Chapter Five: Qi and the Origin

Ye Ran didn’t stand on ceremony—he took the red bean bun she handed him and bit into it gently.

At sixteen, he was still growing and needed plenty to eat. He’d only had a bowl of porridge that morning and was still terribly hungry. He would have liked to eat more, but there wasn’t even a grain of rice left at home. That little girl, Freya, was also at the age when she needed food to grow… Suddenly, he remembered she was probably just as hungry as he was, and the two remaining buns in his hand suddenly seemed impossible to swallow.

“Ye Ran, is something wrong?” the girl asked, noticing him staring absentmindedly at the buns.

“It’s… nothing,” Ye Ran replied.

Her name was Yun Meng. If you didn’t count Freya, she was Ye Ran’s only friend.

Their acquaintance was as ordinary as water. Ye Ran practiced martial arts here every day, and Yun Meng passed by every morning on her way to school. After seeing each other so often, they would exchange a nod and a smile, then a few words, and eventually became friends. As their conversations grew, so did their understanding of each other, and they became close.

Countless students passed by this place, but only Yun Meng became his friend. She never looked down on him and made a point to bring him breakfast every morning, come rain or shine.

Ye Ran was deeply grateful to her.

By birth, Yun Meng was the daughter of the owner of “Come Again,” a restaurant on Gourmet Street. While not a noble, her family was well-off, and her present life was comfortable.

She was also a student at Shali Academy, destined for a bright future.

Though the name “Shali Academy” sounded like a place for training high-level hairstylists, it was actually a prestigious school, as famous as Hongye Academy and Taiding Academy—the three top schools in the city.

“If you can’t finish, save the rest for lunch,” Yun Meng said with a gentle smile, as if reading his mind.

She was always so understanding.

Ye Ran blushed and nodded.

“I heard Hongye Academy is increasing enrollment this year. Are you going to try for it?” she asked.

Ye Ran replied, “I’m considering it…”

“Thinking about tuition and how to support little Freya?”

Before he could answer, Yun Meng laughed. “Silly, poverty and hardship are only temporary. If studying is your dream, why hesitate over something so small?”

“You’re just too proud for your own good,” she chided, taking a crystal orb and two books from her embroidered bag. “This is a magic crystal for viewing your meridian skill tree, and these are textbooks on origins and skill trees. Review them carefully these next few days.”

She also took off the purse she wore at her waist and handed it to him. “Consider this a loan from me. Don’t go working odd jobs or risking your neck in the underground lairs for now. Once you get into Hongye Academy, there’ll be plenty of chances to earn money—pay me back then.”

“As for the rest, there’s always a way.”

She had already prepared everything he needed, thinking further ahead than he did himself.

Ye Ran lowered his head and murmured, “Thank you.”

“It’s getting late—I should get to school. See you tomorrow, Ye Ran.”

She hopped off the porch, slung her embroidered bag over her shoulder.

“Yun Meng, thank you.”

Yun Meng flashed him a radiant smile, waved, and ran toward Shali Academy.

He opened the purse. Inside was a gold coin and six silver coins—enough to support himself for half a year. He knew it wasn’t a small sum for Yun Meng either.

When Ye Ran returned home, Freya was lying motionless on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

“Freya, are you ill?” he asked in surprise, closing the door behind him.

Seeing the food in his hand, Freya sat up with a burst of energy, her face blooming with a smile as she wrote on her drawing board: “No, just saving energy, eating less.”

Ye Ran wanted to laugh, but the feeling wouldn’t come. His heart ached as he set the breakfast by her bedside. “Eat up, no more lazing in bed.”

He went to his own room, drew back the curtains to let in sunlight, and glanced through the two books Yun Meng had given him.

One was “Meridian and Qi Mechanisms,” the other “Origins of All Things.”

Both were introductory works, explaining the definitions of the meridian skill tree and origin power.

The meridian skill tree referred to the “Qi” that flowed through the human body. Anatomically, “Qi” couldn’t be found, but countless experiments proved that it not only existed but permeated every bone and limb, winding through every meridian.

But without training, a person’s Qi was weak and chaotic, impossible to control.

Those who had systematically studied the meridian skill tree could guide this Qi and apply it to martial arts, magic, and other arts.

Origin power, in a sense, was something even more advanced than Qi.

Only when Qi and origin power were combined did one have a complete meridian skill tree. Qi was the branches and leaves, while origin power was the root.

For instance, if a person’s origin was lightning, then once awakened, their Qi would take on the properties of lightning, and their entire meridian skill tree would be of the lightning attribute.

Many human scholars called humanity “the primates of all things” because, among all races, only humans possessed origin power—even if not every person awakened it.

One thing was certain: possessing origin power was a necessary condition to become a Chosen.

Other races had only innate talents.

Elves excelled at archery, dwarves at smithing, trolls at combat—these were all inborn. Only humans were different; they had no specific talent, seemed to dabble in everything but master nothing—though, upon closer inspection, there were always exceptions: archers whose aim surpassed any elf, blacksmiths faster and better than dwarves, warriors fiercer than trolls…

Everyone’s origin power was different. The most common were wind, fire, thunder, and lightning; rarer were telekinesis, mediumship, clairvoyance, and the like.

Even now, many unknown types of origin power awaited discovery.

The sheer variety of origin powers was enough to give one a headache, but awakening one’s origin was even harder.

These were the most basic concepts.

“Origins of All Things” also mentioned deeper awakenings—for instance, the acknowledged top expert in Torrent City, Qianlong, possessed three origins, which meant he had awakened three times.

Of course, that was still a distant dream for Ye Ran.

He closed the book and glanced at Freya, who was happily gnawing on her red bean bun. He was her Chosen one, but did this little girl really understand what origin power was?

She probably… did. When she handed him the divine token back then, she had solemnly written on her drawing board: “Become my Chosen one. The love goddess Freya descends to save mankind from the most evil, most terrifying demon.”

At that moment, Ye Ran had even forgotten about her broken leg, willingly becoming this “goddess’s” Chosen one. But now, it felt more and more like he’d fallen into a trap…