2

After 30 minutes of speed walking, the sight of Ruo Chen's family house finally appeared in their view.

The house was still made of wood, but it wasn't moulding or rotting like Ye Ran's. it was also quite big and had enough space to house at least 10 people comfortably, next to it was the small wooden shed that Ruo Chen had woken up in.

Now Ruo Chen felt something was off, why hadn't he woken up in the main house but instead in a shed? He wanted to ask the pup but seeing Ye Ran beside him and not wanting to seem more like a weirdo, he decided to save it for later.

"I'm not sure if my parents will like it if we come unannounced, so let's go to the shed!" Ruo Chen decided to play it off like this.

Ye Ran didn't comment as the trio ran towards the small shed.

The door opened with a small creak and Ruo Chen ushered everyone in, not forgetting to place a foot before the pup and making it trip.

"Woof woof!" The pup barked in anger as it tripped.

Ruo Chen only smiled in response before gently shutting the door behind him.

And soon an awkward silence came over them. First, the pup couldn't participate in the conversation so it just began pacing around the room. Second, Ye Ran had no idea how to interact with others as he was always kept at home, his parents never allowed others to interact with him for some reason.

Lastly, Ruo Chen being the omniscient author, already knew everything about Ye Ran. Or that's what he though at least.

The only sound could be heard was the gentle wind and although the temperatures were quite low, Ruo Chen found himself to be sweating.

The person in front of him was the protagonist himself! The Lord of the world! The ruthless lord who wouldn't bat an eye when killing someone who wronged him. Unease began forming inside of him as he stared nervously at Ye Ran, the scourge of the world.

"So, do you have a core?" Ruo Chen squeezed out. In the end, he decided to play dumb.

Of course the protagonist would have a core and it formed when he was born, truly blessed by the heavens. Yet he never used it, his parents restricted him from doing so as they were afraid of him harming others.

"Yea." Ye Ran said with a deadpan look, this couldn't be more boring for him but it was at least better than staying in that house.

He began looking around the shed. There wasn't much decorations except for a bed and a study table. It was quite spacious considering its size and had a small window beside the bed where you could gaze into the green fields.

"Your dog, what's its name?"

Ruo Chen heard the little pup whimper "I don't have a name." and a sinister smile crept up.

Don't have a name? I'll give you one then, hehe.

"Its called Pang, Xiao Pang."

The pup, hearing his name only howled miserably as being called a little fatty. Ye Ran only smiled as he tested the name on his lips.

"Xiao pang, come here."

Xiao pang could only follow the command as he walked over to Ye Ran and licked his finger.

"How old are you?" Ye Ran questioned again.

Ruo Chen could only hopelessly cast another glance at Xiao Pang before saying that he was 12 as well.

What a coincidence to be the same age as the protagonist.

Which means they will probably enter school at the same time. Although Ye Ran was superior in every aspect, he did not go school earlier like other talented kids but waited until he was 15 like everyone else. This was because his parents did not have enough money to send him in earlier and had to save up for a few more years.

As for this side character, Ruo Chen already knew that this kid would have early admission as he already had a core. This came to Ruo Chen as a shock as he never realised he wrote this Ruo Chen to be so powerful as to be 3 years ahead of his peers. The type of energy he resonated with was also a weird one, dark energy. He was way better off suited fighting during night time where dark energy was abundant.

Ye Ran nodded before getting up.

"It's getting late, I don't want to overstay my welcome."

"Okay, be careful!" Ruo Chen hurriedly stood up as he ushered Ye Ran out. He hoped that Ye Ran would stay the night as he was afraid of what Ye Ran might suffer from if he were to go back.

Yet Ruo Chen pushed that thought to the back of his mind as he reminded himself that Ye Ran was the protagonist, he wouldn't suffer that much till the point of death, he'll be okay.

Right?

Night came and Ruo Chen still saw no signs of his family coming home.

"Hey Xiao Pang, what the situation with my family?"

"Your parent are people with a good core and often go out to help others and are rarely home. You hated that they never paid attention to you so you built a shed near the house as an act of defiance, you didn't want to live under the same roof as them."

Wasn't that kind of dumb? But it wasn't like the shed was anything bad. The parent probably came to reinforce the wood so that it wouldn't collapse and made it so that it was fairly clean.

This kid is kind of a rebel, Ruo Chen could t help but think that as he went to the fields where the horses were.

"No siblings?" Ruo Chen asked and laid down.

"Nope, none." Xiao Pang barked and laid down as well.

"So I'm powerful and have lots of talent, the route I'm supposed to take is to enter the same school at Ye Ran and help him find love?"

"Sort of, your end goal is to just make sure he finds a lover."

Silence fell.

There really was nothing to say between an introvert and a dog. The school that Ye Ran attended in the Blazing through the world was called the school of flames, as in accordance to the energy he resonated with. But that couldn't be said for Ruo Chen as he resonated with dark energy.

What to do…

Ugh, it was too hard to think in such a place.

So, Ruo Chen decided to go on a walk while thought about it. Technically there was a fruit in this world that allowed one to change the energy they resonated with, but the spirit inside would ask for something in return. It was randomized but one couldn't help but feel scared that the spirit would ask for something absurd.

Most reported cases said the spirit only asked for some simple materials like herbs or flowers, but what if it asked for an arm? Ruo Chen couldn't help but shiver at the thought. The fruit was called A fulfilled dream, what a nice name for something that could be so devastating.

"The admission is still so far away, I'll mull it over next time…" Ruo Chen mumbled as he kicked a stone.

Funnily, he had walked straight to Ye Ran's house while he was lost in thought. Ruo Chen couldn't help but look slightly dumbfounded as he saw that rundown house again.

Must be because this was the first place I came to, definitely not cause I'm worried.

Yea, I won't check up on him.

I won't.

After a few seconds and the shuffling of feet, Ruo Chen once again found himself looking for Ye Ran, at least he wasn't lying like dead outside again.

"Stupid brother, since you're so strong, why don't you fight back!" An outraged scream tore through the peaceful night and it had Ruo Chen whipping his head towards the direction the sound.

It seemed to come from the forest opposite the house.

Ruo Chen felt his palm go sweaty as many possibilities ran through his mind.

I knew something was wrong!

He blamed himself in his mind as he sped through the forest, the night aiding him due to his core. He was able to run faster and quickly reached the source of the sound in no time.

In front of him was a gruesome sight. A tall youth about the age of 17 held a long whip with spikes along it stared down at a quivering boy. Although the boy was bitten bloody, the eyes were not muddled and still crystal clear, the hint of red was now more obvious yet it did not make his eyes seem purple like it usually did.

It was a clear separation of red and blue.

Ruo Chen immediately noticed something wrong. This happened only when Ye Ran was mad and about to go berserk, the reasons behind it were complicated and Ruo Chen would rather not recall the reasons now.

Thankfully, he had tested out how to manipulate the energy he had in his core on the way her. It was also thanks to the muscles memory of the previous body's owner, they had trained till their control of their energy was perfect.

The skill transferred seamlessly over to Ruo Chen as he skillfully transferred energy to his hand to stop the whip before it landed on Ye Ran again.

Boom!

As the ball of dark energy collided with the whip, a loud explosion occured and the whip with ripped into shreds. Once the remnant dark energy dispersed, the youth immediately started scolding Ruo Chen.

"Who the hell are you? Don't you know not to mess with other people's business?!"

The enraged shout was then followed with a blast of water energy to Ruo Chen's face.

Ruo Chen's face darkened before enveloping his hand with the dark energy to absorb the attack and the flicked his hand to return it tenfold back to the youth.

"Ruo Chen, here to help my friend!"