The world pulsed with mana.
A vast current of elemental energy rippled through the skies of Bo City, unseen to the untrained eye but trembling at the edge of awakening. Somewhere within that invisible sea, four sparks stirred.
[Mo Fan]
A young man jolted awake in a cramped dorm room. His fingers twitched, a static hum curling around his palm. Blue arcs flickered and vanished.
"Lightning?" he muttered, half in disbelief. The air itself seemed to answer him with a low crackle. In the distance, the faint morning chime of Bo City High School rang out, calling students to their first day of elemental testing.
[Lu Jun]
Across the city, another youth sat cross-legged beneath the window's pale light. A pendant of pure platinum gleamed against his chest—shaped like a crouching white tiger, cold and regal.
He let out a quiet breath, tracing the metal's fine grooves. The aura it emitted was faint but steady, as if some ancient creature were sleeping within. "So this world really does have beasts like you," he whispered, eyes flashing with quiet resolve.
[Zhang Xiaohou]
At the same hour, Zhang Xiaohou sprinted along the training fields, wooden staff in hand. His breath fogged the morning air as he swung again and again, every motion echoing with soldierly rhythm. The others might still be asleep, but not him. He had always been the one to wake before dawn.
And then, somewhere in the heart of Bo City, the last spark began to stir.
[Xu Mang]
The boy's eyes opened slowly. His surroundings were unfamiliar—tiled floors, the faint scent of ink and sandalwood, the hum of mana threading through the air. Yet he felt no fear.
He lifted a hand to his chest and felt something solid beneath the folds of his shirt: a pendant of dark jade, cool and weighty, carved in the likeness of a tortoise entwined with a serpent.
It pulsed once. A low, distant sound rolled through his mind—like the crashing of waves against stone walls.
"Black Tortoise…" The words slipped from his lips before he even understood them.
Outside, dawn light spilled across the city's rooftops. The towers of Bo City shimmered with the faint trace of protective barriers. In this world, magic governed all things—laws, battles, even destiny.
Xu Mang rose from his bed and walked to the mirror. The boy staring back at him looked no different from any other student, but in his gaze lay something older—an instinct that the world was more than it appeared to be.
He remembered flashes of lessons, faces, names—Mo Fan, Lu Jun, Zhang Xiaohou—though their connections felt hazy, like half-forgotten dreams.
"Bo City…" he murmured. "So it begins here."
He tightened his fingers around the pendant. It felt alive beneath his touch, resonating faintly with the earth itself. Somewhere deep below, ancient power stirred—a guardian's patience, an emperor's will.
The bell for morning assembly rang. Xu Mang let out a breath and smiled faintly.
"Time to see what kind of world this really is."
The pendant gleamed once more, then fell silent.
Outside, the skies of Bo City were calm—too calm. If one could peer beyond the clouds, they would see ripples spreading across the elemental planes.
Four destinies had ignited at once.
The Azure Dragon had opened its eyes.
The White Tiger's breath coiled through the wind.
The Black Tortoise had awakened from slumber.
And far beyond, unseen by mortals, the Vermilion Bird's feathers began to burn.
The age of balance was ending.
And with it, a new legend was about to begin.