“I say, you there miss. I can see your palm lines are getting dark, an omen of bad things to come. Would you care for this humble person to divine your future?

“And but don’t be afraid...I am from a noble background as an accurate fate diviner. They call me the ‘Right Hand of the God of Fate’, some might call me ‘Miser’, but...rest assured, allow me to take a look at your palm first...”

It was the first sentence that caught Bai Yunfei’s attention, but it was the latter part that caused him to pay closer attention to the speaker.

He was a young man dressed in a coarse robe of gray. His hair was tied behind his head, but only at the top so the rest of his hair splayed wildly whenever the wind blew. Handsome, but somewhat arrogant, the man looked quite laidback at a glance. At the current moment he was staring curiously at the palm of a young woman, a finger to his chin as he thought ‘profusely’ about it.

“Nalan Yin?!”

Bai Yunfei exclaimed in surprise—this was a person he met several times before. The mysterious Nalan Yin!

“What’s wrong, Yunfei?”

Noticing Bai Yunfei’s expression, Zheng Kai turned his head to look at the same direction as him.

“Saw someone I know, I’m going to say hello.”

Turning around, Bai Yunfei weaved through the throngs of people between him and Nalan Yin. “Long time no see, brother Nalan.”

Having been so engrossed in the palm he was reading, it took Nalan Yin a second to understand he was being spoken to. “You’re...” He gasped, “You’re Bai Yunfei!!”

“You still remember me I see,” Bai Yunfei smiled, “I didn’t think we’d meet each other here...”

The signpost behind Nalan Yin had only one word on it; ‘Fortunetelling’. Strangely enough, Bai Yunfei began to realize something—the way Nalan Yin was dressed and spoke was exactly the same as the first time the two first met. Was this really the same person he met in Redfire City all those years ago?

That’d be a big joke if he was since ‘swindlers’ of the world would never be a Late-stage Soul King.

“How could I not? You’re the hot topic of the whole world!” Nalan Yin laughed as he finished up his reading of the woman’s palm. He flashed a smile to her before bidding farewell.

“Brother Nalan...” Bai Yunfei spoke the moment she was gone, “What is this...?”

“This?” Laughed Nalan Yin, “Well...it’s a hobby of mine, a hobby I like very much.”

“...........”

“Yunfei, who is this...?”

Tang Xinyun and the others had caught up with Bai Yunfei now. Zheng Kai was still giving Nalan Yin a curious glance as he whispered to Bai Yunfei.

“This is Nalan Yin.” Bai Yunfei introduced, “Brother Nalan, this is my wife, Tang Xinyun. And these are my friends, Zheng Kai, Mo Xiaoxuan...”

“Ah, the young miss of the Tang and the second son of the Zheng...” Nalan Yin quirked an eyebrow, “This one is Nalan Yin, a pleasure to meet you all.”

“It’s nice to meet you, brother Nalan.” Still curious, Zheng Kai gave Nalan Yin a polite bow.

Once he was done greeting everyone, Nalan Yin turned back to face Bai Yunfei. “It feels like it was just yesterday since we saw each other in the Soulbeast Forest. Allow myself to give my heartfelt admiration and congratulations for your breakthrough into the Emperors, brother Bai...”

“You’re not doing too badly for yourself, brother Nalan. Becoming a Soul Emperor won’t be too far in your future.”

Nalan Yin appeared at the sight of the Extreme King Pill struggle when Li Chengfeng did. The two managed to secure just as much of the Extreme King Pills to allow them an easy breakthrough to become Soul Kings, but their rate of progression after that was alarming to see.

“I’m just a mere opportunist...it’s you who we should be talking about! Haha, destroying the entire Beast Taming School? Respect isn’t even half of what I feel! I presume you went to the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts to become a Soul Emperor?”

“Oh? How did you know that?”

“Just a guess.” Nalan Yin smiled myseriously. “How was it like? Was it easy breaking through in there?”

“Ah...it’s a place containing all the dead class eight soulbeasts and their inheritances, but that’s about it...” Bai Yunfei answered, confused why Nalan Yin would ask. “Oh, if I recall correctly, your contracted soulbeast partner is the renowned divinebeast Zhi Tian, correct? You must be heading into the Tomb of the Emperor Beasts soon yourself?”

“What? You knew?!” Nalan Yin gasped.

“My friend, Li Chengfeng, is a student of the Fate School. He told me that he saw you and your soulbeast partner during the Extreme King Pill struggle.”

“Him?! You know him?!”

“From a very long time ago, I saw him very recently, in fact. He told me...you’re the disciple of Ling Yin the Wanderer, right?”

Mysterious didn’t even begin to describe Nalan Yin. Bai Yunfei always thought he was a student of the Fate School due to the strange soul armament he had, but it turned out that wasn’t the case. Li Chengfeng told Bai Yunfei when they met that Nalan Yin was just the disciple of Ling Yin, one of the most powerful wandering soul cultivators on the continent. Ling Yin the Wanderer. A powerful soul cultivator that once had ties with the Fate School, hence him being able to wield the energy of fate.

To make matters even more strange, Nalan Yin’s soulbeast partner was the extremely rare ‘omniscient divinebeast’ that could wield the power of fate. Li Chengfeng and Ge Geyun once traveled to the Soulbeast Forest to contract with the divinebeast, but they failed since they didn’t know Nalan Yin was already partnered with him.

‘Divinebeast’ was simply a title given to the soulbeasts of the ancient past. Nalan Yin’s companion, ‘Zhi Tian’, was a class seven soulbeast, but not even class eight soulbeasts would give him disrepect due to his title.

“It is as you say.” Nalan Yin nodded. “So you knew him after all...he must be a Late-stage Soul King by now, Zhi Tian told me that Li Chengfeng is a brilliant genius...”

Bai Yunfei laughed. “To tell you the truth, Li Chengfeng is already an Early-stage Soul Emperor.”

“What?!” Nalan Yin cried, “He’s already a Soul Emperor?! But how!!”

“Honestly, my friend’s talent for training is practically unmatched...”

“I...” Nalan Yin looked unsteady. “You’re all monsters...” He whispered under his breath.

“Hm?” He snapped back up suddenly as if sensing a disturbance in the air. Bowing to everyone, he smiled. “So sorry for the impromptu departure, but there is something I must do right now. Until next time!”

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Bewildered by this, Bai Yunfei took a second before he nodded. “Until...until next time.”

Sealing the table into his ring and hoisting his signboard onto his shoulder, Nalan Yin took off into the distance.

He stopped a few seconds later, “Brother Zheng Kai, since it was fate that brought us to meet, allow me to say something—I saw some dark lines on your forehead. A disaster is around the corner for you, I’m afraid. The signs of bloodshed are there, and also the sign of a mighty struggle between life and death. You’d best be very careful...”

“What?”

Zheng Kai replied, confused. But before he could ask about anything else, Nalan Yin was already gone into the crowd...