Past

"Teacher, why did you leave Little Xue behind and sneak out?" Ye Xue pouted coquettishly.

Ye Yuan wiped his face and said, "I really don't know what to do with you, you little witch."

"You're already eighteen. You're not a child anymore."

"You should know that men and women should keep their distance, shouldn't you?"

"How are you supposed to get married like this? Who would marry you?" Ye Yuan said helplessly.

Ye Xue merely grinned. "If Little Xue can't get married, then I'll cling to Teacher."

"Besides, didn't Teacher say not to care about what others think?"

"As long as your conscience is clear, that's enough, right?"

"Isn't that what you taught me?"

Ye Yuan was rendered speechless by Ye Xue. Was that how his teachings were supposed to be used?

"Go back first. Teacher has something important to do."

Ye Xue hugged Ye Yuan's arm. "No, no. My Soul Power is already level sixty—level sixty at eighteen!"

"Teacher should be secretly thrilled to have such a capable helper."

Ye Yuan truly could not argue with her.

Still, to be fair, he had not expected Ye Xue to be such a promising prospect. Ever since several rounds of body tempering...

Ye Xue's astonishing talent had been fully revealed.

An eighteen-year-old Soul King was practically unheard of in the history of Douluo Continent.

It was as if the girl had been born to cultivate.

"Fine, but you have to listen to me. Understand?"

"Mhm, mhm, mhm! Little Xue is the most obedient."

"Hold on tight." Ye Yuan extended his hand, intending to take Ye Xue's.

Ye Xue's eyes darted around, and she threw herself directly into Ye Yuan's arms.

Ye Yuan shook his head.

He circulated all the Soul Power in his body. In an instant, the world spun and the stars shifted.

When Ye Xue opened her eyes again, all she could see was snow.

Not far away stood a somewhat dilapidated city.

"Teacher, where are we?" Ye Xue asked.

Ye Yuan did not answer. He walked toward several dark figures in the distance.

"Hmph!"

Ye Xue quickly followed.

Their pace was unhurried as they arrived beside the group.

It was as if those people could not see them at all, completely ignoring the two of them.

"You little brat, that's what you get for stealing." The speaker was a dark, rough-looking man, who repeatedly kicked the boy on the ground.

The boy's face and feet were covered in wounds and bruises.

"I'm sorry, I was just too hungry."

"I'm really sorry!"

"I... I just wanted to live!" One of them viciously kicked the back of the boy's head.

The boy clutched the back of his head and immediately fainted.

"These people are awful. I'm going to teach them a lesson!"

With that, she circulated her Soul Power and walked toward them.

Ye Yuan stopped Ye Xue with his hand. "What did you promise me before?"

Ye Xue wanted to argue, but when she met Ye Yuan's stern gaze, her momentum immediately deflated.

Although her teacher, Ye Yuan, spoiled her greatly, he could be extremely strict whenever he got angry.

"O... okay." Ye Xue said weakly.

"Boss, is he... is he dead?!"

"Did we kill someone?!"

The dark, rough-looking man said, "What are you scared of? My uncle is the butler of a noble lord in the city."

"It's just one person. What's there to fear?"

"Let's go. In this freezing wasteland, there's no one around. Who would see that we did it?"

After saying that, the group hurried away.

They left the boy alone in the snow.

Only then did Ye Yuan slowly walk up to the boy and look down at him.

Ye Xue remained silent. She had never seen so many emotions in her teacher's eyes.

There was resentment, anger, sorrow, and a trace of resolve.

What was the relationship between this boy and her teacher?

Was he an illegitimate son?

Why did he seem somewhat like her teacher?

Did Little Xue already have a teacher's wife? No!!!

That hateful woman actually dared to seduce my teacher!

As Ye Xue's thoughts ran wild, Ye Yuan slowly crouched down and placed his hand on the boy's head.

Ye Yuan's eyes turned golden, and a black dragon burst from his body and rushed into the boy.

Then a golden Little Golden Man crawled out from Ye Yuan's sleeve and leaped onto his shoulder.

Ye Yuan said to it, "Go."

The Little Golden Man nodded, jumped directly toward the boy, and turned into a streak of golden light that entered his body.

Ye Xue could not make sense of what her teacher was doing.

Just as she was about to ask, a voice sounded from nearby.

"Miss, look!"

"Isn't someone lying in the snow?"

Several dozen servants surrounded a young woman as they slowly approached. She wore a black dress.

The ornaments on her head appeared to be cat ears.

From the young woman's clothing and appearance, she was clearly a noble.

Perhaps not even an ordinary noble.

The young woman said, "Hasn't Father been recruiting soldiers recently? He should still be short a few. Bring him back and have a look."

Several of the young woman's servants rescued the boy.

They took him with them and left the snowy field.

Ye Yuan watched the group gradually disappear into the distance and sighed.

Turning around, he said, "Let's go, Little Xue."

With that, he took Ye Xue's hand and slowly left.

"Teacher, what exactly are you trying to do?"

"Who was that child?"

Ye Yuan turned to Ye Xue and said, "Do you think he looks like your teacher?"

Ye Xue's heart sank to the bottom. Her eyes immediately welled with tears as she said, "Could... could he be your son?!"

"Wuwuwu X﹏X"

"Little Xue was clearly here first! Which thieving cat was it?!"

"Teacher, you scumbag man! (╥╯﹏╰╥)ง"

Ye Yuan's face darkened, and he knocked her on the forehead.

"Ah! Teacher, that hurts!" Ye Xue cried.

"He was Teacher when I was young!"

As soon as he said that, Ye Xue froze.

"This was you as a child, Teacher?"

"Then... was that just now Teacher's past?"

Back when Ye Xue had still been Qian Renxue, she had never heard of anyone being able to reverse time and return to the past.

To reverse time and alter the past and future...

Even gods likely could not do that, could they?

Ye Yuan saw Ye Xue's confusion and said, "You must be wondering how Teacher did it, right?"

Ye Yuan nodded. "That explanation would take a long time."

"Let Teacher ask you first: is fate fixed?"

Ye Xue pondered briefly before saying, "A person's fate should be decided from birth, but as long as there is even a little interference, I think it can change!"

Ye Yuan asked in return, "If the interference is immense, yet fate still does not change, what would be the reason?"

"Um... then... then that means someone behind the scenes is controlling that fate."

Ye Yuan nodded. "You're right."

"Teacher, only the Creator can reverse time and travel through the past and future, right? How did you do it?"

Ye Yuan raised his head to look at the sky and slowly said, "If Teacher told you that the Creator of Douluo Continent was Teacher's fellow townsman, would you believe it?"

"Fellow townsman?"

"Yes. He is the one behind fate."

"I tried to change things many times, but I failed every time. In the end, I discovered this secret."

"Do you know Tang San, the Sea God?"

Hearing that name, Ye Xue's expression grew solemn.

How could she not know him? Yet she still said to Ye Yuan, "I've heard of him. Is Tang San, the Sea God, your fellow townsman?"

"Is he the Creator?"

Ye Yuan shook his head. "Tang San of this world is Teacher's fellow townsman, but Teacher's fellow townsman is not Tang San."