The wind rustled through the trees, but Yan Xiu's steps were silent as he walked through the Black Wind Woods under the moonlight, his thoughts tangled like roots beneath the soil. Eventually, the trees gave way to a secluded cavern.
The gigantic cave that housed the portal.
He stepped inside.
The air was cooler here, slightly damp, with the faint scent of moss clinging to the stone. Ahead, nestled in the heart of the cave, the shimmering oval of the portal still floated—its edges pulsing faintly with flickers of fading silver-blue light.
Yan Xiu exhaled slowly, standing before it. His heart thumped in his chest.
"Let's see if I can return to my time," he muttered.
He reached out, hand steady—until his fingers brushed the surface.
Zzzzt!
A sharp jolt of white lightning cracked against his skin.
"Ahia!" he yelped, yanking his hand back and shaking it. Tiny arcs of static crackled at his fingertips.
His eyes widened in alarm. "I… can't go back? What's happening?!"
A familiar voice echoed inside his mind:
[The Temporal Rift's Temporal Energy has been nearly exhausted with your passage to this time. The remaining Temporal Energy of the rift is not enough for you to make another temporal leap.]
He stared at the portal, expression tightening.
"It doesn't have enough Temporal Energy?!" he echoed in disbelief.
But his eyes suddenly lit up with a spark of hope.
"Then… can I give the Temporal Energy I stored to the portal? I should be able to go back if I give enough, right?"
There was a pause.
[Yes, it is technically possible. However, the sum required is exorbitant for your level of strength. Making a living entity pass through time harmlessly, evading the rules of time, requires immense amounts of Temporal Energy.]
Yan Xiu's heart began to sink.
"…An exorbitant sum?" he repeated warily. "How much exactly?"
[1,000 years of Life Simulation Time.]
The cave fell silent.
Yan Xiu's breath caught.
"A thousand years…?" His voice came out dry. "But I only have fifty…"
He staggered a step back, the realization hitting him like a falling boulder.
"Does that mean…" he murmured, jaw slack, "that I have to stay at least for a month in this time…?"
There was no answer.
Only the low hum of the portal, flickering like a dying star.
Yan Xiu stared at the portal for a few more seconds before finally sighing.
"Guess the hunting will begin now…"
With a practiced motion, he unsheathed his sword and turned toward the dense forest known as the Black Wind Woods.
The trees swallowed him whole.
...
The sun crested over the horizon, washing the treetops in gold and chasing away the night's mist. Yan Xiu stepped into a clearing, his robes torn in places, his blade coated with dark blood.
He exhaled slowly.
"Only thirty years…" he muttered, eyes narrowing in frustration.
Compared to the night before, his hunt had been far less fruitful. The beasts he encountered were weaker—barely infused with Temporal Energy. He had hoped for more—enough to get closer to that thousand-year target.
Sheathing his sword, he sighed.
"Should I just continue hunting them down?" he asked aloud to no one. "I'd like to rest a bit though—"
"Kyaaaaaah!"
The sharp scream pierced the air like a whipcrack. Yan Xiu's eyes snapped wide open, his body tensing in an instant.
He didn't think.
He ran.
Leaves whipped past him as his feet pounded the forest floor, his instincts pushing him forward. He didn't understand where this protective impulse came from—whether it was from the past of the original Yan Xiu, or something within himself—but he knew.
He couldn't ignore a girl in danger.
He burst through the trees into another clearing—
—and saw her.
A young woman, perhaps around his age, was struggling against the grip of a young man with spiky brown hair and a cruel smirk. The girl was beautiful—breathtaking, even—but in a fragile, worn sort of way. Her silver-white hair fell perfectly straight down her back. Her clothes were simple and tattered, the fabric thin and faded, suggesting a life of poverty or servitude.
Her pale blue eyes shimmered with defiance despite the fear in them.
"Y-Young master Xiao, please..." the girl was struggling to talk through her fear, her voice trembling like a leaf in a storm. "P-Please forgive m-me..."
"Forgive you?" the young man sneered. His voice was full of contempt. "You think you can be forgiven for disobeying my orders?" He roared—and slapped her hard across the face.
Her head snapped to the side. Tears welled in her pale blue eyes, but she didn't cry.
"How dare you not strip when I command it, huh?! You're just a lurid servant!" he snarled, raising his hand again for another strike—
But it never landed.
A strong hand caught his wrist mid-air.
Yan Xiu.
"Who are you?!" the spiky-haired man growled in outrage. Then he noticed the tattered state of Yan Xiu's robes, and a mocking laugh bubbled from his throat. "A mere disciple of the High Heaven Pavilion thinks he can stop me? How laughable! I am Xiao Ruo Han! The next master of the Storm Manor—"
Crack!
A stone-coated fist smashed into Xiao Ruo Han's face, cutting off his words mid-boast. He flew back a few feet, landing hard with a grunt.
Yan Xiu lowered his fist, the gray hue of the Stone Armor Art deepening, veins of darker rock pulsing beneath his skin.
"I don't care who the fuck you are," Yan Xiu said coldly. "I just know that your face looks like it wants a beating."
Meanwhile, in the bushes nearby, a handsome young man around their age with light orange hair was watching the entire scene unfold. His expression twisted in despair as he ruffled both hands through his hair, nearly tearing it out.
"Ahhh! You shitty High Heaven Pavilion disciple!" he growled under his breath. "That was supposed to be my great moment! To make Ye Chunyu fall in love with me, the great Hu Man!"
He looked desperately at Yan Xiu, seething with frustration.
To be continued...
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How was this chapter? Liked it?
Also, I've decided to make this arc longer than I originally thought. I want to delve more into the aspect of making more background though not that much, to each character that appeared in martial peak.
Oh, and I have in plan to start a One Piece fanfiction some day, it's called King of the Skies, I don't know when I'll begin it, but here's the cover anyway.
Be sure to check out my original novel Hyperborea!