The sun was sinking into a blood-red horizon, and the silence between the mountains was broken only by the stench of death and the cawing of crows circling over the corpses.
Nearly twenty Immortals surrounded a single man. In their eyes, there was no longer just hatred, but a deep, irrepressible dread.
"Is this all you have, 'Immortals'?" the lone demon asked.
His voice was as cold as ice and terrifyingly calm. Even though his chest was pierced and blood flowed without ceasing, he stood there as if he weren't the one wounded, but an apex predator choosing his next prey.
"Cursed demon!" one of the Immortals screamed, his hands visibly trembling. "You slaughtered entire clans and spilled the blood of thousands! You won't leave this place alive!"
The demon smiled faintly. The expression was ghastly against the bloodstains on his face. "A demon...? I saved so many from catastrophe, yet in your eyes, I am a demon?"
He tilted his head back. The dying sunlight hit his strangely colored hair—shimmering like a chaotic fusion of fire, ice, and blood.
"Lies! You saved no one!" another Immortal roared. "Attack! His life force is fading, kill him now!"
The demon looked inward.
"If I had one more life... I would tell her everything. I'd tell her this world is just a story. But I have no second chances..."
Suddenly, a deafening explosion shook the horizon. The mountains trembled. The demon's eyes widened for a fraction of a second.
"Damn it... did that foolish brat really come back to save me? At the cost of his own grand plans?"
Spirit Affinity House
A strange celebration was taking place in the sect today. The most famous figure in the Central Continent, Feng Jiu Ge, had become a father for the second time.
The age gap between his two children was barely a year.
Dressed in his signature white robes, Feng Jiu Ge stood before the Elders with a rare, proud smile. Looking at the infant in the crib, he spoke:
"His name shall be Feng Wei Ran."
Eighteen months later.
Feng Wei Ran lay in his luxurious room, staring at the ceiling.
"It's confirmed. This is the world of Gu. And I've been born at the very heart of it, in the Feng clan."
He observed his surroundings. To an eighteen-month-old, the world was small, but his mind contained a library of future events.
"I need to be patient. Acting too soon will only raise suspicion."
The maidservants whispered in the corner. Wei Ran looked at his small hands.
His skin was unnaturally pale, almost translucent.
"Strange... it's as if there's no blood in this body, yet I feel more powerful than I should."
He glanced at the mark on his wrist—a blood-red circle divided into three segments. It gave off an aura of profound strangeness.
"Feng Jin Huang is one year older than me. If Fang Yuan has already undergone rebirth, we will inevitably meet at the Hu Immortal Inheritance."
A cold expression settled on his face. "If he hasn't been reborn... that's a tragedy. A Fang Yuan without his past is just an ordinary man."
As time passed, the name Feng Wei Ran became a legend across the Central Continent. In teahouses and streets, people spoke of nothing else:
"Did you hear? At two, he wasn't just speaking; he was reading complex Gu-ciphers!"
"That's nothing! He played a strategic match against a sect elder and checkmated a Rank 4 Gu Master!"
"Have you seen his eyes? They aren't the eyes of a child. It's like a century-old sage is trapped in that small body. They look like a starlit sky."
Feng Wei Ran, standing in the training grounds, was displeased by the fame.
"Damn it... I've become too well-known. This 'Butterfly Effect' shouldn't interfere with Fang Yuan's fate. If I cause a storm here, his path might deviate."
Six years later.
The sound of the door creaking open interrupted his thoughts.
Feng Jin Huang, the genius of the sect, stepped inside. Her eyes were clouded with sadness.
"Brother, why are you pushing yourself so hard? You shouldn't train until your eyes are bloodshot."
"I cannot rely on luck in this world. I am not as talented as Fang Yuan, so I must work ten times harder,"
Wei Ran thought coldly.
Jin Huang spoke again, her voice soft. "Is this all because I accidentally awakened the Dream Wings?"
Wei Ran's irritation flared. "Do not concern yourself with me, young lady. I despise fools, but I hate those who flaunt their talent even more." He raised his voice. "Now, leave me in peace."
Jin Huang had been hurt by her brother's coldness since they were children. He never called her 'Sister', and he addressed their parents only as 'Madam' and 'Sir'. Most attributed this to his eccentric discipline, but Jin Huang only wished for him to call her 'Sister' just once.
Time flowed like a river. Today was finally the day of the Awakening Ceremony.
"The three-segmented circle on my wrist has changed over the last seven years," Wei Ran mused. "Today, it's no longer three. It has become a blood-red circle split perfectly into two."
"I never saw such a thing in the original story... No matter. It's time for the ceremony."
The Awakening Ceremony
"Damn it... my head and hand are throbbing. What is happening to the mark?"