The Time of Origin

"Hmm, this little fellow's soul strength barely reaches the standard. Though it seems a bit immature and I know nothing of his character, let's observe further..."

"Eh? A Mortal Realm soul? And only fifteen years old with a bone age of seven-star Dou Ling? What formidable talent!"

The white-haired youth, walking upon the white mist with flowing silver locks, circled gently around Yun Zimo, who was lying down while cradling Xiao Yan.

Could he be of some great family's bloodline?

"Sigh, what a pity. His soul is of the wind and water attributes, far removed from the fire and wood attributes required for an alchemist."

After a careful inspection, the youth shook his head in regret, yet as he stared at Zimo's handsome face, he felt it would be a waste for such talent to go unused here.

"Little one, this Seat is Venerable Yao, Yao Chen. If you ever have the chance to travel to the Central Plains, you may seek out Venerable Feng, Feng Xian, at the Starfall Pavilion to take him as your master. This remnant soul technique may help your soul progress further!"

Yao Chen's heart surged with ghostly white flames, sealing a sequence of images and a map deep within Yun Zimo's soul. Once he passed the test and his strength reached the required level, the seal would naturally break.

"Little fellow, until we meet again..."

Yao Chen's gentle voice gradually faded, and amidst the vast white mist, only the large and small figures remained, sleeping curled up together.

"Ahhh!"

Xiao Yan scrambled up and smoothed his somewhat disheveled clothes. Yun Zimo, with his hair half-loose, stretched lazily on the grass, propping his head up with one hand and reclining as he watched the slightly blushing Xiao Yan with a playful gaze.

"You, you, you...!"

Xiao Yan stuttered, and in his exasperation, white light flickered in his palm as he struck out at Yun Zimo.

Yun Zimo extended two fingers, lightly pinching Xiao Yan's small palm, and blew a breath with a cheeky smile.

"I haven't even settled the score for you using me as a pillow all night."

Hearing Yun Zimo shift the blame, Xiao Yan laughed in his fury; if it weren't for you, I would still be lying in my own bed right now!

"Little Yanzi, accept your fate. The situation is stronger than the person..."

Yun Zimo effortlessly pinned Xiao Yan to the grass once more, let out a yawn, and then released the wailing little brat.

"Don't call me Little Yanzi!"

Xiao Yan snorted coldly and charged directly into the white mist; he refused to believe he couldn't find his way out!

"I refuse to accept this!"

After several failed attempts, Xiao Yan realized he truly couldn't escape this fog and simply sat down with his arms crossed, though he remained deeply unconvinced.

"What is it you don't accept?"

Yun Zimo pulled Xiao Yan into his arms and vigorously ruffled his hair.

"You—you're older than me and your cultivation is higher than mine. You're just bullying me because of your strength!"

Xiao Yan said this while breaking free from Yun Zimo, running to lean against a bamboo stalk to sulk.

"Heh..."

Yun Zimo chuckled, and the aura around him instantly weakened, suppressed to the level of a one-star Dou Practitioner in a mere moment.

"There, we're the same now. I won't use any Dou Techniques, and I'll even let you use one hand. Want to try again?"

Half an hour later, Xiao Yan, once again sprawled on the grass, began to doubt his existence. Upon hearing Yun Zimo's flamboyant lament—he's only fifteen, why is he sighing...—he lay there completely dejected, unwilling to get up again.

"I still don't accept it!"

Xiao Yan issued another challenge. He refused to believe that if he couldn't beat him, he couldn't out-talk him! Having experienced the era of the information explosion, he was confident his verbal skills were second to none!

"I—I really am a piece of trash..."

Before long, the "salted fish" limited edition Xiao Yan muttered dejectedly, his eyes vacant as he remained in a state of existential doubt.

"Eh, it's fine. There will be plenty of feelings like this in the future; you'd best prepare yourself."

Still feeling unfulfilled, Yun Zimo gently patted Xiao Yan, who was nearly broken by his antics, and pulled the now-resigned little one into his arms.

Listening to Yun Zimo's heart-piercing words, Xiao Yan gave up on resisting. Fight? No, he'd get beaten to a pulp. Argue? Er, in any case, Xiao Yan felt that even in his former world, Yun Zimo would have reigned supreme in the field of verbal sparring.

"Let's introduce ourselves properly. My name is Yun Li, the 'Li' of 'humble and polite'."

"Xiao Yan, the 'Yan' of 'scorching heat'."

"Humble and polite?"

Hearing Yun Zimo introduce himself, Xiao Yan was stunned, then thought back to being thoroughly defeated by Yun Li in every aspect today. Never mind...

"Look at you, your talent is poor, and you don't read books. What will you do in the future? Just inherit these few dozen marketplaces in this small city?"

Yun Zimo suddenly froze. Oh, wait, I forgot the Xiao Clan is a small-time tycoon.

"Sigh, young people should set their sights on the distance and not be confined to a small family business. On the Dou Qi Continent, strength is supreme. If one day, while you're eating dinner and singing at home, a passing powerhouse casually wipes out your family with a wave of his hand, wouldn't that be a miserable life?"

Realizing he had said the wrong thing, Yun Zimo hurriedly corrected the topic.

Xiao Yan was listless, his aura of decadence startling Yun Zimo. Little fellow, don't let me break you!

However, Xiao Yan was Xiao Yan after all; in a short while, he was radiant again, his fighting spirit rekindled.

"My talent may not match yours, but I will practice a hundred, a thousand times harder! My knowledge may not match yours, but I will study diligently! I am only twelve; I have plenty of time ahead of me. One day, I will strike you down just as you did to me today!"

Xiao Yan's expression was arrogant, and an inexplicable confidence filled him with strength.

"Very well, then I shall wait for you. I hope you can maintain this attitude no matter what, until the day you surpass me."

Yun Zimo chuckled softly, withdrawing the soul power he had been using to probe the Bone Flame Ring.

It was clearly reacting yesterday... why is there no response now?

Yun Zimo sighed inwardly; it seemed yesterday had merely been the ring's instinctive self-defense. Thinking of this, he found the place rather dull.

"I will be waiting for you here again tomorrow."

Yun Zimo rose to leave the small bamboo grove, waving his hand as he vanished into the white mist.

"Hey!"

Xiao Yan wanted to call out to Yun Li, but saw that he had already disappeared into the fog. Behind him, a small path emerged from the mist, leading directly out of the bamboo grove.

The surroundings were desolate and empty. A tremor of fear ran through Xiao Yan, and he fled in a hurry, swearing to himself that he would never come here again.

Will I come back tomorrow?

Only a fool would come back here!

"Brother Xiao Yan!"

A young girl in green robes called out to the running Xiao Yan, looking puzzled as to why he wasn't in his room.

"Oh, Xun'er, what a coincidence!"

Xiao Yan stopped in his tracks to greet her.

This little girl's talent is also incredibly strong; she is actually a high-level Dou Grandmaster! Heh, is this... a self-imposed seal on her cultivation?

Xiao Yan felt as if he had heard a voice—something about a Dou Grandmaster—but when he listened closely, there was nothing there. He couldn't help but cast his gaze toward Xiao Xun'er.

Xun'er is a Dou Grandmaster?

Xiao Yan immediately scoffed, dismissing it as an auditory hallucination.

"Wasn't Brother Xiao Yan supposed to be in his room?"

Xun'er watched Xiao Yan walk into the small courtyard, muttering to herself...

"Yun Li! Yun Li!"

At the first light of dawn the next day, Xiao Yan still couldn't help but sneak out of his room, tiptoeing all the way to the bamboo grove to shout for Yun Zimo.

"Stop shouting, I'm right here..."

The white mist surged as Yun Zimo lay on a cloud bed, muttering. Xiao Yan, showing no restraint, threw himself onto the cloud bed as if he were an old friend; the softness of the bed made him let out a groan of comfort.

"You're quite at ease, aren't you?"

"Didn't you say you weren't coming back?"

Yun Zimo teased. Xiao Yan's face flushed red, not expecting that Yun Zimo had actually heard his grumbling from the day before.

"Alright, from today on, I will teach you alchemy theory and combat techniques. How much you learn depends on your own ability."

With a flash of the storage ring on his finger, a thick stack of scrolls and books piled up into a small mountain.

"A gift for you. Happy?"

Yun Zimo pointed at the pile of hand-copied classics with a warm and gentle expression, yet Xiao Yan felt a chill run from his head to his heels.

"I don't want to memorize any more books!!!"

Xiao Yan's miserable wail echoed through the bamboo grove, but there was only the rustling of bamboo leaves in response, as if sympathizing with the poor soul destined for rote memorization...