 Every man dies.
 Those were the wise words that were once told to him by one of his elders when he was younger. It was a lesson that he had to learn countless times throughout the trying years beyond the walls of Glory City. The pain, the anguish and the non-stop hunts to survive subtly taught him that every day of his long life. Yet it was until he was fighting the Sage Emperor and was surrounded by the emperor's six powerful deity beasts that the lesson finally sunk into Nie Li's thick skull.
 Despite all the training he had done, the power he had accumulated, none of it was enough to defeat a single deity beast, let alone six. The stand Nie Li was taking with the Emperor was indeed his last. He didn't even remember the killing blow, whether it was one of the beasts or the emperor that delivered it, but it all went dark. Like someone had blown out a candle just as the sun was going down and things had gone deafly silent as well. No more hounds growling, no claps of thunder in the background. No sounds of ground cracking and shaking beneath his feet. There was also no more pain, and that in itself was a relief. Nie Li wanted to look around but he could see nothing, it was like he was trapped within a bad dream and was unable to wake up. He wanted to scream, call out her name to see if she was there waiting for him in the afterlife. Yet he couldn't squeak out a single word, as his mouth felt as paralyzed as his body. It was at this moment when something dawned on Nie Li, the lack of sound also mean he wasn't breathing. His lungs were making no sound and wind was not entering or leaving his mouth. Was he really dead? Was this really the end? Nie Li struggled to do or say anything but it was helpless, until he saw a light. A small pin hole in the darkness that slowly grew bigger and bigger as it looked like it was approaching him. It wasn't until the light was consuming everything that Nie Li was able to make a sound. He opened his mouth and called out her name, the only name that mattered to him. There was no response and then everything was bright.
 And then his eyes opened.
 Nie Li was no longer surrounded by darkness, but was sitting in a room he hasn't seen in quite some time. He was no longer standing, but was instead sitting down on a chair, with a table before him. The first thing Nie Li did was inhale loudly, as if he had been underwater for several minutes, the air filling his lungs as they were desperate to fill up with oxygen. His eyes were bulging as he exhaled just as loudly and then immediately inhaled again, trying to compose himself.
 "Where the hell am I?" He softly whispered to himself.
 It was at this point that Nie Li had looked at his hands, to realize that they were smaller than the last time he saw them. What surprised him even more was the scar on his right forearm that was now gone. Both of these details told him something significant: his mind had traveled back to an earlier time. He was younger than the day he had passed away, a lot younger because he was in a school. It had taken him a few moments to recognize his surroundings but soon it all came back to him. Nie Li was beginning to remember where he was and even what day it was. His current location was a classroom in the Holy Orchid Institute. This also meant that he was home, back in Glory City for the first time since... since that very dark and dreadful day. The day he started to run. And it was at this point where Nie Li started to run again.
 Nie Li calmly got up from his table in the classroom and walked out, strolling down the hallway towards the main doors leading outside. s he burst through the door, the view waiting outside for him had taken what was left of his breath away. The majestic view of his former home, one he hadn't seen since it was attacked and destroyed by the Demon Beast. He could remember the day like it was the day before, but here he was standing before the city in all its splendor. The beast hasn't come yet, and the city was just as beautiful as the young man had remembered it all those years ago.
 It was spring time in Glory City, but the snow was still melting. Nie Li walked up to a puddle that was before the steps that lead into the Institute and dropped to his knees. He looked down at the water, and in its reflection looking back up at him was a young boy; a boy Nie Li hadn't seen in a very long time. He couldn't explain what had happened, but he was a young teenager again, and yet all the memories he had accumulated leading up to his death were still retained. The boy looking up at him had no scars, no lines in his face that were earned through battles of both victory and loss. Nie Li took another deep breath and smiled down at the young boy looking back at him.
 "Excuse me, young man." A voice called out, "What are you doing out here?"
 Nie Li looked behind him and standing there was one of his elders, wondering what he was doing on his knees in front of a puddle.
 "Taking a moment," Nie Li replied, "To be thankful."
 "I see," the old man replied, "Thankful of what may I ask?"
 "To be alive," Nie Li said, getting back to his feet, "Thankful to be here with the ones that I love like my friends and family."
 "Such wisdom," the old man said, grinning back at Nie Li, "It's so nice to hear it on just the first day of classes. It's enough to make someone my age hopeful for the future of our people and our city."
 "I understand," Nie Li said, as he made a respectful bow to his elder. "I will return to class and make you proud."
 "You spirit and your enthusiasm for life has already done that," The elder replied, "But I suggest you hurry back inside."
 "Yes, Master." Nie Li said as he scrambled back through the main doors and into the building.
 When he returned to the classroom, the instructor has already arrived and was speaking to the class. She didn't even stop speaking as Nie Li walked by and retook his seat and sat there looking around the room at the other children that were occupying the now full classroom. Some of the kids he easily recognized, but it was going to take some time for him to remember everything. It had been many, many years since this date, and if Nie Li was remembering it correctly, the presence of his instructor told him that this was his very first day at the institute. It was interesting that this was the exact day he would come back to after his crushing defeat and death at the hands of the emperor and his deity beasts. The exact point where all his training started, so that Nie Li could start all over again, prepare for the horrors that were to come.
 When Nie Li looked up at the stage, standing there was Shen Xiu, speaking endlessly to the point that she neither noticed nor cared when he happened to walk late into her classroom. That wasn't entirely shocking to Nie Li because she considered people in his ranking beneath her. His final marks were not even worth the paper they were written on as far as the self-centered bitch was concerned. He could skip class completely and she wouldn't even bother to ask where he was. Shen was a three star silver ranked Demon Spiritualist, but that power was only over matched by here extreme arrogance. It was because of her attitude that Nie Li was unwilling to learn from her the first time he had taken this class. He had actually resisted his studies for some time before caring enough to make an effort.
 Nie Li looked away from the ignorant instructor to look at his hands again. They were so soft, so small and never scarred by the many battles that were to come. It was like he had stepped into some fountain of youth and had all the scars and wounds front the past just melt away from his now perfect healthy body. He was truly reborn. The last thing he had remembered was being surrounded by the deity beasts and dying in battle. If he had to ponder a guess from what he knew from all his studies, Nie Li came to the conclusion that his soul had traveled back to this distant time. Instead of thinking about deity beasts and death, Nie Li preferred to look around the room and look at all the faces he hadn't seen in such a long time and he found a few. He first recognized the faces of Lu Piao and Du Ze, brothers that shared life and death with him in his former life. It was strange to see them both again not only alive but looking very immature in appearance. He was about to wave to Du Ze when something caught his eye as a beautiful face came into his field of vision. Only just a few meters away from him was the exquisite face of Ye Ziyun. Although her she was young as he was now, Ye Ziyun looked elegant and beautiful as the last day he saw her, with purple coloured hair running down her back to her waist. He longed to be around here again, to hear her laugh and to see those dimples whenever she smiled. Despite how young she looked, Nie Li was aware of how majestic, how enchanting she would look when she grew up. In the life he had just left, Nie Li had a deep affection for her since he had been a teen, since the exact age he had just returned to.
 Part of him wanted to run over and hug her, hold her in his arms again for the first time in decades. Yet there was another part of Nie Li that knew how creepy that would look to not only his instructor and classmates, but to her as well. She is unaware of their history or their future in this case, and it was not her fault. He had to keep his feelings inside for the time being. For the time being, Nie Li had to take comfort in knowing that she was still alive, and he could spend many days and hours in class looking at her and remembering the life they had together. Just the thought of being around her again brought a faint smile to Nie Li's face.
 "Nie Li," a voice whispered to him, "What are you smiling at?"
 Nie Li turned to face Lu Piao, who had finally started to learn that Nie Li has started to act very strangely that day. At this particular moment in time, the two boys had only known one another for three days since school had started, so the smiles and giggles coming from Nie Lie looked like madness to the boy sitting beside him in class.
 "It's nothing to be concerned about," Nie Li replied, "I'm just happy. Happy to be here and to see you again, good brother!"
 Without any warning, Nie Li reached out and hugged Lu Piao, which took the young man completely by surprise.
 "Good brother?" Lu Piao repeated, someone frustrated, "Whose brother are you talking about? Have you gone mad? Stop touching me!"
 Nie Li finally let his friend go, aware that he couldn't tell young Lu Piao about the man he would become, how close friends they would be as well. Hugs like that would be the norm for them both after years of adventures and battles. Nie Li was aware that to share any of that information would make him look more mad than he was already being presumed. All he could do was smile at Lu Piao and retain his secret.
 Lu Piao, unaware of the circumstances could only mutter one word. "Weirdo."
 Nie Li couldn't help but laugh, as it was a comment Piao would often say to many people, him especially in the many years to come. It was almost his catchphrase.
 "Pay attention," Lu Piao finally said to him, gesturing to the instructor show as still babbling on. "Or you're land us all in detention!"