Long before Humans and Monsters were born, the Universe was just a thought.

Knowledge and Wisdom were growing old and lonely. In their boredom, they decided to have children. They gave birth to Harmony and Chaos. Harmony loved peace and quiet, so it devised Life and Nature. The latter begat Humans and Animals, as well as mythological creatures such as Dragons or Phoenixes.

They were all living in cohesion and peace as their father initially wanted, some of them even fell in love and mixed their blood. This was how exotic races, such as mermen, elves, and dwarves saw the light of day.

Harmony was receiving unending and abundant praises from his heavenly father and mother.

Chaos watched him bathe in glory and became estranged due to jealousy and frustration. Thus, he decided to ruin his brother’s creatures. The beings were too dazzling and free, so he created space to confine them.

Unfortunately for him, Life was still roaming unobstructed even after he enclosed it into several distinct dimensions. Still full of resentment, hatred, and enviousness, he invented Time and Death.

When Harmony noticed that his children had become subject to age and mortality, he was indignant.

Yet, his sadness didn’t last long when he realized that humanoids and beasts were living happier than before. With the occurrence of Time and Death, the creatures enjoyed each second of their lives to the utmost, studying the virtues of their father.

Harmony was very satisfied and loved his children even more. He took a drop of his blood and birthed Justice and Freedom, tasking them with the duty to watch over the galaxies. Justice and Freedom didn’t mesh well together, but they tried their best to work in unison and obey their father’s commands.

Nonetheless, Justice couldn’t completely control his sister. Stubborn as she was, she did as she pleased and sauntered for a few thousand years. This period of distraction gave the children of Chaos time to infest and overrun the mortal worlds with War, Corruption, and Slavery. In this lapse of time, Harmony’s children were enslaved and subjugated. Justice couldn’t assume responsibility for an important task alone and fled, in search of his sister.

Chaos used the formidable legacies and bloodlines his brother had left to torture and conduct experimental atrocities. He took the beasts bloodlines to sire Fiends; he also robbed Humans of their perfect understandings of principles and elements to beget Paragons. Now, most humans were cursed and could only channel one of the elements to cultivate. But it didn’t really matter since they lost all their manuals.

As time passed, Knowledge and Wisdom were growing increasingly older. They stopped paying attention to worldly matters, so to resolve the conflict between the two brothers, they punished Chaos, albeit lightly. He was restricted to the mortal world for a few billion years, losing his right to inherit the heavenly throne.

With the lack of essence and the decrease of his lifespan, Chaos feared to become weak. He used his last remaining bit of energy to seclude himself inside hidden quarters. With this last and desperate hibernation, he was preparing his comeback for the day he would overthrow his unfair parents and brother.

Millions of years passed.

Humans and other races put away their differences to resist against the forces of Chaos. The majority was still enslaved and subservient, on the other hand, most beasts had sworn allegiance to Fiends and Paragons in exchange for limited emancipation.

Two men, however, claimed the flag of humanity and lifted it on their backs. The world only remembered one of them nevertheless. That man was called Shandian Lei.

During his birth, he caused a cataclysm; the world turned black with murkiness as he summoned thunder and lightning upon its different corners.

His family was chased down by both the forces of light and darkness. Humans, beasts, Fiends and Paragons alike were afraid of his talent. His older brother just had enough time to take him and flee before their city turned red with blood and gore. That was when humanity experienced real genocide for the first time in history.

But before they could find shelter in their getaway, they had been cornered and encircled. Fortunately, the god of Justice came to their rescue and saved the siblings from certain death.

They were adopted and grew up listening to the teachings of their father and aunt. The two gods tried their best to ensure their security. Their talents were impressive. They learned fast, especially the youngest sibling. After one last chase, they managed to escape once more despite the heavy injuries the two benefactors suffered at the hands of the dark gods.

Before they died, they imbued the two siblings with their respective powers and cultivations.

Raijin, the god of Justice and Thunder passed his lifeblood on the youngest, Shandian Lei. Whereas, Silpheed, the goddess of Freedom and Wind did the same with Shandian Shaofu.

The gods died leaving the two orphans to their own devices, tasking them to eradicate the forces of disorder. It didn’t take more than a hundred years for them to break through the martial saint realm, exterminating all the Fiends and Paragons. Afterward, they went on an odyssey to seal the three pernicious gods of woe and their father Chaos. Chaos didn’t even have time to figure out what went wrong before all his chances of resurfacing were jeopardized.

They established invincible and immortal dynasties, paving the road of cultivation for Humans before facing their final tribulation. The last before ascending to the legendary realm just above the mortal world.

It was at that moment when the two sovereigns were preparing to ascend that the mutation happened.

It turned out that their adoptive parents hadn’t died. They used the siblings and watched them in a hideaway for thousands of years, preparing to rob them of their hard work at the last minute.

Shandian Shaofu used a forbidden technique to send his younger brother into a different dimension as he faced the two deceitful gods alone.

“Shaofu!” Shandian Lei cried in agony, pain, and anger. He knew that he was experiencing the process of rebirth, would be separated from his pillar and even his memories forever. Plane creators could make other people experience rebirths, but they couldn’t let them retain their memories. Only those from the upper realms could allow one to experience perfect and flawless reincarnations.

“We’ll meet again one day, Lei’er. Goodbye.” He said as he reached one hand into the portal and grabbed Shandian Lei’s hand for one final time. Even if he was clearer than anyone how empty and dull his words were.

“Brother!...”

“!!!”

A young boy woke up in sweat, with fear and panic on his face. It was too dark at night for him to be in such a frenzy.

“My head hurts...Why do I always have this strange dream?”

“It doesn’t make any sense.”

He was preparing to get up and get rid of his sweat when someone opened the door abruptly.

“Mom.” He said.

The woman hugged him and put her hand on his forehead.

“You don’t have any fever. Did you have that nightmare again?”

“Um.” He didn’t deny.

“Fuu.” She sighed and cleaned the moisture.

“Come sleep with me tonight. I’ll have one of the seers or the shaman see what is happening to you early tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow is too important for your future. I can’t have you break down on me and underperform due to strange events. I also can’t have you lack sleep either.”

“...” The boy had a blank look on his face. He seemed to be looking for clues as if he’d forgotten something crucial.

“Panzi!” His mother yelled.

“?? Ah, yes, mom. I understand.”

“Good. I’ll wait for you in my room. Don’t dally here too long and fall asleep.” She smiled bitterly and left.

“Who are those people in my dream? Also, that man gives me a familiar feeling for some reason.”

The boy muttered in a daze.