Two figures sat at the edge of a Cliff.
One was an old man. His body was thin and crooked, yet the air around him twisted in slow ripples, as if the world itself could not stand properly beside him. The other was a young man with a handsome face and calm eyes. He sat close to the edge, legs dangling over endless darkness, as relaxed as if he were resting beneath a quiet tree.
The old man looked at him for a long time. "You do not look like you belong in a place like this," he said at last. "What did you do?"
The young man smiled faintly, his gaze still on the dark sky. "Many things. One of them was seducing Goddess Athena."
The old man stiffened.
His fingers twitched. His breath caught in surprise.
For a moment, he could only stare.
"You… you…" His mouth opened again and again, yet the words refused to come. His eyes widened further, as if they might burst. "You are the one who defiled the Goddess? How are you still alive?"
The young man said nothing. The smile on his face never changed.
Then the old man suddenly threw his head back and laughed, which echoed across the cliff, wild and sharp.
"Zeus' expression must have been priceless!" he roared. "I can imagine the rage in his eyes!" He slapped his knee and laughed harder. "Boy, I like you already! Tell me your name!"
"Raphael," the young man replied. "But I would like to be called Raph."
"Raph…" the old man repeated, rolling the name on his tongue. Then he turned and stared at him with strange brightness in his eyes. "So, young man… would you like to leave this place?"
Raph finally turned his head. The old man's face was wrinkled and shriveled like dried bark, yet his eyes were clear and deep, brighter than the cold stars overhead.
"What difference would it make?" Raph asked.
"If I leave, his anger will only chase me again. I would rather sit here until my soul rots than spend my days running from the King of Gods."
The old man's lips curled. "And if I told you that once you leave, his anger will not reach you? If I told you, I could send you to a place where Zeus won't even exist?"
Raph fell silent.
After a moment, he lifted his hand and reached toward the sky. His fingers closed slowly, as if trying to catch the distant stars.
"If that were true," he said, "then after leaving, I would…"
His voice stopped.
He lowered his hand and laughed softly. "Forget it. I am too lazy. I will stay here until I disappear."
The old man laughed again. "You hide your desires poorly, immortal brat," he said. "Even if you sit here forever, can you really die of old age?"
He took one step forward and flicked his sleeve.
The night sky split at once.
Light poured down.
The unchanging darkness of the Protos Cliff shattered as day crashed through it. Souls across the cliff cried out as the world turned upside down for the first time since its birth.
Raph stood up sharply. "Who are you?" he demanded.
The old man smiled. "Just an old man with too much time. I carry no name," he said. "Before I send you away, I wish to thank you."
"Thank me?" Raph frowned. "For wha—"
The world turned white.
The light swallowed everything.
****
Pain tore through Raph's chest.
His eyes flew open, finding a sword standing buried near his heart.
A handsome young man stood in front of him, gripping the hilt. His lips twisted into a vicious grin.
"Tch," the youth muttered. "An inch higher and he would be dead."
A burst of fury surged through Raph. "Get lost." He growled.
Power exploded from his body.
Invisible pressure crushed the air. Blood burst from mouths all around the stage as dozens of onlookers were thrown backward. The attacker standing closest to him took the full force and collapsed instantly after coughing up blood.
As the silence fell for a moment, Raph pulled the sword from his chest. "Ugh..."
Blood spilled down his fingers while his mind surged with memories that did not belong to him, rushed in.
Qin Yu.
This new body he had transmigration into had a cultivation that was painfully low. He was a disciple of the Azure Cloud Pavilion, a sect that trained through dual cultivation.
Moments ago, this body had challenged another disciple over a woman named Sun Xiao.
However, the duel had ended before it truly began.
Raph's gaze darkened as he tried his best to get adjusted to the new memories.
"What is this place…" he murmured.
A shout then broke the silence. "Everyone, stop!"
A middle-aged man landed on the stage and swept his sharp eyes over the scene.
"Who allowed a deathmatch today?" he snapped. "Leave at once, before I summon the disciplinary squad!"
The disciples scattered in panic.
Only Raph and the unconscious youth remained.
The middle-aged man glanced at Raph. "What is your name?"
"Ra..." Raph was about to say his name, but he coughed and cleared his hoarse throat and said, "Qin Yu."
The man nodded and turned away, lifting the fallen disciple.
Raph stepped down from the stage and started walking.
Whispers followed Raph as he walked.
"That's him… Raph."
"The one who chased after Senior Sister Sun even though everyone knew she already had a partner."
"Wasn't he dragged into a deathmatch today?"
Eyes slid to his chest, where bood soaked through the torn hole in his white robe.
"Look at that… Don't tell me the fight already ended."
"Did he win?"
Someone scoffed. "Win? He's only at the third level of the Elementary Spirit Realm. Li Meiran is at the sixth level. That gap can crush a man before he even swings."
"Then why is he walking around?"
"In a deathmatch, only one is supposed to leave alive."
Slow footsteps broke through the noise.
Raph's face was calm, trying to steady his breathing. The blood on his robe looked almost out of place on him, like spilled ink on untouched paper.
A few disciples then stepped forward and blocked his path.
One of them said loudly. "Hey, Hhw did you crawl out of your deathmatch with Li Meiran?"
More people gathered.
All eyes turned to him.
"I don't have time for children," Raph said coldly. "Move."
He stepped forward.
The group froze at his behavior, letting him walk past them.
For a moment, no one reacted.
Then someone shouted from behind, voice cracking with anger.
"Qin Yu! Take one more step, and you'll regret it!"
Raph did not slow down, though. He was already feeling confused about this transmigration, new body, new memories, and this new world, which was completely different from his old one… he didn't have to deal with others now, not with petty children's squabbles…
However, his indifference offended the others.
Footsteps then rushed behind him.
"You bastard…!"
The man lunged at his back, intending to hurt him.
Raph merely turned his head.
That was all.
His eyes locked onto the charging disciple.
The air immediately changed.
The man's shout died in his throat. His body stiffened mid-way. His face drained of color as if something unseen had wrapped around his spine. His legs began to shake violently.
Fear poured out of his eyes.
Plop.
His knees hit the ground as if heavy pressure descended onto his head.
The disciples behind him stiffened too. Their legs trembled as if winter had suddenly swallowed them whole.
Raph turned away. "Fools."
He kept walking without speaking anymore.
Behind him, not one person spoke.
Only after his figure disappeared did breath return to their chests.
"That… that wasn't Qin Yu."
"No. That can't be him."
"They look the same, but the feeling was completely different."
"The old Qin Yu always smiled stupidly… when did he ever look at someone like that?"
The fallen disciple sat on the ground, staring at the place where Raph had stood.
His heart pounded as the memory of that gaze replayed in his mind.
"That wasn't him…" he muttered.
There couldn't be two people with the same face in the sect.
Yet he clenched his fists.
The Raph he knew would never dare look at anyone like that.