The world of the Five Elements was a land of wonder and cruelty, a realm where beauty thrived alongside brutality, and only the strong held sway.
Atop the vast Azuremount in the Moonlight Kingdom, the air this night was particularly crisp. Wisps of mist drifted in from afar, carrying with them a subtle sorrow, as if mourning. A gentle breeze stirred the fallen leaves, whispering through the trees like the sighs of a weary soul.
Autumn nights here were bitterly cold. Dew and mist clung to every leaf and blade, freezing into crystal shards, as if nature itself sought to seal away all signs of life. The distant howls of wolves echoed through the mountains—not just a warning of lurking danger, but a lamentation, crying out to the indifferent stars above.
Suddenly, the sky above Azuremount flared with an intense light. It burst forth in silence, brilliant and blinding—then vanished just as swiftly, leaving the mountain once again cloaked in stillness.
But something had changed.
At the summit of Azuremount, without a sound or tremor, a baby boy had appeared. Carved like jade, flawless and delicate, he looked around the world with wide, curious eyes.
As if guided by an unseen force, the infant began to crawl—slowly, determinedly—toward something only he could sense.
Though the air bit with cold and the earth was hard and rough, the child pressed on. His tiny hands clawed through leaves and dirt, his soft skin scratched by unseen twigs and stones. Yet he did not cry. Something—some unshakable will—drove him forward.
At last, he reached it.
A necklace lay nestled in the soil. Its pendant was a beautiful piece of ancient jade, and carved into its polished surface were three delicate Chinese characters: Ye Haitang.
With trembling fingers, the infant picked up the necklace and placed it around his neck. A strange calm washed over him, and he let out a soft, incomprehensible coo before exhaustion overcame him.
He drifted into sleep, a sliver of peace in the heart of the freezing night.
An hour passed.
"Oh God… why am I so small now?!"
The child stirred—his mind awake, but his voice trapped in a body that could only wail.
This baby… was Bai Yufei.
The same Bai Yufei who had once walked the corridors of genius and fire, now reborn in a form too frail for the world he had landed in. Despair clawed at him, but his cries came only as a baby's helpless sobs.
What went wrong?
He had calculated every variable, accounted for every anomaly. Time travel should not have led to this. Had he miscalculated? Or had the Chronos Engine sent him too far?
Panicked, he reached for the pendant—the necklace. Relief swept through him when he felt its weight still upon his chest. This artifact was more than just a memento—it was the culmination of his life's work, his soul's final anchor.
The night deepened. Overhead, the full moon shone with a mother's gentleness. Its silver glow spilled over his tiny frame, as if to cradle him in a celestial embrace.
But the warmth was illusory.
The cold pressed in with merciless hands. His infant body, fragile and unprepared, began to freeze. His breath slowed. His limbs grew numb.
Am I going to die here…?
He had crossed the bounds of space and time—only to perish in his new beginning?
The wind howled louder, and the heavens grew cruel. Rain began to fall, fine and cold as needles, soaking the earth and stealing the last warmth from his flesh.
Bai Yufei, once a genius who touched the stars… now just a child, frozen and forgotten at the edge of a new world.
Was this truly the end?