Trap After Trap

As Yaan started to recount his life to Chu Sun, the reincarnation of his father, the Deities of the Paradise Sect finally moved out, subtly entering the Neutral Star System. They were all wary that they might be stepping into the Divine Court's Trap, so they were trying to go by under the radar, entering in a low-key fashion.

This was not an invasion of force, but a systematic integration of the Neutral Star System's cultivation world – which was already more or less under the control of the World Merchant Alliance, now a subset of the Paradise Sect anyway. As far as they were aware, there were no longer any Divine Court members, or any divinities for that matter, occupying the Neutral Star System, aside from the four leaders of the World Merchant Alliance.

As his subordinates crossed the boundary and entered he Neutral Star System, Yaan clearly felt that something was drawing closer.

Those formations which seemed to surround Solar Planet Divine Grace…there was something off about them, something almost dream-like…

With a smile, Yaan continued recounting his life experiences, and the reality of his existence, to Chu Sun.

"In truth, I can both be considered your son, and also not…"

"I was born from the fusion of the Primordial Devil's heart demon with the Dao Soul of the human child called 'Yaan'…in a way, I have simply stolen that child's identity…but it was also my only true identity when I first came into this world, on that day when June was born…"

"In my first cultivation sect, I was forced to become a demon…"

"My teacher schemed against me, but his heart was too soft, and a simple soul spell from Rui led him to suicide…"

"I fled the sect after the beast tide, forced to cultivate by tempering my body…"

"I found peace for some time in North Ghu City, even amongst those death matches…"

"In the Primordial Devil's inheritance, I finally started to understand that my life was not as it had once seemed…"

"My life, my path towards becoming a fiend and a demon, my meeting of Rui, my meeting with Old Thief, and my second teacher…all of these events were manipulated by the Primordial Sage via karma…"

"I was led to the Blood Plane, escaping from Law Empyrean. From there, I embarked upon a path of blood, slaughter and war…"

"In the end, I failed my Immortal Ascension. I spent my last years with my memories sealed, living a mortal life with my wife, Flora, and my niece, Shi…who went on to become Destruction Empyrean due to the Primordial Sage's interference…"

"I died…yet somehow, I lived, destroying the cycle of reincarnation in the process…"

"I lost my will to live on the Spirit Plane…but I met an interesting little elephant who reminded me of myself. That little elephant helped me more than he could ever know…"

"In the end, I regained the memories of the various Dao Fragments of the Primordial Devil, and I created three Dao Clones to pursue my heart. After the three Dao Clones all died, I found myself unable to stop moving forwards relentlessly, no matter the cost…"

"I cut down the Karmic River and destroyed the entire Spirit Plane, just to survive…to survive for just a little bit longer. I just wanted to survive until I final understood why it was that I refused to die…"

"I overcame the world's karma by destroying it with schemes and force, and I overcame my own karmic fate by surpassing the hatred that was supposed to bind me. Like this, I defeated the Primordial Devil, by making him defeat himself…"

"I could only flee; I had attracted the hatred of the entire world. I made it to the Ruthless Inheritance, thanks to the little elephant's sacrifice. I still don't quite understand why he gave his life for me…but I will not let his sacrifice be in vain."

"All of them…the little elephant, mother, Elia, little sister, my teachers, my Dao Clones, the Dao Fragments, the Bloody Totem Tribe Leader, Ga Shu…all that have died so that I can live; some willing, some knowing, some not. Their deaths have allowed me to live…and I will not allow their suffering and sacrifices to forever lack meaning."

"I will bring hope to this hopeless world, even if I need to tread upon the corpses of every living being around me to reach that peak. This world is cruel and desolate, it lacks meaning and all endeavours are fated to reach one assured conclusion; despair…but I want to change that. And so long as I live, so long as I continue to pursue my dao, there remains hope that all of it…can be given meaning."

By the time Yaan had finished speaking, Chu Sun finally understood.

He finally understood why the World Demon, who had committed so much evil and inflicted so much suffering, could sit there and speak of his atrocities with that gentle smile.

Chu Sun couldn't stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks. After hearing his son's tragic story, spoken with his dao and enlightenment imbued into his every word, he felt like he could see it, all that he had been through…and all that he was prepared to go through as he headed into the unknown future.

This level of resolve was something that Chu Sun had never seen before, not once in his life.

After calming himself, Chu Sun suddenly had a thought.

"Yaan…my son…will you also use my life…my death…as a step along your path?"

"I will." Yaan nodded, his smile never fading. "Right now, during this very moment, Law Empyrean is manipulating various events to draw me into a trap. It seems that your death will be one small aspect of this trap…or perhaps, your death will merely be a side effect of his efforts to capture me. Father, I have nothing against you and no reason to kill you…but I will not save you."

Chu Sun smiled bitterly.

"So then like so many others, my death will be in vain. To you, I don't even hold value as a stepping stone…"

"That's not true."

Suddenly, Chu Sun trembled violently. Yaan no longer concealed his true aura, instantly enveloping the entire Solar Planet within his Absolute Domain. He activated Reveal Truth, both as a Dao Spell and a Divine Spell, and he did likewise with Conceal Truth, whilst fusing his Define Truth Divine Spell into his domain.

In Chu Sun's eyes, the previously ordinary child before him was now glowing with a splendour of light like nothing he had ever seen before. He became entranced by the infinite loop of intertwining red chains that rapidly circulated through his eyes, as if seeing through all lies, revealing all truths, and unravelling all fates.

"Law Empyrean's schemes run deep, and recently, his motives have become seemingly incomprehensible. He has always acted in accordance with his 'Law', valuing the rules of the Divine Court above all else, and imposing this as righteousness itself upon the world. He even succeeded – Law Empyrean, over the past 2 million years…has defined morality, as believed in by the righteous faction of cultivators in this world. And yet now, he is burning all of that to the ground, piece by piece. However…"

Yaan's eyes shone brilliantly and the red chains of fate in his eyes released a light that instantly swallowed up the entire Solar Planet. 

SHATTER!

A sound akin to glass shattering nearly burst Chu Sun's ear drums, and suddenly, his entire body trembled in shock.

The world around them vanished, and the pair found themselves sitting within a vast hall, surrounded by silver clouds, as they themselves were sat atop an imposing golden cloud.

"Law Empyrean's understanding of the mind truly runs deep. I never expected that he could have developed a treasure with the capability of replicating the majesty of a Divine Sea of Consciousness." Yaan smiled widely as a slightly crazed look filled his eyes.

Suddenly, Yaan stood up. Chu Sun did likewise, looking at him in bewilderment.

"What's going on, where are we? What is this place?!"

Without looking at his 'father', Yaan slowly explained just what was happening, where they were…and where Chu Sun had always been.

"Solar Planet Divine Grace does not exist. No, it should actually exist in reality…but the world you have always known, was merely a simulated reality, or more accurately speaking…a dream."

"A dream…?" Chu Sun asked dazedly.

"Everything that you have ever known since your reincarnation was a fabrication, a perfect copy of reality…a reality that existed within your own mind. As for how the mind of a mere mortal could support such a dream…"

Yaan finally turned towards Chu Sun, his gaze burning brilliantly.

"Upon reincarnating, you were not reborn as a mortal, but as the treasure spirit of the ultimate Primordial Divine Treasure in this world; Divine Heaven. Until now, you have been laying dormant, asleep, kept locked away within your own dream, existing only as a bait to lure me into this place. Right now, I suspect that Divine Heaven is completely surrounded from the outside. I am trapped in this cage from the outside, and prevented from leaving from the inside…that is, prevented from leaving by you…the prison warden of this cage."

Chu Sun's mind was trembling violently. It all felt too surreal, like too much to take in, and yet…in his heart, he knew that his son was speaking the truth.

"Son, you-"

"Do you truly still consider me your son? Or do you still believe in the Divine Court, and their labelling of me as the World Demon?" Yaan suddenly asked, his gaze shining with the light of a controlled insanity that Chu Sun could not begin to comprehend.

Chu Sun was confused, fearful, and filled with pain upon realising that his entire life had been a lie. That said…

He now understood a little bit more about the boy before him, this boy who had also lived the life of a lie for so long…his son, who had broken out from that lie, and fought for the truth that he believed in.

"You are my son." Chu Sun finally said, smiling in pain as tears rolled down his cheeks. "No matter what, you will always be my son. At this point…that is the only truth that I am certain of…"

Yaan smiled in understanding. Chu Sun had been broken in mind and spirit, and now, all he could latch onto was the one thing that he knew to be true; that Yaan, the boy standing before him, was his son.

As expected…but would Law Empyrean really overlook this point?

Yaan did not believe so. There were likely to be even more layers to this trap. He couldn't help but wonder…just how deep did Law Empyrean's scheme this time go?

"I see…in that case, father, I have a selfish request to make of you. Could you please give up your life, one more time, for this greedy son of yours? As the spirit of this place, you have the ability to restrain me here. On the other hand, if you let me go, Divine Heaven will self-destruct in an attempt to injure me, killing you. Father…I need you to let me leave…but to do this, you cannot escape death. But I promise you this - I will use your sacrifice to take one more step along my path. And as for you…you may rest peacefully, no longer bound by the chains of suffering in this desolate world."

Chu Sun shut his eyes for a few moments, before opening them and looking at his son, his incredible, fate-defying son, with a gaze filled with pride.

"Hahaha! Yaan…what sort of father would imprison his own son? Go…go, and continue this path of yours. I don't know if you can be considered right, or good, or if those concepts even exist in this world…but you are my son, and I will not be used as a tool to restrain you."

Suddenly, Chu Sun's eyes widened. Before he could process what was happening, he found himself being hugged.

"Thank you, father. You saved my life back then, and now, you are saving my life once again. I am truly grateful."

As Yaan said this, Chu Sun trembled. His eyes widened as he felt a terrifying destructive power subtly sliding from Yaan, into himself.

Without anyone noticing, the rune that Yaan had formed from Shi's thoroughly suppressed Dao Soul, had been fused into Divine Heaven's Spirit.

When Yaan pulled back, he smiled at his reincarnated father, and Chu Sun immediately understood.

This son of his was quite the schemer himself! He didn't know what sort of monstrously horrifying power his son had just implanted within him, but he knew that once he was forced to self-destruct, when combined with this power, the result would be…

Apocalyptic.

Yaan's eyes shone with a vicious light as he turned his back on Chu Sun.

Firstly, Law Empyrean led him into a dream-world, as if trying to imprison him within some blatant false reality…

Then, when he shattered that world, he found himself in a prison cell, his father the internal guard, the Divine Court the external guards. 

In theory, he had escaped from two inescapable layers already…

But would Law Empyrean really rely on just that? And most importantly…why did he not just obliterate Divine Heaven the moment that Yaan stepped in?

It was simple - Law Empyrean believed in the absolute power of 'Origin Fate', meaning the fated outcome that Yaan, born in this Origin Era, would inevitably survive and then go on to enter the past 1st Origin Era. All along, Law Empyrean did not believe that he could kill Yaan, he only wanted to restrain him.

But to rely on just the brainwashing of his father, one simple man, to keep him trapped in this place?

It was impossible for Law Empyrean to be so overconfident. He must know by now that Yaan could instantly travel across the world, so he wouldn't rely on surrounding Divine Heaven…

The moment Yaan left this place, there would definitely be something else awaiting him.

Well then, Yaan would continue playing this little game, breaking through these layers upon layers of traps. However, if they were going to mess with him…

Then he would just mess with the entire world.

The moment he left Divine Heaven, Shi's Dao Soul would be completely destroyed, and the resulting destruction from that eruption of power would destroy, at the very least, the entire Divine Star System.

If Law Empyrean wanted to play with him, he would need to pay the terrifying price.

And if this resulted in Yaan accelerating the destruction of the world, inviting the Paragons from the Chaos Era to invade?

He didn't know if such a thing would happen, or if something would throw a wrench in the works once again. Such an uncertain, world-shaking situation…

This was exactly what he had been searching for, to progress his dao by one more step.

Yaan's gaze became calm as Chu Sun opened up the slightest of gaps in Divine Heaven. Instantly, Yaan could feel over a dozen profound Divine Auras suppressing him, but he ignored these and focussed on the strands of fate. He could already feel the destructive power behind him beginning to break free, and he knew that he needed to escape as far away as possible.

Upon realising that the furthest he could escape was actually the very centre of the Neutral Star System, Yaan couldn't help but laugh, his eyes shining with expectation.

With two steps, Yaan vanished from this place, leaving those behind him to deal with the calamity that he had left as a parting gift.

He didn't have the chance to focus on which thread of fate he was following, and actually, they all seemed to have gathered in the same place in the Neutral Star System…

When the world around him stopped blurring and Yaan looked ahead, his eyes widened, and for a moment, he felt like he must be seeing wrongly.

Defiance Sovereign stared down at Yaan, grinning fiendishly. Behind him, 12 corpses had been dismembered and formed a giant burning archway, as if welcoming him to the battlefield that he had established. Within the burning flames, 12 Dao Souls had actually been extracted and were burning amidst the fire, screaming out in torment as they were subjected to a pain that surpassed their limits to bear.

Those 12 corpses and Dao Souls…were the 12 Deities whom Yaan had sent to the Neutral Star System!

"So that Evil bastard didn't lie this time, he really delivered you straight to me, just as promised. World Demon, I don't particularly have anything against you…but that Origin Fate of yours…now that, I truly hate."