Chronicles of the Eternal Sovereign: The Magic Emperor's Ascent

The world was a blur of sensations—cold, damp earth beneath his skin, the acrid tang of rain-soaked soil, and the distant murmur of voices. The Eternal Sovereign—no, *Li Tian*—opened his eyes to a world that felt both alien and achingly familiar. His body was small, frail, and trembling, a far cry from the divine vessel he had once inhabited.

He lay in a humble hut, its walls made of packed earth and straw. A single oil lamp flickered on a wooden table, casting long shadows across the room. The air was thick with the scent of herbs and the faint, metallic tang of blood.

"He's awake," a voice said, soft and relieved.

Li Tian turned his head, his movements sluggish and uncoordinated. A woman sat beside him, her face lined with worry but softened by a mother's warmth. Her hands, calloused from years of labor, gently brushed his forehead.

"Li Tian," she whispered, her voice trembling with emotion. "You gave us quite a scare."

*Li Tian.* The name felt foreign on his tongue, yet it resonated with a strange sense of belonging. He tried to speak, but his throat was dry, his voice a rasping whisper.

"Where… am I?"

The woman's eyes widened, and she exchanged a glance with an older woman standing nearby—the midwife. "You're home, child," she said gently. "In the village of Qingyun. You've been ill for days."

*Qingyun.* The name meant nothing to him, yet it stirred a faint memory—a flicker of starlight, a whisper of wind through mountain pines. He closed his eyes, trying to piece together the fragments of his shattered mind.

The Eternal Sovereign. The betrayal. The fall.

It came rushing back in a torrent—the Void Serpent's venomous bite, the Flame Sovereign's searing flames, the Thunder Sovereign's crackling chains. And the Arbiter, her scales tipping toward betrayal as she condemned him to oblivion.

He had fallen. Fallen further than he had ever imagined possible.

Li Tian's hands clenched into fists, his small fingers trembling with a mix of rage and helplessness. He was no longer the Eternal Sovereign, the ruler of the heavens. He was a child, weak and vulnerable, in a world that had no place for gods.

But even in this frail body, he could feel it—a spark of divinity, faint but unyielding. The **Primordial Core** was gone, shattered into countless fragments, but its essence lingered within him, a whisper of his former power.

"Rest now," his mother said, her voice soothing. "You need to regain your strength."

Li Tian nodded, though his mind raced. He had no time to rest. The heavens were in chaos, his loyalists scattered, and his betrayers consolidating their power. And somewhere, hidden in the depths of the mortal realm, the fragments of his divinity awaited him.

---

That night, as the village slept, Li Tian slipped out of the hut. The moon hung low in the sky, its pale light casting long shadows across the cobblestone streets. He moved with a purpose that belied his small frame, his steps guided by an instinct he could not explain.

The village was quiet, save for the occasional bark of a dog or the rustle of leaves in the wind. Li Tian's gaze swept over the familiar yet foreign surroundings—the thatched roofs, the wooden fences, the distant silhouette of mist-cloaked mountains.

He stopped at the edge of the village, where a small shrine stood nestled beneath an ancient oak tree. The shrine was simple, its wooden frame weathered by time, but it radiated a faint, almost imperceptible energy.

Li Tian approached cautiously, his heart pounding in his chest. As he drew closer, he noticed something unusual—a faint glow emanating from beneath the shrine's altar. He knelt, his small hands brushing aside the dirt and leaves, and uncovered a small, intricately carved box.

The box was made of a material he could not identify—smooth and cold to the touch, yet pulsing with a faint, otherworldly light. He opened it, and his breath caught in his throat.

Inside lay a shard of crystal, no larger than his thumb, but radiating a power that made his skin tingle. It was a fragment of the **Primordial Core**, its light dim but unmistakable.

Li Tian's hands trembled as he held the shard, his mind racing with possibilities. This was no accident. The heavens had not abandoned him entirely.

---