A New Tomorrow

- World Gu -

-- Southern Border --

--- Mountain Qing Mao | Gu Yue Clan ---

Heavy rain fell on the roofs of the village's houses as thunder and lightning danced in the skies.

Looking closely, the village seemed very beautiful and cozy in this rainy climate, the houses organized in a particular order that followed a specific pattern, demonstrating the inhabitants' organization and zeal towards the place where they lived.

Despite the weather, the whole scene looked like it had been hand-drawn by a great and talented artist while expressing the magnificence of this beautiful landscape in a way that would make anyone's heart clench at its beauty.

In a large two-story house, a small window lay open, catching all the winds and splatters of rain falling from the sky, while a young man leaned on the windowsill and watched the magical scene before him with a dazed gaze.

"Hahaha. It worked. It worked! I finally managed to escape that hellish place." The young man threw off his surprised face and donned one of pure ecstasy and happiness as if he had just escaped hell and was suddenly thrown into Heaven.

"Nexus! How are you?" even amidst his happiness and ecstasy, he still didn't forget to worry about the one who helped him out of 'that' hell. The young man called out to his friend in his Mind, concerned that something had happened to him.

[I'm here, Sir! The trip was a great success, and everything went well!]

When his friend's somewhat robotic voice sounded, the young man sighed in relief that he had come safe and sound with him: "It's good to see you're okay, Nexus."

[Same here, Sir. I'm glad you were able to accomplish such a feat!]

"You praise me too much, Nexus. It was a contribution from both of them, as without each other, we would still be trapped in 'that' place." the Youth sighed as he looked up at the cloudy sky pouring its rain.

The young man threw aside his tiny melancholy moment and decided to focus on the here and now: "Now we need to know what world we are in. Nexus, do you have any idea where we are?"

[Unfortunately, No, Sir. We jumped into the nearest world we saw, and I managed to pick up very little or no important information during our traversal]

"Oh? And what little information did you manage to gather before we landed?" The young man raised an eyebrow, hoping that was some information good enough to help them in this new world.

[The best information I could get was a perfect and ideal body for you to reside in. This body is highly valued, and I could see that some entities protected it.]

"This looks good. So it means that the body I'm wearing must be that of some special chosen one. Perhaps it is even a famous chosen one of fortune, the legendary; 'PROTAGONIST.'" The young man smiled as he made a small joke to ease his nerves.

"But how did you get me into this body as well protected as you said? I don't think you still have the power to subdue all the powers in this world." The young man stopped laughing and asked lightly as he calmly looked at the beautiful scenery.

[I used the rest of 'that' place's energy left and used it to sneak past all these entities and acquire this body discreetly!]

The young man enjoyed the beautiful scenery while listening to Nexus' explanation. After a few seconds of self-reflection, he finally sighed and commented lightly – "Sigh… It's like the saying goes; 'The greater the calamity, the greater the benefits.' Despite hating that place, it still gave us many opportunities."

The young man remained silent for a few minutes while he closed his eyes and stayed in his imaginary world, relaxing his Mind and putting his thoughts in place. He opened his eyes, and his determination and bravery returned to him like a predator that had found its prey and was preparing to hunt.

"We must move forward with our heads held high and put the past behind us. As they once said, 'The past must be abandoned and despised for the present to be well lived.'" The young man's eyes shone with a flame of vivacity like a representation of a new future.

"Nexus, what else do you need to gather more information about this world and body?"

[I just need to scan this new body to have more information about him and our new world!]

"All good. Make a complete scan of this new body and also make a summary of its memories."

[Immediately, Sir!]

[Estimated time: 5 minutes]

While Nexus did his work, the young man also started to move around the room while looking around as much as possible.

The young man soon arrived at a full-length mirror next to the bed and began to observe and evaluate his new appearance.

"Um… Not bad. 1.80 tall with a well-built and trained body with some muscles, not enough to be considered someone who focuses on training his body, but enough to demonstrate that the former user was not a lazy sedentary." The young man turned as he looked at himself in the mirror and focused his attention on his face as he assessed it.

"A simple appearance that is slightly above average but simultaneously very pleasing to the eye. Long straight black hair neatly combed and neat. Thick, half-arched brows that go well with my deep black eyes, a well-fitted nose, and a medium-lipped mouth." Running a hand over his face, the young man assessed himself.

"I'm pretty average looking, but if I wore the right clothes with a few tweaks, I would look well above average. Especially with those eyes that stand out like a light in the deepest darkness." The Younger was having fun being narcissistic while waiting for Nexus to compile all the information about the body.

[Sir, I've finished analyzing all the new body's information!]

[What information do you want to get first?]

"First, show me the Physical stat of this new body." The young man took his time and thought of assessing the whole before focusing on the most crucial information.

[Vital Status => Perfectly Healthy]

[Physical => Slightly Above Average]

[Mind => Without Any Abnormal Effect or Problem - Quick and Organized Thoughts]

[Arranging Status into Numbers...]

[...]

[...]

[Complete Organization!]

[Displaying Status in Numbers!]

{Name"Gu Yue Fang Yuan

Race"Human

-------------------------------

Strength➤ 1.3

Agility➤ 1.5

Resistance➤ 0.8}

"Oh… this body has good starting stats despite its frail appearance. My body seems perfect, but I feel this strange feeling of Déjà Vu, almost like I knew that name before." The Young Man, now recognized as Fang Yuan, looked at himself strangely in the mirror, almost as if he sensed something was wrong.

"I think something is missing, Nexus; organize my memories of my previous life and the memories of this new body and show them to me. Also, next time you don't need to show the stats in numbers." Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes as he thought about that name. Because he had spent so much time 'in that' place, his memories were fading over time, but thanks to the Nexus, he could back up all his memories.

It's not that Fang Yuan has lost all his memories of his past life; quite the contrary, his memories are all with him, but due to the large amount of time he was trapped in 'that' place, they faded some unimportant memories. Now all he had to do was refresh his old memories and learn some new things from his new body's memories.

[Understood, Sir!]

[Sending Memories...]

Fang Yuan raised his head as he slowly closed his eyes and watched all the memories that played through his Mind. It felt like a calm and distinguished moment where nothing disturbed Fang Yuan's concentration.

Fang Yuan abruptly opened his eyes in a moment of epiphany and recognition of the events; his Mind was racing a million times to process it all as his breathing grew deeper and colder.

"So I ended up in the world of Reverend Insanity in the body of that world's main villain and protagonist." With a solemn face and a concentrated and cold breath, Fang Yuan lowered his head after processing all the memories and then placed the index finger and thumb of his right hand, cupping the bridge of his nose while his left hand rested on his hip.

» --- ♦♢♦ --- «

In another distant timeline, a great event unfolded right before the eyes of some extraordinary people as they watched the outcome of this great play.

"Fang Yuan, silently hand over the Spring and Autumn Cicada, and I will give you a quick death!"

"Old bastard Fang, stop trying to resist anymore; today, all major factions of justice have united just to destroy your devil's lair. This place is already covered in inescapable nets; you will be decapitated this time!"

"Fang Yuan, you damn devil, you killed thousands of people just because you wanted to cultivate the Spring or Autumn Cicada. You have committed many heinous and unforgivable sins!"

"Demon, 300 years ago, you insulted me, stripped my body of purity, killed my entire family, and executed my nine generations. From that moment on, I hated you with a burning passion! Today, I want you to die!"

...

"Is everything ready, Purple?" One of the men watching the whole thing unfold from above asked a tiny person with purple hair standing next to him.

"Yes, I've already prepared everything just as the main body asked; I've already used foresight as much as I can and passed everything on to the split soul on Stone Lotus Island," Purple replied lightly as he kept his attention on the events below.

"Good. Unfortunately, we won't be able to destroy Fate Gu in this timeline; let's hope the Red Lotus' plans work out." One of the yellow-haired men answered while looking at the others.

"Right, for now, we have to ensure that this successor successfully returns to the past," The Green Haired one said as he made everyone else focus on the unfolding events below them.

Fang Yuan was in deep green robes that were ripped to shreds. His hair was messy, and his whole body was covered in blood. He looked around.

The bloodied robes waved lightly in the mountain breeze like a war flag.

Fresh blood oozed from the numerous wounds on the body. Just standing still for a short time, Fang Yuan had already accumulated a large pool of blood under his feet.

Enemies surrounded him everywhere; there was no way out.

It was a certainty that he would die here.

Boom!

Without any other choice, Fang Yuan activated the Spring Autumn Cicada, and with a loud bang, he was engulfed in a blinding wave of energy.

"It is now, with his accomplishments, he will not be able to go very far down the river of time. We need to activate the formation now." Purple spoke to Yellow as they put all their energy into the glowing formation below their feet.

"Activating!" With a severe face, Yellow, who was in command of the large formation, immediately activated it while sending all the energy he received to the small Cicada flying over the massive River of Time.

Soon they felt their vision begin to blur as the whole world blurred under the force of time's path. Because of Fang Yuan's rebirth, the entire timeline was suddenly rewritten.

» --- ♦♢♦ --- «

If it were before Fang Yuan had passed through 'that' place, he would have been nervous or even afraid of the area he found himself in, but now he only concentrated on living in the present with the ambition of a better future.

"Nexus, I want you to scan all my past life memories related to the Gu World and the Reverend Insanity book and compile them into a separate file while coming up with a suitable plan with all this information." The whole time that Fang Yuan has been trapped 'in that' place has made him highly focused and determined, so without any hesitation, he has already accepted his circumstances and is already preparing for whatever may come.

[Understood, Sir!]

"Well, now I need to know which timeline I find myself in." Fang Yuan used his common sense to start developing ideas and theories.

"There are three possible timelines right now for me: 1- I'm in the first timeline before the original Fang Yuan used the Spring Autumn Cicada. 2- I am in the second timeline where Fang Yuan used the Spring Autumn Cicada, or 3- I would be in an alternate universe of Reverend Insanity, and my knowledge of the work becomes practically unusable." Fang Yuan was quite apprehensive about which timeline he was in, as it would ultimately dictate his path to the future.

Fang Yuan pondered and began to think about the possibilities and the best paths for each chance; "The First option has great potential and freedom for me, but at the same time, it risks manipulation by the Venerable Ones or even the Will of Heaven itself for their benefit."

"And even if I try my best to comply with both the Venerable Ones' and the Will of Heaven's plans, there is still a risk that I fail in one of them, and they force me to reset the timeline."

"So if this is the first timeline, I would need to find a way to please both the Heaven's Will and the Venerable Ones until I become strong enough to oppose them."

Fang Yuan sighed as he thought about the infeasibility of this timeline; no matter what he does, there will always be a side that will be displeased. If he chooses to please the will of Heaven, he will have to give up the 'Sovereign Fetus'; consequently, he will not be able to Destroy/Refine the 'Fate Gu,' thus enraging the Venerables.

But if he chose the Venerable Ones, he would go through hell on earth, while the Will of Heaven would try at all costs to hit him. And the worst that can happen is Heaven will choose another pawn to manipulate, and then Fang Yuan would have to fight another unseen enemy. Because no matter how much the Venerables try to help, if they see that the new one chosen by Heaven's Will is easier to use and manipulate, they will discard Fang Yuan.

"And finally, I can't do the same as Fang Yuan did in the books since, in that timeline, the Will of Heaven would theoretically be preparing me for my future time travel as its pawn. And I can't forget that one of the biggest factors of Fang Yuan's victory was the Hu Immortal blessed land as with it, he had a solid foundation for his future Ascension because if it wasn't for Dang Hun Mountain and his Gu Guts, Fang Yuan could never have effectively explored the Dream Realms without worries."

Fang Yuan sighed as he thought about the possibilities of the first timeline. This timeline is the most docile and easy to manipulate because he also had the chance that all of his conjectures were wrong.

"The second timeline is the most likely and also the most beneficial for me, as according to this body's memories, the awakening ceremony is tomorrow morning, and according to the book, the Fang Yuan of the future should arrive at any time. The moment brings delicious memories and experiences for the Nexus to devour and pass on to me along with the will of Heaven inside Cicada Spring Autumn."

Fang Yuan is an intelligent guy and is also very aware of Nexus' capabilities as a reliable assistant. The Nexus was created from itself and with the abundant energy of 'that' place, so the Nexus doesn't lack the potential to evolve since the central ability of the energy of 'that' place is that of; Devour and Learn.

So Nexus would only need a tiny sliver of Heaven's Will to start scanning it, learning how it works, and hopefully even controlling it in the future. That's why this was the timeline that Fang Yuan looked forward to the most since he could have an almost perfect start there and would only need to worry about the Venerables in the future.

"There is also the ultimate probability that this is an alternate universe. It could even be situations 1 and 2 happening at the same time. Of all these, it is the most dangerous because of its unknown factor and also the most unlikely. Since the beginning, Nexus confirmed that the entity of this world protected this body. Which could mean that even if there are changes, they would be minimal."

Of all the possibilities, the third is the most volatile and confusing to deal with and devise a plan. But it's not impossible to outshine her; you just need to take the proper steps and know when to step back and retreat.

[Sir, I finished compiling the Archives!]

[Do you want to view them now?]

"Yes, show them." Fang Yuan soothed his worries as he concentrated on the files compiled in his Mind.