.
"Stand up, young man," the voice said. "Tell me what troubles you."
The Dragon Emperor slowly looked up at the bright blue-haired man with a handsome face and impeccable proportions, like a man chiseled by the best stonemason.
Qing Tianchui had arrived before him.
