CURSED LOTUS (EARTH-7)

Biography 

Origin

The Vestal of K'un-Lun is one of the many daughters of the legendary Zheng-Zu. The ancient sorcerer was the first native of that dimension, and therefore the only one capable of leaving and returning without major consequences. For everyone else, abandoning that kingdom is a journey with no return.

On the mortal plane, Zheng-Zu became known by countless names, bearing unimaginable titles throughout the ages he had witnessed, feared by every civilization that sought to challenge his power and knowledge.

The path to K'un-Lun does not reveal itself to just anyone. One must carry at least a trace of draconic blood to enter its gates. Such was the case of Xu Wenwu, the great-grandson of one of the realm's inhabitants who had once abandoned it. An occult scholar by nature, Wenwu devoted his life to reconnecting with the forgotten culture of his ancestors.

The Founding Clan, composed of Zheng-Zu's children, voted to allow Wenwu into K'un-Lun, on the condition that he would never leave. Bao Yu did not stand among her siblings within the clan, as she occupied one of the highest spiritual positions in their society: a virgin priestess and sacred symbol of protection.

Bonded by the Rings

 It was only a matter of time before Bao Yu fell in love with Wenwu. As a foreigner, he carried a worldview unlike anyone else's, constantly searching for answers and uncovering secrets about K'un-Lun's origins, questions no inhabitant had ever dared to ask.

His archaeological research eventually proved that the realm had been founded by a force that transcended their world, likely originating from another corner of the galaxy. It was the Makluans who had settled there, seeking to establish a noble civilization through descendants who carried the mystical potential of the dragon gene.

Ancient tales spoke of a powerful artifact that had been divided into ten lesser powers, ten keys responsible for the creation of K'un-Lun itself. They embodied the gifts of entropy, relics capable of creating and destroying worlds.

Bao Yu immediately recognized the description. They were the Ten Rings carried by her father. He had never used their power, and she was not even certain whether he was capable of doing so. It was then that Wenwu finally revealed the true reason for his presence in K'un-Lun.

The Ten Rings

Wenwu had long heard stories of the mystical Ten Rings wielded by Bao Yu's father. Countless communities claimed to have crossed paths with the relentless sorcerer they called Fu Manchu, and every one of them had attempted to seize the Rings for themselves, only to discover the ruin their power inevitably brought.

He had sought K'un-Lun because he needed the artifact. The mortal world had collapsed under famine and scarcity, consuming itself until entire landscapes had become nothing but fire and suffering. With the Ten Rings in his hands, Wenwu claimed he could restore peace to the mortal plane, just as peace reigned within K'un-Lun.

Without hesitation, Zheng Bao Yu agreed to help him, even knowing it meant abandoning K'un-Lun forever. If another world could be saved, the sacrifice would be worthwhile. Besides, she feared how her father would react upon discovering that her sacred vows had been broken, for together with Wenwu she now carried a new life within her womb, their son.

During the night, while the mighty Zheng-Zu slept defenseless, Bao Yu relied upon her unmatched grace and flawless reflexes to steal the Ten Rings without awakening him. Together with her husband, her unborn child, and the Rings themselves, she rode toward the horizon.

"Ten Rings"

 When she finally reached the mortal world, she truly found it in ruins, devastation born by mankind's own ambition to conquer one another and impose their own rule.

But the reason behind that destruction was not what Wenwu had told her.

He was no humble farmer, nor merely a survivor struggling to save humanity. Wenwu was a ruler, and he was not even known by that name. His servants and imperial courts referred to him only as Mandarin, a title meant to signify the oldest, the first, the origin of all.

His armies were known as the Ten Rings. They had conquered countless lands, spreading chaos across Asia before their victims finally began to resist. They believed only Mandarin could lead them, only he could recover the legendary mystical weapon that would force the world to kneel before him.

And he did.

Bao Yu assumed a new identity: Ying Li. She became an ordinary woman, the fragile wife of a conqueror, a mortal. In truth, it was little different from the role she had imposed upon herself. She wished only to flee, to disappear, to abandon everything behind. But each passing day left her weaker, both physically and emotionally after giving birth to their son, Xu Shang-Chi.

Only then did she understand. She had given Mandarin everything he had ever desired. She had given him the power to conquer... and an heir capable of making his reign eternal.

She had condemned the world to an unstoppable tyrant.

No. If she had been the one to grant him such power, then she would also be the one to take it away.

Cursed Lotus

Under the cover of night, Ying Li once again stole the Rings from the grasp of the mighty sorcerer without him noticing. Carrying them beneath her cloak as she rode across distant kingdoms, she sought lands that had suffered beneath her husband's conquest.

Rumors spread throughout Mandarin's empire, which now stretched across much of Asia. He had been betrayed, robbed by the woman who had once shared his bed. The wife he now denounced as false, deceitful, and treacherous. He gave her a new name:

Cursed Lotus. The woman responsible for his downfall. 

 Swearing to end his reign of terror and redeem her past mistakes, Ying Li crossed the continent without rest, searching for ten individuals worthy of carrying one of the legendary Rings.

Each came from families shattered by conquest. Each longed for justice. None of them had ever met before. There began the reclamation of their homeland through those who would become the Agents of Atlas, each entrusted with one of the Ten Rings and an even greater determination to do what was right.

The final Ring, however, could belong to no one else but the reason all of this had begun.

Ying Li returned to the place that had become both her home and her prison. She walked to her son and embraced him one last time, placing the final Ring upon him. Though it would be torn away only moments later, she hoped he would remember. The power belonged to him.

In that final exchange of glances between mother and son, Ying Li surrendered her last hope with a single breath, as Mandarin drove a dull sword through her chest.