Past Events

Xiao Yan naturally could not hear the old man's words. Helpless, he thought, I only delayed for half a minute. Was there really any need for him to be so ruthless? Staying a little longer wouldn't kill anyone.

"Since that's the case, I'll make a trip to the Battle Skill Pavilion." Xiao Yan had always been troubled by his battle skills. They were practically useless against others. If not for Heavenly Fire, he would hardly have had the strength to fight someone who possessed an Emperor-Tier Battle Skill.

"Hmph, Xiao Yan, have you been deliberately avoiding me? I've been looking for you all morning." Xiao Yuting's gritted-teeth voice rang out, as though she wished she could use him as a test subject for poison.

No, Cousin Xiao Yu was rather gentle. This woman was the true witch who devoured people without even spitting out their bones. Recalling how Xiao Yuting had stepped on him without the slightest hesitation, Xiao Yan thought to himself.

"Good morning, Miss Yuting. Um, I'm hungry, so I'm going to find something to eat." Xiao Yan smiled at Xiao Yuting, though his smile was somewhat helpless.

"All you know is how to eat. As expected, you're not as good as..." Xiao Yuting ultimately did not finish her sentence. She stepped forward, took Xiao Yan's hand, and said, "Come with me."

Xiao Yan awkwardly glanced at Xiao Yuting's hand holding his. After hesitating for a moment, he still followed her. He was rather curious about what Xiao Yuting intended to do.

Xiao Yuting led Xiao Yan through building after building before finally taking him up a short structure. Only then did she release Xiao Yan's hand and say, "This building is inconspicuous among the Xiao Clan's branch compounds, but it is the only place where you can see the sunset."

Xiao Yuting sat down, wrapped her arms around her knees, and buried her head between them without saying another word.

It was not yet noon, and the sunlight on his body felt indescribably comfortable. Xiao Yan suppressed his desire for battle skills and quietly stayed by Xiao Yuting's side.

During his year in the Battle Qi Continent, he had liked nothing more than quietly keeping Xun'er company. After coming to World-Creation Continent, he missed those days even more.

"My sister and I both came from Heavenly Spirit Continent, but we were half-sisters. She was born to the principal wife, while I was born to a concubine. She was fifteen years older than me. From the time I first became aware of things, she had been the clan's favored daughter. Everyone in the clan loved her, and she had walked her path of cultivation step by step on her own."

"The clan provided her with medicinal pills, battle skills, and even found her a good marriage match, yet she turned it down. She only wanted to carve out a path that belonged to herself."

"When I was ten, my mother died from poison, and I became someone everyone in the clan could bully. Even if Father wanted to intervene, he could not. After bullying me, they would run off, and he could not catch them. In the end, Father stopped caring too. My talent was not very good anyway. As long as they did not kill me, he could not be bothered to show himself. He had countless sons and daughters, so he would not care about just one of them."

"That evening, I was bullied by a group of children again. No one helped me. I merely gritted my teeth and buried all that humiliation in my heart, along with a seed of hatred. I hated them, and I hated that cold, selfish clan even more."

"But I did not realize that she had been standing nearby, witnessing everything that had happened to me."

"Only after everyone had left did she come to my side and help the badly injured me up. She did not treat my wounds. Instead, she brought me to the top of a mountain and had me lie in her arms as we watched the sunset together."

Past Events

"That sunset was incredibly beautiful. Where sea and sky met, a half-sunken sun hung lazily above the horizon, drifting and swaying with the rolling waves, rising and falling with the tide. It seemed as though all beauty had paused in that changing instant. Although my wounds hurt terribly, I slept very comfortably that night."

Tears began to glimmer in Xiao Yuting's eyes. Even when speaking of the bullying she had endured, when she had been filled with grievance, she had not cried. Yet now, she could not stop herself from wanting to weep.

Xiao Yan naturally understood that feeling. During those three years when he had been a useless waste, he had suffered no less bullying than Xiao Yuting. However, he had his father's protection and Xun'er's companionship. At least amid misfortune, he had been fortunate.

"After that day, she began systematically teaching me methods of cultivating battle qi. At the same time, she gave me several battle skills for me to choose from. My talent was not particularly good, but my hatred for the clan made me unable to resist becoming stronger. So I began cultivating every battle skill she gave me. I worked harder than anyone else, but my results were not very good."

"With my sister protecting me, I naturally suffered much less bullying. But my sister's own cultivation was hindered as well. She feared that I would be bullied again if she entered seclusion, so she only cultivated during scattered bits of time. As a result, her progress slowed."

"My sister's slow progress naturally drew the clan's dissatisfaction. They gave her thirty years to cultivate. If she did not reach the Dou Emperor realm within thirty years, she would have to cultivate according to the method the clan provided. After all, the other clan descendants had all reached the Dou Emperor realm, while the person the clan valued most had not made the slightest progress. That was an insult to the clan."

Under the clan's pressure, my sister had no choice but to enter seclusion. However, she instructed several people to look after me.

"After my sister entered seclusion, I was probably thirteen that year. I began to grow cold and distant, ignoring everyone. Cultivation became the only thing in my life. I buried all the bullying they had inflicted on me in my heart. Those humiliations became my motivation to cultivate."

"When I was fifteen, I became a Dou Wang. My sister, at thirty, became a Dou Emperor just as the clan demanded. I had waited two years for that day. After becoming a Dou Emperor, my sister was even more beautiful and captivating. That day, she took me to watch the sunset for the second time. As the sun set in the west, everything was still so peaceful and beautiful."

"A year later, my sister was about to leave Heavenly Spirit Continent. Because of that, I chose someone stronger than me who had once bullied me and challenged him to a duel. In the end, I was beaten badly. Dragging my injured body, I went to see my sister off."

"My sister hugged me and told me, 'When you feel pain and loss, go watch the sunset. Once the sunset is over and you wake up, it will be a brand-new, beautiful day. And do not be so silent. No boy will like a mute. In World-Creation Continent, your sister will protect you. I'll shield you from wind and rain.'" Xiao Yuting's eyes were filled with tears.

In Heavenly Spirit Continent, Xiao Wanqing had made a promise to Xiao Yuting. Yet many years later, an accident caused Xiao Wanqing's status as the clan's favored daughter to lose its luster.