Refusal

"Little brother, don't hold back. Let your big sister see what you're really capable of."

Xia Youyu smiled sweetly, no longer holding back. Radiance spread across her body as countless runes appeared, and a powerful aura erupted from within her slender frame, which held a terrifying strength.

"All right. But be careful, big sister."

Su Ye replied with a smile. He wasn't the least bit intimidated by Xia Youyu's powerful aura. If anything, he was eager to test himself.

He had just broken through to the pinnacle of the Blood-Moving Realm and needed a powerful opponent to temper himself. Xia Youyu was just the right person.

Runes swirled around Su Ye. Behind him, countless runes gathered and blazed with light, seeming to contain a vast world. Within it stood a towering figure, like a Heavenly Deity.

A terrifying divine light shone from the Heavenly Deity's eyes. In an instant, dreadful tempests swept across the world. Heaven and earth churned and roared as endless divine radiance poured down from the boundless void.

"What is that?"

The onlookers from the Heaven Mending Pavilion were all stunned. Was that really a Treasure Art a boy could perform? Was he truly just a boy, and not a god disguising himself as a child?

"Something's not right. The scene is terrifying, and the aura is overwhelming, but something feels off. As if something is missing."

The old woman from the Heaven Mending Pavilion furrowed her brow and looked at the Heavenly Deity's phantom above Su Ye. Runes shimmered in her eyes, letting her see through illusions.

This was... an illusion?

Understanding dawned on the old woman, and a smile appeared on her face. She hadn't expected this little fellow to have mastered illusions. What a surprise.

Illusions were rare, and this kind of Treasure Art was difficult to master. To control illusions, one needed great Mental Power, and Mental Power was hard to cultivate.

Xia Youyu had noticed it too. If a god had truly descended, she would have been suppressed on the spot, not left standing there.

Su Ye saw that Xia Youyu had realized he was using an illusion, but he didn't mind. He'd never expected a little trick like that to frighten her.

Whoosh.

Su Ye vanished from where he stood and charged at Xia Youyu. He looked like a God of War surging into battle, while rolling thunder roared across the sky.

"Break!"

Xia Youyu gave a soft cry. Powerful energy burst from within her, dispelling all illusions, while countless runes spread outward and formed a world of runes.

She wasn't using the runes to resist the illusion. She was searching for Su Ye's true location. Since he had mastered illusions, the figure she saw before her might well be a fake.

Hum.

Runes lit up to Xia Youyu's left, sending ripples through the void. A figure slowly materialized—Su Ye.

His young face wore a wry smile. It seemed that a little trick like this was no match for a seasoned fighter.

If Treasure Arts wouldn't work, he'd just have to fight hand to hand.

A sharp glint flashed in Su Ye's eyes as he charged at Xia Youyu. His blood surged within him, rumbling like thunder and roaring like a great river, while the earth trembled beneath him.

As Xia Youyu watched Su Ye rush toward her, she felt that he wasn't a boy at all, but a Fierce Beast in human form. His terrifying, intangible aura made even her Divine Soul tremble.

But she was a seasoned fighter. She quickly steadied herself, and runes appeared in her hand. With a wave, vines burst from the ground and raced toward Su Ye, trying to bind him.

Boom.

Su Ye didn't slow down. He simply plowed straight through. The tough vines were fragile before his powerful body, and he tore them to pieces.

Xia Youyu hadn't expected him to be so ferocious. She hadn't even used her full strength, but those vines were still so tough that blades and spears couldn't cut them. Yet now they were being ripped apart like ordinary plants.

Hum.

Golden runes appeared in Xia Youyu's hand, and the vines turned gold.

Crack.

But this time, the vines didn't stop Su Ye. A sharp blade of wind sliced right through the tough golden vines.

Rrrip.

The blade of wind struck Xia Youyu's dress, making a faint tearing sound as a rip appeared in the fabric.

Xia Youyu looked down at the tear in her dress, her expression shocked. Not only had he broken through her Treasure Art, he had damaged her treasured garment too.

The dress she wore wasn't ordinary. It was a treasured garment made from fine Heavenly Silkworm silk, impervious to water and fire and engraved with intricate runes. Blades and weapons couldn't harm it.

And now a blade of wind had pierced its defenses.

Had they... cut corners when making it?

Just then, Su Ye moved like the wind and appeared behind Xia Youyu. He seized her pale arm and pulled it back, then jabbed a finger at her fair neck.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. From the moment Xia Youyu noticed the tear in her dress and her focus wavered, Su Ye had completed every move.

The many experts from the Heaven Mending Pavilion, including the old woman, stared at Su Ye in shock. They hadn't expected Xia Youyu to lose.

This wasn't a real fight to the death, and they had suppressed their cultivation. But who was Xia Youyu?

She was the Heaven Mending Pavilion's most outstanding young prodigy, powerful enough to rival the elders. And yet she had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of a child.

The Old Patriarch remained calm and showed little surprise. In fact, he felt that Su Ye had held back. Otherwise, he could have easily subdued the little girl in the very first exchange.

"Hmph, Su Ye, she was just playing around with you. How can you sneak-attack her? Let go already."

The Old Patriarch scolded him, then added with a smile, "He's just a child. He doesn't understand when someone's going easy on him. Please don't take offense."

"It's all right," the old woman replied. She looked at Su Ye, her eyes glimmering. "For one so young to have reached this level is extraordinary. He's sure to become a great figure who will shake the lands one day."

Their group had been traveling through the Great Wilderness, visiting various tribes in search of talented young prodigies. Su Ye was by far the most powerful one they had met so far.

"Little brother, you're remarkable."

Xia Youyu exclaimed in admiration, rubbing the arm he had grabbed. Her gaze brimmed with curiosity as she looked at Su Ye.

When he had seized her just now, his strength had been so overwhelming that she couldn't move even a little. This harmless-looking boy had a terrifying body.

She was the greatest prodigy of her generation in the Heaven Mending Pavilion. Though she hadn't reached the pinnacle of the Blood-Moving Realm, she had still attained a strength of eighty or ninety thousand jin—enough to rival a Primordial Remnant. Yet she had been unable to break free from his grip.

His body...

A hundred thousand jin.

At the thought, Xia Youyu's gaze burned even brighter. She couldn't let someone like him slip away. A flash of light appeared in her hand, revealing an object that looked neither gold nor stone. Intricate patterns were carved across it. Smiling, she said, "I'm Xia Youyu, a disciple of the Heaven Mending Pavilion. Take this. With this Talisman Token, you can enter the Heaven Mending Pavilion and receive the best guidance and powerful Treasure Arts."

Su Ye didn't take it. He looked at the Talisman Token in Xia Youyu's hand, and intricate patterns appeared in his eyes. A scene was reflected in his pupils: in a wilderness, Xia Youyu and her group came upon a filthy little figure.

Seeing that Su Ye hadn't taken the token, Xia Youyu asked in confusion, "You don't want to join our Heaven Mending Pavilion?"

"No."

Su Ye shook his head and asked, "That should be the last Talisman Token you have, big sister You Yu, right?"

"Yes." Xia Youyu nodded. Then, as if a thought had struck her, she said, "Are you hoping to get a few more tokens? A Talisman Token isn't the only way to join the Heaven Mending Pavilion. We hold an entrance examination every year. Anyone who passes can join. The token simply lets you skip the examination."

"No."

Su Ye shook his head again. "This Talisman Token and I aren't fated to meet. If you keep following the path you were already on, big sister You Yu, you'll meet an extraordinary boy. This token is meant for him."

As a transmigrator, how could he not have something special?

He had no system and no old master living inside him, but he had been born with a Heavenly Eye. It wasn't a Double Pupil, nor Fiery Golden Eyes—it was the Samsara Eye, which let him peer into Destiny and Karma.

Simply put, he could use Destiny and Karma to trace the past and glimpse the future.

Of course, those were only the abilities of the Samsara Eye he knew of so far. He didn't know whether it had other powers. After all, he was still too weak to truly draw out the Samsara Eye's full strength.

Just now, Su Ye had used the Samsara Eye to see that the token carried a significant Karma. Through that Karma, he had glimpsed the future. If he took the token now, he would inevitably become entangled with the Bear Child.

He wasn't afraid of that, but if the Bear Child consequently never joined the Heaven Mending Pavilion, wouldn't his own life there become terribly boring?

Besides, if Destiny were thrown off course, wouldn't he, a transmigrator, lose his one advantage—the ability to know the future?

Destiny couldn't be broken.

At least, the Destiny of today could not be changed.