A Promise

One Year Ago

One day when Zhao Yun was out training his martial arts in the woods, he encountered a ragged and injured girl of roughly the same age as him. She was being chased by some bandits with weak auras. Her body was covered in mud and leaves so one could not judge her appearance but from the aura of the bandits; Zhao Yun deduced that she should be a weak and ordinary girl. Well bandits would not chase after someone strong no? he was a pure hearted child. His talent and rigorous training had allowed him to gain stronger strength. He decided to save her. He drove away the bandits without much effort and thus saved the girl who was severely injured and was now unconscious.

He carried her to a nearby pool and washed her clean. Only then did he saw that the girl was not ordinary. She was an otherworldly beauty. Although she was young, probably younger than Zhao Yun himself, She was still extremely beautiful. Even with his mental strength and will power, the young and innocent Zhao Yun blushed red on seeing her exquisite and adorable face. He hurriedly looked away so that to prevent losing control. He wiped her wounds and applied basic medications on her. After ensuring she was out of danger did he sat down to meditate. When he woke up he was stunned to see an extremely beautiful fairy staring at him. Her eyes were big and watery. She had a cute little nose and pouty red lips. Although she was still budding and was lacking in the chest department, one could tell just by looking at her that she would be an extremely alluring beauty in the future. Zhao Yun lost himself in those charming features.

"humph" a cute humph woke him from his stupor and he saw the young girl angrily staring at him. His face turned red in embarrassment and he secretly criticized himself from being too absent minded.

"cough! Hi my name is Zhao Yun" after forcing a few dry cough he introduced himself.

"how are you doing? Are your injuries fine now" he continued with a gentle voice.

Seeing the gentle attitude of the boy in front of her the girl became shy and timidly nodded.

"It's alright now. There is no pain" she said

"that's a relief" Zhao Yun said.

What followed was an awkward silence as no one knew how to respond.

The young girl would occasionally peak at the youth who had supposedly save her life. Although Zhao Yun was a little older than her, girls EQ develop faster than boys and they are comparatively more mature. Zhao Yun was not tall or bulky; instead he was of average height. Compared to his peers, he can be considered perfectly balanced. He was a handsome boy with all the good genes of his parents. His training had given him a slim physique but under those slim appearance laid powerful and explosive muscles. Seeing the handsome appearance of the boy the girl blushed a little and lowered her head. No one would know what was going on in a little girl's mind.

"I'm Yu Mei." The girl softly introduced herself.

"Ah!" Zhao Yun was taken aback but soon he came to himself and nodded with a smile.

"Why were you being chased by those bandits? with your strength you could have chased them all away right?" he asked after some thought.

The girl shivered. Anger filled her eyes and she puffed her cheeks looking extremely adorable.

"I was separated from my elders and got injured by a fierce beast. If not would they have the galls to provoke this grand aunt" she pouted.

Zhao Yun nodded but inside he was alarmed. Even with the strength of the clan leader it would be difficult to deal with a fierce beast and this girl had actually fought with one. 'This girl is not simple' he thought. Later the two chatted for a while and Zhao Yun managed to get some of the information. It turned out that her elders had come to investigate the cliff of despair and she had tagged along with them. While they were investigating they asked her to stay far away since with her cultivation she would not be able to manage in the vicinity. She found an extremely beautiful Jade Eyed Butterfly and had chased after it. This kind of butterfly was a magic beast a tier lower than the fierce beast and above than that of wild beasts. Unfortunately she ran into a cloud panther that was a rank 3 fierce beast. She fought hard with it and finally managed to kill it but got seriously injured in the process. While recuperating she was unable to use her spirit qi and thus was ambushed by those vile men.

Listening to her story Zhao Yun could infer that she was one with exceptional background as only those who reigned supreme over the continent had the galls to investigate the cliff of despair. He was also shocked to learn that she was able to kill the fierce beast which his clan leader would have difficulty in dealing with.

He tried hard but in the end failed to know the girl's background. He could only sigh at the results.

From then the two travelled together and adventured along the woods. He was surprised on seeing her strength while she was shocked to see his knowledge. They became fairly close and Yu Mei started calling him Big Brother, while he used to call her Little Mei. They were both happy in each other's company. Although they were young, Zhao Yun at Eleven while Yu Mei at was a little younger, affection and dependence deepened as they continued to share their days together. Like this half a year had passed. The two had become increasingly close and were like young couple. But their world could not last for long because one day an old woman appeared in front of them when they were chatting near a waterfall. Through this half an year under the guidance of Yu Mei, Zhao Yun had worked hard to increase his strength. Although he was still not a match for her and was way weaker, he was strong enough to contend with the few older generations of the clan apart from those in high position. Even with his strength he shivered at the sight of the old woman.

"Elder Lan" Yu Mei cried happily and rushed into the woman's bosom. A smile bloomed on the woman's old face. Her initially cold eyes became as gentle as spring water when she saw the little fairy in her bosom. After hugging the woman known as elder Lan, Yu Mei separated herself from her. Then as if thinking of something, she turned around and looked at Zhao Yun who was not far from her and then said something to the Elder's ears with a red face. Although they were extremely close, Zhao Yun whose EQ was not as mature as hers was still clueless about everything. He watched Yu Mei whispering something in the ears of the woman and then saw her expression changing. He felt that something was odd. Sure enough after some time a mighty pressure descended on him. Zhao Yun was startled as this force was trying to make him kneel. His pride would never allow him to kneel before anyone apart from his parents. He didn't knew why but an arrogance that didn't deemed even the heavens to be worthy for him to kneel was born on the day of his soul awakening [1].

He gritted his teeth and tried as hard as he could to force himself to stand straight. A glimmer of surprise flashed through the eyes of the woman. She increased her pressure, but Zhao Yun stubbornly resisted everything she threw at him. "Elder Lan" Yu Mei cried with anger. Elder Lan ignored her and applied full pressure. Just when Zhao Yun had reached his limits, a mysterious power coursed through his meridians and the pressure on him vanished. He stood up tall and straight. Elder Lan was shocked and soon a smile blossomed on her face. She looked towards the pouty Yu Mei and smiled. "Not Bad" she remarked.

"Elder Lan if you bully Big Brother Yun again, I'll never talk to you then"

The elder smiled but didn't say anything. She looked towards the young lad in front of her and said "Boy train hard. If you are not strong enough, you won't be able to be with the young miss."

Zhao Yun shivered. He had a bad feeling about this. Even the usually lively girl Yu Mei too was sad and downcast. Elder Lan saw that the mood was not right so she excused herself after saying something in the girl's ears. Then she disappeared.

Yu Mei timidly walked over to Zhao Yun and held his sleeves while lowering her head. Her eyes were filled with reluctance. Zhao Yun knew that it was time for their farewell so he didn't speak. Both of them remained silent throughout their time. At sunset elder Lan came back again. She saw that both of them were just sitting quietly. She sighed "both of you belong to two different worlds" Zhao Yun shivered and Yu Mei lowered her head biting her red lips. Seeing this Elder Lan smiled and said "if you want to change this then all you need is strength. If you have strength then everything is yours."

Zhao Yun understood this fact. He knew all along that to get what you need, you have to show the capabilities. Seeing that the boy has understood what she wanted to convey, elder Lan handed over a book to him "this book details all about the cultivation realms, secret worlds, as well as the power distribution of our world." Zhao Yun understood the meaning behind these words. He had to search for Yu Mei on his own. He remained silent. Elder Lan took Yu Mei with her. Just before she was ready to fly away, Zhao Yun saw the downcast Yu Mei. He saw her tearing eyes and felt a pain he had never felt before. he shouted "WAIT"

Elder Lan and Yu Mei turned around with latter having hopeful eyes.

Zhao Yun knew the meaning she was willing to convey. She wanted him to stop her. He shook his head and turned away. Elder Lan raised her eyebrows while Yu Mei looked devastated.

"Little Mei, wait for Big Brother to find you when he is strong enough."

Just when they had thought that he had given up, a gentle voice filled with determination echoed through the woods. Admiration flashed through elder Lan's eyes. Yu Mei's eyes turned red. She nodded her head and shouted with equal determination "I Will."