Dan Feng and Dan Heng sat in the shadows of the bamboo forest, away from the others, watching the group bicker in the courtyard.
"Do you resent me?" Dan Feng asked Dan Heng beside him.
"The past has nothing to do with me. You are you, and I am me. I have new, cherished companions, and I have my own dreams."
"Do you still remember the Transmutation Arcanum?"
"I do. But I will not use it. It would only cause a greater tragedy."
"Then what if you were to face the death of a companion?"
"Ask someone to save them."
"Healers are not omnipotent."
"But Finality can."
"...That is far better than I was back then. You are much luckier than me."
"Future me, how does it feel to be a General? Is it better to be a Galaxy Ranger or a General?"
"If I could choose, being a Galaxy Ranger would be better. There are too many things to deal with as a General, and every day is busy. If I had a choice, I would also want to be a Galaxy Ranger, but in the future, I had no choice."
"That sounds really exhausting. Do I have to be like you? I suddenly don't want to wake up!"
Jing Yuan looked at his listless younger self and felt that his younger self was quite similar to Yanqing.
"Jingliu! Stop fighting!"
"Baiheng! This has nothing to do with you. This is our grudge. Step aside!"
"No, why do you have such a big conflict with yourselves? Stop fighting!"
Baiheng felt a headache coming on as she watched the two Jinglius fighting each other in the distance.
"Let them fight. It's just a dream anyway. The one who loses can just wake up. Nothing will happen."
Yingxing, on the other hand, was just watching the fun, sipping wine and smiling, while Blade, who had been silent, said nothing and just watched quietly.
The young Jing Yuan chuckled at this scene, then looked at the Jing Yuan beside him and asked, "Future me, can you beat Master now?"
"Without using the Lightning-Lord, it's hard to say."
"Wow! Is she that strong? Then let's have a spar. I also want to see what my future self has grown into!"
"Very well. Fighting one's past self can be considered a novel experience."
Then the two Jing Yuans started fighting, which made Baiheng lose the mood to intervene, so she sat down with Yingxing to watch the show.
When fighting his past self, Jing Yuan could always find the flaws in his younger self's swordsmanship, but he could not win in a short time because the opponent's sword contained something he had long since lost.
In every move, although the techniques were not particularly exquisite and often had various flaws and shortcomings, the intent contained within the swordsmanship, that pure feeling unique to a youth, made Jing Yuan dazed, as if he had recalled much of the past.
The result of this battle was indisputable. The future Jing Yuan defeated his younger self.
"As expected of my future self, I really couldn't win. After all, the person who knows me best is myself. However, although your moves are very subtle and exquisite, they feel so heavy with the aura of twilight, just like an old man nearing the end of his life."
The young Jing Yuan said this, then took out a wooden sword from nowhere, threw it to his future self, and said with a smile.
"Whether you become a General or a Galaxy Ranger, never forget the righteousness in your heart, the will to cut down all the injustices in the world! Remember when I was not yet an adult, I got my first wooden sword and thought I was the best swordsman in the world, and that I would surely become the greatest Galaxy Ranger in the future, cutting down every injustice in the world!"
"So, future me, now that you are holding this wooden sword from childhood again, can you find that feeling again?"
Jing Yuan touched the plain wooden sword in his hand, his face full of a bitter smile.
"I wish I could buy wine and travel together, but it is no longer like the carefree journey of youth."
"Acting like an old man won't do."
The young Jing Yuan stepped forward, took the wooden sword from Jing Yuan's hand, and then swung a sword at the Jing Yuan in front of him with a smile.
"This move is called Youthful Spirit!"
Jing Yuan opened his eyes abruptly and woke up at his desk. He sat up and rubbed his head. Hmm, he felt like he had a very strange dream.
After his consciousness cleared completely, he suddenly felt incredibly light all over, as if a giant boulder he had been carrying had been lifted off him.
Jing Yuan felt that his body and mind had recovered to a perfect state. His mara seemed to have been delayed indefinitely, and the aura of twilight typical of an old man was gone. On the contrary, the spirited feeling of his youth had reappeared in his heart.
Jing Yuan sat there in a daze for a long time, then stood up and moved around a bit, feeling his body, which had not been this relaxed in a long time. Just then, he seemed to catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye.
Under the nearby bookshelf, there was a wooden sword that looked very old and even somewhat dilapidated, leaning against it.
Jing Yuan stared blankly at the wooden sword, then walked up and picked it up.
The incredibly familiar feeling convinced Jing Yuan that this was indeed the wooden sword he used to play with when he was young.
"Youthful Spirit... What a move, Youthful Spirit!"
Jing Yuan laughed, then reached out and wiped the dust off the wooden sword.
"With a three-foot blade in hand, cutting down every injustice in the world..."
Since the Imbibitor Lunae incident, the vitality that had never appeared on him appeared once again. He smiled and swung his sword upward. Then, in the dark, the power of The Hunt within his body gathered on this seemingly dilapidated wooden sword, and a long golden blade, as dazzling as the sun, was unsheathed.
The ceiling of the Seat of Divine Foresight was gone.
"Uh..." Jing Yuan put away his wooden sword, feeling slightly embarrassed.
After Blade woke up, he looked at his hands. He unwrapped the bandages that were always wrapped around them and found that his hands were no longer trembling, becoming as steady as they had been in the past.
He was silent for a long moment, then picked up his phone and sent a message to Silver Wolf.
"Huh? A forge? Why are you suddenly picking up your old trade?"
Although Silver Wolf asked this in confusion, she did not refuse Blade's request.
Dan Heng opened his eyes, feeling the water currents surrounding him, as well as the real dragon tail extending from behind his waist and resting on his legs.
He slowly exhaled, then sat cross-legged in midair, feeling the extra power within him.
Jingliu untied the black cloth in front of her eyes and looked at herself in the mirror. Those eyes that had originally been filled with violent and murderous desires were now as clear and bright as her past self's.
It was as if she had returned to the past.
Caelus sat in the courtyard of his house on the Xianzhou and took a sip of the freshly brewed tea.
"The High-Cloud Quintet, a nice memory."
He said this, closing the book he had just finished recording and putting it into his own space.
(To be continued.)
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)