Wutan City. North Corner.
While the central districts of the city bustled with the prestige of the Three Great Clans, the North Corner remained a place of grey stone, damp alleys, and the smell of cheap coal. It was the district of commoners, where Dou Qi was a dream and survival was a daily chore.
In a secluded courtyard at the very edge of the district, a young man stood motionless.
Ye Xuan was fifteen. He wore simple, clean black robes that clung to his lean, wire-tough frame. His most striking feature was his hair—stark, snow-white, pulled back into a sharp ponytail and secured with a plain wooden pin. His pale blue eyes were as cold and still as a frozen lake.
He exhaled.
A puff of white mist escaped his lips, despite the morning being relatively warm.
He sat cross-legged on a worn stone mat. In his mind, he visualized the flow of energy. He was practicing the "Flowing Ripple Mantra", a Low-Level Yellow Class Water Attribute technique. It was the only thing his parents had left behind before the Warcraft Mountains claimed their lives ten years ago.However, as the blue Qi entered his meridians, it didn't stay fluid. It slowed. It crystallized.
The air around Ye Xuan dropped several degrees. A thin layer of frost began to creep across the stone mat.
Peak Nine-Star Dou Shi.
In the entire Wutan City, the leaders of the Three Great Clans—like Xiao Zhan—were only at the level of Da Dou Shi.
A fifteen-year-old at the peak of the Dou Shi realm was a monstrous talent that would make the Yunlan Sect descend in person to recruit him.But Ye Xuan didn't care for fame.
He opened his eyes. The frost vanished instantly, suppressed deep within his bones.
"Still not enough," he muttered. His voice was calm, devoid of the arrogance typical of geniuses.
Ye Xuan stood up and walked toward a small basin to wash his face. He looked at his reflection. Handsome, yet distant.
He looked like a sword that had been left in the snow—sharp, cold, and solitary.He had been reborn into this world with memories of another.
He knew the trajectory of this world. He knew that in a crib within the Xiao Clan estate, a one-year-old named Xiao Yan was currently sleeping—the future Dou Di.
Ye Xuan felt nothing toward the child. No hate, no desire to curry favor.The Dou Qi Continent was a cruel place. Without strength, you were ants.
His parents, mere Dou Zhe, had been crushed like insects. He wouldn't allow the same fate for himself.
He grabbed a bamboo basket and slung it over his shoulder. It was time to head to the market to buy basic medicinal herbs.
As he walked through the North Corner, few people spared him a glance. He was "the orphan from the Ye house." He stayed low-key, masking his presence so effectively that he appeared to be a mere Three-Star Dou Zhe to any wandering eyes.
"Hey, Ye Xuan! Fresh buns?" an old vendor called out."No, thank you, Uncle Li," Ye Xuan replied with a slight nod. His attitude wasn't rude, just... withdrawn.
He moved through the world like a ghost.As he reached the main market area, the atmosphere changed. The guards wore the emblem of the Xiao Clan."Clear the way! The Clan Head's carriage is passing!"People scurried to the sides.
Ye Xuan stepped into the shadows of a stall, his expression impassive. A carriage rolled by, decorated with the Xiao Clan's insignia. Inside, he could feel a moderate presence—Xiao Zhan.And for a brief moment, he sensed a tiny, flickering life force within. The "Child of Destiny."Ye Xuan's eyes didn't linger.
He turned and walked in the opposite direction.Destiny is yours, he thought. Power will be mine.Back in his courtyard, Ye Xuan began grinding the herbs he had purchased. He was a self-taught apothecary—not an Alchemist, for he lacked the Wood and Fire attributes, but he knew enough about herbology to supplement his training.
He felt the bottleneck of the Nine-Star Dou Shi.The Low-Level Yellow technique was his biggest shackle. It was like trying to force a river through a straw. His rare Ice Attribute was far too powerful for the "Flowing Ripple Mantra."
"I need a new Qi Method," he whispered, looking toward the dark silhouette of the Warcraft Mountains in the distance. "And I need the blood of an Ice-attribute Warcraft to break through to Da Dou Shi."
To others, a fifteen-year-old attempting to reach Da Dou Shi was insanity. To Ye Xuan, it was a necessity.He tightened his ponytail and checked the hidden daggers at his waist. He didn't use a flashy heavy sword or a spear. He preferred efficiency.
The sun began to set, casting long, orange shadows over Wutan City. While the city prepared for the evening's festivities, the white-haired youth vanished into the forest.He was a shadow in the black clothes, a streak of frost in the dark.
Nobody in Wutan City knew that the strongest "genius" in their history had just left the gates, heading into the jaws of danger to claim his throne.