***

As the orange sun gradually dipped below the horizon, casting its ghastly shadows over the limitless mountainous landscape, the air grew cold and the first snowflake pirouetted from the heavens, followed by a code-like matrical downfall of countless others. 

From a musical point of view, their frosty dance was similar to a celestial waltz as they reminded the denizens of the Cloud Country that Winter was there to stay and the eventful year was about to end, ushering in another cycle to the ever-flowing time. 

A beautiful woman clad in a long black dress that perfectly encapsulated her divine figure, stood absent-mindedly at the center of the snow-laden courtyard as she gazed in another direction, more specifically, a reclusive chamber some large distances from where she was. 

The merry snowflakes that fell on her beautiful, long dark red hair thought they were on for a free ride only for them to miraculously evaporate into vapor. 

The woman's sinfully voluptuous body was like a hot medicinal furnace capable of melting away the coldness of the winter. 

Her narrow eyebrows were furrowed as she showed complicated feelings on her face. 

She seemed to be having conflicting thoughts about something yet she was too unsure of herself. 

Yun Yao exhaled lightly, her breath forming a gentle mist in the cold air. 

“I didn't expect it to snow without warning as the weather has been quite irregular over the years. Sometimes there is even a snowless winter.” 

She then funnily gazed at the bridge of her nose as a lone snowflake momentarily landed on her glowing satin skin. 

She giggled at the sheer absurdity of the scene before removing the lone ranger. 

“I hate winter,” She said with indifference which contrasted with her forlorn expression. 

“I wonder when that guy will finish his cultivation. It has been two days already, ever since our teacher-student duration of four days ended. Old Man Guan seemed to have been delayed somewhere or is busy.” 

I am once again reminded that he's an exaggerated genius in both Alchemy and the Martial Dao. What did he do in his previous life to get fate to favor him so much?” 

The snow had already accumulated to ankle level within that short duration but Yun Yao's soft and tender body was impervious to the frostbite. 

“I just can't resist feeling slightly jealous and proud for guiding such an existence.” Yun Yao gently crouched down and randomly began to draw stick figures on the snow-covered ground. 

One stick figure resembled a male figure and another, a female. Between the two artistic creations was a roughly drawn cauldron that seemed to create an invisible bond between them. 

The two stickman figures now seem inseparable. 

As bad as the drawn picture was, it still evoked the feeling of emotional chemistry and reminded one of a neutralization reaction. Like the Yin and Yang of the acid-base reactions. 

What mattered wasn't her below-average drawing but the ethereality of the essence captured from within - her inner feelings of attraction and all that emotional luggage. 

But she understood. She knew. Her intuitions told her so. The man was a mixture of perfection and imperfections. He had ambitions and dreams that exceeded her own world of imagination but that only made her feel invested to unravel him. To peel him and understand him layer by layer like a fresh onion. 

“But he's quite resistant to my all-powerful charm that can lead to the fall of innumerable kingdoms, hehe.” Yun Yao laughed to herself, finding it interesting that Zhao Wei practiced the elusive Dao of Self-Restraint and Anti-Horniness. 

Those two terms were something that he would normally mumble when she unintentionally exposed the divine ravine of limitless imagination. And it had only been through consistent pleadings, that Zhao Wei shared his deep understanding of those two rarely trodden paths to her. 

Yun Yao remembered how she had laughed like never before when he had explained such bizarre concepts. 

Just what couldn't she find attractive in that man? 

Sighing deeply to herself after feeling that she had spent the short break that she needed, Yun Yao stopped playing with the snow before giving the lone house one last look. 

After that, she didn't forget to ruin the drawings with her feet before using her True Force to sweep the snow away. 

She was just being extra careful lest she suffer from an embarrassment of the century if Zhao Wei discovered her trash-level chaotic drawings. 

With how brilliant his mind was, he was probably going to know what those two stickman figures represented. 

“I better revise those ancient pill recipes since my break time is already over. Since he dreams big, shouldn't I also dream of being the Alchemy Goddess?” Yun Yao smiled as she elegantly walked away, her footprints on the snow-covered ground barely traceable. 

“As unrealistic as it is, with hope, talent, luck, and hard work, I, Yun Yao, can achieve anything when it comes to the Dao of Alchemy!” Yun Yao chuckled to herself, her hazel-green eyes like a green lotus pond rippling with waves of ambition. 

She was going to do it. 

She was determined. It was her own Dao of Alchemy. Her perseverance. Her dedication to the craft. Her inborn reverence to all that was alchemy. 

Unknown to Yun Yao, the affirmations of that day, refined and redefined her 𝗗𝗮𝗼 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁, actualized the mysterious 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 of her Dao Of Alchemy, and formed an unseen bridge that would soon lead her to remarkable heights! 

Only time will tell if her history with Zhao Wei was going to be a continuous one or a shattered one - meant to be forgotten in the 𝗥𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲. 

Anyway, who was sure that they knew anything about the future? 

Yet again, the indiscernible flutter of the wings of the butterfly goddess and the ominous rotations of the cogwheels of Fate interlaced together to create a beautiful symphony of a new 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘆 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴!

***

Inside the cultivation chamber, Zhao Wei sat in a lotus position as he awaited the inevitable. 

His senses were cut off from the snow-laden domain outside, his main concentration directed towards the impending evolution of the [𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗘𝘆𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁].

He began to mentally list the perks gotten from the base form of the [𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗘𝘆𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁].

***

[𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗘𝘆𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁’𝘀 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝗯𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀:

~𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴

~𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲

~𝗣𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗰 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆

~𝗫-𝗥𝗮𝘆 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

~𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻(+ 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻)

~𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗩𝗶𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

~Finally, 𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 (A mode where I perceive events around me in slow motion due to high-speed mental calculations.

***

“This is good. I think the business plan of building [𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀] in the future will be a good venture.” Zhao Wei thought with a smile and it was then that the same satisfied smile on his lips froze like the ice age. 

[The First cycle of evolution of the 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗘𝘆𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁 commences…] 

Those were the last lines of encrypted texts he saw before he went blind - 𝘀𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀!

𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬 subtly fractured to accommodate the arrival of a stupendous, evolved 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗘𝘆𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱!

The First Cycle was the beginning of a new beginning! 

***

Enjoy! 

For more chapters and extra support(Patreon.com/OnearmedImmortal)

Author's Note: That's two chapters. Hang in there. 

- Do Martial World Fanfics exist? Dragon Marked War God? Peerless Martial God? Ancient strengthening technique?

-And I want some good yuri recommendations.(Don't worry it's all about diversity after unmistakenly watching "The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation" anime lol)