Eastsea Academy

As time passed, second by second, a boy appeared out of thin air atop the ruins of the cave.

He gazed silently into the distance, a trace of thought flashing through his eyes.

Then he raised a hand, and pale power gathered steadily in his palm.

This power was called Fantasy. It did not belong to this world; it was a trump card unique to Li Qingxun.

As Fantasy swirled around his palm, a figure slowly took shape.

It was a figure who had never existed in this era—or rather, who should never have existed in this world at all.

He was a young man, not much older than a teenager.

He stood around five feet seven, with black hair tied in a small tuft atop his head. Three long, thin strands stuck out from its tip.

He wore a white hoodie, black shorts, and white sneakers. Feeling the bitter cold around him, he silently rubbed his legs.

Then he looked curiously at the boy before him.

But as his memories merged, the young man seemed to freeze for a moment. Helplessness flashed through his eyes.

"I'm your clone? No way. How did I end up a clone?"

"You created me, so tell me—sigh, what do you want me to do?"

Helplessness lingered in the young man's eyes. Seeing his expression, Li Qingxun raised a hand.

Fantasy gathered in his palm once more, but this time his face began to turn pale.

As an illusory purple blade formed in his palm, he slammed it into the young man's body.

Their powers fused. The young man raised a hand, and four Soul Rings appeared around him: two yellow and two purple.

He stared at the blade in his hand, now completely fused with his body, and at his Soul Rings. Shock flashed through his eyes.

But he soon calmed down.

"I'm going to Eastsea City. Stay here in the north for now. Find the Tang Sect's and Spirit Pagoda's branches for me, and start robbing the weaker ones."

"I need a great deal of resources for my cultivation," Li Qingxun said, fatigue showing on his face.

Hearing this, the young man—or rather, Wu Liuqi—nodded.

"All right, but can I earn money for you by cutting hair instead? Robbery's pretty likely to cause trouble."

As Wu Liuqi spoke, he rubbed his head, looking a little embarrassed.

If he could use his main form, he could rob anyone he pleased. The problem was that he was stuck with his weaker form, which left him rather helpless.

Li Qingxun's expression remained as calm as ever. "Go. You have two souls in one body. When you can't win, your main form will come out on its own."

"You can leave now. Don't disturb me. I need to rest for a while before I go."

Li Qingxun sighed and sat cross-legged on the snow and ice.

Behind him, an illusory white dragon of terrifying might took shape.

The dragon was pure white from head to tail, yet its body was covered in a layer of strange symbols.

Its eyes were pale gold, and it, too, stared at Wu Liuqi.

Feeling the pressure in the white dragon's gaze, Wu Liuqi blinked.

Then he abruptly leaped backward and quickly vanished into the distance.

Watching Wu Liuqi disappear, Li Qingxun drew a soft breath.

As Soul Power gathered around him, the exhaustion in his body rapidly faded.

Feeling his condition steadily improve, Li Qingxun stood up.

His figure vanished into the wind and snow as he headed straight into the distance.

This era was very different from the one Li Qingxun had lived in before.

The greatest differences lay in how people traveled and lived their everyday lives.

This era was more prosperous and more complicated than the world he had known before crossing over. Of course, it was also harder to survive in.

Fortunately, he wielded the power of Fantasy, which could twist others' perceptions and alter their paths.

That was how he had rewritten other people's memories and obtained an identity card of his own.

At Eastsea City Station, a conductor eyed Li Qingxun warily and frowned. "You're too young. Children your age aren't allowed to travel alone, even if they're Soul Masters."

The conductor sighed. In the end, looking at the child of barely ten before him, he said nothing more.

Li Qingxun felt rather helpless himself. He did not even know what to say.

He could hardly tell the conductor that he had existed for more than ten thousand years.

So he merely smiled awkwardly. After leaving the station, he checked the map on his phone.

Then he took a taxi straight to Eastsea Academy.

That was one convenient thing about this era: a taxi could get him to his destination quickly.

When he got out, his eyes flickered at the words "Eastsea Academy" on the sign.

Then he walked into Eastsea Academy.

In the dean's office, Long Hengxu carefully studied the boy before him.

At the sight of the human-shaped Martial Soul behind him, surprise appeared in Long Hengxu's eyes.

That surprise turned to shock, then disbelief.

"You're saying you want to study at our academy? But your household registration isn't from around here. It's from a city in the north."

"And that Martial Soul of yours looks like the Heavenly Snow Woman. I've only heard of it. I've never seen anyone possess it."

As Long Hengxu spoke, his expression grew grave.

After all, this was the Heavenly Snow Woman Martial Soul, widely recognized as a supreme Martial Soul.

As dean, he naturally knew something about all kinds of Martial Souls, even if his knowledge was not particularly deep.

And hearing that a genius with this Martial Soul wanted to join their academy, Long Hengxu was naturally excited.

Li Qingxun merely nodded. He had a reason for coming here.

He had only just awakened. Though the Fantasy Dragon's revival had given him enough strength to defend himself to a degree,

he would still certainly die if he encountered certain powerful Soul Masters, especially powerful Evil Soul Masters.

Under these circumstances, Li Qingxun needed a way to protect himself.

And what could be safer than staying close to the protagonist?

After all, Tang Wulin was still this world's child of destiny, and his grandfather was Tang Hao.

Tang Hao might pay attention to any place in this world.

Even while he slept, his consciousness as the master of the world might turn to other places.

But Tang Wulin's whereabouts were the one thing he would not watch too closely.

And with Tang San's consciousness present, many things would become much simpler.

Under these circumstances, hiding behind the child of destiny was undoubtedly the safest choice.

While Li Qingxun was thinking, Long Hengxu made a call.

The phone rang, and a cool male voice came from the other end.

After a brief exchange, the call ended.

Less than five minutes later, the door opened again, and a tall young man with handsome, cold features walked in.

His gaze swept across the room before settling on Li Qingxun and the Heavenly Snow Woman Martial Soul floating behind him.