Instigate

His body collapsed as the light from the crescent moon began to fade.

[Tch! So close!] the system seemed disheartened.

"B-Big brother!" Xueyue quickly ran over to Li Renjie.

She hesitated for a moment before reaching out to flip him over. The moment she made contact she quickly pulled her hand back!

Cold!

His body was frighteningly cold!

Xueyue looked at her hand, on her fingertips were small ice crystals.

"This…" her eyes grew wide as she stared at floor around Li Renjie, it was beginning to frost over.

'…Is there nothing I can do?'

Her eyes began to tremble.

She quickly perked her head and pulled out a small wooden box.

Opening the box carefully a delicate and fluffy white object came into view.

"Little tree, my f-friend needs help Is there anything you can do?"

Xueyue turned to the one thing that put her at ease.

She always felt that it responded to her and sure enough the fluffy white object slowly began to release small emerald specks of light.

Slowly they made their way over to Li Renjie.

Just like with Xueyue prior, the emerald specks began to transform into a faint shimmering emerald colored mist, it smelled similar to a forest after the rain.

It was quite refreshing.

The mist slowly hovered around Li Renjie's face.

To Xueyue it appeared as if he was slowly inhaling the mist with every breath.

What she couldn't see was that the emerald mist was actually being frozen!

The moment it got within a few millimeters of his face it would completely freeze and fall away.

It was unable to enter Li Renjie's body.

A few minutes passed and his breathing slowly returned to normal as the frost on the floor beginning to fade.

"Ugh…"

He immediately reached out and grabbed his head.

It felt like his head was about to split open.

After a moment he looked around and noticed that he was lying on the floor, Xueyue was hovering over him.

'Eh? What happened?'

"Y-You suddenly passed out. A-are y-you ok?" Xueyue asked.

"Passed out? Well, other than a headache I feel fine," Li Renjie smiled back and answered.

Although he was confused he could tell she was worried about him, best to put her at ease.

Hearing his response Xueyue sighed in relief before looking at the fluffy object in the box.

"Thank you, you're always helping me," she spoke honestly and from the heart.

The white object remained bright for a moment before swaying gently and seemingly going to sleep.

Xueyue smiled before closing the box and carefully keeping it.

Li Renjie was even more confused.

'A giant dandelion seed?'

He couldn't help but stare at the little girl and her box.

They had only just met but just now she seemed genuinely worried about him.

How strange.

Xueyue noticing Li Renjie staring at her quickly went back to her old self and stared at the floor, all the while fidgeting with the hem of her robes.

Li Renjie smiled watching her reaction.

"Xueyue, let's go shopping."

"Huh?"

"I need new clothes and I can get you some new clothes as well. What do you say?"

Xueyue slowly raised her head and locked eyes with the young boy.

Her reflection all too clear.

Looking past that, she looked at him.

This was the first time anyone had said they would buy her something.

The first time anyone even seemed to care.

She clutched onto her robes tighter before starting down and the floor and nodding.

Li Renjie smiled.

'Sigh, this girl has really had a tough life.'

Slowly he got up and walked over to her before patting her on the head.

"Come on, I have a bag full of gold that needs spending!"

Li Renjie rubbed her head a bit before heading towards the door.

Xueyue paused before raising her head and following behind.

As she followed behind her eyes would peak up every now and then.

"U-ugh, I was wondering if you could tell me your name?" she said softly.

Li Renjie turned around and responded casually.

"Li Renjie."

Turning around he continued on his way, not noticing the small smile on Xueyue's face.

As he walked he lashed out at the system!

'What was that?! I demand an answer!'

However, what he got in response was a serious voice.

[The host's first mission shall now be issued! Host is to obtain three ships of his own along with matching crews within two weeks or lose the use of his left eye permanently! Should the host complete the mission within the allotted time he shall be granted access to the systems shop.]

The moment the system finished a timer appeared in Li Renjie's mind.

'Huh?!?!'

::North Star Island – Blue Woods Spirit Forest::

In the north of Amon's Kingdom lay an ancient forest.

A forest all the inhabitants of North Star Island knew to avoid.

The Blue Woods Forest!

A spirit forest!

Home to spirit beasts!

Creatures that no ordinary qi beast could compare to!

The forest was dense.

Trees stretching over one hundred plus feet into the sky could be seen extending far into the horizon.

The spirit forest actually took up a quarter of the entire kingdom!

Oddly enough, all the trees were identical, their trunks growing in a similar twisted and peculiar way.

And yet.

There was strange beauty to them.

Their leaves were somewhat oval in shape and had a deep turquoise color to them. They were in groups of five and on the surface of the center leaf and the last two leaves were strange blue patterns, similar to a dragonfly's wings.

The looked strangely like flowers.

There was a beautiful sense of symmetry to them.

The juxtaposition between the symmetrical leaves and the warped trunks created a unique sight.

Every now and then small specks of spectral like light would condense on the three marked leaves. They appeared similar to small drops of water yet when they fell they were unnaturally slow, as if not affected by gravity.

When they finally touched the dense underbrush they would vanish as if never having existed. During the pitch blackness of night it created quite the eerie scene.

At the moment though, the forest was draped in long shadows as evening began to set in. Within the outer perimeter of the forest a golden figure could be seen within at patch of dense bushes.

The golden crown chicken had vented for about an hour after Li Renjie left before deciding to head home and focus on fully absorbing the energy from the white object. It had been immersing itself in the emerald light the entire time when a gentle voice suddenly sounded in its mind.

"Little chicken, do you enjoying eating my seeds? "

"Bkaaa!" the golden chicken jumped.

It bloomed with a golden light as it scanned the surroundings.

"Hahaha, no need to be afraid," the voice once again sounded.

This time the chicken was sure that the voice was coming from within its own mind! Being a Nine Springs Realm spirit beast, the chicken could naturally understand human speech, it paused and decided to listen.

The voice continued on, not seeming to mind how suspicious the chicken was.

"If you want, I can give you something even nicer than those seeds."

"Bkaaa?"

The chicken who had been cautious up till now suddenly perked up, the voice's honey laced words tempted its little chicken heart.

"Those seeds weren't much; I can give you something that has better effects and actually tastes good."

Before the chicken could respond, the space just Infront of it began to ripple like water on a lake.

From the ripples a dazzling emerald vine inched its way out.

The moment the chicken saw the vine its eyes began glowing.

Beautiful!

This was the second most beautiful thing it had ever seen in its life!

The emerald vine appeared to be carved from jade!

Its body shone with a magnificent luster as light danced on its many facets. Along with the light, a pleasant and refreshing fragrance gushed from its equally stunning emerald leaves. The strange thing was how familiar the energy flowing from the vine was to the little chicken.

In fact, it was the same!

This was the same energy it had felt in those strange objects!

As the chicken continued to stare, a small golden pod began to grow at the very tip of the vine, it grew quickly and within moments it had become a full-sized golden apple!

The moment the chicken laid its eyes on the golden apple they began glowing with fervor.

The energy being emitted from it seemed to make its blood boil!

"This is a Gaia Apple, I can give it to you, but I need to ask a small favor of you," the voice sounded once again as the vine gently made its way over to the awe-struck chicken.

The chicken didn't seem to hear the voice as its eyes were completely locked onto the golden apple.

Gold!

Golden Apple!

It had to have it!

The vine gently drifted in front of the chicken and began shaking from side to side, slowly wafting the scent of the Gaia Apple into the air. Similar to a freshly baked pie on a windowsill, the smell drifted over and silently ensnared the little chicken.

The voice sounded once again.

"This can be yours if you just do me this little favor. However, you have to be quick, what do you say?"

The chicken finally looked away from the apple and towards the rippling void.

It seemed to be thinking.

After a few minutes of constantly looking at the apple, the horizon, and the rippling void the chicken finally nodded its head.

"You won't regret it little friend, I just need to you watch over someone is all."

The voice spoke before the vine gracefully moved in front of the chicken.

"Hop on," the voice said, sounding all too pleasant.

The chicken hesitated for a moment before perching on the vine.

Slowly it withdrew back into the void, bringing the golden chicken along with it.

Just as the ripples vanished a playful chuckle echoed across the entire Blue Woods Forest.

Whoosh!

All the clouds above the forest suddenly scattered!

From the sky a shadow flickered for less than a fraction of a fraction of a second.

Bang!

The trees in the area where the chicken had been standing, as well as all the trees within an area of ten miles had been cut clean at the base!

The playful chuckle sounded once more before the shadow vanished just as quickly as it had arrived.

At the same time, deep within the Blue Woods forest, a shadow slowly began to open its eyes before sighing and going back to sleep.

::Golden Sands Island - Great Yang Empire, Ember City::

On the second floor of an expensive looking restaurant, a young man around eighteen years old sits and blankly stares out a window. Wearing a straw hat, straw coat, and straw sandals he looked quite out of place when compared with the others.

His eyes seemed glazed over and he didn't seem to be looking anywhere in particular.

After a moment, his gaze abruptly clears and smile slowly comes to his face.

Leaning back in his chair he grabs the menu and begins flipping throw its pages.