The Fragment of Blood

After spending three days diverting the majority of her focus to a single task, the Primordial Sage finally spoke, putting an end to the red-haired man's unrest.

"We must intervene, otherwise, he will die, if not to the calamity, then to the tribulation."

"You're saying that we can finally reveal ourselves? Hahaha, it's about time! I can't wait to see his expression of terror when he realises how hopeless his situation truly is!"

The red-haired man stood up, as if he planned to leave right now. Unfortunately for him, the Primordial Sage was not finished.

"Only you can reveal yourself, I must remain hidden. You should not mention me, you should not crush his hope, and you should not address her."

The red-haired man paused, his expression immediately becoming gloomy.

"You're saying that I still can't meet Sura?"

"Correct."

"Tch…" He disliked it, but he did not disagree. Disagreeing with the Primordial Sage's plan would be moronic, especially when she had successfully assisted him up until this point. She had proven her abilities time and time again, not just in this situation, but countless times across the past three million years.

He was arrogant, but he was not stupid. He would not risk ruining the plan due to his own personal feelings.

"Fine then. When do we leave?"

"Right now."

**********

Yaan did not immediately leave the centre of the Kingdom of Reptil. He considered his options thoroughly first of all.

The Heavenly Blessing had created too great an impact, clearing away the accumulated bloody mist and the aura of death which had lingered around this place for almost three years now. Yaan had no doubt that sooner or later, the more courageous warriors lingering outside of this 'forbidden zone' would once again enter, curious to see if something had changed.

Of course, most wouldn't dare to enter. It didn't take a genius to connect the enormous Heavenly Blessing to Yaan, the sole resident of this region.

The first action Yaan took, was retrieving the major scroll. The flagpole was extremely tall, such that even Nirvana Realm warriors would struggle to climb two thirds of the way up…but Yaan was able to fly straight up, retrieving the scroll with relative ease.

His strength had shot up by an incredible degree following the Heavenly Blessing, to the extent that Yaan no longer feared those ordinary immortals!

However, he was not delusional, he knew that he could not beat the Lunar Song Tribe's First Immortal King. Truthfully, unless the two of them fought, Yaan would not be able to say how the battle would go…perhaps he would be killed instantly, or perhaps he could endure for some time and escape. He didn't yet fully understand the First Immortal King's strength, nor did he understand his own.

Yaan planned to hand over this major scroll in order to pacify the First Immortal King. He had killed too many warriors from the Kingdom of Lunar Song, if he didn't bring back the scroll, their relationship would be impossible to recover. But, if Yaan handed over this scroll, the First Immortal King would have no reason to target him just yet.

But couldn't Yaan keep the scroll for himself, forming his own kingdom?

Well, he had no desire to do something like that. Right now, his mind was on surviving his impending calamity and tribulation, everything else was secondary. If he could not pass these trials, he would die in three years!

His plan was to remain within the Kingdom of Reptil for another two months, using this time to properly assess his gains, and to learn certain methods from Rui which he now had available to him thanks to his improved cultivation and his surplus of Life Essence.

After that, he would return to the Bloody Totem Province…and he would investigate the transportation formation in the starry sky!

Yaan never forgot about this formation, and he now believed that he possessed the ability to fly up high enough to properly examine it. If he determined that it was safe to use, he would remain underneath this formation. The formation would be his insurance; he would be prepared to flee incase anything unexpected happened.

He felt wary. The immortals would soon learn of his ascension, and it was almost certain that they would target him during his calamity and tribulation. Dealing with those heavenly events would be tedious enough, but if he also had to split his attention to deal with outside interferences, his chances of success would drop even further.

This was Yaan's plan, but three days after his Heavenly Blessing, his well thought out plan was thrown upside down.

Womp…

A faint shockwave spread out from afar. Yaan's eyes shot open and he immediately leapt to his feet when he saw a familiar looking black vortex forming in the sky, around two miles ahead and two miles above him. He did not flee, but he narrowed his eyes, raising his guard to the extreme, ready to deal with whatever insane situation was thrown at him next.

He just hoped that it wasn't what he thought it might be…

When he saw the giant of a figure, the topless muscle-clad behemoth of a man, a person whose aura alone gave them away as a warrior of the highest order, descending from the vortex, Yaan became extremely alert. When the figure was fully revealed, his red hair and red eyes immediately fixating on Yaan with killing intent so palpable that it caused the air around them to tremble, Yaan's heart sank.

Yaan gritted his teeth. The man, who was so enormous that he only just managed to fit between the portal and the ground after fully revealing himself, looked extremely similar to the man whom Yaan had seen back in the 4th Trial Realm! There were differences, such as this man being far smaller and less imposing…though to Yaan, he was still so terrifyingly powerful that Yaan was already struggling to breath!

The moment Yaan saw this man, his killing intent exploded outwards. He felt this same type of killing intent back when he met the other three fragments, but this…this was so much stronger!

Even though Yaan was no longer afflicted by the slaughterous desires, he nearly lost control of himself in this instant! However, his experience with dealing with the slaughterous emotions allowed him to gradually control himself, until he managed to restrain his killing intent. Even so, his desire to murder this red-haired man lingered in his eyes, this was something that could not be hidden!

The large red-haired man experienced the exact same feeling as Yaan, but he took longer to reel in his killing intent, or perhaps he just didn't care as much to restrain it. Even so, after his killing intent was pulled back, the two made eye contact. At this moment, they came to a mutual understanding.

They were enemies!

This understanding was innate, it stemmed from the depths of their dao hearts. Yaan did not understand why he felt this way, but the red-haired man was all-too aware. Regardless of their rational understanding of their hatred and desire to kill one another, this was the first time that they had met, and the first time that the two of them were experiencing this shared feeling.

They were, without a doubt, enemies of the highest order! There was no possible way for the two of them to coexist in this world, and sooner or later, one would definitely kill the other!

Yaan knew whom this person was, how could he not? And seeing him in person like this confirmed his previous guess, that the inheritance back in the Ghu Province, was the 'inheritance' setup by the Primordial Devil! Back then, the red-haired man that he met in the 4th Trial Realm…was definitely a recording, or some sort of will, left behind by the Primordial Devil!

"Fragment of Blood…I was wondering when you would show up…" Yaan finally spoke, his expression dark, but steadily returning to normal.

Yaan knew whom this person was, but he did not expect the killing intent he felt towards this person to be so overwhelming…

Why did he hate this person so much more than the other fragments? Why did the Fragment of Blood resemble the Primordial Devil so closely?

And why was it that Yaan resembled the other three fragments to a very small degree…yet when it came to the Fragment of Blood, they practically looked like opposites of one another?

"Hahaha!" The Fragment of Blood laughed darkly, staring at Yaan with an unrelenting focus, as if he wanted to dive forwards and tear him apart limb by limb, yet was for some reason restraining himself. "Little abomination…oh, or should I call you the 'Fragment of Dao'? Hahaha…I have come to harvest your life!"

Hearing these words which were spoken with a wave of unbridled killing intent, Yaan stepped back and gritted his teeth.

'So it really was like this! Now that the other fragments have all been gathered together within me, the Fragment of Blood suddenly appears, planning to take them all for himself! Did he do this? Is he the one that has been manipulating me all this time?! No…his nature is not that of a patient schemer…but even so, for him to appear at this moment, he must be working alongside the true mastermind! Damnit, is this really how it all-'

"Haha, just kidding."

"…"

As Yaan stared forwards blankly, the red-haired giant roared with laughter. After his laughter came to an end, he stared at Yaan with a malicious grin.

"I'm not here to kill you, little abomination of the dao, not yet at least. I will only kill you after you have reached my level! Once you have gained the qualifications to face me, I will overcome you, completely and utterly! My blood will overcome your dao, I assure you of that!"

It took Yaan a while to realise that this bastard was being serious; the Fragment of Blood really didn't plan to kill him right now. Yet, somehow, that only made Yaan's hatred towards the Fragment of Blood grow even deeper.

This person was clearly messing with him!

"The look on your face when you thought you were about to die!" The Fragment of Blood saw Yaan's dark expression and burst out into booming laughter once again.

Yaan decided to ignore his taunting attitude for now. It was possible that the giant still planned to kill him and this was just his sick way of toying with his food, but even if that was the case, what could Yaan even do?

At this point, Yaan was at his complete mercy. He could not fight back, he could not escape, and even if he wanted to kill himself, he would not be able to do so, because his Life Essence was far too vast!

Since that was the case, Yaan decided to question him. It was clear that the Fragment of Blood knew about the truth behind the Primordial Devil's death and reincarnation, so perhaps now, he could finally obtain some answers. He needed to choose his words carefully though, he had no doubt that this man would take great pleasure in denying him the truth that he so desperately craved to learn.

"You speak as if you are certain that the core fragment is you, and not me. However, you are merely the body tempering fragment, whilst I am the core of the Primordial Devil's dao…" Yaan trailed off slightly, not expanding further than this. If he said too much, it would become too obvious that he was prying for answers. By saying just this, he merely sounded like he was defending himself in this argument.

The Fragment of Blood smirked at Yaan teasingly. Normally, such a mundane taunting would mean nothing to Yaan, if it came from anyone else. But coming from this person, it was different…

His very existence angered Yaan! His every word, expression and movement, made Yaan want rush forwards and slaughter him!

If he had the ability to do so, Yaan really would attack! As of right now, however, the difference between them was too vast. In fact, this person was so powerful that even Rui had fallen silent, concealing herself within the stone ring to ensure that she was not found out.

Well, there was a strong possibility that he might already know about her, though.

Finally, the red-haired giant responded to Yaan's words.

"You call me the 'Fragment of Blood', but I have never once considered myself as such. I am no fragment, I am the true Primordial Devil! As for you…haha, you are merely a trial for me to overcome. Of course, in your current state, you are not even worthy of being my trial…"

Yaan frowned. He was feeling uncertain…was this person simply so arrogant that he really considered himself the Primordial Devil already, even in his incomplete state? He saw the other fragments as a mere trial that he needed to overcome in order to return to the Primordial Devil's past strength? Or…was there more to this…?

Seeing Yaan's expression, the red-haired man smiled darkly.

"Have you never wondered why the Primordial Devil's 'core fragment' would be one of dao, when the Primordial Devil spent his entire life rejecting dao in its entirety?"

Yaan shuddered involuntarily, causing the red-haired man to laugh.

Over the years, Yaan had steadily built up an understanding regarding himself, his existence and creation, the Primordial Devil, the various fragments, and where he fit into all this. Some of this information he had found, or deduced for himself. Other pieces of information he had been told.

He was not truly certain about anything, because there were simply too many inconsistencies in the story that he had been fed.

The Primordial Devil's reincarnation went awry, that much, Yaan now felt was probably true. He also felt certain that the inheritance he had experienced, was not in fact an inheritance, but the Primordial Devil's preparations that he laid out for his reincarnated self.

In all likelihood, the reason that Yaan found the Fiend Transformation Technique, was because that technique would allow him to cultivate, even if he completely lacked talent. The other, more important reason though…was because the Fiend Transformation Technique pushed him onto the path of body tempering, which led him to the inheritance.

This was the prearranged setup, wherein his very karmic fate was altered, drawing him towards these different things. As for where Rui fit into this, Yaan was not yet entirely sure.

As for why he was later on urged to practise the Four Paths Cultivation Technique, he couldn't possibly know. That said, he had a strong feeling that this was an alteration to the original plan, perhaps triggered by the Primordial Devil's flawed reincarnation, or perhaps it was due to something else entirely.

When it came to the issue with the Primordial Devil's reincarnation, Yaan was certain that he was in some way connected…but he had no certainty that he was truly this 'Fragment of Dao', and if he was, he was dubious about the 'Fragment of Dao' actually being the core of the Primordial Devil's Dao Soul.

It was as the red-haired man said; the Primordial Devil disdained the pursuit of dao! This was made obvious by the setup in the 4th Trial Realm, which neglected the pursuit of dao entirely, instead pushing all participants towards the pure pursuit of body tempering.

So, the Primordial Devil hated the idea of using the Heavenly Dao's earthly daos as part of his power. But then, what of his dao heart?

On that matter, Yaan was even less likely to be the true core! The Primordial Devil was arrogant, prideful, he loved combat, chaos and war, he revelled in battle and valued his own self-made principles highly, above all else!

Yaan was basically the opposite of this, whilst the 'Fragment of Blood'…was a perfect fit. Not to mention that he looked near-identical to the original Primordial Devil.

Of course Yaan had thought of all this…how could he not? It's just that, part of him didn't want to think about what this meant for him…

If the Primordial Devil hated dao, to the extent that he refused to comprehend dao, then what part of him was Yaan, a person with extremely impressive dao comprehension, a person with no aversion towards dao at all? If the Primordial Devil's dao heart was that of pride, then what exactly did that make Yaan, who embodied the exact opposite of this…?

Why was it that this giant before him boldly declared himself the Primordial Devil, but Yaan…had no wish to be the Primordial Devil that he had come to understand?

Why was it that when Yaan met the Primordial Devil's will back in the inheritance, he wanted nothing more than to kill him?!

Just who…or what…was he…really…?

As Yaan's mind began undergoing deductions at a terrifying pace, a certain possibility flashed across his mind, a possibility which made his face turn pale. He stiffened, and for a moment, a feeling of absolute terror encompassed his heart…

Immediately, Yaan stopped thinking along these lines. He even went so far as to place a seal on the memory of that thought, such that he would not continue to think on it.

Yaan looked up at the sky, ignoring the terrifying behemoth before him for the first time. His expression was bitter and filled with pain.

'All my life, I thought that all I wanted, was to find the truth…but now that the truth might be right before me, even if it is just one possibility amongst many…I can't bring myself to accept it…'