Several hours of peace unfolded without disturbance for one hybrid, one beast, one Nascent Soul, one World-Bound Solar Star, three Spirits of Dao, and four Spirits of Cultivation as they caught up or discussed random topics. These hours were filled with laughter, pouts, and ease, unaffected by any looming shadows of crisis.
If they had a choice, excluding an anxious and anticipating embodint of war, this peace of theirs could stretch endlessly without complaints. Even if ti had to be frozen. Unfortunately, life was about progression. And out of everyone in the Utmost Purity Galaxy, the young Magi with an Anima-Devourer lineage blessed by the Heavenly Daos was relentlessly pursued by a devilishly hellish shadow known as Hell.
It stalked without caring for his happiness, content, and peace. It paid his special qualities no mind, seeking to eradicate him from a single mont of carelessness.
-----
[RIGHT ARM: Pride]
Karmic Luck Value: 268,334.4.
First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.
Second Calamity: Claid - 1/1.
Third Calamity: Claid - 3/3.
Fourth Calamity: Claid - 18/18.
Fifth Calamity: Suppressed - 31 Years.
-
[LEFT ARM: Lust]
Karmic Luck Value: 268,334.4.
First Calamity: Claid - 7/7.
Second Calamity: Claid - 1/1.
Third Calamity: Claid - 3/3.
Fourth Calamity: Claid - 18/18.
Fifth Calamity: Suppressed - 31 Years.
-----
'Thirty-one years…' Wei Wuyin stretched his weary arms as Bai Lin flew properly toward the Blank Dominion, the new ho to his Original Dawn Palace. The All-Alchemic Clash hadn't just been a grand stage for him to cultivate and establish himself in the Holy Void of Fortune, but it had forced him to accelerate his Fifth Calamity by nearly sixteen years.
However, given his chosen path—the path of a paragon, he couldn't hold back on improving himself, and he refused to follow in the complacent footsteps of his alternate lifetis. That said, he similarly refused to revoke his opportunity to live. To truly live.
If he spent every waking mont obsessed with surviving the Calamities of Hell, there was very little doubt in his mind that the compounding stress would escalate to shattering levels, pushing him to the brink in mind, body, and soul. He would be prone to making mistakes, not able to calculate or plot out sches clearly out of a paralyzing fear of wasting a millisecond.
Every second would be excessively valued like the worth of pure gold in mortal eyes.
Wei Wuyin had long since broken free from such ntal fetters as he established his Heart of Cultivation step-by-step, taking it one breath at a ti, ensuring that each breath was made with satisfaction rather than if each breath was maximized to a singular goal.
After all, what was the point of cultivating, fighting, and surviving desperately if he couldn't live a life worth living?
"Are we going to see Sister Songli?" Bai Lin asked, her voice rife with excitent.
"Sister?" Wei Wuyin's left eyebrow raised.
"What?" Bai Lin snapped back.
"Haha! Nothing. Nothing," Wei Wuyin waved his hands around as if to dismiss it. How could he point out the clear shift in address? However, he had already suppressed his humanity, becoming a True Dragon, and plucked the chastity of a young fire phoenix, so there was nothing else to say. Bai Lin was bound to decide her place by his side, and that was clear from the title she'd given Yue Songli.
"That's right! Hmph!" Bai Lin triumphantly spat. Then, her tone grew somber and emotional: "Sister Songli has always been a little reserved so it's hard for not to worry about her. Did our plan work?" Back then, Yue Songlin was a prisoner forced to extract Yang Energies and cultivate by Trueborn for hundreds of years. The two of them encountered her by chance and then freed her.
Wei Wuyin barely acted; the heroic rescue and following combat effort were almost exclusively hers. Bai Lin was greatly invested in Yue Songli's ntal state. That girl lived a tale of lonely tragedy, saved only by the unique properties of her body from a greater tragedy, and then was pursued by Wei Wuyin wholeheartedly.
"It did," Wei Wuyin confird as he glanced in the direction of the Incinerated Dominion. With his Celestial Eyes, he observed an operation unfolding to force Su Yi out of his turtle shell. Various Supre Sages were acting alongside several massive Void Vessels imposing on the dominion's spatial stability, seeking to cause it to implode and shatter.
Blinking once, he continued: "Qing Qiumu and Yue Songli found common ground, forming a great bond. They've traveled together extensively, and only recently have they grown enough to begin exploring independently. Yue Songli has Dakarai and Qing Qiumu has a wisp of my quintessential power with her.
"I've done everything to hamr that they're safe, free, and can exist without fear out in a greater world filled with unknowns. Fortunately, others are offering their indirect assistance as they seek their favor and highly value their opinions. Qing Qiumu has grown to being able to go a full day without my imdiate presence. It's impossible to remove the scars etched in their hearts and minds for healthy self-growth, but the progress to heal has been incredible. They're both strong won."
Bai Lin's eyes brightened with joy. "See. I told you that Sister Qiumu isn't soone who'll break apart. She has a strength of the heart that reminds of…well…you."
Wei Wuyin chuckled, not out of amusent, but at how apt that description was. Qing Qiumu and he were kindred spirits, and not due to their shared tragedy or stories. After all, Qing Qiumu was a princess of the Elven Race of the Myriad Yore Continent, she was beloved by all and yearned for freedom and the power required to keep it. As for himself, he would have been satisfied spending his days with family, never reaching a high cultivation base even as a hot-blooded young man.
They didn't share histories, but they had a common view of the world. That it was…beautiful despite the tragedy or darkness within. They saw that. The beauty in things and possessed the courage to pursue it. Not counting their similar humor, they had great similarities in terms of ntality.
This was sothing they both felt very early on as they spent hours upon hours talking, forgetting the ti and finding joy in each other's words. While Wei Wuyin had contributed to her rescue, she had never believed she was going to die. Wei Wuyin's fate prior to becoming a Bloodline of Sin Inheritor was proof that her life was not ant to end there.
"I feel that Sister Yifei, Sister Xinyi, and Sister Baozhai all have qualities that remind of you," Bai Lin comnted carelessly, pointing out sothing that Wei Wuyin was unable to see. "Actually, I think…they all…"
"Yeah! Yeah! You sure like calling them sisters, huh?" Wei Wuyin interrupted with a tap to her noggin.
"Mmph!" She folded her wings and spun violently, yet her attempt to knock Wei Wuyin off her was thwarted by a simple adhesive technique, stuck to her. When her wings unfurled, Wei Wuyin triumphantly laughed. Bai Lin realized her attempt was pointless as she puffed her cheeks. Instead of sticking to that, she slowly beca calr, asking: "Do you miss them? All of them?"
"..." Wei Wuyin's eyelids drooped a little, his gaze lowered, and his head tilted downwards. 'Every ti I breathe,' he thought ntally. Bai Lin heard it, her eyes grew briefly somber before rising with radiant happiness.
Wei Wuyin took a deep breath and expelled any turbid air, "I talk to them, keep tabs. That's why I built those Void Altars to act as relays to transmit spiritual ssages and empower them. They've been sending fewer and fewer ssages. They have their own struggles to face, challenges to overco, and goals to reach, so I can only support them from afar."
"I know," Bai Lin smiled. "They have to grow on their own, right?"
Wei Wuyin firmly nodded; they were all strong won who had their own histories, tragedies, and adventures. They had their friends, their family, and their lives to live. He was an undeniable part of that, and a substantially large portion beyond any shadow of a doubt, but for right now, he couldn't settle down. He couldn't halt his footsteps as Hell chased from behind, threatening to swallow him whole.
"Do you still fear that they'll beco you?" Bai Lin asked, gently prodding the subject that Wei Wuyin had tried to avoid earlier. While her wording was suspect, the one thing that Wei Wuyin feared in his life was that his won would beco foils of himself, relying solely on him.
In the world of cultivation, riding the lap of a dragon was common. It ant a woman or man rising in status and power by virtue of their partner's strength. It was a thing people often envied, but this created situations where the person who rides loses their own identity. After all, a tiny human would be easily missed in the presence of a planet-sized dragon.
If a woman were declared as just that person's woman, man, wife, husband, mistress, or consort. Their entire identity becos tethered to that person, unable to stand on their own.
This was what happened with Long Chen, or at the least, there were clear early signs of it happening. He took center stage and they were re foils to his brilliance.
"Yes," Wei Wuyin admitted softly. "But I know none of them would ever do so. They're themselves. And if I no longer exist in this world, they'll find their own happiness. They'll have stability and peace."
Bai Lin puffed out a breath of golden flas with a tinge of frustration, "What if that's not what they want? You've always kept yourself a little distant from them—from everyone. You did that to Sister Songli, and she thought you abandoned her. You were hands off with Sister Xinyi, and instead of acting to take her imdiately as your woman back then, you presented her with an option. You knew she loved you, even back then.
"Sister Yifei…you kept her as a concubine, refused to officially declare any of them as yours, when you had no reason to do so. Even Little Cousin Si. You knew where he was for a long ti, and you didn't find him until after you grew enough in strength to reign supre. You've gotten closer, but as long as you keep that distance between those you care about fearing they'll either beco overly reliant on you or suffer upon your death…I think…"
"..." Wei Wuyin didn't respond.
Yet Bai Lin finished her thought after hardening her heart: "I think you'll regret it one day."
Wei Wuyin lifted his head to stare at the gorgeous starry sky, heaving a sigh. He had gotten considerably better at thinning that distance, but no words ca out to refute Bai Lin.
Reviews
All reviews (0)