On the wooden bed lay a boy with a fair face and outstanding facial features with a blanket covered up to his shoulder.
His slender eyebrows twisted into a deep frown, and a thin layer of sweat started to form on his forehead.
The small figure began to stir uncomfortably looking as if he was trapped in a nightmare but was unable to wake up.
A few moments later, the boy suddenly snapped his eyes open. He sprung up into a sitting position causing the blanket to slide over his body.
Ignoring the uncomfortable sensation of the fabric stuck onto his skin, he took several deep breaths trying to ease the suffocation in his chest.
Despite his complexion looking a bit ghastly, it didn't hinder his fairy-like beauty.
On his fair face was a pair of mesmerizing almond-shaped eyes fanned by long eyelashes. His small thin lips were as red as cherry making him look like a little girl if one doesn't pay close attention.
Yet, this immature face had a cold expression that did not suit his age. His beautiful almond-shaped eyes were devoid of any temperature, and his whole body was shrouded in gloomy air.
Wan Yu coldly swept his eyes at the unfamiliar but familiar room before wordlessly lowering his eyes to stare down at his small hands.
His hands were that of a child, still fair and clean devoid of any callouses or scars.
It was as if he was brought back to the past.
At this discovery, a cold smile slowly formed on his beautiful face, his dark obsidian eyes were full of killing intent.
A low chuckle escaped from his lips, "Wu Jing... I will make sure you regret having been born into this world."
In his past life, the world only knew him as a sword cultivator with a divine lighting spiritual root.
No one learned that he also possessed space spiritual root which was said to be extinct.
Due to a fortuitous encounter, Wan Yu stumbled upon records left by the last space cultivator while exploring an ancient tomb.
Thanks to this opportunity, he was able to master his space element allowing him to escape dangers many times.
Others have always thought that he used talismans or secret techniques to escape.
Only Wu Jing could see through his tricks.
However, even Wu Jing couldn't have foreseen that Wan Yu still had another card up his sleeves.
A forbidden technique to reverse time.
His soul got damaged in return but Wan Yu didn't regret his decision.
Revenge is all he seeks in this life.
Just as dark thoughts were growing wildly in his mind, a faint singing voice passed through the heavy curtain of rain pulling him back to reality.
On every street and pathway,
On everyone's lips,
The first thing we say is,
Good wishes, good wishes to you, yeah!
Good wishes, good wishes to you!
Wan Yu's dark eyes subconsciously shifted in the direction of the voice. Simultaneously, he released his divine power to search around the area.
It didn't take long for him to detect a presence not far away from his abode.
His brows scrunched up.
Has someone always been living in the bamboo forest behind his dwelling for all this time?
While Wan Yu was pondering over this matter, the voice abruptly stopped.
He strained his ears to listen more carefully. However, after what seemed to be an eternity, only the sound of thunder and rain were heard.
With a child body, Wan Yu couldn't fight off the drowsiness and finally retired to sleep leaving the investigation to be done another day.
The next morning, he was roused from his sleep by rapid knocks and loud voices.
Propping himself up into a sitting position, Wan Yu glanced at the bright sunlight that penetrated through the gap in the windows and fell on the floor.
There was a dust removal spell set up in this room so he didn't even spot any particles floating in the air.
As to who set it up... Who else but his grumpy shizun?
"Wan Yu! I know you are in there! Come out!"
Despite the urgency of his guests, Wan Yu was not in a rush. He unhurriedly washed his face, tidied up his long hair, and dressed himself in a new set of clean uniform.
The corner of his lips curled into a sneer as his gaze drifted toward the door.
A few hours ago on Liu Xun's side.
At this moment, he was squatting down staring at the ashes scattered messily on the ground with a solemn face.
Where did these ashes originate from, you ask? Of course, they were from that book!
However, Liu Xun was not the one who burnt it.
After he finished reading it, the book was suddenly set ablaze and burnt to a crisp in no time.
Liu Xun narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
Look like someone purposely let him see the book and cast a spell to get rid of it after he finished.
This means neither the book nor Wu Jing's memories can be trusted.
Liu Xun inwardly cursed himself for running his mouth carelessly last night.
Unsure of whether the person in the dark has already heard him stupidly reveal his whole background.
I am still in the tutorial but I am already screwed up haha...
Slumping onto the piles of straws, Liu Xun closed his aching eyes and decided to get some rest first before thinking of his next steps.
Fortunately, Wu Jing's presence was almost nonexistent in this place. No one cared whether he was alive or not.
Liu Xun woke up several hours later. Giving a lazy stretch, he started to organize his thoughts in an orderly manner.
Wu Jing currently called Xiao Xu was an Outer Disciple who joined the Heavenly Sect two months ago.
Liu Xun was not clear about Wu Jing's origin since the memory started when he was already 10 years old.
Based on this, Wu Jing started as a little beggar living on the street barely surviving each day.
The matter of the Heavenly Sect recruiting disciples was such a huge deal that everyone on the continent was talking about it.
The Little Wu Jing naively thought that if he were to be accepted into the Sect, he would no longer be afraid of starving.
With this thought in mind, he marched off to the Heavenly Sect alone.
Thanks to his small and nimble body, he managed to sneak into a ship and hitched a ride to one of the cities under the sanctuary of the Heavenly Sect.
The Heavenly Sect's exam was not complicated. At the foot of the mountain where the entrance gate was situated, a long staircase of 9,999 steps was built, and looking from below it was impossible to see where the end was.
People named it 'Stairway to Heaven'. The higher you climb the higher the aptitude you possess which will allow you to pass the test.
For this trial, a formation was set up to prevent the participants from using their spiritual energy or magic artifact to cheat.
The test lasted for a week. Whether you choose to continue or give up halfway, the choice is yours to make.
A day barely passed and almost half had already descended the stairs.
A few days later, all that remained were seedlings from wealthy clans and rare talents.
Wu Jing was the only mortal among the remaining gifted children.
Unfortunately, no matter how strong his will was, Wu Jing didn't have the spatial ring or bag to stock up the food and drink like others and finally collapsed due to hunger.
If not for the Senior Brother who was responsible for overlooking this trial had come to fetch him, he might have already died due to starvation.
Regardless, many Elders were impressed by his determination, therefore, he was accepted into the Outer Sect.
His achievement as the only mortal to pass didn't make any splash as everyone's attention was attracted to a certain talent who managed to reach the top for the first time in history.
It was none other than the male protagonist, Wan Yu.
Due to his outstanding performance, he was hailed as a one-in-a-million-year genius and was accepted as a Direct Disciple of the Sect Leader.
Wu Jing didn't care about Wan Yu and went on his days as an Outer Disciple but his days were not that much better than his beggar days, if anything, it got worse.
Not only was he unable to cultivate, but his appearance was unsightly as well causing everyone to look at him in disgust and often bully him.
Wu Jing couldn't bear it and left the Outer Disciples compounds. He then stumbled upon this abandoned hut in the desolate bamboo forest.
Ever since then, this place has become his home.
Liu Xun couldn't help but give a light sigh.
Excluding the fact that Wu Jing, later on, became the revered Demon Lord, his life was truly tragic.
It was not that he didn't possess any spiritual roots but it was dug out by someone when he was a child.
It was no wonder that Wan Yu never realized that a disciple named Xiao Xu whom everyone called Ghostface turned out to be the future Demon Lord Wu Jing.
There were more questions and details that Liu Xun found in Wu Jing's memories but for now, he decided to focus on the matter at hand and temporarily suppressed those thoughts.
He might die soon but at the very least it shouldn't be today or tomorrow.
Relying on his memory, Liu Xun walked into the woods and soon arrived at a small stream not far away from his place.
Admiring the lush greenery and inhaling the refreshing air devoid of any pollution, his mind cleared up a lot.
The sound of flowing water was soothing. The water was clean and clear as it flowed over the stony streambed.
Taking off his shoes, Liu Xun slightly dipped his right foot into the cooling water.
It was cold but bearable.
Between taking a cold shower and remaining dirty, Liu Xun decisively chose the former.
Either way, he will be taking medicine afterward so might as well make himself a bit more presentable.
Knowing that no one would come here, Liu Xun took off his clothes one by one until he was completely naked and immediately dived into the water.
Goosebumps erupted all over his body and Liu Xun wasted no time in scrubbing his body.
Unfortunately, halfway through, several voices were heard coming in his direction making Liu Xun pause.
Without any hesitation whatsoever, he swiftly swam to hide behind a relatively big rock deciding to wait for those people to walk away.
"I know that you have a lot of good stuff on you. You better give them to us while we are still speaking nicely!"
An immature voice filled with disdain sounded. Not long after, a soft timid voice which belonged to that of a young child was heard.
"I-I have already given you everything that Master gave me..."
"Heh, do you take us for fools? Who doesn't know that your Master is so generous in giving resources even to a trash like you!"
"That's right! Those pills will be useless on you anyways so might as well give them to us!"
Feeling wronged, the same pitiful voice retorted, "I really don't have any! Whoever told you is lying!"
Hearing this, one of the rude kids mocked, "Are you saying that Elder Su lied to us?"
As if not expecting an elder to be involved, the little boy's voice shook, "... Did you come here because of Elder Su's order?"
Seeing the boy's obvious fear toward their Master, those three smirked and proudly replied, "That's right! Do you think that going against Elder Su's wish is something a trash like you should be doing in your situation?"
"Elder Chen might be kind enough to pick up a trash like you but it is not worth his time protecting the like of you!"
Having his sore spot being poked, the boy balled his fists with his head lowered unable to bear the humiliation.
He then tremblingly reached into his front lapel and took out a bottle filled with Qi refining pills.
The three's eyes lit up with greed at the very sight of the white porcelain bottle. One of the boys was about to snatch the bottle away when a stone suddenly hit his outstretched hand causing him to yelp in pain.
"Ouch!"
"Who's there?! Come out!"
Realizing that there was another presence witnessing them robbing another person in broad daylight, the three hurriedly scanned their surroundings trying to find the culprit.
However, not a single soul was spotted.
Just as they were about to threaten the other party with their Master's name, a crisp and clear voice unhurriedly sounded coming from the stream.
"Committing a daylight robbery... Heh, your Master taught you well."
Hearing the blatant mockery in his voice, the three's faces became ugly.
"Who are you?! You dare go against Elder Su!"
Listening to this warning, the juvenile instead chuckled, his voice still as relaxed as ever, "Was it not enough for him to be demoted from the Inner Sect? Should I lend your Master a hand and directly exile him from the Sect?"
Hearing this, the three abruptly froze. They couldn't confirm whether the other party was bluffing or not but judging from his calm mannerism that didn't match his youthful voice, they didn't dare to gamble.
Realizing that they might have kicked an iron plate, they hurriedly kowtowed asking for forgiveness.
"Y-Young Master, It is not like that! Let us explain-"
"Shut up and scram for this Young Master." The youth's voice suddenly turned cold as he cut them off.
As if given amnesty, they all loudly thanked him and hurriedly ran away without looking back no longer caring about snatching other people's stuff.
During their exchange, Wan Yu remained motionless. His eyes dangerously narrowed in a certain direction.
He had long known that there was someone here.
However, in the past, no one stepped in to help him.
Something is not right with this person. Wan Yu darkly thought.