"Ye Xuan, Ye Xuan, are you okay? Dammit, why are you so hot? If you get sick here, there are no doctors! Wake up, wake up!" An anxious voice rang in Ye Xuan's mind, sounding both as distant as the horizon and as close as his own ear.
'What's going on? Didn't I die? Who's calling me?'
Ye Xuan's head felt like it was splitting open, his mind filled with a buzzing sound. His entire body burned like fire, and his consciousness drifted in and out, leaving him in a daze.
'Is this the world after death? I can still think. Maybe this is my soul.'
In the endless darkness, Ye Xuan gave a self-deprecating laugh. A sharp pain shot through his brain, and fragmented memories seemed to flash into his mind.
'Ye Xuan... Ye Xiaoyao... Who am I? Why do I have two sets of memories?'
"Chen Xing, what are you yelling about? You're giving me a headache! That piece of trash, Ye Xuan, can't even walk without fainting. We should just leave him here. He's nothing but a burden," an impatient and disgusted voice sounded from nearby, like a bucket of cold water being poured over Ye Xuan's head.
Ye Xuan jolted. The fragmented memories in his mind finally clicked into place. His tightly shut eyes snapped open, a sharp light glinting within them.
"Ye Xuan, you're finally awake."
A slightly surprised face appeared before him. Ye Xuan turned his head and carefully observed his surroundings. He found himself lying in a cold, damp cave on a simple bed of hay, the chill of the hard rock seeping through the thin layer.
In the cave sat seven or eight children, both boys and girls, all around ten years old. Their clothes were disheveled and their expressions fearful. Their darting eyes betrayed their inner panic. As Ye Xuan saw their faces, the memories in his mind surfaced with sudden clarity.
"Xuanwu Calendar, year 2122. I, Ye Xiaoyao, have actually been reborn a hundred years later." Ye Xuan was slightly startled.
Ye Xiaoyao, an Eighth-Grade Emperor-Level Soul Refiner, known by the title Carefree Soul Emperor.
On the Celestial Profound Continent, the Martial Dao was supreme. To become a top-tier Martial Artist, one needed a powerful Martial Soul. Soul Refiners were special individuals who could upgrade the grade of a Martial Artist's Martial Soul and unlock its potential. It was the noblest profession in the world, placing them above even those who cultivated the Martial Dao.
A hundred years ago, Ye Xiaoyao was already an Eighth-Grade Emperor-Level Soul Refiner, just one step away from the Ninth-Grade Emperor Level. Across the entire Celestial Profound Continent, the number of Soul Refiners stronger than him in the way of Martial Souls could be counted on one hand.
Before his death, his fame was no less than that of the few Ninth-Grade Soul Emperors on the Celestial Profound Continent.
This was not only because Ye Xiaoyao had broken the ten-thousand-year-old record for the youngest Soul Emperor on the Celestial Profound Continent, but also because he was a top-tier Ninth-Grade Alchemist, Array Pattern Master, and Artifact Refiner who excelled in every field. At the same time, in the path of martial arts, he had also reached the realm of a Tier-Eight Martial Emperor.
"A hundred years ago, I met an unexpected end in the Profound Domain. I never thought I'd be reborn. In my past life, my talent for the Martial Dao was poor, and I awakened a trash Martial Soul. Despite all my efforts, I only managed to become a Tier-Eight Martial Emperor. In this life, I will surpass my past self, break through to become a Tier-Nine Martial Emperor, shatter the void, and see if the legendary, ethereal Celestial Realm truly exists." A smile touched Ye Xuan's lips, and his eyes shone as bright as stars.
"Hmph, what an idiot. Look at the situation we're in, and he's actually smiling. Why didn't that fall just kill you?" an incredibly ugly young man with a pockmarked face and thick, oversized lips said in disgust, shooting a contemptuous glance at Ye Xuan.
"Wang Yue, what kind of bullshit are you spouting?" Chen Xing said angrily. He then took out a steamed bun and handed it to Ye Xuan. "Ye Xuan, don't mind him. You must be hungry. Have a bun first."
Ye Xuan was indeed quite hungry. He took the bun and devoured it in a few quick bites.
At the same time, Ye Xuan gradually recalled what had happened.
It turned out that this group of youths were students from Blue Moon City's Xingxuan Academy. This time, they had come to Black Wind Ridge for a training exercise led by their teachers. As junior class members, most of whom had only opened two or three Profound Veins and were not even Samurai, their so-called "training" simply involved visiting the outskirts of Black Wind Ridge to observe some low-level wild beasts and Demon Beasts.
This kind of training was a traditional, annual event at Xingxuan Academy and was usually safe. Unexpectedly, an accident occurred this time: a Gale Leopard appeared on the outskirts of Black Wind Ridge. A Gale Leopard is a Tier Two Demon Beast of terrifying strength that typically only appears in the deeper parts of the ridge. To protect the students, the three teachers leading the group engaged it in battle, but in the ensuing chaos, many of the students were scattered.
The youths now in the cave were all students from the same class. In the chaos, they had desperately tried to return to camp, but being unfamiliar with the mountains and forests, they ran in the wrong direction. By the time they realized their mistake, they were completely lost. Panicked, they scurried about randomly, only getting further and further off track until they were hopelessly lost. It took them the better part of a day to finally find this cave and take shelter.
Now, every one of them was terrified, and their only hope was to pray that the academy's teachers would come to their rescue.
As for Ye Xuan, he had panicked while fleeing and accidentally tripped, hitting his head on a rock and fainting on the spot. If Chen Xing hadn't carried him back, he would have likely been eaten by nearby beasts.
"Chen Xing, who told you to give that bun to Ye Xuan? That piece of trash has only opened a single Profound Vein. Keeping him here will only drag us down. Giving him food is a complete waste."
Seeing Chen Xing actually give Ye Xuan a bun, Wang Yue shot to his feet and barked furiously.
Chen Xing glanced at him and sneered, "This is my own food. Is it any of your business?"
"What do you mean, 'your own food'? We're all trapped here, and who knows when the teachers will arrive. All food is now communal property. Did you ask for everyone's permission before wasting it? I didn't say anything when you brought that piece of trash back, but I draw the line at wasting food."
Wang Yue walked up to Chen Xing and held out his hand. "Hand over all the food you have on you," he said coldly. "We'll let everyone manage it. Otherwise, if you keep wasting it like this, we'll all starve to death before the teachers even find us."
The other students in the cave flinched and all looked over. Everyone knew how important food was in the deep mountains and forests. At the thought of possibly starving to death here, a few of the female students even trembled.
"This is the food I brought for myself. Why should I give it to you?" Chen Xing shot to his feet and snapped coldly.
"Are you going to hand it over or not?" Wang Yue's fists tightened, his ugly face twitching. A cold light gleamed in his small eyes as the Profound Qi of his four Veins began to circulate. He looked ready to attack at a moment's notice.
"What, you want to fight? You think I'm afraid of you?"
Chen Xing sneered, completely unafraid.
The other students watched silently. Chen Xing and Wang Yue were from the Chen family and the Wang family, respectively, two of the three great families of Blue Moon City. Naturally, no one else would get involved in their conflict.
In fact, Ye Xuan's Ye family was not considered weak among the families of Blue Moon City. However, as the weakest student in the class—a disciple even his own family looked down on—Ye Xuan's presence was practically nonexistent.
"Wang Yue, is it?" Just then, Ye Xuan suddenly stood up. He took a step forward, blocking Chen Xing.
"What, you want to fight me too, kid?"
Wang Yue sneered, his eyes narrowing as he released a faint aura of Profound Qi.
Ye Xuan stood firm, a cold smile playing on his lips. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. "Get lost."
"HISS!" Wang Yue's heart suddenly lurched. The sharp glint in Ye Xuan's eyes made him tremble uncontrollably for some unknown reason. He felt like a mouse stared down by a tiger, and the sheer pressure of Ye Xuan's presence forced him to take two steps back, his legs shaking.
Ye Xuan's aura was directed solely at him. To everyone else, they only saw Ye Xuan snap coldly for Wang Yue to get lost, and Wang Yue actually retreated. They were all completely baffled.
'What just happened? Why did I take two steps back...?' A look of horror flashed in Wang Yue's eyes. He was drenched in a cold sweat. After that momentary shock, he quickly recovered. His face flushed beet-red, and his expression turned so dark it looked like he was about to kill someone.
'He forced me back with a single word! How can I ever show my face in class again?!'
"You worthless piece of trash, you're courting death."
He roared in fury, circulating the Profound Qi of his four Veins as he prepared to pounce.
Suddenly, a muffled roar echoed from the distance. The roar carried a suffocating demonic aura. In an instant, the cave fell deathly silent. Wang Yue froze, and everyone stared fearfully toward the cave entrance. The tiger-like roar clearly came from a powerful tiger-type Demon Beast. Although it still sounded far away, if it discovered the cave, no one here would survive.
For a moment, all the students in the cave were frozen in fear.
Only Ye Xuan's expression remained unchanged as he walked toward the outside of the cave.
Chen Xing's face paled. "Ye Xuan, where are you going?"
"I'm just going to take a look around outside."
Ye Xuan's faint voice drifted back as his figure disappeared from the cave's entrance.
Only then did the others snap back to their senses. The exceptionally timid Ye Xuan from the academy had actually left the cave all by himself.
'What's going on?'
"Right, Senior Sister Leng Yingying said she was going to look for a way back. You don't think she ran into trouble, do you?"
Someone suddenly spoke up, causing the other students in the cave to jolt in unison.
Senior Sister Leng Yingying was one of the senior students leading this training exercise. As an upperclassman at Xingxuan Academy, she was a Martial Artist who had already opened seven Profound Veins. On the Celestial Profound Continent, opening seven Profound Veins was the prerequisite to condensing a Profound Sea and attempting to advance to become a Tier-One Spirit Martial Realm Samurai. This showed just how powerful she was. Despite this, everyone knew that even with her strength, an encounter with any Demon Beast in Black Wind Ridge would mean certain death.
"That tiger roar from earlier... could Senior Sister Leng Yingying have run into some kind of tiger-type Demon Beast?"
Thinking of the terrifying roar, the hearts of many students sank. Yet, none of them dared to leave the cave to look for Senior Sister Leng Yingying.