"Begin the competition?"
The tiny words glowed faintly, hanging motionless in the air.
Xu Yuan said nothing. He lowered his head and looked at the Three Realms Demon-Suppressing Bow.
Something was strange.
The bow's surface was smooth as a mirror. There were no Runes, not even a trace of wood grain.
It hadn't looked like this before.
Clearly—
The bow had been covered in Runes that gathered immense power. He had always assumed they were inscribed to make its arrows more powerful. But after the Demon-Suppressing Heavenly Venerable's final words flashed and vanished, nothing remained on the bow.
It was clean.
As clean as a notorious bandit who had pulled off a job, wiped away every trace, and fled.
Absolute silence fell all around him.
It was as if the world had lost power.
Even the roiling black mist had stopped moving. Like a frame from a horror film frozen by a pause button, it hung in midair, gazing at Xu Yuan. It was as though the entire universe held its breath, waiting for his next move.
One breath.
Two breaths.
Xu Yuan forced two words from his dry throat:
"Begin the competition."
Boundless black mist erupted from the Void, filling the entire Department Store.
Xu Yuan vanished.
Beyond Internet Cafe.
This was the "luxury" internet cafe in the alley across from No. 7 Middle School.
It was also where teachers often came to catch students.
But today was Labor Day.
School was out.
Everyone could play a few rounds to their heart's content without worrying about a thing.
Xu Yuan sat there, staring blankly at the word "Victory" on the Computer screen.
...He was back.
And not at the moment his plane crashed.
Right now—
He was more than a decade in the past, back in High School.
When