"Who... who am I? Where am I?"
Deep within the cavern space, a roughly thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy clad in coarse clothes clumsily climbed up from the ground. His murmurings made it clear that he was extremely unfamiliar with this place.
"Am I Yun Xiao? No... I am the Long Xiao Battle God! But... how did I end up here?"
As the objects in front of Yun Xiao gradually became clear, it was obvious that he was starting to remember certain things. Yet, as he looked at his new body, a tide of other memories began to surge into his mind.
Yun Xiao remembered quite clearly that he was not supposed to be this young. In his past life, he was the invincible Battle God of the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud, with few opponents aside from Emperor Canglong, who was known as the ruler of Dragon Cloud.
"Right, Emperor Canglong!"
As this unforgettable name popped into his mind, Yun Xiao's slightly immature elegant face suddenly contorted with a hint of vicious resentment.
As the Long Xiao Battle God, Yun Xiao had fought under Emperor Canglong, earning countless meritorious deeds across the world. However, his accomplishments ultimately led to the Emperor's suspicion due to fear of being overshadowed.
With the prowess of the Long Xiao Battle God, even if he had to turn against them without mercy, escaping with his life would have been a certainty. However, just as Emperor Canglong suddenly made his move, his wife, who had already betrayed him, inflicted him with a severe poison, and he was ultimately killed by a spear thrust through his heart by Emperor Canglong.
The Long Xiao Battle God thought that this time his death was certain, but unexpectedly, as the stars shifted, his soul was reborn into the body of a youth on the Hidden Dragon Continent, the lowest level plane of the Nine Dragons Continent.
This youth was named Yun Xiao. As the Long Xiao Battle God's memories of his past life merged into Yun Xiao's mind, everything seemed so unbelievable.
But regardless, with this rebirth, it was as if the Long Xiao Battle God was given a chance to start anew. He would have the opportunity to reclaim the "graces" bestowed upon him by that ungrateful man and woman.
"Alas, this body is really weak, not even a trace of Meridian Qi. This could be problematic!"
With a resigned attitude, the Long Xiao Battle God stopped dwelling on those ethereal matters of the past and began making plans for this brand-new body.
From his memories, Yun Xiao also came to understand how this body ended up in this place, and he knew that there were quite some troubles associated with this young body.
It turned out that this place was a remote small city within the Xuanyue Empire on the Hidden Dragon Continent called Moon Bow City. The family where this body belonged was the Shang Family, and Yun Xiao's mother was of the Shang surname. For some reasons, her status in the Shang Family was even lower than that of a servant.
Yun Xiao's mother had a son and a daughter, and when Yun Xiao was two years old, she happened to pick up a baby girl abandoned in the snow, called Xue Qi. This turn of events stemmed from the baby named Xue Qi.
Xue Qi and Yun Xiao grew up together like childhood sweethearts, and the latter always treated her like an older sister. Unfortunately, as time went by, Xue Qi seemed increasingly dissatisfied with her situation, unable to bear the hardship and wishing to climb to a higher branch.
Speaking of luck, Xue Qi's wasn't great either. She was recently injured by a powerful Vein Demon. As her younger brother, Yun Xiao exhausted all his Meridian Qi to save her, which resulted in destroying his meridians and still failing to heal her.
Yet, Xue Qi was still not content and sent Yun Xiao to the Shang Family Snake Nest in search of something called the "Snake Spirit Pill." Filled with deadly snakes, as soon as Yun Xiao entered, he was bitten by venomous snakes and lost consciousness.
Had it not been for the soul of the Long Xiao Battle God being reborn, Yun Xiao might have ceased to breathe by now. It's worth mentioning that the venomous snakes that had bitten Yun Xiao before were now nowhere to be found.
The original Yun Xiao was simple-minded. Even though he was deceived into coming to the Snake Nest and poisoned to death for the sake of Xue Qi, he never doubted her intentions.
But when the soul of the Long Xiao Battle God was reincarnated inside Yun Xiao's body, with his worldly experience, he realized in just a moment that the fate of this body's original owner was all thanks to the heart of a serpent-like Xue Qi.
After being reborn, Yun Xiao was just sorting through these memories belonging to the original owner when he heard a loud shouting coming from outside the distant cave. He couldn't help but stand up and chuckle softly.
"Hmm?"
However, just as Yun Xiao was about to step out of the cave, his gaze shifted, and he saw a faint golden light flickering deep within the Snake Nest Cave, looking extremely mystical.
The golden light was fleeting, and even Yun Xiao, reborn as the Long Xiao Battle God, could hardly tell whether it was his eyes seeing things or not. With the shouting outside growing more intense, he didn't think much of it and turned around, quickly walking toward the entrance of the cave.
Only after Yun Xiao's figure disappeared in the cave's passage did the cave suddenly become unsettled. Venomous snakes of various colors emerged from somewhere, all wriggling toward the depths of the cave, as if on a pilgrimage.
...
The courtyard was secluded.
Deep within the Shang Family manor, there was a cluster of seemingly haphazard yet artfully arranged artificial hills. Standing not far in front of the hills was a charming young girl in a light green dress.
The girl appeared to be around fourteen or fifteen years old, already slender and graceful. However, her expression carried a trace of desolation and repressed resentment.
Tap tap!
A series of footsteps came from behind the girl. As she turned to look, the desolation on her face vanished, leaving only anger as she shouted furiously, "Is it that bitch Xue Qi who sent you? Get lost!"
"Hehe, Miss Yun Wei, you have been guarding this place for a whole month now. It seems to me that Young Master Yun Xiao is not coming back. You should just accept it and move on!" The newcomer was not angered by her response, merely chuckling and speaking with a grin, completely indifferent to the girl's fury.
"Hmph, spare me your crocodile tears. If it weren't for treating that bitch Xue Qi, how would Yun Xiao have lost his Meridian Qi? And that woman is still not content; she lured Yun Xiao into this Snake Nest to search for some 'Snake Spirit Pill.' Go back and tell her, if anything happens to my brother, I, Yun Wei, will never let her off the hook!"
As Yun Wei spoke, her anger grew, along with repeatedly cursing "that bitch," eventually causing the newcomer to change color and retort, "Yun Wei, don't bite the hand that feeds you. Xue Qi is now a favored guest of Young Master Huixu—how dare you compare yourself to someone whose father you don't even know, you bastard?"
"Besides, entering the Snake Nest, do you think that waste Yun Xiao could still be alive? I advise you, you mother and son, or rather mother and daughter now, might as well give up any hope!" The man's words became increasingly cutting, showing not a shred of mercy by the end.
"Shang Xi, you're nothing more than a dog raised by Shang Huiyu. What's there to be proud of?" Yun Wei was shaking with rage, pointing at Shang Xi's nose and cursing loudly.
"Hehe, even if I am a dog, I still bear the Shang surname. Your Yun Family, mother, and three children—oh no, just mother and daughter now—might soon be kicked out of the Shang Family, right?" Shang Xi said with no sense of shame, his words once again hinting that Yun Xiao would never return from the Snake Nest.
"It seems that if I don't teach you a lesson today, you'll really think that we, a widow and orphan, are easy to bully!" Yun Wei was enraged, and a faint and unusual aura began to emit from her body.
"Sister, how can you dirty your hands dealing with such scum? Let me handle this," just as Yun Wei was about to make a move to put the arrogant Shang Xi in his place, an extremely familiar voice suddenly came from behind her.
Turning her head, Yun Wei saw a boy, about thirteen or fourteen years old, with tattered clothes walking toward her. It was none other than her brother Yun Xiao, who she presumed had already died within the Snake Nest.
"Yun Xiao, you... you're actually alive?"
In contrast to Yun Wei's overwhelming joy, Shang Xi, who was facing in the direction of the Snake Nest, looked absolutely horrified. He knew that inside the Snake Nest were deadly snakes, and even the Family Head dared not step inside lightly.
Furthermore, knowing that Yun Xiao had already lost his Meridian Qi before entering the Snake Nest, how could he still be alive? Yet, the living boy before him was proving that all of this was true.
"I just overheard someone talking about kicking our mother and sons out of the Shang Family?"
A glint flashed in Yun Xiao's eyes. Ignoring his somewhat excited sister Yun Wei, he continued speaking while moving several steps forward.
"Hmph, even if you managed to survive the Snake Nest, you're still a cripple, right? Yes, I said those words. What are you going to do about it?" Shang Xi seemed to have regained his composure, sensing no Meridian Qi fluctuations from the boy before him, he became once again defiant.
"Since you've admitted to it, then you should pay the price!" Yun Xiao did not stop moving, nor did he seem to see the Meridian Qi emerging from Shang Xi; as he stepped forward, he slowly extended his right arm.
"Xiao'er, be careful, he has already broken through to the Middle Stage of Meridian Qi Strength!" Seeing this, Yun Wei finally came to her senses and shouted a warning.
By this time, Yun Wei had also sensed her brother's Meridian Qi Cultivation, or rather, she could not sense any Meridian Qi Cultivation from Yun Xiao. With such strength, how could he withstand a blow from Shang Xi, who was at the Middle Stage of Meridian Qi Strength?
It seemed that Shang Xi thought the same, Yun Xiao's escape from the Snake Nest had indeed given him a fright, but his Meridian Qi Cultivation was still imperceptible. In his heart, Shang Xi didn't regard Yun Xiao as a formidable enemy.
Crack!
Just as a trace of Meridian Qi began to emerge from Shang Xi, Yun Xiao's right arm had already preemptively struck with tremendous force, snapping Shang Xi's right arm.
At that moment, Yun Xiao's speed was almost ghostly, and yet Shang Xi still could not sense any Meridian Qi fluctuations from Yun Xiao until then, which shocked him greatly.
Crack!
Before Shang Xi could react, Yun Xiao's arm had already broken his other arm with lightning speed. The sudden and intense pain made Shang Xi scream out loud.