Bo City greeted me as always friendly. Namely: with the loud cry of a Winged Wolf and human corpses on the streets, an idyll for an anarchist, no doubt.
I knew Bai Yang's approximate location from my past life, so catching up to him before he ran into that group of schoolkids was no trouble.
Since this summoner dragged his summoning wolf everywhere, I had to slightly diversify the old strategy against poor mages without magical armor or spiritual protections—namely, "you get hit on the head, and I get the cultivation"—and cover both him and the wolf with a spiritual strike.
After I took Bai Yang's Summon Element cultivation from the unconscious guy, his summoning wolf vanished on its own. That's something to remember; might come in handy later.
I was about to return to my world, but I recalled my awkward dialogue with Xin Xia during the catastrophe and decided my local version absolutely deserved better luck. A mischievous smile crept onto my face. I felt like an interdimensional Cupid.
First thing, I pulled out a special vessel that shields elemental energy—the kind they usually use to collect Spirit Seeds—and tried preserving the cultivation I'd taken from Bai Yang in it.
As expected, it settled in perfectly in the sealed vessel and showed no signs of dissipating. Why the hell didn't I think of this sooner? Why does my brain only toss out good ideas when I'm plotting mischief? Whatever, it works, and that's what matters.
I pulled my old Tianlan magic school uniform from the spatial ring and put it on. It was a bit tight—after all, I'd bulked up a lot since school days with the body reinforcement technique. But I figured as long as I didn't make any sudden moves, it wouldn't rip.
While I carefully ran toward the shopping mall, I encountered whole crowds of One-Eyed Rats and One-Eyed Wolves at Servant level. Even spotted a few Three-Eyed Wolves at Pack Chieftain level.
I'd almost forgotten how bloody the catastrophe was without my intervention. I slipped into a bit of melancholy, but that didn't stop me from killing them all.
After the first wave of monsters that splattered some blood on my uniform, I gave up on clearing the streets solo and summoned Bul. Let him deal with them; the only real threat here is a Winged Wolf. And I don't have time—there's a damsel in distress waiting.
Finally entering the somewhat wrecked shopping mall, I peeked into the grocery store on the first floor. My eyes beheld the unchanging scene: a wheelchair at one end of the store and a freezing cute girl at the other. S for stability. And stability is the key to success.
Mimicking heavy breathing as if I'd run all the way from school, and smearing some blood from the uniform on my face, I finally approached the fridge and opened it. In response, eyes sparkling with hope and a touch of confusion stared back at me.
"M-Mu Bai?" she said shakily, half-questioning.
No wonder she was surprised; Mu Bai had barely talked to her before and kept his distance. In her mind, he was probably near the bottom of her list of people who'd come save her. I carefully scooped her up in my arms, like the most fragile thing in the world.
"Xin Xia," I said, gazing at her with immense tenderness in my eyes.
With sufficient mastery of the Spirit Element, you can mimic a wide range of emotions. But I don't use it often—only for important negotiations.
Using such tricks to pick up a girl feels low to me, but this isn't for me... well, for another me. Anyway, it's fine for now.
"I've always loved you!" Seeing her about to ask a question, I hit her with it first, and Xin Xia's eyes widened in shock.
"I used to think—and still think—you love your stepbrother. So I tried not to get in the way of your happiness and kept my distance. Sure, I sometimes lashed out at Mo Fan out of jealousy over you, but I never really hurt him. After all, he's your future husband. I didn't want to ruin your mood by going all out on him." With great tenderness, I stroked the cheek of the stunned girl. And Xin Xia didn't even pull away—she was that shocked.
"But this catastrophe... I couldn't stand by anymore. Worry for you was eating me alive inside. And as you see, I came for a reason. I'm so glad you're alive." I buried my nose in her hair. The girl seemed to have bluescreened; she still hadn't reacted.
"I'll get you out of here, even if I have to die on the way!" I looked into her eyes, steel in my voice.
Even the biggest skeptic would believe me then, let alone a sheltered teenage girl. Xin Xia nodded dazedly, her cheeks a bit flushed.
As soon as we exited the mall, I realized I'd forgotten one thing. An important thing. I'm masquerading as this world's Mu Bai, who's a third-stage Initial level mage with no buffs.
And how the f* am I supposed to take down this damn One-Eyed Wolf that just leaped right at us, while pretending to be such trash!?
After a minute of dodging around the One-Eyed Wolf, trying not to rip the school uniform, I realized it wasn't so bad. Since Xin Xia had buried her face in my chest, I could tweak the wolf's movements with spatial telekinesis when she wasn't looking and hit it with third-stage Initial ice element strikes right to the head, gradually freezing its brains.
Thirty seconds later, the One-Eyed Wolf finally dropped. I started faking heavy breathing for Xin Xia and leaned back against the wall for a short rest. "Mu Bai, are you okay? You're not hurt?" asked this miss dandelion.
Oh man, what a good guy I am. Local Mu Bai's lucky. I can practically feel my karma purifying. Should I do this more often? Nah, too much hassle.
"Don't worry—as long as my body can move, it'll carry you to the safe zone. No matter the cost." I pulled her closer.
Damn, I'm getting diabetes from all this sugar; better hustle her to the safe zone quick. I don't even get this cuddly with Ai Tutu.
Later on the path, I ran into monsters three more times. Good thing all three were One-Eyed Rats. Bad thing—they attacked at once. Dodging with telekinesis and trying not to rip the uniform repeated.
When I was right at the safe zone border, luck really screwed me, and I ran into a Three-Eyed Wolf at Pack Chieftain level. Damn, I'll have to level up local Mu Bai to Intermediate after all. Posing as Initial, I can't handle this beast.
"Xin Xia, close your eyes—I'm using the Star Map!" I yelled. Good girl Xin Xia didn't argue and buried herself deeper in my chest.
Naturally, no Star Map. I pinned the wolf's legs with fifth-stage Initial spatial telekinesis. With my third spiritual boundary, it was stronger than a first-stage Intermediate spell.
Then I cast first-stage Intermediate ice and summoned an ice chain to smash the wolf's legs, drawing a loud yelp from my restrained opponent.
You can't kill a beast like that with one unbuffed first-stage Intermediate spell. But purely by "accident," shattering its legs and escaping before it regenerates? Totally possible.
Finishing the animal abuse, I hurried to the safe zone—lest, with my luck, a Winged Wolf come flying around the corner. The whole cover would go down the drain.
Finally carrying Xin Xia into the safe zone barrier, I set her down a bit away from the crowd. Naturally, on my jacket, which I'd tossed on the ground first. Gotta play the gentleman. Noticing she was about to speak, I pressed a finger to her lips.
"I know you can't return my feelings because you love Mo Fan. Don't say it—don't break my heart with your answer. Let me have this little illusion of uncertainty." I forced a smile.
After that, she looked at me with a complex, guilty gaze. No worries—I hadn't played all my cards yet.
"Here, take this." I pulled a pair of beautiful feminine magic wings from the spatial ring and handed them over. I've got all kinds of junk in there.
"This is...!" The girl covered her mouth in shock.
"Yeah, magic wings. Unlike one idiot, I prove my love with actions, not words." I smirked, noticing her frown deeply as she geared up to argue.
"Sorry-sorry, let me brag one last time in my life." I pleaded, giving her a sad look of someone resigned to his fate.
"One last time?" Xin Xia asked worriedly. Fish on the hook. Time to reel her in.
"Yeah, the last. I know my love is unrequited, so I've decided to erase my memories of loving you. That way, I won't bother you anymore, and you won't feel awkward around me." I sighed, seemingly accepting it.
"I'll tweak the memories of the other classmates too, like I was with them the whole catastrophe. The Mu family had an ancient artifact for that, and it came in handy." I smiled self-deprecatingly.
"Mu Bai..." Her eyes widened in shock; she was clearly about to talk me out of it.
"Shh, I've made up my mind. But grant me one last request." I leaned my lips to her ear, quickening her breath.
"Tell Tang Yue I overheard that my uncle Mu He is the archdeacon of Huijin in the Black Church." I whispered the info that made her hair stand on end, making her forget my memory wipe plan for a moment.
"And one more thing..." I pulled a pen, paper, and envelope from the spatial ring and started writing. In the letter, I explained who Xin Xia's mother was, that a Parthenon holy spirit lived inside her, and she needed to get there ASAP and proclaim it publicly. That way, she'd get all the resources for growth.
I also wrote to destroy the letter after reading, that I'd overheard it from my uncle—who'd likely had a forgetfulness worm implanted and would soon forget—and that I'd forget everything I'd said. At the end, I wished her a happy life with Mo Fan. I even squeezed out a dramatic tear onto the letter.
If she doesn't fall for local Mu Bai after this, I'll jump off a roof. Weak threat for me, but my life's worth more than a bet. Just hate to lose.
"Take this letter and read it only after I'm gone, okay? And don't look for this ring later—I stole it from a Black Church member and will toss it soon." Getting her nod, I vanished with a quick run. By the time recovered Xin Xia looked, I was gone.
I had to urgently find local Mu Bai. He was in a tent with the other schoolkids. No Mo Fan in sight—probably ran off for his sister. Good luck to him.
Knocking out corner-sitting Mu Bai with a spiritual strike, I telekinetically lifted his body and, faking a tired gait, led him out of the tent. The dead-tired schoolkids noticed nothing odd.
Setting Mu Bai down at the far end of the camp, I got to work. First, I zipped to another parallel world for a full Holy Spring. Then, applying time acceleration on Mu Bai, I infused him with the spring's energy.
A few hours later, he finally broke through to Intermediate. Slipped a Star Map in his pocket for cover.
Eyeing the vessel with Bai Yang's Summon Element, I decided if I'm helping, do it right—and implanted it into local Mu Bai.
Then I popped to my world for a couple seconds and returned with Pikachu. Time to give local Mu Bai a big meat bat for family issues. Had Pikachu start the body reinforcement technique.
A couple hours later, I critically eyed my work. Still, mine's bigger, I nodded to myself. Glancing at local Mu Bai's bare neck, I spat, fetched the local White Tiger pendant, and fed it souls from today's killed monsters. Now, perfect external match with current me.
Time to head back to my world—but first, peek at another Bai Yang. Enough altruism for today; time for business.
11 years later. Greece. Parthenon. Goddess's chambers.
"Dear, why did you start taking care of me back then? I thought you liked Mo Fan." Asked the newly appointed leader of the Sun Knights and the Goddess's personal guard, Mu Bai.
Today, on his thirtieth birthday, key moments of his life flashed through his head like a movie. It all started on the day of the Bo catastrophe—when his life changed drastically.
When he woke up at the far end of the camp, sticky and sweaty, with ice element magic that had suddenly broken through to Intermediate and an awakened Summon Element, he was scared shitless.
His first thought: Black Church members experimented on him. Later events only confirmed it—his body suddenly got way stronger, matching the weakest Pack Chieftain monsters. Definitely heretical magic!
Ignoring all his uncle's pleas, he bolted to the one place Black Church couldn't touch him—the holy capital, the Parthenon. Leaving Bo City in a rush, Mu Bai missed Xin Xia's complex gaze his way.
Arriving in Greece, he enrolled in the Knights Hall academy, which trained future Blue Star knights. To stand out, he called the body enhancement experiment results his natural talent. Praise the Goddess, it worked, and they slotted him into the budding elite unit.
A month later, shocking news rocked Greece: the Goddess's heiress was found, and it was his acquaintance, Xin Xia. But he didn't dwell; he was grinding knight training. Also, during combat drills, he discovered his out-of-nowhere pendant was a developing magic tool.
Another month, Sun Knights leader Hai Lun dragged him off without explanation. Later, Mu Bai learned he'd been accepted as a personal disciple.
Two years post-Bo catastrophe, using near-unlimited Parthenon resources as the Knights Temple head's personal disciple, Mu Bai neared High level threshold.
His contract beast became a Golden Sun Titan cub—which thrilled him, knowing titans rival dragons in raw power. Hai Lun gifted the cub but grimaced like he'd bitten a lemon. Always did, even in training.
Mu Bai always puzzled over his mentor's tsundere trait, but after chatting with a Japanese woman there for treatment, he got it: mentor was just a "tsundere." Truth was, no one forced Hai Lun to teach him. Only the Goddess could order the Knights Temple head, and she had no reason to help. Guess he just really liked Mu Bai.
Around then, Mu Bai learned China nabbed a military group experimenting with new element awakenings—and that it should've massively boosted body strength. He broke a sweat, fearing they'd tested on him first. But glory to the Goddess, he didn't go mad like the others.
Mu Bai even heard Xin Xia begged her brother Mo Fan—who skipped the Imperial Exchange to see her—not to return to China, but the guy went anyway.
Half a year later, catastrophe hit China's Ancient Capital, but per Mu Bai, Bo City's source—which Mo Fan returned to the military post-Bo—briefly halted the rain aiding undead daytime attacks, letting them evacuate. The Ancient Emperor never awakened without massive casualties.
Mu Bai was glad yet again he'd left China. Turns out his estranged uncle was the Red Cardinal's right hand. Better not show his face back home.
After the World University Games, where he clinched Greece's win with a skyscraper-sized Solar Titan crushing Egyptian undead in the finals, Xin Xia started caring for him—a huge shock, since he thought she always loved Mo Fan.
When he first told her, she just laughed and gave him a nostalgic look. Wonder what that was about? Maybe he was so handsome as a teen that even the Parthenon Goddess sighs over him now?
Thus, through adventures and hardships—gaining a Black Dragon hunted by some Su Lu as his second contract beast, and adopting the White Tiger Cub Totem—he took his post.
Recently, his not-yet-official wife said she'd talked with her father—imprisoned in the Dark Dimension—alongside adoptive sister Azalia, and wrangled mankind five hundred more years of peace. No matter how he pressed, she just smiled and refused to explain.
Xin Xia, ignoring thoughtful Mu Bai, glanced at the magic wings on the wall, then at the meat bat bulging through his pants.
"Your face was cute back then—don't sweat it. Better, let's celebrate your Sun Knights leader appointment and our anniversary." Xin Xia smiled slyly, shedding her Goddess robe. Many faithful would sell their souls for that sight.
In that moment, all distracting thoughts popped from Mu Bai's head like a cork. Time to blaspheme.
Home world. Our time.
"TuTu, I'm finally back! Time to awaken your Summon Element!" Finally taking the cultivation from today's second Bai Yang, I approached her.
"Sniff-sniff, why do you smell like women's perfume?" Ai Tutu squinted suspiciously at me.
Damn altruism! Next Mu Bai I meet, I'll kick in the balls!