Chapter 6

Ryen swept a hand across her chest and decided to first confirm the details about the boy in front of her.

Name: Failed to synchronize.

Martial arts: Failed to synchronize.

Talent and Five Senses: Failed to synchronize.

Concerns: Failed to synchronize.

‘What? What is this?’

Why isn’t anything showing up properly? Ryen was flustered. Failed to synchronize?

But since looking at the boy had raised her Insight, it was clear that he was an extraordinary talent.

In a time when the family’s fortunes were declining and every person was precious, such talent was even more valuable.

For the family to thrive, Ryen could live comfortably. Resolved not to hesitate, she whispered to her nanny.

“Nanny, wait here. Just a moment.”

“Huh? Ah, Miss?”

Pushing the nanny behind the chicken coop, Ryen ran to the boy and grabbed his arm. Light rain began to fall, forming droplets on her eyebrows, but she paid no attention.

“Hey, kid!”

The boy, not at all startled by Ryen’s approach, turned to look at her.

“...”

“...”

And at that moment, Ryen completely forgot what she was going to say.

He seemed to be a year or two younger than her.

His thin, frail body and tattered clothes made him look more like a small animal than a person, but his features were as distinct as if they had been drawn in ink.

Moreover, a teardrop-shaped mark under his left eye made his face unforgettable once seen. A faint light seemed to hover around him.

‘But where have I seen this face before?’

The face that came to mind was also exceptionally handsome.

He had a teardrop-shaped mark under his left eye, just like this boy. Who was he?

A scene from her future flashed through her mind.

The scent of the forest was overwhelmed by the smell of blood, and the clear sunlight cruelly filtered through the leaves.

When her spiritual energy surged and she staggered, coughing up blood, a hand caught her without any emotion.

As she grew older, her condition worsened, and Ryen left Hangzhou to recuperate. She planned to stay at a small temple, but the remnants of the Blood Demon Valley attacked the village below.

Ryen was in no condition to do anything. Her spiritual energy surged daily, making her stagger when she felt well and cough up blood when she felt ill. She had no martial arts to rely on...

Just then, a group of martial artists passed by her temple.

The leader of the group caught her as she staggered, and Ryen, without shame, asked for help. If that was too difficult, she asked him to pass a message to the Zhuge family below.

─ I will give you this trinket. In return, if you could just pass a message to the large family beyond this mountain...

Bowing despite her illness, she pleaded, but the man’s gaze was clear as he looked at her.

─ We have a long way to go.

‘And then he just left.’

He looked down at her as if she were a barking dog and left without looking back.

She fainted before she could stop him, and when she awoke, she was lying on a large wooden floor, with villagers tending to her.

Fortunately, the Zhuge family’s patrol had arrived in time to drive away the remnants of the Blood Demon Valley.

At that moment, it felt like a bolt of lightning had struck her. The man who had glanced at her and left was superimposed over this boy’s face.

‘M-M-Ma Tianjiao’s Young Lord! Tian Hualun!’

“...Who?”

The boy’s childish voice was completely unfamiliar. Ryen stared at him, her face pale.

“Um, you, that is... that is...”

‘Is this kid here? In Hangzhou? Before he joined Ma Tianjiao?’

She learned from the Zhuge family that the man she had tried to stop was Ma Tianjiao’s Young Lord.

At the time, she had thought it was fortunate that he had passed by quietly.

As Ryen’s lips moved, the boy suddenly spoke.

“I have a temple I go to.”

Surprised by the unexpected encounter, Ryen’s eyes widened at his words.

Why was he suddenly talking about the temple he goes to...

At that moment, Ryen’s face turned red.

“You’re not trying to convert me to a cult, are you!”

Especially since he was going to become Ma Tianjiao’s Young Lord, it was absurd to think he was trying to convert her to a cult!

“Really, really not. I’m not, but...”

Her mind was in a daze.

If the person in front of her was not just a child but Ma Tianjiao’s Young Lord...

‘Wait? Ma Tianjiao... Young Lord?’

Who was Ma Tianjiao’s Young Lord?

He was a figure who, before reaching adulthood, had risen to the position of Young Lord and began to manage all of Ma Tianjiao’s affairs, shaking the martial world with his name.

His overwhelming martial prowess meant that he was known simply as the ‘Young Lord’ without a name or nickname. In the future Ryen had seen, he was the most unpredictable man.

Thirty years ago, when the Black Heaven Alliance, Ma Tianjiao, and the White Path Alliance joined forces to combat the Blood Demon Valley, he held a significant position in the martial alliance. Even after the Dongting Blood Incident, while the Grand Master was in seclusion, he was on par with the elders of the Black Heaven Alliance and the White Path Alliance...

Compared to that, he was much younger now, and the intensity of their eye contact alone had raised Ryen’s Insight by a level. What did that mean?

Ryen was certain.

This was true talent.

A genius who would achieve brilliance with any weapon, be it a sword, saber, spear, or bow!

Ryen’s eyes sparkled like stars.

“What’s your name?”

“And what’s yours?”

The thin, small boy had a subtle and spirited demeanor. Ryen’s eyes narrowed.

“I’m... Ryen. What about you?”

The boy’s lips moved slightly as he examined her face before answering.

“Hualun.”

“Hmm, Hualun? Just Hualun?”

Since the Grand Master of Ma Tianjiao was Tian Huaidan, it seemed that ‘Tian’ was the surname he received when he joined Ma Tianjiao.

Even though she had suspected he would be the future Young Lord, hearing his name made her heart race. It was really him.

The boy’s gaze briefly met hers, with a suspicious expression as if he were scrutinizing something strange. Ryen quickly waved her hand.

“Hualun, how old are you? I’m eight now.”

“...Probably six.”

At that moment, Ryen hesitated.

Six years old?

She had never imagined the Young Lord would be so young, a child whose age could be counted on one hand.

Six years old, six years old, six years old...

‘The Young Lord of Ma Tianjiao... is two years younger than me...’

She had no idea, as she had never had any private interactions with him.

‘Two years younger, yet he achieved so much...’

His martial prowess was so outstanding that she had assumed he was ten years older. Ryen glanced down at the sleeve of her robe. The writing was shaking.

Hualun

Martial arts: Partial synchronization failed.

Talent and Five Senses: Partial synchronization failed.

Concerns: Partial synchronization failed.

Perhaps because she had heard his name, only his name appeared as ‘Hualun,’ while the rest remained in a ‘partial synchronization failed’ state.

‘Does this mean his talent is so exceptional that it can’t even be displayed on the status window? More than my grandfather’s?’

During her time in the Three Paths Heaven, Ryen had seen and experienced many things.

Places long called heaven, the celestial realm, nirvana, paradise, and hell.

And the future, revelations, and prophecies.

There, Ryen learned about the memories of her time lying ill, the reason for her pain, the future after she thought she had died, her life before this one, the way the world was created, its beginning and end, light and darkness, yesterday and tomorrow, death and life.

Ryen could obtain information and interpret the world because her soul ‘knew’ these things.

However, she was able to return to life because she had forgotten most of what she had learned. She had erased what she could not bear.

The information she saw was only as much as she could digest, presented in a way she could understand.

‘Does this mean the information that doesn’t appear is something I can’t handle?’

Moreover, a faint, soft golden light hovered around Hualun.

Ryen, lost in her thoughts, only snapped back to reality when she met Hualun’s gaze. She noticed that the shabby basket Hualun was carrying didn’t suit him at all, as if it were a disguise.

‘Surely he won’t try to kill me later because he saw me as a child, will he?’

Some people despise being reminded of their powerless past, don’t they?

To break the awkward silence, Ryen quickly took out something she had brought with her.

“Ah! Do you want to try this?”

It was an abrupt and unexpected change of topic, but the boy seemed to consider it for a moment before agreeing.

“What is it?”

“It’s a sweet, something I got for eating my medicine well today.”

Ryen made an excuse as she took out the package of sweets wrapped in oil paper. At that moment, Hualun showed his hands, which were covered in dirt.

His action, indicating he couldn’t hold the sweets, made Ryen willingly bring the sweet to his mouth.