With a tap of his toe, wind surrounded Eli Shan as he leaped through the air, landing beside Feng Qiang as gently as a falling leaf. As the settling dust revealed their presence. Eli Shan gently held Feng Qiang's arm, his gaze piercing through the onlookers with an air of indifference. "If anyone dares to even think about harming my friend, then, no matter who you are, your fate will be same as Mu Cheng."

Under the weight of Eli Shan's gaze, no one dared to spout a single word.

Turning his face a bit, Eli Shan looked at Feng Qiang and smiled gently. "Let's go."

Feng Qiang nodded with a warm smile and followed Eli Shan's lead. As they walked, the onlookers instinctively made a way for them, their eyes filled with a mixture of respect and fear.

Feng Qiang followed behind Eli Shan, her gaze fixated on him. "Thank you so much, Eli, really thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Eli Shan shook his head and grinned. "Why are you thanking me? You are my one and only friend, and it's my duty to either beat your enemy or get beaten by him together with you," He laughed.

Feng Qiang joined in the laughter, nodding in agreement. "That's how a friend should be."

As they continued on their way, Eli Shan thought to take benefit of free time to clear up his confusion. He looked at Feng Qiang in bewilderment and asked, "I've been thinking about this for some time now: Who was this Mu Cheng?"

Listening to him, Feng Qiang couldn't help but laugh, "Mu Cheng would die again if he came to know that, the person who killed him didn't even know his identity."

Eli Shan nonchalantly shrugged, "It was him who came to provoke me."

Feng Qiang nodded, a smile hanging on her face. "He was our senior, and not just any senior – he was the first-ranked candidate of his batch."

Eli Shan nodded in understanding and asked further, "And what exactly is this 'student king' title?"

Feng Qiang's smile remained warm as she clarified, "The student king is precisely as it sounds. This is a title given to the strongest student in the school. Currently, this title belongs to Mu Cheng's older brother, from the batch earlier than his. And I have heard that he is already in the middle stage of the Tian realm and this is his last year in this school. After graduation, he has the privilege to become the teacher of the inner region's new student."

Eli Shan nodded in understanding.

Suddenly, Feng Qiang stopped, her expression turning serious as she asked Eli Shan, "What if he comes for his brother's revenge?"

Hearing her, Eli Shan joked, "If he will come, then both of us will be beaten together, as simple as that!"

Feng Qiang shook her head seriously, "If worst comes to worst, even if I will have to reveal my background, I will do it. But I won't let anything happen to you."

Eli Shan looked at her in surprise. "Do you really think your background is more influential than the city lord's? Even Hao Yu, his own son, doesn't have much influence in this school. What could you possibly do? Don't worry, if I can't win then, we'll make a run for it together. But for now, let's put all these worries aside. Tomorrow is my fifteenth birthday, so let's buy some better clothes."

Feng Qiang's eyes widened as she looked at him in shock. " Tomorrow is your birthday?"

Eli Shan nodded proudly.

Feng Qiang rose onto her toes, gripping Eli Shan's collar tightly, her voice seething with anger. "And you're telling me this now? Why didn't you say something sooner? Come on, let's go find something to celebrate your birthday."

Eli Shan nodded, a smile playing on his lips. "I was just about to tell you while we were eating, but Mu Cheng interrupted us. Now, let's go and pick up a few more clothes."

Feng Qiang nodded and led him to the largest shop in the market. "Consider it my treat for your birthday. You can choose any outfit you like."

Eli Shan's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Really? You're a true friend of mine."

Feng Qiang's face brightened with a smile as she looked at Eli Shan's excited expression. "He is really cute," she thought.

Inside the shop, Eli Shan looked through various clothes but nothing seemed to catch his eye. At last, he finally settled on a pair of simple yet elegant black robe with a long fluffy collar, complemented by matching pants

After the shopping, they played around and enjoyed a hearty, meaty meal. After their meal, they continued exploring more clothes shops, trying various outfits. However, in the end, they didn't buy anything.

As the sky darkened, Eli Shan bid farewell to Feng Qiang, making his way back to his mountain peak.

With a fatigued expression, he stepped into his room and sank himself onto the bed. "Today was a tiring day. Let's take a rest for a bit," he thought and closed his eyes. But just as he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly felt something calling out to him and snapped his eyes open in panic.

He stood up and checked around, but found nothing. "Was it a dream?" he wondered aloud.

"Let's focus on cultivation instead of sleep."

He sat cross-legged on the bed, eyes closed, soon immersing himself in a state of deep cultivation.

As midnight approached, he once again sensed an unseen presence. He stood up and with a breeze of wind, he suddenly disappeared from the room and reappeared outside of his house. There, he spotted a figure hiding in the shadows, clearly in a state of panic.

As he moved forward to catch the invader, his expression suddenly changed, "Feng Qiang? So it's you who wanted to assassinate me? Why would you do this to me? Have I wronged you in some way?"

Feng Qiang glared at Eli Shan, her voice filled with anger, "You... I was trying to surprise you for your birthday, but you..."

Eli Shan burst into laughter and jumped back to his room. "Oh, I didn't see anyone." He turned back, a mischievous grin on his face. "Now, if a certain someone wants to surprise me, she certainly can."

Feng Qiang's face turned red with anger as she smashed the cake she had bought into Eli Shan's face.

Eli Shan chuckled innocently, rubbing the back of his head. "Thank you for the surprise gift." He licked sweets on his face and commented, "It's really tasty. Haha."

Looking at him, Feng Qiang couldn't help but laugh. "You're really an innocent and funny guy. Happy birthday, Eli Shan."

She approached Eli Shan with a playful grin, opened his mouth, and playfully tossed all the sweets she had bought inside. "Alright then, I'll head back to my peak now. Otherwise, people might start to wonder why a girl is visiting a guy's mountain peak at midnight," she teased, winking at Eli Shan before gracefully soaring back to her own mountain peak.

Eli Shan couldn't help but smile as he chewed on the sweets, his gaze fixed on the departing figure of Feng Qiang.

"Now time to go back to cultivation."

Eli Shan once again settled onto his bed, crossing his legs as he delved into his cultivation. Soon, that familiar sensation of being called out by someone washed over him again.

At first, he thought it was his imagination, but as time passed, it became more and more clear.

Search your soul!

Hearing the command, Eli Shan abruptly opened his eyes and instinctively used his spiritual consciousness to probe his soul. However, to his astonishment, his consciousness, which he had never cultivated due to the limitations of his cultivation realm, manifested as something both tangible and intangible and effortlessly delved into the depths of his soul. As his consciousness advanced, he encountered a seal at the core of his soul. He couldn't guess what it was but as he touched it, a powerful suction force suddenly erupted, forming a portal that seemed to distort both space and time. In an instant, Eli Shan was drawn into it, vanishing from his room.

When he opened his eyes, dizziness washed over him. He glanced around and exclaimed loudly in surprise, "Where am I?"

In front of him, there was nothing but an endless ocean of colorful fields. In the distance, towering mountains reached the sky, their peaks so tall that they seemed to have no end.

As Eli Shan came out of shock, he suddenly noticed that the spiritual qi of this place was so dense that he believed he could easily break through to the true qi realm in just a single day.

In a daze, he turned around and noticed a large, glossy black wall that felt strangely slippery to the touch.

"What is this wall?" He extended his hand to touch it, but to his astonishment, the black surface suddenly moved at the touch of his hand. "Am I hallucinating?"

He looked from down to up and noticed another white ball surrounding the black wall, then he noticed a structure that seemed like an ear. Soon, he realized a hot breath coming from the land where he was standing.

Gulp.

Suddenly his legs went numb as he exclaimed in fear, "D-Dragon."

Looking around, he realized he wasn't standing on land, but on the mouth of a colossal dragon!

"I am sure that I am sleeping. Why else would I be standing on the mouth of a dragon?" Eli Shan forced a bitter smile as he gazed into the giant dragon's indifferent eyes.

With a sense of unease, he began to pinch his cheek, desperate to wake up from his dream, but to no avail. "Is this reality? No, it can't be. Just moments ago, I was in my room, how could I will be standing on a Dragon's mouth in an instant."

Eli Shan kept trying to wake up from his dream, but after he utterly failed, he took a deep breath and flew into the air with the help of wind. Looking ahead, his eyes again widened in shock, because what he beheld was beyond his comprehension. As far as he could see, there was nothing but the colossal form of the dragon, its scales shimmering with nine dazzling colors. Each scale emitted an aura capable of annihilating anything in existence, and its eye was as vast as an entire world of its own. Looking at him, Eli Shan could only think of one thing:

"Invincible!"

At that moment, what Eli Shan didn't know was that this wasn't the dragon's complete form. Dragon was restraining its true size to fit into this world. Otherwise, even an average universe couldn't contain his true body!

Suddenly, the colossal dragon moved, startling Eli Shan, and fixed its gaze on him. "Why are you not running?"

Even though Eli Shan was nervous, he was feeling an unexpectedly familiar sensation emanating from the dragon. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't feel as fearful as he should in the presence of such a formidable creature. "If you wanted to kill me, where do you think I could run? Your aura alone could crush me to death, couldn't it?"

Big Dragon looked into Eli Shan's eyes which didn't even waver by his indifferent gaze.

Then, to Eli Shan's surprise, the dragon suddenly smiled. "As expected of maste-"

Before the dragon could utter another word, it abruptly remembered something and stopped. His master never wanted his son to learn about his true identity until he could discover it on his own!

As he thought of his master, the dragon's eyes became moist with sadness, and he looked at Eli Shan, who completely resembled his master. Though there was a subtle difference—there was no trace of cultivation emanating from him! Thinking about it, the dragon realized something and gently reduced his size to that of a large city. "Little guy, remember, this place is your soul universe. But for now, you're still too fragile to remain here for long periods. And I know you have many questions in your mind but don't worry. In the future, you will discover all the answers you seek. Until then..."

Suddenly, a nine-colored light emanated from the dragon's body and entered Eli Shan's own.

At first, Eli Shan tried to resist it, but as light easily entered his body, Eli Shan felt an unexpectedly pleasant sensation. It was as if his body was getting light and he could soar above the sky.

Soon, feeling that he needed to immerse himself in the state of cultivation, he found a place nearby and landed on an ocean of a green field, sitting with crossed legs and immersed in cultivation.

Creak!

Suddenly, he felt as if a seal inside his body was being shattered. Unknown to him, a strong suction erupted from his body, absorbing and condensing the surrounding qi, which began to swirl around him like a ball, forming a powerful vortex.

Boom!

With Eli Shan at the center, a massive crater formed around him due to the intense suction force, and he suddenly sensed a powerful energy swirling inside his body.

Dragon frowned as he saw this suction force, "Is this the power that could even destroy most strongest god?"

After a while, Eli Shan regained his composure and examined his own body. "I... I have a cultivation base now? I had a null body, isn't it? Why do I possess a cultivation base?"

The big dragon smiled at Eli Shan. "Little maste—ahem... little guy, you don't have a null body, but rather a different type of body."

Eli Shan was taken aback. "It's not a null body? So that means I can cultivate? I can even soar above the clouds? Does this mean I have a chance to become invincible?"

Eli Shan was so excited that he started jumping around in sheer happiness.

As the big dragon looked at Eli Shan's joyful face, memories of their old adventures together flooded back. He remembered carrying this little master on his head, riding through the universe, and playing with him. Though it was a short time, he really liked his little master, the only person in existence who had the potential that surpass even his master! Now coupled with his constitution of nature, the strongest creation of the strongest being, he could surpass even the highest realm ever!

The big dragon smiled as he nodded at Eli Shan. "Aren't you curious to know what kind of body you have?"

Eli Shan grinned and replied, "As long as I can cultivate, it doesn't matter what kind of body I have."

The big dragon chuckled, intrigued by his response. "Yes, you can cultivate now. Until this moment, due to a seal on your body and soul, you were unable to cultivate. But now, I have removed it. So, cultivate well and come to meet me from time to time."

Eli Shan smiled and nodded. "Yes, I will come again."

He didn't know why but he was feeling a strange familiarity with the dragon. It was as if they shared the same kind of bloodline, and as if he was meeting his long-lost parents.

Eli Shan regarded the dragon with the innocent eyes of a child who looked at their parents. And just as he was about to speak more, he suddenly felt an intense pain in his body.

The dragon sensed something and gently explained, "Little guy, for now, you are still too weak to stay here any longer. Go, cultivate well, and return to meet me when you become stronger."

Eli Shan nodded and promised with an innocent smile, "I will return soon."

As the pain intensified, a sudden suction force enveloped him, sending him out of the soul universe. Soon, he opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings. "So, I am back."

Thinking of his brief experience in the other universe, he smiled and suddenly remembered something. He sat with crossed legs and began to focus on absorbing the qi and containing it in his dantian. Suddenly, his eyes sparkled with excitement, unable to contain his joy as he exclaimed, "I can really cultivate!"

He clenched his fist, his face radiating confidence.

"My true journey begins now!"