The night in Vale Sereno was clear and silent. The sky seemed bigger there, far from the city's artificial lights.
Vale Sereno was a small countryside town, surrounded by gentle hills and vast green fields. The streets were dirt roads, and only a few houses had lights on at that hour. A simple village, where everyone knew each other by name and life followed the peaceful rhythm of nature.
Harry got off the bus with a heavy backpack on his back and took a deep breath of the fresh, humid air of that land. The scent of the forest and wet earth brought back old memories of a distant and happy childhood. Following the dirt road, he saw the simple, modest house of his uncle Antônio — a man with graying hair, a face marked by time, and a warm smile.
As he arrived, the door slowly opened and Uncle Antônio appeared in the doorway, wiping his hands on his apron.
"Harry, boy! You finally made it!" said the uncle, in a hoarse but warm voice. "Thought you weren't coming anymore."
"I had some stuff to sort out... it wasn't easy," Harry replied with a tired smile.
"Well, come on in. Dinner's almost ready, but I could use some help. Come give me a hand in the kitchen, boy."
In the simple kitchen, Harry washed the vegetables while Uncle Antônio stirred a pot on the wood stove. The silence between them was comfortable, broken only by the crackle of the fire and the clinking of utensils.
"And how are things in the big city?" asked the uncle while chopping an onion.
"Rough, uncle. Lost my job, got into a fight with some guys, and... well, I decided to come back here, at least for a while."
"You did the right thing, Harry. It's slow here, but there's peace. It'll do you good."
After the simple dinner, Harry helped wash the dishes and got ready to rest. Outside, the sky darkened further, and the stars began to appear, dotting the heavens.
Later, he went outside and lay on the rusty hood of the old farm tractor, gazing up at the infinite sky. The smell of grass and wet earth was nostalgic, almost comforting.
He sighed, trying to organize his thoughts. Everything had happened too fast — the beating, the firing, the return to the countryside. And now here he was, under the same sky he used to look at as a child, trying to understand the direction his life had taken.
Then something strange happened.
A light crossed the sky — first like a shooting star... but then it slowed down. Changed direction. And came toward him.
Harry's eyes widened as he jumped to his feet. The light grew brighter and took the shape of... a man? A human being floating in the air?
"What the...?"
He stumbled backward, falling onto the ground. When he looked again, the figure hovered just a few meters above the ground, heading straight toward him. Harry ran to the house, locked the door, shut the windows, and took a deep breath, trying to understand if he was hallucinating.
But as soon as he turned around... he was there.
Tall, handsome, with a cold and imposing aura. He wore long blue-gray robes stained with blood, and his face was pale, almost translucent under the kitchen light. His eyes, deep like the night sky, seemed to see everything.
"Ghooooost!" Harry yelled, backing away.
The man arched an eyebrow, annoyed.
"How dare you!" His voice was deep, full of power. "I am an immortal, and you compare me to a mere ghost?"
Harry swallowed hard. The air now felt heavier. The stranger's presence filled the entire room.
"S-sorry... it's just... you showed up out of nowhere... flying!" he stammered, trying to explain.
The man looked around with some disdain. His shoulders trembled slightly, and he coughed blood into his hand.
"I don't have time for this... I'm wounded... severely. This world is weaker than I expected..."
He fell to his knees. For the first time, he seemed human. Vulnerable.
Harry, still trembling, took a step forward.
"You... need help?"
The man didn't answer right away. He simply took a ring from his finger and extended it to Harry. The ring looked ancient, with golden spiral inscriptions. When Harry touched it, he felt a slight tingling... but nothing more.
"It's sealed. You don't have enough Qi to activate it yet," said the immortal, as if reading his thoughts. "But one day... perhaps you will."
He brought his index finger close to Harry's forehead.
"Listen, young one... my name is Long Hai. I come from the Celestial Realms. I was in battle against an ancient demon... we were thrown into a wormhole, created by the destruction of a sacred artifact. We were both dragged and cast into this lower world."
The tip of his finger touched between Harry's eyebrows, and a torrent of images exploded in his mind.
Harry staggered back, gasping. Inside the vision, he saw flashes of a fierce battle. Long Hai and a colossal demon fought in the skies, exchanging blows so powerful they shattered floating mountains. Both were mutilated — torn arms, black and red blood staining the ethereal battlefield.
In the final moment, both used desperate attacks. The demon screamed as one of his eyes was pierced by Long Hai's sword. In response, he dug his claws into the immortal's abdomen. An explosion engulfed them both, and the image warped — swallowed by dimensional void.
"Wounded... but not dead... the medallion will shine when he's near... you must be careful, Harry..."
Long Hai's voice echoed, and the images vanished.
"I'm passing you the Basic Qi Cultivation Technique... it's all I can do. Keep this ring. And this necklace... deliver it to my family, if you ever manage to reach my world again."
The necklace fell into Harry's hand. It was a silver medallion, with a raised dragon design and a blue gem glowing at its center.
The immortal smiled, but his eyes were empty. The next cough was deep, and his body began to glow. In seconds, he turned to golden dust, carried away by the night wind until he vanished completely from the world.
Harry fell to his knees, speechless.
What had just happened?
After that, he fainted — and dreamed of everything he had seen: the celestial war, the mutilated demon, Long Hai's desperate search for an heir...
And now, it was all in his hands.