Chapter 94 - Past and Future.

Far above a desert, Tatsuya and Miyuki were floating.

Why were they here?

Well, after the explanation from Nether Master, when everyone was going back. Nie Li came and asked if they would mind letting Ziyun go to the ruins with him.

Ziyun wasn't sure what to do, but Tatsuya asked her to go.

Currently, they were floating a thousand meters in the air.

Watching over Nie Li, Ziyun, and the others.

Miyuki looked at Ziyun walking in the desert, nervous. She probably felt out of place, one saving grace was that Xiao Xue was there.

"Was it alright to send her?" Miyuki was worried; she had been trying hard to keep Ziyun away from the Nie Li. She knew Nie Li affected her in some way that was not normal.

Tatsuya gazed at them, "this is probably the only chance." He had been waiting for this chance for a long time. It was the only reason that Tatsuya allowed things to play out before.

Ziyun was walking behind everyone with Xiao Xue. She had been able to talk to Xiao Xue but didn't know how to mingle with others. The last time they spoke was half a year ago.

They were currently, Eastward of the St. Ancestral Mountains lies a vast, boundless desert with endless dunes of yellow sand.

When the gales blew, the ever-present sands would slowly envelop the entire region in a yellow veil.

The environment here is harsh, and demon beasts would appear from time to time, making the region extremely dangerous.

Ever since she had stepped into the desert, something was happening. She felt something was flashing before her eyes, but she couldn't see it.

She felt feelings that she didn't before.

She felt this place was familiar. She noticed a gaze watching her; she knew this was Tatsuya's gaze. All of a sudden, she calmed down.

Far above, Tatsuya gazed at Ziyun thoroughly. 10% of his resources that he preserved for Miyuki, he used the 90% to watch Ziyun.

The memories that didn't belong to Ziyun. Nie Li affected Ziyun in different ways; at that time, Tatsuya checked Ziyun. He realized she was being affected by emotions that were not her.

Where did these emotions come from? The connection was too weak; Tatsuya couldn't figure it out. He even thought Nie Li was in some way trying to control her mind.

He thought if the connection became solid, then he might be able to track it.

That is why Tatsuya didn't interfere. Miyuki later was against it. She felt if things went on like this, then their Ziyun might be replaced by the other Ziyun.

There was a lot of discussion on this matter; it meant that Ziyun might have been able to revive would be left for dead. The nature of regression; was it a type where Nie Li left a world behind. Or were they in the same world with time-reversed?

Was Ziyun affected by her parallel world Ziyun, or was she affected by her future self?

There were many other questions, and right now was the best time to find the answers. The connection that Ziyun and the illusionary side had was the strongest right now.

An astral projection of naked Tatsuya, formed by data, was floating inside Ziyun's mind. Her memories of this life and past life flashed by Tatsuya one after another. Watching her memories of past life, of the beast tide, of Glory City's destruction, of refugees, of the desert, and her death. It didn't stop there; in the next second, there was a giant hand, it picked up Ziyun's soul.

Other than Ziyun, there were many souls, some he knew, many he didn't. He saw Nie Li, who looked completely different. He didn't get to see much before Ziyun's soul was destroyed.

With that, his connection also broke.

Ziyun, who had been walking with others stopped, she felt there was something in front of her eyes, but she couldn't see. Suddenly, she felt alienated as if whatever was happening was separated her from a wall. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head and fainted.

"Ziyun," Miyuki muttered as she opened her eyes and looked at Ziyun, who fainted with worry.

Tatsuya opened his eyes, "did you place a wall?"

Miyuki nodded with a sad expression, "Yes."

Tatsuya gazed at Ziyun and Nie Li, "to think it was past and future coming together."

Miyuki looked confused, "But, with Nie Li's regression, that future ceased to exist. The time of the whole world was reversed, that time or things there shouldn't exist, to begin with. Then how is a part of Ziyun and others seeping through?"

"They really don't exist, physically, or even in space-time. But, those memories and people live in Nie Li's memories and that books memories."

Miyuki shook her head, "I don't get it."

Tatsuya thought for a bit, "Nie Li is a point of distortion; space-time is distorted because of him. Future exists and doesn't exist. Not only him, but this place also has distortion. Temporal Demon Spirit Book, they called it. Nie Li must have found it here in his past life. It is also probably the reason why the Sage Emperor incited this massacre. That book has intelligence. It chose Nie Li as its master and made these arrangements. Ziyun is getting affected by it, and her memories and feeling of present and future were mixing."

Miyuki didn't think deeply about it, "So this is the only way?"

"If the world Nie Li regressed from was a parallel one, then we could have collected Ziyun's soul using soul mirror, but that Ziyun is the same Ziyun, just from the future. The only thing that we can do now is creating a mental barrier. Future Ziyun's personality will wake up." Soul Mirror was an item that Yu Yan found in Nine-Layered Deathland. It allowed one to collect pieces of souls and reform them.

Miyuki looked worried, "will those little memories be enough?"

Tatsuya reassured her, "the memories that were seeping through weren't enough, but when I used Elemental Sight, I saw everything that widened the channel. Those memories should seep through. That is why she fainted."

"Multiple-personality, that would be a tough one to handle." Miyuki knew Tatsuya had a similar problem. If that mass of negative energy was left as it was, then there was a chance another personality would be born. That is why Tatsuya avoided using regrowth; it would only feed the mass of negative energy. They didn't have a way to deal with things like these.

Tatsuya had a soft smile on his face, "I saw something interesting in those memories. There might be a way to solve that problem. Although it will take time." Tatsuya explained to her what he saw.

"Let's take her back with us?" Miyuki knew Ziyun would be fine, but she was still worried. She wanted to go forward, but Tatsuya was holding her.

"We can't go now; it will just make Nie Li more cautious. We can't have that. Now that we finally know his motives, we don't need to be so cautious of him." They still needed to watch Nie Li, especially now things had changed. They had thought that Space-Time God was the one that made him regress and made those arrangements. But, it seems it was the Temporal Demon Spirit Book, that did it. Before they were cautious of Nie Li, they weren't sure how he affected Ziyun, although his motives looked good, Nie Li was a large unknown. In a different world where they were on their own. They stayed cautious.

Now that they knew who the enemy was, and was completely sure that Nie Li was their ally and wasn't a mind-controlling, pedophile bastard. He would be a great ally.

"Moreover, we need to go and see Ning'Er."

"Ning'Er? Why?" Miyuki was startled.

"I saw that book; I had seen something similar. Inside Ning'Er birthmark."

Tatsuya had seen it when he made the cultivation technique for Ning'Er. He had even asked her; what she told him was, her grandfather believed that she would suffer great tribulation. He sealed a temporal page for that time.

Tatsuya didn't pay much attention to that. But after he saw that book, he realized that the page was the same as that book.

Miyuki left with Tatsuya, but she left behind her duplicate to keep an eye on Ziyun. Ziyun had fainted, and Xiao Xue was caring for her. She didn't want Nie Li to molest Ziyun while she was asleep.

After they left, Nie Li looked towards where Miyuki's duplicate was standing. He thought he felt a fluctuation in that direction. Soon, he shook his head; he needed to find the Desert Palace. Ziyun's situation might be related to it. He couldn't think of anything else that could make her faint.

Glory City, Winged Dragon Family,

Xiao Ning'Er lay on the bed, half-naked, staring at the ceiling; a year ago, she would have never thought about seeing the outside world. Now a year later, she had traveled nearly the whole continent and even saw Nether World. In three months, she would even go to the outside world. It would have been better if she and Tatsuya were in the same sect.

When Ning'Er was in a daze, a blue mist appeared beside her bed. She hastily raised her body; she wanted to cover her half-naked body, but suddenly her hands paused.

Tatsuya and Miyuki appeared in front of her.

Tatsuya looked at Ning'Er in front of him in only her undergarments. Ning'Er was trying to cover her body with her hands, with a blush on her face.

Tatsuya took out a blanket from his ring before putting it on her, "Sorry, it was a bit urgent."

Ning'Er looked down; her hairs hid some part of her face, "It's ok." She wasn't embarrassed. She was disappointed that Tatsuya didn't give more of an expression.

The next moment she was startled; Tatsuya touched her bare neck, his finger traced her collar bone before he went lower.

She blushed; Her eyes peeked towards Miyuki, who was gazing at her with a laughing expression and some pity in her eyes.

But, soon, she understood.