Delicate and tender impulses, separate in thousand miles, Qin Yang wonders; Will fate brought them as one hereafter?

Qin Yang stared in the distance and looked at the cottage. Memories gushed in torrential waves.

"I cross it earlier than you! You big meanie," Jiang Lu'er, who was seven at that time, cried during a challenge game.

"Listen up, Lilliputian. The rule is to collect as many dragonflies. I never said the one to first cross the river!" Qin Yang was a big bully and did not consider the little Lu'er's feelings.

"Lilliputian; you lost, you must obey my Big Bro's order!" The chubby little Jiang Tian chortle at the corner."

"You meanie! I will tell dad, you two bullied me!" Jiang Lu'er fled with tears in her eyes.

"Big brother, she cried. I won, you must treat me to a meal!"

"I'll treat you this time. Jiang Tian, next time, let's treat Lilliputian kindly. We've gone overboard this time."

Qin Yang, at that time, was helpless to stop Jiang Lu'er from running away. At that time, he felt a flash of guilt.

Remembering all this, Qin Yang lamented. That day, Qin Yang and Jiang Lu'er were having a bet; the first one to cross over the river would obey the winner's order in a span of a week. Because Jiang Lu'er managed to clutch a victory, Qin Yang and Jiang Tian twisted the rule. With the support of Jiang Tian, they suppressed and bullied little Lu'er, who they nicknamed Lilliputian because of her height. 

At that time, Jiang Lu'er stature was just the chest of Qin Yang. Now that seven years had passed, Jiang Lu'er had grown tall and became a dazzling beauty.

What's more, she was so talented. With her increase in cultivation, the role reversed, and Qin Yang and Jiang Tian then now the victim of suffering; Jiang Lu'er would bully them all the time. It contributed to what they have done when they were young to her.

That times, to him, who had matured early, were his golden treasure stored on his sea of memories. He would always survey his golden treasure once or twice, causing others to roll their eyes when he cackled out of nowhere. 

Although he could visit the golden treasure every time he wanted, he knew it would lose its glamour after today; that was because one of the most important person of his life would now venture into a world that is separated and far from his reach.

A mortal can only live one century while an immortal was freed from the shackles of longevity and could subsist for five centuries and so on. Qin Yang knew that with his talent, he would never be able to ensnare Jiang Lu'er silhouette, who would now embark on her immortal path.

Perhaps in the next fifty years, the memories they developed would gradually veer into nothing but sliver of ashes. Slowly these ashes would stir one with the winds and only those who did not want to forget the irreplaceable remembrances could recall it.

Those ashes, Qin Yang might clench on to it until the end of his life, but the same could not be said to the imminent Immortal Jiang Lu'er.

She is destined for a brighter path and Qin Yang would never constrain her for his selfish desire. 

When young, the phoenix would settle in its den to hibernate. When touched a threshold, the young phoenix would soar in the sky to transform into a real phoenix. The same could be said with Jiang Lu'er; a young phoenix like her with unparalleled beauty and exceptional talent would eventually stir the world.

Legend has it that phoenix would interweave with the mighty dragon. To the ants like Qin Yang, they had no liberties to live together with a phoenix. These lingering feelings, it is best for Qin Yang to forget them.

As he thought up here, Qin Yang closed his eyes and mumbled...

"If I miraculously win the Holy Land Meets, I might be a little worthy of her. However, to restrain myself to love, this isn't like me."

"Mhmm, that's right. What I seek is to venture into the land of bows and arrows. I'm not desperate for love. All of it ends here, and I have to forget all of it from now on. Let memories be memories, and don't dwindle too much on it. My feelings...Someday, I would eventually severe it."

Qin Yang thought and alighted the bridge. He entered the cottage and treasured the elapsed memories. When he snuffed the lingering feelings, he stood up and departed.

...

...

...

Seven Strife Valley.

It was early in the morning. The delicate wind wafted as the lively crowd chatted amidst the obsolete arrays.

"Hey, who do you think would emerge victorious between the two?"

"Hard to say. Zhou Lin is not all talk, he has skills. Last time, he could shoot the yellow ring in a hundred and twenty meter distance. Imagine him being a foe, it would be hard to beat him. Furthermore, Zhou Lin's arrows travel extremely fast."

"Senior Brother Zhou Lin would win without a doubt. As a second-year student, he defeated a senior in the fourth-year class."

"Don't praise him so high. Young Master Qin Yang will not lose against him. Although he doesn't fight often, he is strong, not weaker than Zhou Lin."

"Oh? How can you prove that?"

"Of course, I knew how deep Young Master Qin's strength was. That's because I enlisted under Marshall Qin months ago. After I graduated, I would have a spot in the elite army. As it happens, I happened to see Young Master Qin Yang dueling with others; every time he shoots, the arrows would be glued in the center."

"Unbelievable, every arrow hit the bullseye? Isn't he too powerful?"

Young girls who adored Zhou Lin were worried.

The people around them sneered.

"What a joke. If Qin Yang is that powerful, why he won't show his skills? He is the son of Marshall Qin, he ought to show off his skills."

"Don't believe this thin guy. He's part of the Marshall Qin Mansion. Naturally, he would exaggerate his praise."

"That makes sense. So that means Qin Yang is weaker than Zhou Lin?"

"Ignorants! Just wait and see."

The thin guy who enlisted in Marshall Qin's army turned his head in frustration and anger. He admitted that he exaggerated his flattery, but not that much. For instance, Qin Yang indeed did not miss any bullseye. However,  the reason for that was because he stood thirty meters from the archery target.

At that moment, two young males appeared in the obsolete arrays.

These arrays were engraved by an extremely high level array master. It was called 'Dueling Stage Array'. In the dueling stage array, one's consciousness would be sent into a specific battlefield. Inside the array, one did not need to conserve one's strength, including forbidden arts. If someone died inside the array, that person would not die and his consciousness would return to one's body.

Thus, the students could duel free of worry. This kind of array was indeed beyond the mortal's understanding. Such superstitious and magical did not even apply logic and physics.

"Look, Zhou Lin and Qin Yang have arrived!"

"Yi Shan, Jiang Tian, and Zhou Wen are here too!"

The crowd stirred in commotion as these famous figures appeared in the venue. Aside from those people with influential backgrounds, many contenders for the upcoming Holy Land Meets also came to watch the duel.

This battle is something they could benefit from. Certainly, the two main protagonists today would reveal their trump cards and tactics. Knowing these things would give these people a slight advantage about the strength of their upcoming competitors.

"Elder, this is my bet," said Qin Yang as he handed his extra Sky Bamboo Bow.

Zhou Lin also took out his spatial ring and handed it to the supervisor of the duel. 

After that, he looked at Qin Yang and asked:

"What are the rules."

"Let's flip."

Qin Yang replied after consideration.

"Alright." Zhou Lin nodded and took out a coin. He then asked, "Head or tail?"

"Tail."

Zhou Lin flung the coin.

Clang! Clang!

The coin rolled to the ground. It danced about before stopping. It was tail.

Qin Yang saw the result and said, "Ten markings, the winner will be decided with life and death."

Zhou Lin sneered and said:

"Alright, wish you luck."

Qin Yang did not take Zhou Lin's provocation seriously. 

In the dueling stage array, there were rules of the duel depending on the players. Ten markings was a cowardly act in the duel. That is because one would be marked with ten pieces of paper. And each time an arrow hit the paper, it would glow. The more paper lit up, the easier is it for one's location to be exposed on the battlefield. An archer's weakness was its location being exposed.

Not only Zhou Lin, almost everyone in the crowd was stirred by Qin Yang's cowardly action.

How could Qin Yang be this cowardly?