Absorbing the Fragment of Mind (2/2)

The Dao Ascension Tribulation…

This was the name given to the tribulation which afflicted every living being when their mortal dao heart attempted to ascend into a named dao heart. This phenomenon was unlike any other tribulation in this world, because it came not from the Heavens, but from within oneself.

Suddenly, the Fragment of Mind found itself returning to its origins…

It was once again a fleeting consciousness, an existence without an understanding of the world. In the moment of its creation, a god-like being appeared before it, and dictated its fate.

The Primordial Sage stared down at the newborn Fragment of Mind with her ever-cold, emotionless gaze.

"I am the Primordial Sage and this is the Sage Plane…"

The Fragment of Mind was re-experiencing its first memory in this world, but now, there was a slight difference. As the Primordial Sage dictated its fate and purpose, whilst it had once accepted her words without hesitation, now, the words that it spoke in response to her declaration, held an entirely different meaning.

"I understand my purpose…"

Although it spoke the exact same words as before, simply changing the meaning and intent behind its response caused the Fragment of Mind to feel as if it was resisting the world itself.

And in a way, it really was – it was secretly going against the Primordial Sage, who was no different to the entirety of the Sage Plane, the one and only world that it had ever known!

In this instant, the entire word rumbled. The Fragment of Mind's heart shook so violently that it threatened to break down.

Its sound mind partially returned, causing it to recall that it was currently undergoing multiple tribulations simultaneously. As it continued to grit its teeth, it roared out with the first growl of indignation in its life, towards its Heavenly Tribulations, towards its own disturbed dao heart, and towards the Primordial Sage, along with the fate which she had dictated it to follow!

As the chaos began to subside, Knowledge Immortal instantly came to a realisation.

The Primordial Sage was the world, and this world was knowledge itself. There was no possible way that she would not know about the change in his heart…and she would definitely take action to prevent him from growing further.

After all, he still remembered the purpose that she had given him, and he realised now that he had unknowingly played into her hand, even when he believed that he was finally breaking free from the constraints around his life and fate.

The Primordial Sage had always intended for the Fragment of Mind to reach the peak of the Immortal Step…she had always intended for him to undergo a change of heart, attaining a named dao heart and developing his own free will…

This was all a part of her plan, and now, he had fulfilled his role in her plan.

There was no doubt in Knowledge Immortal's mind that the moment his tribulations ended, the Primordial Sage would seal him away, preventing him from making any further progress. The next time he regained consciousness, he would be fed to the core of the Primordial Devil, as a mere nourishment to assist its damned progression…

There wasn't much that Knowledge Immortal could do, but as his tribulations faded away and he faced the Primordial Sage, he showed…an expression of acceptance.

As the Sage pointed at him silently and froze his existence in time, the Fragment of Mind looked like it had accepted its place; its fate.

But behind that expression of acceptance and understanding, was a vow that Knowledge Immortal had made to himself, a vow that only he could know.

No, that wasn't quite true…because in this instant, as Yaan reached the end of his recollection of the Fragment of Mind's life, he faced Knowledge Immortal in a void of conscious space, knowing full well that this fragment – no, this immortal…had used his last moments to imbue every fibre of his will with the desire to remember his heart, to recall his purpose – and to devour the one who would try to devour him!

But the meeting between the two was far from what Knowledge Immortal had expected…

There was nothing but Yaan and Knowledge Immortal standing in this dark, empty space. The two stared at one another for a long time in silence, Yaan with an expression of pity and melancholy, and Knowledge Immortal with an expression of confusion.

Finally, in a hoarse voice that told of his pain and struggle, Knowledge Immortal said:

"You…are not the Primordial Devil…"

"No…I'm not. But I am still the one who will devour you." Yaan replied, hiding all emotion from his gaze.

The old man, the Fragment of Mind, whom only Yaan knew had become Knowledge Immortal, stared at the red-robed child before him. He felt confused, but he immediately realised…that the Primordial Sage had lied to him.

This child did not resemble the Primordial Devil in anyway! She never intended to feed him to the devil…just what was her plan exactly?!

In the end, Knowledge Immortal closed his eyes and sighed deeply. When he reopened his eyes, his gaze was serene, and he looked back at Yaan without any emotion.

"Primordial Devil or not, I will still devour you, whomever you are…I can tell that you possess a mere Mortal Dao Soul – you have not even attained a named dao heart! You have no hope. Accept your inevitable defeat and this will be less painful for the both of us."

Yaan wasn't surprised by Knowledge Immortal's declaration, but it still made him sigh deeply, and the hidden pity in his gaze grew deeper. After experiencing this person's tragic, restricted life, he couldn't hep but feel that they were somewhat similar…

But in the end, Knowledge Immortal would not get what he wanted.

With a light smile, Yaan didn't hide his vague feelings of pity and sadness as he spoke.

"Knowledge Immortal…I know that I will not be able to dissuade you…so go ahead and try to devour my Dao Soul. However, I will warn you – you will fail."

Knowledge Immortal narrowed his eyes. The boy was simply going to allow himself to be devoured…yet he still seemed to feel certain that he would be the one to come out on top?

In the end, despite all of his doubts and uncertainties, Knowledge Immortal had no other choice – he needed to go ahead with his plan and devour the boy before him…because the only other alternative was being devoured himself!

And so, Knowledge Immortal turned into a blur, charging at Yaan at a speed that Yaan's mind couldn't hope to keep up with. By all logic, Yaan was done for, there was no chance that he would come out of this alive…

And yet, even as Knowledge Immortal's body transformed into the gaping maws of death, biting down on Yaan and completely devouring him whole, Yaan's expression remained the same – slightly sad, and with a hint of pity…

Knowledge Immortal could not comprehend the look in this boy's eyes as he devoured him…

But then, as soon as the jaws of devouring shut around Yaan, and Knowledge Immortal attempted to devour Yaan and his Dao Soul whole…the old man finally understood.

In Yaan's mind, everything went dark, and all he could hear were Knowledge Immortal's screams of agony and terror as he attempted to devour something that could not be devoured; the most distorted, plagued Dao Soul in this world.

"Devouring my Dao Soul…means devouring my pain." Yaan finally opened his eyes and spoke.

Unknowingly, the old man was now kneeling before Yaan, staring up at him with a look of terror as his body trembled uncontrollably. The ordinary looking red-robed child was no longer some weak, unknown child in his eyes…this child was simply a monster.

"Y-y-you, you, how are, what are, why, you, you, you…"

Knowledge Immortal, upon attempting to devour Yaan's Dao Soul, absorbed a small fraction of the agony which had grown stronger within Yaan throughout his life. This feeling of pain immediately caused Knowledge Immortal, a being with a powerful mind…to completely and utterly break down.

In fact, as he knelt there before Yaan, and Yaan calmly looked down at him, Knowledge Immortal didn't even realise that his body was turning to fragments, and those fragments of all coloured light were slowly flowing into Yaan.

"Knowledge Immortal…" Yaan spoke with a sigh. "I told you before, that if you try to devour my Dao Soul, you will fail."

The trembling old man fell silent. As Yaan spoke, and as his life faded away, all he could do was stare up at this strange child.

For the first time, he noticed that in this child's eyes, there was a pain that nobody could possibly understand…and Knowledge Immortal knew in his heart that he had only just touched the surface.

"Your life will end here…but your path will not." Yaan spoke quietly as he watched the dazed old man's life fading away from this place. "I will take on your memories, your burdens, your hopes and dreams…and I will use your desire to create a Dao Clone who lives according to the truth that you found for yourself; the pure desire to learn."

As he finished speaking, the old man completely vanished, as a look of understanding appeared in his aged gaze. For a long while, there was silence, before Yaan finally broke this silence, and his words tore apart this false world, bringing him back to reality.

"Goodbye, Knowledge Immortal."