1 Prologue

In a peaceful valley, normally undisturbed by anything, where the only sounds where the subtle sounds of wind whistling over empty plains, a disturbance was occurring. Two figures, one male and one female, were running through these beautiful empty plains, sending the sound of their loud and hurried footsteps ringing throughout the silent area.

They were running as though they were being chased by something, and there was a desperate fear present on their faces. However, any onlooker would tell you that those two figures, that man and women, were the only ones present amidst the silent plains. Suddenly, through the heavy pants of the two figures, voices could be heard.

"Do you think we lost them?" the gruff voice of the young-adult male asked the woman.

"They won't give up that easy!"

The woman practically yelled, her silky-smooth voice changing into ragged breathing as she picked up her speed.

"The Huo Dynasty won't let this go. You know better than others how much they care for their bloodline. They will not let any child be tainted by the mixing of elements within their qi! They will hunt us down, and they will not rest until they erase the one thing that could possibly stain their reputation, a Bane Child that possesses their blood."

The man suddenly erupted in fury.

"Do not refer to our child with those words! No matter what disabilities a child who is birthed from two elements may have, that child is ours! We will not let them kill our baby!"

The woman silently nodded tears welling in her eyes. "It does not matter what we think of our child if we are killed without being able to raise him."

The woman looked lovingly at the newborn child that was sleeping in her arms. When she finally looked away from the baby, who they had not even had long enough to name, she had a serious look in her eyes.

"They can do whatever they want to me, but I will die before they lay a finger on our child!"

The man was about to talk, when the couple suddenly heard a loud noise thunder behind them. Knowing that they could no longer flee, the two stopped where they were and turned around, determination firm on their faces. The couple watched as a terrifying flame set the sky alight, and a crimson figure flashed into the ground like a meteor.

At the place of impact from that crimson figure, a large muscular man stood, his long hair and beard the color of flame.

"Huo Jin. As the Fourth Princess of the Huo Dynasty, I order you to stand down!"

A cruel smile appeared on the face of the large man, who was apparently called Huo Jin.

"I'm sorry princess." The man spoke with a mocking tone. "But I have orders to kill all three of you. You disgraced our Grand Huo Dynasty by insisting to copulate with this trash. Don't you know better than anyone that mixing different types of qi goes against the very laws of nature? I'm sure that you realized that as you gave birth to that Godsdamned Bane Child right? I hear that birthing one of those monstrosities is more painful that having your limbs cut off.

"You are also well aware that a child like that, A Bane Child with Huo blood goes against all of the laws of our Dynasty. And because of your identity, one of the eight noble princesses of our Grand Dynasty, breaking any of our laws is only punishable by death!"

As Huo Jin finished his mocking spiel, he immediately burst into flames, bloodlust radiating off of him in waves almost visible by the human eye. He pulled out a large crescent shaped sword that radiated the light of a weapon imbued with a fire stone. Just like him, his weapon radiated intense heat.

"Princess, as my way of honoring your once-noble status, allow me to kill you with my magnificent blade, Ember Moon!"

The woman also erupted in flames, using her power to try to protect her child. She turned toward the man, about to give him the baby so that she could fight, when she saw a horrifying sight.

Huo Jin had his sword stabbed through the man's dantian, the root of power for all those who could manipulate, qi, the energy of life. Huo Jin twisted his swords, causing the man to scream in pain as the fire qi within the sword ravaged his body. Huo Jin then yanked out his blade, leaving a small hole where the man's dantian used to be.

"NOOOOO!"

The woman crashed to the ground, her fire extinguished. She looked up at Huo Jin, who still had that disgusting smile on his face. Her face covered in tears, She yelled the name of her lover in despair.

"QING YAN!"

The woman's voice sounded like someone forcefully ripped the words out from her throat. Her body began to radiate a flame so strong that it started to melt the world around her. However, unlike the flames that both she and Huo Jin had displayed earlier, these flames were a much warmer color; they were an almost golden yellow that seemed to also contain some orange.

Huo Jin's eyes flashed with fear, and he quickly tried to escape. He took one step which allowed him to travel a whole twenty meters, but his flesh was quickly melting. His whole body started to bubble and turn into liquid, and he let out a primal roar as he breathed his last.

As this was going on, The woman's body started to shrivel, as if she was aging hundreds of years every second. She quickly died and her body rot until her corpse became only bones.

At the moment that the woman died, the golden flames started to compress into a sphere. This sphere got smaller and smaller, until it shrank to the size of a marble. This sphere of golden flame then moved toward the baby, who, along with Qing Yan, was miraculously untouched by the flame. The orb then came in contact with the baby's head and melted into his skin, not even leaving a trace that it was there.

The father and son then remained unconscious, the grass below them green as though nothing happened, while the environment just a meter or so away from them had taken on a hellish appearance, with the once unharmed grass turned to ash as far as the eye could see.

Just then, two things happened that could both be considered miracles. The baby's eyes opened, and the first thing that it ever saw was the trembling of his father's hand. Not only were both father and son alive, but Qing Yan's injury had closed, leaving a scar that would never be healed.

It was as though the woman had directly sacrificed herself to save the only two people in the world that she cared for.