Incoming Storm

Grand Irricester Institute, Main Gate

After leaving the classroom, Rihan walked alongside Sung Li while he carried his backpack on his shoulders. They headed toward the main building where all the students lived.

However, something caught their attention near the entrance of the school; it was none other than the girl from their class.

The young woman stood still, staring at the ground. Her long black hair swayed gently behind her as the wind blew past. Her lips curved up into the tiniest of smiles. The sunlight reflected from her silver eyes as she gazed at them.

"Hey, Xiao Yi Ling!" Rihan called to her and waved spontaneously as he approached her.

Xiao Yi Ling lifted her head, her gaze falling upon Rihan.

"Xiao Yi, are you all right!? Did anything happen!?" Rihan asked. However, Rihan quickly snapped back to reality.

"Why is he calling me by the name?" Xiao Yi Ling muttered to herself. It was obvious that she doesn't recognize him.

"Agh, I forgot, we didn't know each other yet during this time! How could I forget!?" Rihan panicked. He did not expect to meet her ever again so quickly again in this timeline.

"Who are you looking for?" Sung Li asked after noticing the direction of Rihan's gaze.

"No one," he responded indifferently, "I was just wondering where everyone went."Her face turned red and her eyes darted around.

"W-who are you calling Xiao Yi!? That's not my name!" Xiao Yi Ling responded.

"Rihan, do you know this girl? Small fish? What a peculiar name" Sung Li asked.

"Small fish? Is she your sister?" Sung Li questioned.

"No, she's not my family member or anything! I just call her that because she is small! Like her size! It's nothing else! Nothing more, nothing less." Rihan retorted.

"You two seem to be friends. Why don't you introduce yourselves first? We have already met, so there's no need to be so formal," Sung Li suggested.

"Hmph!" Xiao Yi Ling huffed, "I'm no small fry. I am an important person here. No one can simply address me as 'small fish'."

Sung Li glanced back at the girl, "Well, it seems that her name is actually not 'small fish'. I wonder why she would be called such."

"I don't care, I don't need to explain myself to you, you moron!" snapped. She seemed annoyed at Sung Li's question but she wasn't angry enough to argue back. Instead, she simply turned around and started walking away.

Rihan simply watched as Xiao Yi Ling walked away. She is tall and slender with long legs that make her look like she's standing on tiptoes at times.

She had the same features that he remembered. The nose, the lips, the ears, the cheekbones.

She has pale skin and black hair which falls in soft waves down to about halfway up her back. Her eyes are silver and large giving off an airy feeling when you're near them.

It looks as if there should be some kind of secret hidden behind those eyes She had the same features that he remembered.

The nose, the lips, the ears. But he could tell that she had changed, her hair is no longer silver. She was different from the person in his memory.

Rihan looked at Sung Li, who shrugged and said, "I guess she's gone-"

Dong! Dong! Dong!

A bell rang loudly in the air signaling the end of school hours.

"I'm going back to the dormitory. I don't know if I'll see you guys tomorrow. Have fun!" Rihan quickly bid farewell before turning on his heels and heading towards the gates.

In his mind, he's trying hard to keep his thoughts at bay. He could feel his memories overflowing with events from the future. He was glad that he had made it out alive from the Soul Merging Ritual.

He recalled his fight alongside Sung Li which was short-lived after Sung Li was crushed by a dragon.

In the next moment, he flashbacks to his battle against Miss Shurong and how he was forced to kill her. Then, he remembered how he managed to escape with Xiao Yi's help.

He tried his best to ignore the painful memories flooding in and focused on his current situation as he ran in the direction of his dorm.

The chaos in my mind will cause dissonance in my cultivation! He thought to himself.

Indeed, his small body is not yet ready for the strength of his new soul which contains 500 years of accumulated knowledge and experience from his past life.

As he runs away quickly, a complex and chaotic thunderstorm seems to be forming above the Irricestar Mountain Range. Promising heavy rains and storms that will leave a lasting memory in the local's history.

The dorm house where he resides appears gloomy in the distance. To the left of the dorm is a big lake with a bridge in the middle. Beyond that, the training ground for students and teachers opens 24/7 even late at midnight.

Although it's still far from the nighttime, the darkness brought by the storm brought a cold breeze across the lake and into the training ground.

From the darkness, a blue light shined brightly from within the training ground. The sound of a blade cutting through the wind and occasional bright light is sure to attract the attention of any passerby.

"Hah! Hiayk! I will forge my own destiny and not be controlled!" a soft voice shouts out.

A figure, with a slender body and soft silky hair, can be seen slashing, cutting, and overall just training in the dark training ground can be heard.

However, as slowly as the darkness crept in, the rain started pouring soon after Rihan entered the dorm.

"Huh? Who's ther—!?" the figure was suddenly surprised by a presence in the training ground.

The figure looks flustered by the sound and presence, all of a sudden it collapsed to the ground and stopped responding.

The footstep of Rihan stomping down the hallway could still be heard, "I didn't expect to be welcomed by this sort of pain as soon as I returned to the past."