Ch 46 – It’s Rewind Time

…

'That's an interesting tidbit he gave back there.' Kaleido squinted his eyes while rubbing his chin.

"Heh, you don't have to accept my request, but it's beneficial to you if you somehow succeed in doing it," the old man smirked while shaking his head.

The old monster Long Liv knew that what he just said was something that would make anyone else salivate, especially when one is a practitioner of time path.

"What you just said is still only in theory, and I haven't seen your incomplete work yet, so I can't really assume its feasibility." Shaking his head, Kaleido walked toward the glowing white Gu formation on the ground ahead of him while rolling his eyes inwardly.

'A way to acquire an Ancient Desolate Moon extreme physique? What use does that have for me if I already have one!' Kaleido stopped and stared at the Gu formation.

With one glance alone, he realized the profundity behind it and its deep connection with the dead old man beside him.

"So you're still alive because of the formation right here?" Kaleido asked in passing as he crouched down. His hand hovered over one of the Gu and grabbed at it, and wasn't scared in the slightest that the Gu formation would break down because he grabbed it.

"Alive is a wrong term. I'm already dead, and I'm merely a projection of my former self, an incomplete copy if you will." The old man shook his head while humbly accepting the truth of the situation.

In the world of Gu, nothing is truly eternal. Even desolate beasts and plants would eventually die; monsters that can live for millions of years would wither and rot away with time, unable to continue living longer under the indifferent eyes of heaven.

Even powerhouses such as Rank 8 experts would eventually die with age, decaying with the passage of time into their coffins, leaving only behind a glorious tale that would also be forgotten in the long annals of history.

Time is ever-present and ever-indifferent; it ends all but also starts all. It conveys the beginning of a journey and the end of a story, forming a cycle of infinite fables to be spread forever thee.

Refining the Gu he held in his hand, Kaleido closed his eyes as a surge of information appeared from nowhere, forming a mystical "book" inside his mind that he can perfectly recall with just a thought. But even if that was so, his impeccable memory that was modified when he appeared in the world of Gu meant that he would find it harder to forget something than to remember it.

"So…" Kaleido opened his eyes and stared back at the old man floating beside him with surprise, "You plan on using Temporal Parasite Gu in tandem with other Gu to forcefully seize his body? This was your revival method?"

"Yes," chuckling softly, the old man continued, "But as you know, this is basically the same as defying heaven. Even as an Undying Demon, I would only have a minuscule chance of success."

"Not to mention that this was only in theory and that Temporal Parasite Gu was incomplete. Even if it does succeed, the result of this method would create a fused soul, meaning I'm not truly revived and have only imparted a part of me into another being."

"You can say it's the same as giving birth, but in this case, I'm creating a new soul born from two different souls. A soul that holds the memories, experiences, personalities, characteristics, and everything else of two different entities."

Kaleido shook his head at this unorthodox method of resurrection and sighed, "Heh, old man, you really are a genius. Maybe you would have already been an immortal if you weren't betrayed by your son. Although it is your fault that you had a son in the first place."

"Hehehe, even this demonic path expert is kind to his own blood and flesh. Alas, it resulted in my own fatal mistake." The old man chortled before the two turned silent.

Only after a long while did Kaleido speak again after processing everything, "So, this is goodbye to the expert known as Undying Demon."

"Heh, even though this might be my official death, my stories would still live on through you, my inheritor," the old man said with a grin, causing Kaleido to laugh in response.

"Oh wait, I don't even know the name of my inheritor yet."

Hearing this, Kaleido paused and stared at the illusory old man with a grin, "The name's Tempes, old man."

"You better be grateful that your inheritor was me instead of anyone else," Kaleido smirked and clamped his head on one of the three Gu placed on the formation.

"I know."

Smiling for one last time, the old man watched as Kaleido pulled out the Gu and broke the formation. His body then turned fainter, and he then slowly scattered into fine particles of light that dispersed in the air.

Watching him disperse into nothingness, Kaleido shook his head bitterly at the sight of a demonic path powerhouse's death and grabbed the two other Gu to refine.

After successfully refining the last three Gu in the inheritance of the Undying Demon Long Liv, Kaleido stood up and walked towards the glowing white formation at the far end of the room with a smile, muttering with a vow, "Unlike you, I won't be as foolish and work my hardest until I return back home and see what the multiverse has in store for me."

"A single universe isn't enough for me, I'd rather have the concept of infinity grasped by my hand and explore the myriad wonders of countless realities!"

…

A few hours later.

Like clockwork, Kaleido opened his eyes and got out of bed as the first rays of light appeared on the horizon. All of his drowsiness was swept away as he stretched his body around on the wooden floor, allowing his blood to flow seamlessly and invigorating his spirits.

"I finally have my first inheritance, and from a Rank 5 expert at that!" Kaleido clenched his fist as he inspected his aperture and was surprised at his progress.

"At this rate, I would soon reach Rank 3 middle stage without having to actively cultivate! Hehehe, now I only need to meditate to increase my attainment in space and time path without having to cultivate at the same time."

Rubbing his messy hair, Kaleido walked to the entrance of his house, put on a pair of slippers, and opened the door. Immediately, soft gusts of wind greeted him as the beautiful morning sea was reflected in his pure white eyes.

The rising sun dyed the horizons with a soft red and orange glow. The clear blue sea reflected the sun while the clouds parted way for the rays of light to illuminate everything in its wake.

But in the face of such beauty, Kaleido remained cold and serious.

Experiencing the death of a Rank 5 expert, a being that is essentially at the peak of the mortal realm and could topple down entire cities back on Earth, left him apprehensive and more determined to turn stronger.

'Until I'm confident that I'm unrivaled in the world of Gu, I would focus most of my energy on getting stronger before I start to find methods to return back. How good would finding a method to return back to Earth be if I was on the brink of death already?'

He walked toward the shores of the island and manifested a short knife to appear in his right hand. Approaching his forearm to it, he carefully slid the blade across his hand and watched as blood trickled down his palm.

'Rank 4 Man as Before Gu was one of the core Gu that Long Liv had to gain the title of Undying Demon. Using his killer move Delayed Healing, he can delay when he would be healed and fix the problem of Man as Before Gu being unable to heal the user. When used along with Danger Foresight, he can accurately predict when danger would strike and use Delayed Healing in advance.'

'When combined, the two killer moves can produce a terrifying combination. Even attacks that are completely unavoidable and would shatter Long Liv's entire head are useless as long as he has set up Delayed Healing in advance, and with Danger Foresight in use, he knows when and how he would die.'

'Even if his body and aperture were destroyed, effectively destroying Man as Before Gu, the core Gu of Delayed Healing, the killer move has already activated and would still work without Man as Before Gu existing in the present.'

Kaleido smirked and, just like he expected, a second passed and bright white light bathed his entire body. When the light receded, his wound was already gone as if it was never there.

'The only fatal flaw is that if my entire body was to be destroyed, including my aperture, all of my Gu would die with it, and only my body would be rewinded back in time. So if that does happen and my body was smashed to death, when I get resurrected, I wouldn't have any Gu on me, effectively rendering me useless and remaining as meat on the chopping board.'

'But if that were the case, Long Liv wouldn't have been titled as Undying Demon.' Kaleido's grin turned more malicious as he inspected the other two Gu he gained from the inheritance.

Strangely enough, the last two Gu were actually the same Gu.

"Gu as Before Gu," Kaleido muttered with a wide grin while his eyes twinkled with brilliance.

At that moment, it felt as if he wasn't looking at just two Gu, but objects that would grant him the pathway to greatness.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Kaleido couldn't hold in his laughter as a hysterical cackle erupted, ringing all throughout the island as all the surrounding beasts shuddered in fear.

"Long Liv, you really were a genius among geniuses! If you somehow became a Gu Immortal, then you would have perhaps truly lived up to your title as an Undying Demon!"

Kaleido then stopped and sighed, shaking his head, before grinning once again like a madman.

'Gu as Before Gu might seem useless at first. All it does is just revert the time of another Gu to a state before it was broken. Because of conflicting dao marks, it would only work best with time path Gu and isn't as effective with other Gu.' Kaleido thought while carefully activating the two Rank 4 Gu as Before Gu in tandem.

'But with Man as Before Gu and Delayed Healing, I can effectively rewind the timeframe of my body and not just heal wounds, but allow my aperture to be filled with primeval essence once again.' Kaleido's eyes slowly glowed as he used Man as Before Gu along with the two Gu as Before Gu.

'In theory, I can repeatedly use Delayed Healing to grant myself unending primeval essence and pseudo-immortality, but the required Gu used to activate Delayed Healing would be strained and eventually break from overuse.'

'But Gu as Before Gu…' Kaleido's grin widened, "Rewinds the time of Gu to a previous state."

'A single Gu as Before Gu would still be overtaxed, but with another Gu as Before Gu to heal each other… I can effectively use a Gu, and a killer move, infinitely!'

Kaleido's body shook in excitement as he thought of the first killer move in the Infinite Series devised by Long Liv, 'Infinite: Delayed Healing.'

Like an illusion, milky white light covered Kaleido's body, before it then subsided and turned fainter and fainter until it turned invisible.

At that same moment, Kaleido's eyes widened as he felt like his body has been reborn.

Man as Before Gu rewinds the time of other humans, not heal them. It rewinds everything, from vitality to primeval essence, and even mental energy!

'And with Gu as Before Gu being added to the killer move, I have also fixed the problem of having all of my Gu destroyed along with my body!'

'This is basically pseudo-immortality!'

AN: This chapter has 2032 words.

Yep, now it's irreversible. What is written cannot be unwritten. Alas, death comes fastest to those who didn't expect it most.

(February 19, 2023 – 451st day of writing)