The road lay silent, empty as if the world itself were holding its breath.
A beam of light suddenly tore through the air, descending from the heavens like a falling star. When the radiance faded, a young man stood at its centre.
Ye Xiu.
He lowered his gaze and looked at his own hands, then slowly lifted his head to take in his surroundings. Familiar streets. Familiar air. Even the faint scent of dust carried memories that struck his soul.
"I'm… back."
His vision blurred. Tears welled up, threatening to spill, but he clenched his fists and forced himself to calm down. After thousands of years drifting through worlds, after endless bloodshed and loneliness, he had finally returned to where it all began.
His home.
Without another thought, Ye Xiu turned and sprinted down the road, his figure disappearing into the quiet night.
Inside a modest house, within a dimly lit room, a young woman suddenly jolted awake.
She sat upright on the bed, breathing unevenly, her eyes scanning the room with sharp alertness.
"This… was that a dream?"
Her brows furrowed as she sensed her body. There was no spiritual energy flowing through her meridians, no cultivation base, no immortal aura. She was painfully mortal.
Yet the surroundings were unmistakably real.
"This isn't an illusion…"
The woman was Wu Shuang.
She was Ye Xiu's aunt in name and his childhood companion in truth. Ever since she was young, she had suffered from a cold physique illness, forcing her to live with Ye Xiu's parents so they could treat her condition.
Wu Shuang fell silent, memories surging like a tide she could not stop.
In her previous life, Ye Xiu had suddenly disappeared without a trace. The very next day, the hospital had called with devastating news. Ye Xuan needed emergency treatment, and the outstanding medical bills had to be paid immediately.
Desperate, Wu Shuang had gone to the Ye family for help.
She remembered standing outside their gates all night, cold rain soaking her clothes, her body trembling as her illness worsened. Yet the doors never opened. No one came out.
That night, she died.
And after death, she had awakened in an immortal cultivation world.
Wu Shuang was still lost in her thoughts when the door suddenly opened.
Before she could react, a familiar figure rushed in and pulled her into a tight embrace.
Ye Xiu.
Her eyes widened in shock. Her face flushed crimson as she stiffened in his arms.
"Wh… what are you doing?!" she stammered.
Ye Xiu did not answer immediately. His arms tightened slightly, as if afraid she might vanish.
"Nothing," he said softly. "I just… missed you. It feels like thousands of years have passed."
Wu Shuang blinked, confused. "Didn't we see each other this morning?"
Ye Xiu froze.
Silence filled the room. No words were spoken, yet the sound of two heartbeats echoed clearly in the stillness.
To the world, they had only been apart for a short while.
But to their souls, it had been a journey spanning millennium.
Ye Xiu finally stepped back, regaining his composure.
"Let's go to the hospital tomorrow," he said suddenly. "To see Xuan'er. I have a way to treat her."
Wu Shuang's expression changed. "I also have a method," she replied. "But it will take time."
She studied him closely, her eyes narrowing slightly. "And… don't you want to explain? You're very different today. Are you alright?"
Ye Xiu laughed awkwardly and took a step back. "Haha… I'm fine. Really."
She cut him off. "What about the hospital bills?"
"Don't worry," Ye Xiu said. "I'll get the money."
Wu Shuang frowned. "From your family?"
"No," he replied firmly. "I have another way."
She looked at him sceptically. "What other way does an exiled young master have, besides begging?"
Ye Xiu said nothing.
Once, he had been the young master of the ancient Ye family. But he and his parents had long since been exiled. Though his parents were renowned doctors working at one of Shenxing City's greatest hospitals, that status meant little before the cold indifference of the Ye clan.
Wu Shuang fell silent once more.
In her previous life, she had climbed the path of cultivation step by step, enduring countless hardships. In the end, she had reached the peak, standing on the threshold of the Immortal Emperor Realm.
But during her tribulation, heavenly lightning had descended without mercy.
She failed.
And she died again.
A familiar voice pulled her back to the present.
"What's wrong?" Ye Xiu asked, looking at her with concern. "Why do you look so down? You're acting strange today too."
She startled. "Wh… what's strange?"
Ye Xiu grinned. "You gained weight. It feels… unusual."
"Ye Xiu!" she shouted.
He laughed loudly and dashed out of the room. "Wait for me. I'm going to make money!"
"You—!" Wu Shuang could only watch his retreating figure, her words swallowed by the air.
She sighed softly. "He's always been like this…"
Yet, for the first time in a long while, she felt peaceful.
Wu Shuang sat cross-legged on the bed, her expression turning resolute.
"This time," she murmured, "I'll protect Ye Xiu."
She closed her eyes and assumed a cultivation posture.
At her neck, a pendant identical to Ye Xiu's lay quietly against her skin. Unlike before, its surface had turned completely white, faintly glowing in the darkness.
As if responding to a destiny that had already begun to move.
Ye Xiu stepped outside and closed the door behind him quietly.
In his hand was a simple piece of firewood taken from the backyard. He weighed it lightly, his gaze calm but deep.
"So that's it…" he murmured.
"I never realized Wu Shuang possessed a Supreme Yin Body."
Her lifelong cold physique illness was not a curse.
It was suppression.
If he acted rashly, her body would collapse under its own dormant potential. That alone was reason enough for him to move carefully and quickly.
Ye Xiu exhaled softly.
A thread of power flowed from his fingertips, refined to the absolute minimum. There was no explosion of energy, no distortion of space. The wood trembled, its internal structure rearranging under precise control.
Crack.
The firewood reshaped itself, lengthening, compressing, impurities burned away. When Ye Xiu withdrew his hand, a simple spiritual sword rested in his palm.
Its aura was clean, restrained, and steady.
"Peak-grade Spiritual Sword," he said calmly.
"Enough."
The Xian Auction House stood at the heart of Shenxing City, its towering structure surrounded by cultivators, martial artists, and representatives of great families. Today was a major trading day.
Ye Xiu approached.
Before entering, he tapped his forehead lightly.
A subtle technique activated.
This was not a mind control.
It was Perception Veiling.
To ordinary people, his appearance would blur into something unremarkable. They would remember speaking to someone, but not who. The effect would fade within hours. Then no one knows my identity.
He stepped inside.