Night.
Flames ruthlessly devoured the continent.
Raging fires cast a crimson glow across the night sky, illuminating every inch of the land. The wind fueled the fire, and the fire empowered the wind, until the entire world seemed plunged into a purgatory.
The flames leaped and danced as if celebrating their victory. They consumed everything: the Fifteen Immortal Prefectures, the Qin family, the Tianshan Sacred Academy, and indeed the entire Puyuan World! Those places once filled with laughter and joy were now reduced to nothing more than ruins...
"No... No!" Qin Yi shouted as he jolted awake from his nightmare. His entire body was burning hot, and sweat had soaked through his clothes, clinging wetly to his skin with a miserable, suffocating discomfort.
Panting heavily, he looked around with lingering fear, trying to find something in the dark. Yet there was nothing—he was all alone.
Qin Yi clutched his chest, his heart still pounding wildly. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his emotions. But the dream had been too real, leaving an impression that refused to fade.
Sitting on the bed, he felt an inexplicable terror. This dream was no ordinary slumber; it felt more like a premonition.
Qin Yi clenched his hands into fists, a wave of unspeakable tension welling up in his chest. His heart beat as frantically as a battle drum, every thud feeling as though it might shatter his ribcage. The surrounding air seemed to grow thin, making it hard for him to breathe.
That feeling was back again!
A nameless flame surged up his arms into his body, then careened wildly within him, as if desperately trying to break through its shackles and burst free.
Pain—indescribable pain!
"Not this feeling again. This time it's spreading straight through all my meridians?"
Weakly, Qin Yi circulated his vital energy, casting aside all hesitation as he focused entirely on suppressing that rampaging power.
Yet that power seemed fully awakened, wrestling with Qin Yi for control of his body and making every effort at suppression exceptionally difficult.
"...Damn it, cough!"
Coughing up blood, Qin Yi couldn't help cursing. His face had turned alarmingly pale, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
"Is there truly no other way?"
Despair filled Qin Yi's eyes. Just as he was about to surrender to the resistance and let himself be consumed, a cool sensation suddenly exploded from deep within his body.
Like morning dew in spring, it nourished Qin Yi's withered spirit. This energy radiated from his heart, passed through his skin, and spilled outward into his surroundings.
Qin Yi felt his body enveloped in a soft radiance—a warm and familiar feeling, yet one that concealed a hint of terrifying murderous intent. Surrounded by this energy, his heartbeat gradually steadied and grew robust. Closing his eyes, Qin Yi let the energy wander through his body, washing away the despairing chill.
Deep within his sea of consciousness, he saw a night sky dotted with countless stars. That energy streaked across like a shooting star, leaving a brilliant trail of light. Amidst this radiance, Qin Yi saw his childhood self; those past memories, expectations, fantasies, and dreams stirred like awakened seeds, quietly sprouting in the soil of his heart.
A blade of grass?
No, rather a tiny seedling. He finally understood why his spiritual qi had been steadily declining all this time—this seedling had been feeding on his spiritual qi to nourish itself.
Looking at the culprit that had nearly reduced him to a cripple, Qin Yi felt a pang of mercy.
"Ah, don't come closer!"
Just as Qin Yi reached out to touch it, he was blasted backward by a powerful wave of spiritual qi. His heart tightened; he hadn't expected this creature to possess spiritual intelligence. Judging by the aura it emitted, it was no weaker than Prefecture Lord Shangguan from daytime!
"What on earth are you?" Qin Yi asked, gathering his qi to guard against any contingency. "Why are you inside my sea of consciousness?!"
At this, the seedling fluttered slightly, then lit up with faint dots of light. The light spread like a gentle stream across the entire sea of consciousness, kicking up layer upon layer of ripples before finally coalescing into a brilliant sea of stars.
Soaked in the starry sea, the seedling's form gradually grew clearer. It wriggled its body, slowly squeezed out a golden bubble, and floated over to Qin Yi.
"Born with blocked meridians?"
In the blink of an eye, that tiny golden bubble actually transformed into a miniature golden figure the shape of a human body.
"How interesting!" The little golden figure reached out to flick the tip of Qin Yi's nose, observing him for a moment. "It's been a truly long time since I last saw a cultivator born with blocked meridians!"
Qin Yi: "..."
Was being born with blocked meridians supposed to be an excuse for stealing his spiritual qi?
Those words sounded far from complimentary.
Inwardly furious, Qin Yi tried to close the distance, but his body was once again locked in place, completely unable to move.
The little golden figure gave a light "hmph" and naturally withdrew its hand. The next instant, scene after scene from the past of the Puyuan World projected into Qin Yi's mind, breathtaking in scale!
It turned out that the Fifteen Immortal Prefectures where he lived were merely the tip of the iceberg in the vast Puyuan World. Beyond this world lay countless regions waiting to be explored, and once, a master of the Reincarnation had set foot in these very places. Walking alone across the boundless earth, he left billows of dust rising in his wake. His gaze was deep and profound, as if able to pierce through all illusions and reach the very origin of the world.
Scene after scene of the past flashed rapidly by, growing increasingly blurred...
Dawn approached, and Qin Yi awoke from his slumber once more. He slowly sat up and looked out the window. A little bird chirped merrily on a tree branch, seemingly welcoming the arrival of a brand new day.
"Ten Thousand Paths of Reincarnation?"
Qin Yi fell silent for a moment. In his mind's eye, the haughty little golden figure seemed to be waving at him again. By now, he could no longer tell what was real and what was illusion.
"No matter." Qin Yi cast everything to the back of his mind and began to cross his legs, circulating his vital energy. "The Prefecture Grand Tournament is today. I must hurry..."