The sun had barely risen, its pale light casting long shadows over the mountain path as Lin Haoran descended. His face was calm, but the tight grip on his sleeves betrayed his growing frustration. He was running out of time to gather enough destiny points to draw a healing ability.
The previous day's efforts had been fruitless. Hours of scouring the nearby areas using Astral Sight and Fortune teller yielded no promising auras—no destinies worth altering. Today seemed no different as he reached high and low and soon it was already evening again as the sun quickly head towards the horizon.
Lin Haoran paused at the edge of the village, his senses extending once more, scanning the streets and alleys. The familiar dull and stagnant auras of the villagers filled his sight.
"Nothing again…" he muttered under his breath.
Just as he was about to turn back, a passerby's conversation caught his attention.
"Survivors from another ruined village had arrived again" an elderly man said to another. "Poor souls. Lost everything."
"Is it the 3rd time this week? what a tragedy" replied the the other.
Lin Haoran's ears perked up, Another group of survivors. He had little hope that any of them would have the kind of destiny he sought, but desperation gnawed at him.
"It's worth a look," he muttered, heading toward the gathering.
...
As Lin Haoran arrived, the village square was buzzing with chaotic energy. Survivors from the destroyed settlement clung to one another, some wailing, others too exhausted to shed a tear. The air was thick with smoke and sorrow, and Lin Haoran could feel the weight of despair pressing down on him.
He then weaved through the crowd, his gaze scanning each face. Most of them were dull—shrouded in stagnant or fading auras, signifying futures filled with mediocrity or despair.
He stood at the edge, his eyes scanning the crowd for any glimmer of hope. So far, nothing.
"Sigh*" Lin Haoran shook his head, it seemed today was going to be a dut.
He was about to turn away when something in the corner of his vision stopped him cold.
In a corner, away from the crowd, sat a thin boy with unkempt hair and hollow cheeks. His frail figure seemed out of place, as though the surrounding chaos barely acknowledged his presence. but what caught Lin Haoran's attention was the faint golden light surrounding him—a light that flickered weakly, almost snuffed out, as dark tendrils writhed and clawed at its edges.
Lin Haoran's heart tightened.
"This..." He had never seen this before!!
This wasn't an aura of mediocrity or stagnation at all!!
It seems more like a fractured, fragile thread of greatness, struggling against the weight of misfortune.
Without hesitation, Lin Haoran activated AstralSight.
...
The world around Lin Haoran fell away, plunging him into blackness. He floated in an endless void, cold and silent, as though the very air had been stripped of life.
Before him, the boy's future unfolded, but it was fragmented, like a dying flame.
He saw the boy begging in the village, his body wasting away under the weight of grief and hunger. The vision stretched forward—days, months, years—until the boy's figure withered into nothingness, forgotten among the ruins.
The void seemed to press in closer, suffocating, as if this desolate fate were inevitable.
But then, something changed.
A faint ripple coursed through the darkness, and the desolate image of the boy flickered. The threads of his fate twisted, unraveling and reweaving into something else—something brighter.
Lin Haoran's breath caught as the vision shifted.
He saw the boy stumble upon a weathered, half-buried martial scripture, its pages tattered and destroyed.
However at this moment the scene suddenly blurred, and then, like a tree branching upward, the boy's future expanded in an explosion of light.
Lin Haoran saw a being towering above the clouds, high in the sky, locked in battle with mighty figures cloaked in radiant auras. Their blows cleared the clouds, shattered the mountains and split the seas, the world trembling under their power.
The beings golden aura blazed brighter than the sun, unfettered and untouchable.
And then, as suddenly as it began, the vision stopped apruptly. The void vanished, and Lin Haoran was back in the chaotic square, his heart pounding.
'A great treasure' Lin Haoran exclaimed!!
....
The boy still sat in the shadows, clutching a broken wooden carving, his head bowed. Lin Haoran approached, his footsteps soft but deliberate.
"What's your name?" Lin Haoran asked, crouching beside him.
The boy looked up, startled. His eyes were red, hollow, and distant. "Guo Ming," he whispered.
"Guo Ming," Lin Haoran repeated, his voice steady. "What are you doing here?"
Guo Ming hesitated. "I... I don't know." His voice cracked, barely audible. "Everyone's gone. My family… my friends… I have nothing left."
Lin Haoran sighted "Gou Ming, You are a martial apprentice aren't you?" He asked.
Guo Ming looked at him stunned, confusion clouding his expression. "What do you mean?"
"Your clothes... Are the same as mine, and you look about the same age as me" Lin Haoran said calmly.
"Probably the disaster happens around the time when you finally accepted a master..and officially started your martial path" he continued.
Gou Ming nodded, everything the boy said was true, their clothes were similar styles made for martial apprentices, and just before the disaster, he had met a master who saw his talent in martial arts and took him in.
Unfortunately, everything was destroyed soon before his master even taught him anything and now nothing mattered anymore, his family, friends, and everyone he knows already died in the tragedy,but why was the boy bringing this up?? He wondered.
"Gou Ming aren't you angry at the gods" The young man before him suddenly said some chilly words.
Gou Ming was stunned!!!... The Giant god that walked that day!! Despite the tragedy it caused, nobody dare mentioned or ridicule it fearing to catch its attention.
Luckily the village square was chaotic and nobody heard him.
Gou Ming remained silent and nodded softly, hate? Anger? Of course, he feels them but he doesn't dare express them.
In fact, Nobody dared express any hatred or dissatisfaction not even the royal court!! Not even the legendary Martial Supreme!!
The Giant was only walking that day, if it really wanted to it could flatten the current Kingdom with a palm!!
In the face of this mighty power, all he could do was despair!!
"Don't you want to flay them, Gutted them, and even cooked their meat on a grill?" The young man continued...
Gou ming "..."
Oh MY GOD, What was his big shot talking about, did he intend to take him to the abyss, no... Did he wanted to take the entire Xuanlong kingdom to the abyss!???
"I know.. I do" The young man - Lin haoran said
Gou Ming ".."
Lin haoran "Too bad... I can't do that as of now"
Gou ming "..."
Gou Ming remained silent, he looked around to see if any one had heard what the boy had said, but for some strange reason, no one heard what he said not even the one sitting just a few meters from him, as if the space around them had been isolated.
Seeing that no one seemed to be paying attention he turned towards Lin Haoran and asked "What do you want??"
The young man before him, whom he had not even known his name grinned mischievously.
"Instead of sulking in the corner and mulling over spilled milk how about we make a bet." Lin Haoran said.
Gou Ming listened attentively.
"We are both martial apprentices let's see who can hunt down that god first... You or me" the young man said.
To which Gou Ming went silent.
He could finally guess the reason why the young man approached him.
Yes, it was to motivate him back onto his feet. In truth, Gou Ming was determined to abandon martial arts. After all, dedicating his entire life to something that could, in the end, only be trampled by someone's feet was not worth it. Besides, he no longer had to fight for, no family and friends; he had lost everything.
But now he was being pitied by another martial apprentice, at the same age as him... how embarassing.... He sighted.
"What is your name" he asked.
"Lin Haoran -Lin meaning Forest and Hoaran meaning Vast" Lin haoran replied.
"Lin meaning forest and Haoran meaning forest..mm" Gou Ming nodded.
"You with Surname-Lin I shall remember you" He slowly said as he stood up and began walking away.
Behind Lin Haoran look on with a smile...'well that was easier than expected'
In his eyes the gloomy aura that was overwhelming Gou Ming was slowly dissipating as the figure move on.
however before the figure disappear completely Lin haoran shouted-
"There's a caravan leaving tomorrow morning, for the capital of Yan province, you might as well try your luck there"
Guo Ming's figure seem to stopped for a moment, he slightly nodded and continue moving on. however what he did not realize was that despite Lin haoran's loud shout to remind him, no one turned his way as if no one even notice they were there from the very beginning to the end.
The next morning, Lin Haoran watched from the shadows as Guo Ming climbed into the caravan, a small bundle of belongings slung over his shoulder. The boy's steps were hesitant, but his aura flickered brighter with each one.
A faint notification shimmered before Lin Haoran's eyes:
[+1000 Destiny Points Earned.]
Lin Haoran exhaled, his lips curving into a faint smile.