In the dimly lit cell beneath Li Yanyan’s sprawling villa, an old man sat in quiet meditation. The space was cold, with only the faintest flicker of light from a distant torch illuminating the stone walls around him. Yet Chan Lao paid no mind to the physical discomfort. He had long since learned to quiet his mind, to push away the material world as he focused inward.

Seated in a meditative pose, his spine straight and his hands resting gently on his knees, Chan Lao’s face was still and expressionless, his eyes closed as he breathed slowly and rhythmically. But within the depths of his mind, there was no peace. No calm. Only a dark, simmering resentment that had festered there for decades.

The faintest smirk curled at the edge of his lips, a smirk that carried the weight of years of bitterness and jealousy.

My foolish brother... you thought you could carry the burden of the Guardian. And now, you will fail.

The thought gave him no small amount of satisfaction, and his smirk deepened.

The brothers had been at odds since childhood, both trained under their father, the previous Guardian of the Celestial Forge. But despite Chan Lao being the elder, the stronger in martial prowess, and the more experienced in the ways of their ancient traditions, it had been Chen Yunlong, the younger brother, who had been chosen as the Guardian. Their father, in his infinite wisdom, had believed that Yunlong possessed the balance of strength and humility needed to protect the Forge and the world from the forces it held at bay.

But in Chan Lao’s eyes, it had been nothing more than favoritism. He had been the elder son, the rightful heir to the title of Guardian, but his father had passed him over. The sting of that betrayal had cut deep into his soul, leaving wounds that never healed. For years, he had watched his younger brother wear the mantle of Guardian with pride, all the while knowing that it should have been his.

The jealousy had burned inside him, a fire that only grew hotter with time. He had sworn to himself that one day, Chen Yunlong would fail, and when he did, the world would know that the true Guardian had always been him—Chan Lao.

For years, he had waited for that failure. And now, locked in this dark cell beneath Li Yanyan’s villa, it was finally happening.

I told them, Chan Lao thought to himself, his smirk widening. I prophesied that the boy, Li Chen, would die in battle. And now it has come to pass. The world is already crumbling, and my brother...

He chuckled softly, his voice echoing against the cold stone walls. My brother will be helpless to stop it.

Though he had been imprisoned for months, Chan Lao’s awareness of the world outside had not diminished. His meditation had allowed him to remain connected to the ebb and flow of the world’s energy, to see things others could not. And through this connection, he had seen the battles unfold, the breaking of the Celestial Forge’s seal, the rise of ancient demons, and most importantly, the death of Li Chen.

It had been Li Chen’s death that had given Chan Lao the greatest satisfaction. The boy had been a pawn in his brother’s attempts to stop the impending catastrophe, a vessel for the God of War. And now, with Li Chen dead, Master Chen’s hopes were dashed. His failure was imminent.

Chan Lao’s eyes remained closed, his breath steady, but his thoughts were full of malicious joy.

Yunlong will not survive this, he thought, relishing the idea. The world will crumble under the weight of the demons that have been unleashed, and everyone will see that the wrong brother was chosen.

His fingers twitched slightly, a small physical manifestation of the glee he felt at his brother’s impending downfall. He had always known this day would come. While others had celebrated Master Chen as the wise and noble Guardian, Chan Lao had always harbored the belief that his brother’s soft heart and sense of duty would be his undoing. And now, with the world teetering on the edge of destruction, it was clear that Chen Yunlong was ill-equipped to handle what was coming.

The ancestors, who had watched over their family for generations, would finally see the truth. They would see that the wrong son had been chosen, that the true strength of the family had always rested with him—Chan Lao.

I have waited patiently for this moment. For my brother’s inevitable failure.

He opened his eyes slowly, staring at the stone wall across from him. The cell was small and dark, with no windows, but it didn’t matter. He could see far beyond these walls. His meditation had allowed him glimpses of the chaos outside, of the terror spreading across Yunxie Village as the demons walked the earth once more.

The faces of those demons—pale, emotionless, and terrifying—had brought a sense of grim satisfaction to Chan Lao. These were the forces that his brother had been sworn to keep sealed away, and yet now they were free. His brother’s failure wasn’t just a personal downfall—it was a cosmic one. It was proof that the ancestors had made the wrong choice.

He chuckled again, the sound dry and cold. "Fool," he muttered under his breath, speaking to his absent brother. "You always were too weak to carry the burden."

He thought back to their childhood, the long hours of training under their father’s watchful eye. He had always been the stronger of the two, the more focused, the more determined. While Yunlong had been content to follow their father’s teachings with blind obedience, Chan Lao had always pushed himself further, always sought more power. He had believed, from a young age, that power was the only way to truly protect the world. His father had seen it differently.

Power is nothing without balance, his father had often said.

Power is everything, Chan Lao had always thought in return.

It had been that fundamental difference that had led to their father’s decision to appoint Chen Yunlong as the Guardian. It had been a choice that still baffled Chan Lao, even after all these years. But now, the time for contemplation was over. His brother’s weakness was on full display for the world to see.

"I warned you," Chan Lao whispered, his voice laced with bitterness. "I warned you that Li Chen would die. I warned you that the world would burn. But you didn’t listen. You were always so sure of yourself, always so certain that you were right."

The smirk returned to his lips, darker this time, as he imagined his brother’s despair. "And now you will fail. The ancestors will see that their precious Guardian was never fit to bear the title. They will see that I was the one who should have been chosen."

He closed his eyes again, sinking back into his meditative state, but this time, his heart was alight with dark satisfaction. He didn’t need to be free to witness his brother’s downfall. He could feel it coming, creeping closer with every passing moment.

The world would fall into chaos. The demons would tear it apart, piece by piece. And when the end came, when Chen Yunlong was finally broken by the weight of his failure, Chan Lao would be there—if not in body, then in spirit—to watch it all unfold.

For years, Chan Lao had dreamed of this moment, the day when the world would see that the wrong brother had been chosen. And now, that day had come.

The ancestors will know, he thought, his smile widening. They will know that I was right all along.

In his mind, he could see the chaos unfolding across the land, the destruction that would soon spread from Yunxie Village to the rest of the world. The pale, emotionless faces of the demons flashed before his eyes, and he welcomed the vision.

For Chan Lao, this was the moment he had been waiting for all his life. His brother’s failure would be his triumph. The world would burn, and in its ashes, his resentment would finally find peace.

And so, as the darkness of his cell closed in around him once more, Chan Lao sat with a smirk of quiet satisfaction. The prophecy he had made long ago had come to pass. Li Chen was dead, the world was doomed, and soon, his brother would fall.

It was only a matter of time.