Meeting

Nighttime, Lonely Devilwood Forest.

Within a small cave hiding amongst countless towering trees, hills, and mountains, Jian Meili, who was recuperating quietly, finally woke up.

"Ugh... where am I?" She groaned the moment she opened her eyes, feeling stiffness and numbness all over her body.

But then, she froze when she felt this feeling.

"Eh?" Jian Meili was stunned as she shot herself up the next moment, looking at her slender arms and long, delicate legs.

"My wounds are... gone? I also can't feel that agonizing pain anymore..." she muttered under her breath, dumbstruck.

Other than her black robe which was tattered and full of bloodstains, the cuts and lacerations she had that had long turned purplish, were gone.

Those infected and poisoned wounds that made her feel as if her skin and flesh were being gnawed on was now gone.

She then took out a sword from her storage ring and looked at her reflection from its metallic surface.

The dried blood at the corner of her lips was gone and her face's pale complexion was now gone as well. Her face was surprisingly clean and bright, suggesting that someone had been taking care of her all this time.

"...was it him? It wasn't a hallucination?" she whispered as that familiar handsome countenance sitting cross-legged atop a boulder appeared in her mind.

Still a bit dazed at the moment, Jian Meili unconsciously walked outside the small cave and saw the back view of a young man sitting atop a large rock, his long black hair flowing down his shoulders like a waterfall.

Rumble, rumble...

Right now, faint roars of thunder could be heard from the young man's body, resounding continuously, as if a chained behemoth was gathering its strength to try and escape its entrapment.

'Tian Long.' Jian Meili called out in her head when she saw that familiar back view and silky snow-white robe.

At that moment, Jian Meili was stunned senseless as she stared at the young man's back, flashes of her past memories came rushing back to her.

...

"Li'er, you know that father doesn't have many friends in this world right? As for enemies, I have too many to count." a deep voice sighed. "However, I have one friend that I respect the most. We met each other during the Continental Battle which was held every century."

Looking at her father's back which was as steady as a mountain, the little genius Jian Meili, who was at that time only 7 years old, listened attentively.

'Father actually has such a high opinion of this person?' she thought as curiosity filled her heart, wondering who her father was talking about. After all, her father, who even disdained those inheritors of Heaven's Legacy and remained unrivaled amongst his peers, only held an extremely few people in his eyes, let alone utterly respect one.

"Tian Yingjie, that is his name," he said as he laughed. "He was indeed a gallant hero." [1]

"In that competition, amongst the innumerable monstrous geniuses and heaven's chosens that hailed from across all continents, he was placed 2nd while I was 5th. As for the champion, the one that placed first was..."

A few years later...

"Lei'er, I've told you before that when I and brother Yingjie became sworn brothers, we promised each other that if our children were both a girl or a boy, then the two shall become the best of friends, no different from family. However, we also promised that if it happened that both our child are of different gender, then we'll talk about a possible betrothal between the two when they grew up."

"Oh, of course, we also decided that if one of our children were to refuse by then, then we'll drop the matters about the marriage..."

"Ah? Lei'er? Where are you going? W-wait, don't leave yet! Just meet him once okay? See if that little brat is good enough for you—"

...

Remembering that conversation with her father, who shamelessly forced her to go to Tian Clan and meet her 'supposed' future husband, Jian Meili, who was already 19 years old then, begrudgingly obeyed.

However, while she did visit the Tian Clan, she never met with Tian Long, who was only 12 years old at the time. She only watched that little guy with flawless countenance from afar, cultivating arduously amidst the cold shoulder given by his supposed clan members.

She also met the other 'young master' of the clan, Tian Yi, once but she didn't have a good opinion of the sinister young lad so there was never a second encounter between the two of them.

Years passed, she matured and the little Tian Long eventually grew up. However, at the same time that she had gone outside of the Divine Continent to look for her missing brother, she had also received a message from her father about the tragic fate that had happened to her supposed future husband.

That peerlessly talented young man had his meridians and acupoints shattered, his energy channels destroyed!

Tian Yingjie, the pride of the supreme powerhouse that was the Tian Clan, he who had once been the 2nd place in the once-in-a-century gathering and also the most paramount stage for the younger generation of this world, Continental Tournament; the son of such a person was doomed, his future destroyed!

His son whom he hid from the world, his son, who he once said to her father, possesses talent far surpassing his father himself, was actually turned from a heaven-defying genius into a cripple who's unable to cultivate!

Jian Meili was so shocked that she couldn't process what she had just heard then. Her own father also couldn't help since he was preoccupied with very important matters all these years, leaving him full of regret and shame, shame with the fact that he couldn't even aid the son of his sworn brother, whose fate was unknown. He had kept sighing in regret, wondering how he would face Tian Yingjie.

Jian Meili also sighed distastefully. Although she didn't have romantic feelings for Tian Long, she had watched him grow up step by step, catching up to her cultivation realm as if he was the literal son of the heavens. Watching that little boy grow up into a young man with peerless talents created a sense of closeness for her.

She wondered if Tian Yingjie, who loomed over his entire generation and even suppressed old monsters from previous ones, will be able to escape from the Ancient Dragon Realm and avenge his poor son who had suffered such a tragic fate.

But most important of all, she wondered if Tian Long was still alive.

But at this moment, this question of hers was answered as she stood before the young man in white.

Unbeknownst to her, Tian Long had already finished his cultivation and was staring at her still-dazed face, suggesting that she was taking a trip down memory lane.

A short while later, Jian Meili regained her senses and saw Tian Long smiling at her.

She was a bit embarrassed for daydreaming like that, and just as she was about to say something, the young man beat her to it.

"You are Jian Meili?" Tian Long asked.

Jian Meili's heart skipped a beat, she was taken aback. "You know me?"

As she asked this, questions upon questions formed in her head.

'Did I carry anything that could give my identity away? But I only had my clothes and storage ring with me...'

'Did he see a glimpse of me all those back then?'

'But I've never properly met him before let alone introduced myself.'

'So how could he have found out?'

'Maybe he did see me back then?'

She tilted her head as a puzzled expression appeared on her face.

Looking at her, Tian Long chuckled. "Of course I know you, although we've never met, I've heard of the owner of the longsword, Silverlight," he said as he pointed at the common-looking silver sword on her hand.

However, different from ordinary swords, this silver longsword was completely silver from the hilt to the tip of its blade. The sword kept illuminating with a silver light without stopping, a sharp aura radiated from it suggesting that its origin was far from ordinary.

"Ah." Jian Meili looked at her sword that she unconsciously drew out from her storage ring earlier.

As he stared at her, it was as if his eyes could see straight through her disguise.

Tian Long continued with a smile. "A common-looking sword silver throughout and endlessly pulsing a silver light, your fame circulates even in the Endless Forces Continent, Sword Goddess Jian."