In ordinary days Li Xiaoman was serene and beautiful, unshaken by sudden events — always composed and tranquil. Yet at this moment she displayed a look of startled surprise, which made the several young men and women around her intensely curious. One of them could not help but ask again: “Junior Sister, do you know this little beggar?”

Li Xiaoman quickly recovered her composure. She nodded and said: “I know him.”

“Sister Li, how could you possibly know him?” One of the young women was entirely puzzled. With Ye Fan in his current state — ragged clothing, body and spirit worn to the bone — by any measure he looked like a person from the very bottom of society, someone from a completely different world from theirs.

“He and I come from the same place. In the past, we were… neighbors, I suppose.” Li Xiaoman’s expression remained serene and untroubled.

Ye Fan heard her say the word “neighbors,” and smiled faintly. He said only those two words — “Hello” — and nothing more after that.

“So you’re an old acquaintance. This little neighbor of yours really is quite reckless — the street is so wide and he still managed to bump right into me. Earlier, Brother Yang even thought he was trying to steal something.”

“But this young man is truly pitiful — so young and already reduced to begging.”

“Beggars these days steal while they beg. Sister Li, you really ought to warn him not to take the wrong path in life.”

To cultivators, ordinary people were as if from two different worlds entirely — especially those from the very lowest stratum of the mortal world: beggars. None of them would ever truly cross paths. The several young men and women spoke without giving the slightest thought to the fact that Ye Fan was standing right there.

“All of you Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters — do any of you have money? Lend me some.” Li Xiaoman gathered some coins from the group of young men and women, then extended them toward Ye Fan: “Go get yourself some proper clothes. Don’t be a beggar. I believe you can support yourself.”

“Junior Sister Li is so kind-hearted.”

“Indeed, Junior Sister Li has such a compassionate heart. He’s just a neighbor, yet she’s giving him so much money.”

“Little beggar — walk the right path from now on. Don’t steal. You’d be letting down Junior Sister Li.”

The several young men and women chimed in one after another.

Ye Fan’s gaze was clear and bright. He looked quietly at Li Xiaoman, made no move to take the money, and said: “Thank you for your good intentions. But I have no need of these.”

One of the young men frowned at once and said: “What’s the matter with you, little beggar? Junior Sister Li is offering you honestly-earned money and you won’t take it. Are you really going to live by stealing?”

Li Xiaoman’s expression remained serene, her eyes like the calm surface of a still lake — not a single ripple. She placed the coins into Ye Fan’s hand: “Take it. Live as a decent ordinary person.”

Ye Fan paid no attention to the people around him. He pushed the coins back and said: “Don’t worry — I can get by. I wish you ever greater progress on the path of cultivation, smooth sailing all the way.”

“This little beggar has a death wish — too proud to accept reality. He’s been reduced to begging, and he’s still this insufferably arrogant.”

“Better to be arrogant now, then turn around and start stealing once you’re out of sight.”

The several young men and women were all quite displeased.

Li Xiaoman fixed her gaze on Ye Fan. Her voice was even, without any rise or fall: “These would be of real help to you right now. Don’t refuse them. Take it quickly — are you truly going to live by begging?”

Ye Fan still did not accept the coins: “Congratulations on regaining your youth.” He had sensed that Li Xiaoman’s cultivation was only at the Bitter Sea realm — not yet a match for him — though he did not understand why her life energy had been restored.

“Thank you — merely a stroke of luck.” Li Xiaoman did not press further and withdrew the coins.

One of the young women laughed lightly: “This little beggar really does know quite a lot — he even knows that Junior Sister Li once lost her youthful vitality. It seems he really is a genuine old acquaintance.”

“He and I were only neighbors. We weren’t particularly close. Perhaps after a decade or two, if we were to meet again, we’d find it hard to recognize one another…”

Li Xiaoman was calm from beginning to end, speaking as though commenting on something that had nothing at all to do with herself.

Ye Fan’s face was still smeared with grime, but when he smiled, his grin was as radiant as ever, revealing a row of bright white teeth: “Indeed — memories do fade. Some people and things are bound to gradually dim and vanish in the passage of time.”

“This little beggar is quite young, yet he has quite a personality.” One of the young women glanced at Ye Fan, then turned to look at Li Xiaoman: “It’s a pity, Junior Sister, that you don’t know him well enough — otherwise you could bring him back to Ziyang Cave Heaven and have him stay to do odd jobs around the mountain gate. That would be far better than having him beg on the streets and end up going down the wrong road.”

A young man heard this and nodded: “The sect is very strict about selecting people. You need to know their background thoroughly before they can enter.”

Li Xiaoman was still as a deep well, her expression utterly placid. She said to Ye Fan: “Don’t take the wrong path. Living as an ordinary person is not necessarily an unhappy life.”

Ye Fan smiled and said nothing. He waved his hand, then strode away with large steps.

“There’s something quite unusual about that little beggar…” The several young men and women around him all shared this same assessment.

Ye Fan walked away with broad strides, merging into the endless flowing stream of people. Half a quarter of an hour later, he appeared in an antique shop, haggling relentlessly with the shop owner.

“What? Only fifty copper coins? A person ought to have some integrity — you can’t be this greedy.”

“Young fellow, don’t give me an outrageous price. It’s just a wooden box — how could it possibly be worth ten gold coins?”

“This is a rosewood box. If you don’t want it, I’ll go to another shop…” With that, Ye Fan turned to leave.

“Don’t rush now — the price is negotiable.” The antique shop owner hastily blocked him.

In the end, Ye Fan left with ten gold coins in hand, feeling quite satisfied.

By now it was midday, and he was absolutely famished — but he had no intention of eating without paying. In the end, he sold the rosewood box that had been holding the “Source” and used a plain ordinary wooden box worth a single copper coin to store the “Source” away.

“A Jiang Family knight!”

When Ye Fan glanced upward at the sky, his heart lurched at once. A beast was circling above this great city, and before long it flew off into the distance. He felt deeply puzzled, unable to understand how the other side always managed to find his trail.

Ye Fan climbed up to a restaurant, ordered a table full of dishes, and ate with great gusto and relish. Throughout these days of flight he had not managed to eat a single hot meal, and so naturally he wolfed it all down ravenously.

Only after half an hour did he finally stand up, satisfied. The restaurant attendant had been hovering anxiously nearby for some time — seeing Ye Fan’s worn and tattered clothing, looking very much like a beggar, he had been afraid Ye Fan would quietly slip away after eating without paying.

Ye Fan was not one to quarrel with him over such things. He tossed down the money for the meal and turned to head downstairs — only to feel a jolt of alarm the very moment he stepped back onto the street. A Jiang Family knight had entered the city, and the beast he rode had just disappeared around the corner of a street.

“What is going on? Why can they keep tracking me down? They can’t pinpoint my exact location, but they seem to be able to follow my general direction!”

A flicker of unease passed over Ye Fan’s face. He sensed that something was very wrong. He could not stay in this city — if he did, trouble would certainly come. Without pausing for even a moment, he left the city directly and sprinted away, plunging into the mountain forest in the distance.

“Truly relentless — how on earth am I supposed to shake them off for good?”

Ye Fan crossed mountains and ridges, traversed the endless mountain range, and only stopped when the sky had darkened toward night.

Just then, Ye Fan sensed that the spiritual energy in the depths of the mountain range was rich and dense — many times more concentrated than in other areas. When he pressed on for several more tens of li, a look of surprise crossed his face. He came upon a large greenish-grey stone, carved with four ancient characters: Ziyang Cave Heaven.

“How did I end up here…”

Ye Fan realized he had arrived at Ziyang Cave Heaven — the very sect where Li Xiaoman resided. This blessed sanctuary was not very far from the great city he had just left.

It is important to clarify at this point: this story will certainly have romance, and it will certainly feature portrayals of various female characters.