62. Two Beings?

"The what and the what?"

Hong Xi looks at Hiro and sighs. "What dead region did he come from?" he thought. "Or did something happen to the human race while I slept? Have the dangers I foresaw already begun? If so I need to train disciples before I go. But I don't have much time."

"You said you woke up on the battlefield and was heavily wounded by the so called ancestor beast."

"Yes."

"When you fought it, were you on par with it?"

"Somewhat, if I wasn't exhausted half way, I would have killed it. I was protecting my sister from it and got wounded by it. When I faced it head on, my body gave out half way through."

"Your sister?"

"After the battle my current parents adopted me."

"I see. So you were once at the so called ancestor realm."

"That was what I was told. Something about my core being damaged made me start cultivating all over again."

"Then you have a soul space. Relax, I want to access your forgotten memories. It would sting but don't resist."

Hong Xi stretched his hand and touched Hiro's forehead with his index finger and his middle finger. Hiro felt a slight ache in his head. He closed his eye and when he opened it, he and Hong Xi were now in a different place.

The familiar golden sea and blue sky greeted him and Hong Xi. Hiro had been here before, and this was at least the third or fourth time.

"His consciousness sea is yellow?" Hong Xi mutters while staring down at the golden sea. "For a previous Ascendant, this soul space is huge. And it seems to be growing."

"This place is inside my head?" Hiro asks.

"Yes, this is where all your memories are stored."

Hong Xi stretched his hand over the sea. Hiro furrowed his brows at his action but almost immediately, hundreds of orbs flew out of the sea. Some orbs were golden and some were white. This wasn't the first time Hiro saw them.

"Two colors?" Hong Xi mutters. "The memories of two beings in one soul space?"

"Two beings?"

"Yes, and they both seem to originate from here."

"What does that mean?"

"It means none of these were placed in here by someone else. These two set of memories belongs to the owner of this soul space, you."

Hong Xi's eyes scanned the orbs around him. He stretched his hand and two orbs from the distance flew over. One white and one golden.

"These should be his oldest memories," he said and tapped on the white orb. The orb expanded, covered the both of them and continued to expand until it fit the entire space.

"Waah, Waah."

The sound of a baby crying filled the entire soul space and images appeared in the sky. It was first a bright light, followed by a lady's face.

"Waah, Waah."

The baby crying sound continued as a man's face appeared in the sky. The man's lips curled into a smile as he stared down from the sky, as if staring at Hong Xi and Hiro. The lady's face moved to the side until it wasn't seen anymore. The man raised his head and looked away. His mouth opened, and sounds of no meaning filled the soul space.

It seemed the man moved and another lady's face appeared in the sky. She smiled down at them, with warmth in her eyes. And Hiro squints his eyes at her.

"I've seen her before, but she looks younger here," he muttered.

"I am shocked to see your soul space retained memories of your birth. This is a rare occurrence."

"Senior means?"

"Memories stored in the soul space are usually from the time when a child has a basic understanding of the things around him. That means, of when he or she could talk or communicate to a certain degree. For many people it varies to three, four, maybe two years."

Hong Xi stares at the sky as he answered. The previous lady had appeared again and the second lady had moved out of view.

"That man should be your father and the other woman, your mother."

"Oh, I see."

"That's it?"

"What do you mean?"

"You never wondered what your origin was or who your family were?"

"I did once, I think. However, I have a family now, bothering about that will be a distraction to my cultivation."

"Oh."

"There is something I'm wondering though."

"What is that?"

"The woman you called my mother, she looks similar to my current mom."

"Is there a way to take this back?" Hiro asks.

Hong Xi stretches his hand to the sky and waved it. Slowly the image reversed until the face of the second woman appears and freezes.

Hiro stares at it for a while. "She definitely looks like mom," he mutters. He could not forget those ocean blue eyes that stared at him with love and affection. "So she's the one who gave birth to me."

Hong Xi side glances at Hiro. He saw his lips curve into a smile. "Why was he smiling?" Hong Xi could only wonder.

"Let's see that other one," Hiro turns to Hong Xi and says.

"You are a strange little boy," Hong Xi says and taps on the golden orb.

Like before it expanded until it fits the soul space. A bright light appeared in the sky. From that light came a shining hand. The sight of the hand caused Hong Xi's eyes to dilate. He grabs Hiro and covered his eyes. He had seen that hand once before and he guessed what came after. No, he knew it, after all it was an unforgettable memory.

When Hiro opened his eyes, he was back in his body, sitting before the table.

"Ack!"

Hong Xi's cough drew his attention to him. Hiro's eyes widened by what he saw. Hong Xi's body was turning into light particles.

"What's happening?" Hiro asks.

"I thought I had time, but now that time is gone. Sigh, entering your soul space was a mistake," Hong Xi voices. "Well, at least now I know you have some relations to the divine beasts."

He placed his right index and middle fingers on Hiro's head. "Increase your strength, return to that battlefield, and find the divine beast's core. Your soul space should be able to hold this much of my memories."

Hong Xi takes back his hand. "I truly am unlucky. I finally find a disciple and can't even spend a day with him. The heavens really are cruel."

Hiro stares at him, not knowing what to say. The memories that poured into his head kept him in a daze. 'Just what the hell was all this?' he thought while looking at the fading Hong Xi.

"Goodbye my disciple. Do not let anyone into your soul space," Hong Xi says.

For reasons Hiro did not understand, he found himself bowing his head and cupping his hands. "This junior understands." He had not fully comprehended Hong Xi's memories, but the little he saw and the little he understood, left him in awe.

Hong Xi sighs bitterly and closed his eyes. In the end, his greatest wish was only half complete. If only he had more time, he would have made it a reality.

"Good bye master, I'll thrive to be like you, no, stronger than you."

He smiled and opened his eyes at the sound of Hiro's voice. The determination he saw in Hiro's eyes made him happy. His greatest wish was to train a disciple who would greatly surpass him. He wanted to believe Hiro would do that but reality struck him. Hiro only comprehended the dao of time, there was no way Hiro could surpass him with just that.

"Well, I became a master to a divine beast. That alone is satisfying," Hong Xi thought with a smile and disappeared.

Hiro stood to his feet, however he collapsed almost immediately.

***

Shin frowns and got to his feet. He wasn't the only one. The others around got up too. The reason for this was the vast land of ice beneath them cracked and spread quickly.

Just when it was about to collapse, several hands came down from the sky and grabbed each of them. The hands easily tore the vast land of ice and took them down.

Quickly the hands went down, and dropped them at the foot of a small hill, just before a forest. They returned, and Shin and the others turned to the sky. They could see cracks in the sky afar off. As if the very space were glass walls that could shatter at any moment.

"What is that?" someone asks while staring at the sky. But no one could reply. They didn't know what exactly was happening over there.

Shin turns away from the sky and looks around. A frown appears on his face as he searched. He was disappointed to find that Mia, the reason for his search was not with him.

"No, no, what am I going to tell Tanji?" he laments. "Did a hand drop her off somewhere else?"

Shin sighs and robs his head. "Hiro isn't here too, then they should be together, right?" he comforts himself. "He isn't weak so they should be safe. I should focus on getting far away from that."

"Those from Imperial eagle raise your hand," a voice ordered.

Shin turns to the direction of the voice. It belonged to a girl dressed in a black fitted training outfit. If her face was covered, anyone would have mistaken her for a ninja or an assassin.

"Ninth stage," Shin muttered as a few others raised their hand.

"One, two… nine, ten, plus me eleven," the girl counts. Shin didn't raise his hand. He wanted to see how things went. "You all are from the southern region, right? From this moment I'll take charge of this group. We don't know what dangers we would face so I suggest we stick together while staying away from that. Luckily almost everyone here is at the eight stage or above. We can be considered a strong force depending on who we are up against."

Her voice was loud and calm. It was obvious this wasn't her first time taking charge of a situation.

Shin watched quietly like everyone else. To his surprise the other ninth stages around didn't say anything.

"To be expected, they are from Eagle city, they wouldn't want to face a ninth stage from the northern region of Imperial Eagle," he thought.

"Which direction are we heading?"

Someone asks and she tilts her head at the person. "That's a dumb question. Of course it's the opposite direction of that." She points to the cracking sky. "Let's go."