Third Teacher

Before creating the three Dao Clones, Yaan asked the Primordial Sage to grant them each with one request, if they chose to use it, so long as it did not directly cause harm to him. She agreed to this, but as of Dao Clone of Qi and the Dao Clone of Soul's reunion on the Qi Plane, neither of them had used their request. Only the Dao Clone of Mind had chosen to use his request early on, and he used it for something seemingly mundane; to learn the truth behind the main body's plan. At least, the truth as the Primordial Sage understood it.

When Devil thought about making a request of the Primordial Sage, when he thought about asking her for help in their coming battle against the Primordial Devil, he felt unwilling. He was by nature inclined to rely on himself, and even joining forces with the Dao Clone of Qi was something that he only accepted with great reluctance due to the difficulty of their situation.

And so, when the Primordial Sage appeared before them, immediately following Yaan's words which were seemingly spoken to thin air, Devil remained silent by the side, for now only intending to watch.

"You want to use your request now?" The Sage repeated back to Yaan. Yaan nodded seriously, but he then went on to ask something that made Devil's eye twitch.

"Mm. Please kill the Primordial Devil without killing us."

"No."

"Did you really think that would work?" Devil looked at Yaan speechlessly.

"Well, it was worth a try…"

After a moment of thought, Yaan tried again.

"Can you undo the connection between us and the Primordial Devil, making it such that we will survive even if he dies?"

"No."

"What happened to granting any request so long as it doesn't harm the main body?" Devil glanced at the Sage and asked confrontationally.

"I can only grant requests that are actually possible. The karmic fate between the Primordial Devil, your main body, and you three Dao Clones, is not something that can be severed by anyone other than yourselves. This is something that you must deal with."

"As expected." Yaan nodded slowly, having already expected this. Devil remained silent, but he continued to glare at the Primordial Sage.

Yaan understood how he felt, but did he have to be so blatant about his dislike of her?

Yaan sighed when he thought about what he was about to do. Really though, he had no other choice, because it was clear that the Sage would not provide them with any direct assistance when it came to their conflict with the Primordial Devil.

"Primordial Sage…will you become my teacher, until the day of our battle against the Primordial Devil?"

"What?!" Devil turned to face Yaan sharply, glaring at him with an undisguised annoyance. "That's how you're using your request? You're actually wasting this chance on something so stupid?!"

"Stupid?" Yaan glanced back at Devil and shook his head. "Devil, in the end, what else can we do other than become stronger? Our opponent is too powerful, and we are too weak to overcome our fate. Our only choice is to become stronger, and this is the best method I can think of to raise my strength quickly."

"I don't need some brat's help to become stronger! Tch, Sage! All I need is time, so here is my request – prevent the Primordial Devil from crossing over to the Qi Plane until I say so!"

"I won't accept your request." The Sage said to Devil, before turning back towards Yaan and nodding. "However, your request is acceptable. I will become your teacher until your battle against the Primordial Devil."

Yaan smiled slightly, but Devil now looked completely enraged.

"You little-! You keep changing the rules! Just what is wrong with my request?!"

"I already stated that I am here to observe, and the rules of this game are whatever I decide them to be." The Sage retorted, only increasing Devil's ire to a new level.

"So you can't even hinder that damnable Primordial Devil to give us more time?!"

"I will not hinder either you nor he, I have already stated this multiple times. I am here to observe and assist your paths, this has not changed."

As Devil went on to spit curses and insults at the Primordial Sage, who refused to heed his request, Yaan sighed melancholically.

His third teacher…

Every teacher that he had accepted in this world played a pivotal role in his life, and yet, his relationships with all three were extremely complicated, with an intertwined mess of good and bad feelings between them. The Primordial Sage had interfered with his life and his fate so heavily, causing him so much pain…and yet, ever since his rebirth, she had been genuinely very helpful, and without her, Yaan would not have survived to this point. In fact, without the Primordial Sage, the Dao Clones might never have been born into this world…

In the end, Devil became too irritated with the Sage and refused to even speak with her any longer.

"Do you really need to be so obstinate? Just make a request that she will actually grant." Yaan tried to suggest the rational choice, but Devil just turned to him sharply and glared.

"You know damned well that I can't and won't be any less obstinate!"

"So you're aware of your own shortcoming, but refuse to improve yourself anyway?" Yaan asked dubiously.

"Tch, just what shortcomings do I have? Unlike you, you little emotional fool, I have my pride! I may not have a heart of pride like the Primordial Devil since I have now developed a superior heart of slaughter, but I was still born from that pride you know, just as you were born from that human child's useless emotions!"

Yaan's eye twitched slightly. There were many things he could say to argue with Devil's highly contradictory statement, but he decided not to further antagonise this lunatic. They didn't exactly get along, but…well, they needed to get along anyway.

It was annoying when Devil smirked at him after Yaan fell silent, as if he thought that he had won the argument, but for the sake of defeating the Primordial Devil and protecting his home, Yaan swallowed his words and simply ignored it.

He faced the Primordial Sage seriously now.

"So then, Sage…or should I call you 'teacher' now?" Yaan went on, before Devil immediately interrupted him.

"If you call her teacher, I will kill you here and now."

"…So then, Sage. What can you teach me that will allow me to defeat the Primordial Devil by the time he arrives?" Yaan asked this with uncertain expectations. Honestly, despite the Sage agreeing to become his teacher, he didn't know how much help she would actually be willing to provide. More importantly, even if the Sage did her all to tutor him, would it even be enough?

He didn't know, but he had no other choice but to try.

"I cannot guarantee that my teachings will be sufficient for you to defeat the Primordial Devil, and the matter of your karmic fate being intertwined with his, is something that you can only overcome on your own. However, I will give my advise - your best choice is to pursue the dao of karma if you wish to surpass this final challenge." The Primordial Sage spoke, but only Yaan heard her words. Devil glanced back and saw that she had vanished, yet Yaan was still speaking, letting him know that the Sage was once again hiding from him.

Devil snorted coldly, then took a single step, vanishing from sight after leaving Yaan with three words.

"I'm going out."

Yaan felt Devil reach the Heavenly Rebirth Formation wall. He hurriedly created a gap with difficulty and allowed Devil to pass through, knowing that if he didn't, this madman would just break his way through anyway.

"He's definitely going to make a mess of the Demonic North, if not the entire Planet Yushu…" Yaan muttered to himself, before deciding not to worry about it. It's not like he had the ability to control Devil's actions after all. "So long as he leaves my Heavenly Path Province alone, then I suppose it's fine."

Yaan returned his focus to the Primordial Sage.

"I naturally understand that to break the karma between us, comprehending the dao of karma is the most straight forwards solution…however, there is an issue with my dao comprehension ability…"

"You are only able to comprehend dao on an intuitive level. You lack any comprehension of dao on a conscious level, and you are unable to gain this comprehension." The Sage summarised the issue concisely.

"Right." Yaan nodded. "Knowledge can comprehend dao consciously, I can comprehend dao intuitively, and Devil cannot comprehend dao at all. This limits my dao comprehension, making it such that I can never comprehend an entire earthly dao, as I will always be missing one half of the true understanding of each dao. The other half is with Knowledge…but he has given up on the Immortal Step, and has sided with the main body, deciding to not involve himself in the matter of the Primordial Devil's imminent arrival on the Qi Plane…"

"You are correct. You didn't request that I bring Knowledge over to the Qi Plane for this reason."

Yaan nodded.

"That, and also because this is the request that Devil is most likely to make once he calms down…but regardless, you probably won't agree to this request. Knowledge has sided with the main body, but you will not grant us any request that is potentially detrimental to the main body. In all likelihood, the main body wants Knowledge to remain in the Dao Formation, since the main body is still, even now, reaping the harvests of our continually growing dao comprehensions…"

The Dao Clone of Qi clenched his fists as a feeling of powerlessness arose within him. Ever since he had separated from the main body and gained his own true independence, he felt like the main body was unfathomable, and that he was plotting a scheme so deep that not even the Primordial Sage fully understood it.

He hated to admit it, however, at this point, it wouldn't even surprise him if the main body planned to sacrifice them all.