"Tian Fan! Why have you fallen asleep again?!"
Tian Fan, his head hidden in his arms, jolted awake. Looking up, he realized he was in his bedroom, sitting on a wooden chair in front of a worn-down desk. Tilting his head slightly, he saw his younger sister, Tian Yue, dressed in her school uniform, wearing an annoyed expression.
"How could you sleep again when we're meant to be leaving for school right now?!" Tian Yue snapped.
Tian Fan, still waking up, smiled. As he picked up his bag from the desk, his hand went to Tian Yue's head and ruffled her hair, making her even more irritated.
"I was just waiting until you finished preparing. I had already finished an hour ago."
"Have you forgotten what toda—"
"Yes, yes, I remember. Today is the final day of the school year. How could I possibly forget?"
Both attended Hua Ming High School, a relatively normal school about a twenty-minute walk from their home. Tian Yue would enter her third year next academic year, while Tian Fan had finished his exams and would be getting his results today.
Tian Fan came from a very poor family of three: himself, Tian Yue, and their father, Tian Zhen. Their mother had died in a car accident when Tian Fan was only four. Though they had mourned her loss, their father strictly forbade them from ever mentioning it.
Stepping out into the bright morning, Tian Yue looked at her brother happily. "Since you've practically finished high school, what are you going to do now?"
"I haven't figured it out yet… maybe just go to a normal university and get an ordinary job?"
"Now, isn't that boring?" Tian Yue replied, though she wasn't surprised.
Tian Fan had been a problematic child from a young age. Though brilliant in his studies, he was physically frail and sometimes bullied by classmates. It never escalated to physical abuse, but the harsh insults were painful. Over time, he had distanced himself from his peers, and people gradually forgot his existence each year.
"Why did you as—"
Before he could finish, Tian Fan noticed something strange. A tall building, a few hundred meters away, began flashing red. A scream pierced the air just as a large object crashed through the building, causing it to creak ominously.
"RUN! QUICK! The building's collapsing!"
"What was that?!"
People scrambled, cars honking as drivers tried to escape. The building collapsed entirely, and something emerged from the rubble.
"Oh no, it's the spirit beasts again! Run!" Tian Fan reacted instantly, grabbing his sister's hand. They ran, moving away from the chaos. In the panicked crowd, he struggled to push through but eventually managed to get himself and Tian Yue to safety. She was crying.
"Calm down, little Yue. Everything will be fine," he said, trying to comfort her. He hugged her tightly as he looked back at the devastation. Spirit beasts, large and small, tore at people, ripping arms and legs. Cries of agony filled the air, and blood splattered across the street. A mother clutched her child, only to be swept aside by the chaos. It was a gruesome massacre.
Suddenly, he was shoved to the ground, his left arm ringing in pain.
"Move! Move! I don't want to die!"
An elderly man pushed past him and ran, but it was too late. A long tongue zipped past, and a loud pop echoed. Tian Fan turned in horror: the man's head had been pierced. The tongue retracted, and the headless corpse thudded to the ground.
Ten meters away, an enormous frog-like creature, twice Tian Fan's height, stared at him. Its tongue dripped a purple liquid, and the smoke from the rubble swirled around it. Before Tian Fan could scream, the creature leaped toward them.
He couldn't think. He was powerless.
'This is the end, huh?' Tian Fan thought, closing his eyes. He couldn't even protect his sister.
Then, a slash—sharp, wet, cutting through flesh—rang out. A voice shouted from afar.
"It's them! It's them! The cultivators of the World Association have arrived!"
'What?' Tian Fan thought, looking up.
A mysterious man appeared, clad in a heavy suit of armor, drenched in the remains of beasts. Dark, black blood splattered across his blue-tinged mask. He moved swiftly, the ground cracking beneath him, dispatching the remaining creatures. The area around them finally became safe, and people cautiously checked on the survivors.
Tian Fan, who had lived a miserable life without direction, stared at the man in awe. One thought filled his mind:
'I want to be like him.'