Rain stepped once again inside the ruins of the house where he had grown up. This time, however, he was blind and couldn't see the body of the first bandit he had killed or the tragic end of his grandfather. Purple Rose gently guided him through this once-familiar place, which now felt profoundly alien and heavy with a suffocating stillness.
Rot had already begun to settle into the structure, and the subtle scent of decay hung thick in the air. Once Rose guided him toward the corpse belonging to his grandfather, Rain softly removed his hand from hers and came to a halt, crouching down where his elder lay on the floor. Rain fell heavily onto his knees, silent tears escaping from his unseeing, milky eyes.
He felt a conflicting, overwhelming mixture of deep sadness and hollow relief. It was sadness because he could no longer look upon his grandfather's face, yet a bitter relief because he was spared from staring at the gruesome, bloody reminder of his final moments.
Rose stood silently behind him, giving him ample space to process his grief. Rain had no concept of how long he cried there in the dark. Gradually, the vibrant, rejuvenating warmth he had carried ever since Rose pulled him back from the brink of death began to fade, replaced by a crushing, bone-deep weariness. He was sitting slumped on the floor in a dazed, confused state when Rose finally placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Let's bury him, as well as the other villagers," she said softly.
Her words seemed to snap Rain out of his daze. He stood up slowly, nodding with a heavy heart.
The following period of time was marked by an eerie, majestic display of power. Using her mystic cultivation abilities, Rose effortlessly moved the remaining bodies out of the houses and off the streets. She sorted them carefully, leaving the vile bandits' corpses where they lay as unburied trash. Afterward, with a single, sweeping wave of her hand outside the village perimeter, she carved out a massive, deep ditch into the earth. Though Rain couldn't physically see what was happening, he could vividly sense the overwhelming pressure of the energy she exuded, alongside the massive tremors shifting the ground around them.
Finally, she carefully placed his grandfather's body into the trench before closing the earth over it, forming a large, neat mound. Throughout the entire process, she kept a comforting hold on Rain's hand.
"Something is missing," Purple Rose muttered quietly, causing Rain to turn his head toward her in confusion. She didn't offer an immediate explanation. Instead, Rain felt the ground beneath his feet shudder once more, startling him as he wondered what supernatural phenomenon was about to occur.
Suddenly, a rich, heavy scent of flowers filled the air around them. Rose had caused a multitude of blossoms to sprout rapidly across the earthen mound, transforming the stark grave into a radiant hill of flowers.
"I felt like the resting place of those poor villagers, including your grandfather, shouldn't be so desolate. As such, I filled the place with flowers. They are White Death-lilies; legend has it that they can guide wronged spirits safely to the great beyond," she explained gently to Rain, who listened quietly despite his blindness.
Rain felt a wave of profound gratitude for her consideration. She had taken it upon herself to carve out a beautiful, dignified resting place for his grandfather and neighbors. Inwardly, he made a fierce, unyielding promise that he would repay this immense favor the moment an opportunity arose. Rose looked at him deeply, her expression unreadable, before nodding softly.
"I have to return home now, but I will teach you the basics of cultivation along the way. As for your lack of sight, don't worry—we will travel comfortably on the back of my spirit beast, Cognis," Rose spoke after they had finished the burial and held a quiet, solemn ceremony for the wronged souls.
Rain nodded, though a curiosity sparked in his chest. "What is a spirit beast?"
"Spirit beasts are spiritual creatures, fundamentally different from the ordinary animals in your mind. They are beings forged directly from pure heavenly essence—the exact same primordial energy that we cultivators use to refine our cultivation bases and strive toward immortality."
Rain's horizons were in a state of constant, dizzying expansion ever since he met Rose. He could now vividly picture towering gods, roaring demons, wandering ghosts, and magnificent spirit creatures inhabiting a vast universe. The world suddenly felt incomparably massive to him, whereas before, his entire existence had been strictly confined within the borders of Roken Village.
He would have to leave behind the place that raised him to travel and experience this newly revealed world. It was a journey necessary both to honor the enduring wisdom of his grandfather and to exact a bloody vengeance. His targets weren't just that vile beast of a bandit leader, but also the shadowy forces responsible for his grandfather's progressive, agonizing decline over the years.
Rain wasn't stupid, though he was simple and tended to take things at face value. Because of that, it was only after coming into direct contact with a true cultivator that he began to understand the strange peculiarities surrounding his grandfather's past. Rain now deeply suspected that his grandfather had never been a simple mortal to begin with.
Another memory that reinforced this conviction was the recurring nightmare that had plagued him for as long as he could remember. In that terrifying dream, he was merely a toddler trapped amidst a catastrophic landscape of raging flames and splitting lightning. Rainbows crisscrossed the chaotic sky, and the sound of thunder was deafeningly loud. Two separate groups of immensely powerful figures were violently assaulting a single, isolated man. That lone figure didn't seem physically imposing at first glance, yet despite the overwhelming might of the attacking groups, they struggled fiercely just to bring him down.
In that same nightmare, young Rain was always held tightly in the arms of a woman with a voice of ethereal beauty. Though he could never remember her face, he could always recall the endless, radiant warmth she emitted. Ultimately, the war god in the sky sacrificed himself, unleashing a cataclysmic blast that dragged all his enemies down into destruction. The dream always concluded when the man descended from the sky with a gentle smile—only for his expression to abruptly morph into sheer horror, jolting Rain awake in a cold sweat.
"I didn't ask before, but I would like to know your full name," Purple Rose said, leading him outward past the village perimeter. The sole dirt road leading away from Roken carried a heavy, lonely atmosphere.
Her soft, melodic voice snapped Rain out of his turbulent reverie. He answered honestly, "My full name is Skyrain, but you can call me Rain."
Rose's pupils froze momentarily when she heard the full name. Her mind raced, trying desperately to recall where she had encountered the family name 'Sky' before. It was far from a common surname; on the contrary, it was steeped in ancient power.
Rain remained entirely oblivious to her sudden internal reaction. "My grandfather always told me that when I was born, Heaven itself cried for many days. I don't really understand what he meant by that, but I suppose that's why he named me Skyrain." He explained the fragmented legend with simple innocence.
"Hmm." Rose nodded absently, still lost in deep thought.
Suddenly, she stilled completely as a startling realization struck her. The Sky Clan was the supreme, ruling faction ranked at the absolute apex in terms of power, influence, and ancient wealth across the entire Endless Continent.
Could he possibly be a surviving remnant of the legendary Sky Clan? Rose questioned inwardly, her heart skipping a beat. Then, she weighed several factors and managed to calm her initial shock, believing she had pieced together the logical answers.
Whistle.
"Cognis," Rose called out softly into the open air.
Rain was startled when a tyrannical gush of wind nearly blew him off his feet a few seconds later. If not for Rose firmly catching his arm, he would have been sent flying. The ground beneath them shook heavily, as though a colossal weight had dropped from the heavens.
Rose grabbed his hand and guided him closer to the massive, house-sized bird looming before them. She gently placed Rain's hand against the creature's feathered head, prompting a soft petting motion. Rain marveled at the lingering warmth as well as the impossibly soft texture beneath his palm.
"This is my companion, Cognis. He is very gentle, so you don't need to be afraid," Rose whispered warmly near his ear.