Yan Xiu's body drifted through an endless swirl of ethereal blue.
He couldn't tell if he was floating, falling, or simply standing still. The portal felt like an infinite tunnel where time had no meaning. Nothing moved—yet everything was moving, as if space itself was breathing.
Then, suddenly, there was light.
The blue hue faded in a blink, and the strange pressure that surrounded him vanished.
Yan Xiu staggered slightly.
He was… back in the cave.
The same cold stone walls. The same hollow silence. The portal still shimmered in the center of the room, quiet and undisturbed—as if nothing had happened at all.
Yan Xiu blinked. "…Huh?"
He looked around, turning in a slow circle.
"Did I—? Did I not go anywhere?"
He took a step forward, half expecting the cave to dissolve or shift. But nothing changed.
And then, a beam of sunlight streamed through the narrow cave entrance.
"…It's morning?" he muttered, eyes narrowing.
He stepped outside.
The forest greeted him with golden light and swaying treetops. The sun was already high in the sky, blazing down with the intense heat of late morning. Birds chirped in the distance. The air was fresh, untouched by whatever strange energy had filled the cave.
"Did I really… spend the whole night in that portal?" he muttered.
It didn't feel like time had passed. Not really. But the position of the sun didn't lie.
Yan Xiu scratched the back of his head, frustration curling in his gut.
"Sigh… I got so excited for nothing…" he muttered, adjusting the strap of his bag. "Guess I'll just head back to the sect."
His tone was flat, but his eyes lingered one last time on the cave behind him. On that flickering blue light deep within.
He turned and began walking.
But as Yan Xiu continued deeper into the forest, something felt wrong.
His steps slowed. His brow furrowed.
"…Where's the path?"
He spun around, scanning the trees and underbrush. In the light of day, he should have been able to recognize the trail back. The forest wasn't especially complex this far out. He had walked it a dozen times before.
But now…
The forked tree that marked the turn?
Gone.
The mossy boulder near the old tree stump?
Nowhere in sight.
"What the hell…" he muttered.
Confused, he walked further, weaving between the trees. And then—he paused.
A tree stood just to his left, its bark rough and familiar. Its branches crooked in a way that made his memory snap into place.
"Wait…" Yan Xiu stepped closer. His eyes narrowed. "This is it. This is the tree."
But it was shorter.
Its branches thinner. Its trunk narrower than it should've been.
"…Why is it smaller?"
He pressed a hand to the bark, confused. The tree was unmistakably the same one he had marked in his mind. But it was younger. Fresher. Like time had turned back.
A few meters ahead, something else caught his eye.
A large rock resting at the base of a sloping hill. He moved toward it, then stopped in his tracks.
"That's… the mossy boulder?"
He stared.
There was no moss.
No green growth. Just smooth, grey stone, unmarked by time or weather.
"…What the fuck is going on?"
A chill crept up his spine.
The trees were the same.
The path was the same.
But everything was wrong.
Younger.
Newer.
As if time had been rewound.
He kept walking, letting instinct guide his feet, retracing the route he had taken dozens of times before.
Eventually, the trees parted into a wide clearing.
Yan Xiu stopped.
His eyes went wide.
"…Wait…"
This should have been the Black Wind Marketplace.
It was always bustling. Stalls. Merchants. A dozen cultivators on any given day.
But now?
There was nothing.
Just open land, tall grass swaying in the breeze. Not a trace of civilization in sight.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
"…Did I go back in time?"
"Fuck!" Yan Xiu hissed, stepping back from the empty clearing. His heart pounded.
"I have to go back—back to my time! But what if… what if the portal doesn't work again? What if I'm stuck here?"
He spun around, panicked eyes flicking between the trees and the direction of the cave. His breath quickened.
But before he could move—
"Hahahahahaha! Brother Bai!" a loud voice echoed from nearby, followed by the sharp crunch of footsteps through dry grass. "That was so funny! Mei Ling rejected you right to your face!"
Another voice responded, much softer and more hesitant. "Brother Ying Feng… c-can you please stop laughing? It's not funny, you know…"
"Haha! Sorry, sorry…" the first voice barely stifled another cackle, clearly having too much fun.
Yan Xiu froze.
Those voices… they sounded young. Disciples, maybe?
He turned quickly, stepping around a tall bush just in time to see two young men.
The taller one was broad-shouldered and loud, his grin wide and obnoxious. The other stood with a bit of a slouch, clutching a small pouch, face slightly flushed.
The quieter one spotted Yan Xiu first and raised his hand. "Hey! You!"
Yan Xiu approached them, his gaze scanning their faces. They both looked… so familiar.
He stopped a few paces away and gave a polite bow. "What sect are you two from?"
The big one puffed out his chest and spoke with proud flair. "We are the best disciples of the great—High Heaven Pavilion!"
Yan Xiu's eyes widened. "The… High Heaven Pavilion?"
The words struck him like lightning. That was his sect. His current sect.
"Yes, yes! Shocked, huh?" the big one said, smirking. "Someone from a third-rate sect like yours should be amazed to even see us!"
He thumped his chest. "I am Yang Ying Feng! The strongest disciple of the High Heaven Pavilion!"
He jabbed a thumb toward the smaller one beside him. "And that's Yang Bai. The second strongest!"
At that, Yang Bai's jaw tensed. His fist clenched by his side, and for a split second, his eyes flashed with something sharp.
'The second…' he thought bitterly, but didn't say a word.
To be continued...
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This is the arc, a lot of ideas came to me the other day, so it will be longer than I initially thought, I hope you'll like it.
Be sure to check out my original novel Hyperborea!