Like Sand Falling From the Hourglass, A Year Goes By
That day, Huo Long left the dukedom to return home. But he also did say that he would be back regularly.
The only reason he didn't lengthen his stay this time was because of Huo Siyan. He had promised only to be gone for a week, and even Huo Long himself was scared of what would happen if he didn't abide by his promise.
Now, Huo Long planned to go back and accompany the girl for some more time before eventually returning to the dukedom.
However, below it all, Huo Long wasn't exactly too sure how long it would take for him to return.
Huo Siyan was too clingy.
Huo Long also asked if he could bring the girl over to the dukedom. This way, not only could he stay longer, but also maybe Huo Siyan could get some friends.
She had already scared off every girl her age at the Huo Clan. And since many of the soldiers in the barracks were grown men with children of their own, maybe Huo Siyan could befriend one of them.
Huo Long thought that it was a brilliant plan that would hit three birds with one stone, but Xue Bai was vehemently against that idea.
In fact, every bone in his body screamed at him to deny it.
Not a single good thing would happen if Huo Siyan saw him. Let alone the fact of her seeing through his plan to get close to Huo Long, what if the girl saw through the problem with his soul?
What if she realized that he was just a body snatcher?
So many downsides with not a single upside other than Huo Long getting some more training time made Xue Bai want nothing to do with that girl. And so he sternly told Huo Long not to bring her over to the dukedom.
Huo Long was confused about why Xue Bai was so against seeing his cute little older sister, but since the Young Duke's words were law, he didn't disobey them.
And after a small goodbye, Huo Long returned home.
Following Huo Long's departure, nothing significant happened in Xue Bai's life for almost another year.
As per tradition in the Great Xuan Empire, noble heirs at the age of nine would undergo etiquette training to prepare for when they would succeed their parents.
Usually, heirs would go to a school in the Imperial Capital for it. However, Xue Bai was a Young Duke, so he asked his father to invite a teacher to the dukedom instead of going to the capital.
Though it was an odd request, as it would be hard to build connections without going to the Imperial Capital, Xue Feng assumed his son's shut-in nature was coming out again and agreed.
And Xue Feng was mostly right about his guess. The reason why Xue Bai didn't want to go to the Imperial Capital and associate with the nobles of the Great Xuan Empire was simple. He didn't like any of them.
Though his only knowledge of them was from the game, they were all horrible people from what he knew there. Every single heir was always plotting and backstabbing at every moment. And Xue Bai wanted nothing to do with that.
The only good nobles in the Great Xuan Empire were the third Duke clan, the Yan Clan, and Xue Feng's other two subordinate Marquis clans, the Li Clan and the Zhang Clan.
But all three of those clans were in odd situations.
The Young Duchess of the Yan Clan was Huo Long's future wife, and Xue Bai didn't want to get anywhere near her for fear she would fall in love with his looks.
As for the two clans under Xue Feng, they were in similar situations. The Zhang Clan were martial arts fanatics who idolized strength more than anything. And since their Young Marquis was already in the Dharma Idol realm, and Xue Bai was still not able to cultivate, it was extremely hard for Xue Bai to interact with them.
And the Li Clan didn't have a Young Marquis for Xue Bai to interact
Thankfully Xue Bai's father was a Duke, so noble heirs would still try and build connections with him even if he didn't leave his dukedom.
His etiquette teacher was a scholarly-looking middle-aged man that always walked around with an ink brush and paper as if ready to paint a masterpiece at any moment. He was also always dressed in Confucian robes, too, which made Xue Bai think.
'Did Earth get Confucianism from here or the other way around.' Xue Bai thought to himself once he noticed that.
However, without any solid leads, Xue Bai could only let the question sit rent-free in his head until he did find an answer.
On another note, while Xue Bai was studying tirelessly at home, Huo Long successfully awakened his low Black-grade Martial Veins, shocking the continent.
However, the continent was still in store for surprises. After the Emperor personally inspected them to make sure the claims were true, he discovered that besides being low Black-grade, Huo Long's Martial Veins also had a fire element affinity.
After hearing that, the other three forces all started offering olive branches to Huo Long, wanting to recruit him even if it meant angering the Great Xuan Empire.
And after a long bidding war, just like in the game, Huo Long chose Wushen Academy.
His choosing process was simple.
Since he didn't use a sword, Huo Long naturally crossed out the Soaring Sword Sect.
The Hundred Flowers Sect only accepted women and had only sent an invitation as a formality, and didn't want him, so Huo Long crossed them out as well.
And since the enemies of his clan were in the Great Xuan Empire, Huo Long didn't want to stay in it either. If he did, he would constantly be around enemies, and even the young Huo Long knew that was practically a death sentence.
So Wushen Academy was the only natural choice.
Xue Bai also visited the protagonist before he left for Wushen Academy and congratulated the boy for his successful awakening. Also, Xue Bai gave the protagonist a small gift of a middle Yellow-grade spear.
It was cheap in his mind, but for Huo Long, it meant having a strong and reliable weapon. Such a gift was heavy, and Huo Long was thankful.
After Huo Long left, Xue Bai's life descended into a peaceful time. However, he knew that this calm period was going to be rare in the future, so Xue Bai enjoyed it as much as he could.
The days for Xue Bai were passed in this calm manner until the day of providence approached.
Today was the 2nd anniversary of his transmigration, and now, not only was it just a few months away from Xue Bai's 10th birthday, but the Celestial Void Fruit only needed a week until it would ripen.
Throughout his two years on the Baishen Plane, with his authority as a Young Duke, Xue Bai had long evacuated the town near where the fruit would ripen. Xue Bai had staked his entire future on the natural treasure, and he didn't even want a single thing nearby that could mess it up.
Xue Bai also planned to pick the fruit himself.
Though he wasn't exactly sure how fate worked, he guessed that he should be the only one able to pick the fruit without any repercussions. Moreover, since none of the Children of the Plane had awakened yet, he should currently have the highest fate value in this world.
However, Xue Bai still had a problem, how would he let his father allow him to go to where the fruit was?
The Celestial Void Fruit was even further away from the dukedom than Frontier City, and convincing his mother to let him go there was enough of a headache.
But this matter was as important as his life, so Xue Bai mustered up his courage and went to his father's office, resolved never to leave until Xue Feng said yes.
–
"That little quarantine in the sticks you made me order? If you want to go, you can just make sure to bring the Wang twins with you." Xue Feng responded calmly without even looking up from his desk.
Xue Bai was stunned. He had prepared almost twenty minutes' worth of counterarguments, and his dad said yes on the first attempt.
"Father, you're not even going to think about it? You haven't even looked up from your paperwork." Xue Ba couldn't help but ask.
Raising his head, Xue Feng replied, "Don't you want to go? Why are you asking me to reconsider?"
Xue Bai quickly covered his mouth and smacked his forehead.
'Idiot, you got what you wanted. Just go'
"Thank you, Father!" Xue Bai yelled before he ran out of the office.
After Xue Bai left, his father also got up and left the office and made his way to Li Rou's courtyard.
"Rou'er, did you hear our conversation." Entering the courtyard, Xue Feng asked.
"Yes, I heard it. It's about the second entry in Bai'ers journal." Li Rou answered.
"Do you think that there is actually a low Heaven-grade natural treasure there, Rou'er?"
"That Huo Long, Bai'er wrote about did instantly become a rising star in our continent. So most likely, it's true." Li Rou said calmly.
Xue Feng nodded at that, but there was still something he was confused about.
"But there is one thing that confuses me. The second entry was a natural treasure of the legendary Heaven-grade. So why would Huo Long, a kid with only a low Black-grade Martial Vein, be written above it?" Xue Feng couldn't help but ask.
However, Li Rou only shrugged her shoulders at that question. The only reason they knew about these two things was because of their snooping. And even then, they didn't know the ins and outs, only names leaving them halfway in the dark.
"Well, enough of guessing which one of us is going to follow him." Xue Feng asked.
"I'll go. You have to watch over the dukedom. If you leave, people will notice." Li Rou offered as she stood up from the dirt patch she was crouched in.
Xue Feng nodded at this. He also agreed with his wife's decision. However, out of worry, he still reminded her of something.
"Don't let him know you're there. It would be best if Bai'er told us himself about his memories. If he found us to be stalking him, it would destroy his trust in us." Xue Feng said as he watched Li Rou disappear from her position.
Still unaware of his parent's suspicions of him, Xue Bai had already barged into the twins' courtyard and ordered them to follow him to the outskirts of the Empire.
"Young Duke, why must we go so far away?" Big Wang couldn't help but ask.
Every time the Young Duke forced them to leave, it was also so far away.
Couldn't he just want to go to the Imperial Capital? Why must it always be the border cities?
"Yes, Young Duke, we are getting closer to the Law Manifestation realm every day. Taking us away will only delay us." Little Wang seconded.
"I have spoken, and you both will follow me. We are leaving in the hour. Ready your things." However, Xue Bai ignored their pleas and ordered.
Seeing they couldn't escape their fate, the twins got up from their meditation mats and walked out of the courtyard. Everything of use to them was already in their spatial rings.
"Young Master, how are we going to get there?" After leaving the estate, Little Wang asked.
"Go get your mount. Father gave me permission to leave, so it's fine for you to bring her out." Xue Bai answered.
Nodding, Big Wang went to get his Bear Griffin from the enclosure.
Quickly returning, the group of three flew off toward the outskirts of the Empire.
'The first step of my ascension is almost complete!'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Every little thing helps - https://ko-fi.com/slarbi123.
There is now a discord for this novel. However, be warned. It is rather bare bones. I suck at Discord. The link is in the synopsis.
Also, if you like this novel, you can check out my others!