Koi Ascendant

On the banks of the Yellow River, where the waters run swift and the cliffs rise sheer, stands the Dragon Gate — a waterfall so fierce that no ordinary creature can pass. Every spring, ten thousand golden koi gather at its base, drawn by an ancient instinct older than memory.

Only one in ten thousand makes the leap. And in the moment it clears the crest of the falls, the heavens transform it: scales become armor, fins become wings, and the humble fish becomes a dragon. The Chinese have always known that fortune is not given — it is earned through the willingness to leap when every instinct says to turn back. This case carries that single, perfect moment of transformation.