That night, Jin Hai held the crystal ring close to his face, admiring the tiny wisp of life swirling gently inside it.Huo Feng.His daughter.The last trace of the woman he loved.
She twirled like a soft breeze inside the crystal—innocent, unaware, delighted simply because his voice was near.
He smiled… a soft, fragile smile he had never shown to anyone else.
But peace does not last in the Heavenly Kingdom.
A sudden knock shattered the stillness.
One aide entered, carrying a tray of magical tools and a decree for the furnace's purification.Jin Hai set the ring down just for a moment—only to sign.
But before the ink dried—
Bang!
A soldier burst through the doors, blood streaking his armor, breath ragged.
"Lord Jin Hai—! The Third Gate has been breached! The Council calls for you at once—and Commander Wu Xin must be summoned from the border!"
Jin Hai stood instantly. The calm that had always shrouded him broke—revealing a sharp, burning urgency.
He seized his sword and flew out of the palace like a bolt of lightning.
In that desperate moment…
He left the ring behind.
The sky above the Heavenly Kingdom burned with warfire. Elders clashed with unseen enemies—shadows that moved like smoke and struck like poison.
Arriving at the gate, he found most of the Council members defending their sky bravely against an enemy long lurking, both openly and in secret. He drew his sword and cut through anyone in his path, alternating courage with recklessness. His only concern was the safety of his kingdom, his clan… and above all, his daughter.
Suddenly, he remembered her. He glanced at his hand, only to find the ring missing. He had left it on the table in his rush—a mistake unforgivable. A mistake that would cost him his life before it could even touch hers.
In that fleeting moment, as he realized his daughter's absence, a treacherous arrow pierced his heart. Perhaps from a Shadow soldier, perhaps from no one at all. He struggled to remove it, but the barbed tip made every movement agonizing.
A masked enemy approached, eyes cold and merciless, whispering into his ear:
"Do not try. Even if you remove it, the poison will not spare you."
Jin Hai paid no heed.
His heart ached, not from the arrow, but from his desperate wish to rush back to his daughter and hide her before she too vanished.
The masked figure smiled, a cruel, mocking smile, and whispered:
"I see you insist on pulling it out. I'll help, just a little."
Without warning, he yanked the arrow violently, tearing into Jin Hai's chest with horrific force. No one could have imagined that tender heart meeting such a cruel fate.
Jin Hai fell to his knees, one hand clutching his Thunder Sword, the other pressing against his shattered chest. Bitter tears fell for the destiny of his daughter, carved by his own errors, and he wailed, begging her forgiveness, hoping she could hear him somehow.
He bent forward, crushed by grief and sorrow, bowing his head in shame before his wife, soon to meet her, for he had failed to protect the precious life she entrusted to him.
The masked assailant observed him strangely, a flicker of grief passing over his features as though remembering a sad event, only to erase it immediately.
A lewd, mocking smile curved his lips as he whispered:
"When I cast her, I will tell her everything. Do not mourn her absence too much; I will deliver her to you swiftly. You will meet her soon enough."
And with that, he laughed and vanished, leaving Jin Hai to his final breaths.
Even in his proximity, Jin Hai could not discern the man clearly—only the sly, wicked smile burned into his memory. Oh, what a smile.
Oh, what misery.
Just the thought of his daughter in those crucial moments had cost him his life… and forgetting her presence at other moments had endangered hers.