Chapter 3

Both Cyrus and the basilisk raised their eyes toward the sky. The basilisk narrowed its eyes, slithered between Cyrus and the man flying toward them from the horizon, and coiled up into a defensive position. The action completely caught Cyrus off-guard. He briefly smiled, but then focused on the flying man.

'If he can fly without an artifact or sword, then he must at least be in the Golden Core realm. I've really got some background, then, if somebody of that level is looking for me, especially if this is the First Heaven like I think it is.'

Unfortunately, the very moment after he thought that, a heavy atmosphere weighed down on his shoulders. He immediately recognized it as the tangible effect of killing intent. Directly in front of him, the basilisk blinked. Its eyes narrowed with an annoyed glint. On instinct, it hissed and glared at the stranger.

Sensing an imminent and useless fight, Cyrus stepped in front of the basilisk with lithe movements, raised his head toward the middle-aged-looking man, and exclaimed, "Please take back your killing intent! This basilisk kept me safe here in the swamp!"

The man floating in the sky dropped his angered expression and raised a brow at Cyrus. Then, he chuckled before saying, "Since when did you learn to speak so flippantly to your great-grandfather in such a manner? Either way, you have no idea how much a basilisk core is worth, so step aside."

"Tch."

'Typical greedy cultivators. Still, this old man seems related to me, so convincing him to leave the beast alone should be doable.'

The man narrowed his gaze, scratched his ear, and asked, "Did you just click your tongue at me, or am I hearing things in my old age?"

"What if I want to make it my partner?"

Again, the man raised a brow, this time taking a closer look at his great-grandson.

"...You want to take the path of a Beast Master?"

"Maybe. We'll see."

"Hmm. Fine. We'll discuss this with your father."

Suddenly, Cyrus noticed a mostly intangible aura surrounding his body. Not sensing any threat from it, he didn't bother struggling when it lifted him into the air.

The moment the Basilisk saw Cyrus floating into the air, it hissed poisonous gas from its mouth and glared at the old man as though pondering what to do about the intruder.

"Haha. Relax. This old man is related to me. I'll come back to say hello later," Cyrus chided with smirking lips.

In response, the basilisk hissed again and narrowed its eyes at him. It remained like that for only a few seconds before turning around and coiling up on the grass to sleep.

The man, who Cyrus assumed was his body's actual great-grandfather based on the man's tone, observed the interaction between the teenager and the basilisk with curious eyes.

'Although this descendant of mine doesn't have our family's physique, perhaps he actually has a talent as a Beast Master. It's just too unusual of a cultivation path to test for, so it probably never crossed my grandson's mind to test the boy's talent in it.'

The old man glanced at his great-grandson and noticed the boy's strangely observant gaze.

"Let's take you home, then, before sending you back to your sect. I'll try to keep your father from beating you to death when we return."

"...Thanks, I guess."

The basilisk opened its eye scales and watched the pair of humans fly off into the distance. Once it could no longer see them anymore, it rested its head on the grass. A few minutes passed in complete silence aside from the typical sounds of the swamplands. The basilisk stared at the patted down patch of grass that the puny human had slept on for a week. It stared at the spot for several seconds before snorting and closing its eyes again. It was a powerful magical beast of the basilisk bloodline. How could it possibly feel lonely now that the puny human was gone? Rather, it was grateful that it could sleep in peace again!

* * *

While the older man carried Cyrus with his Qi, he looked at his great-grandson and gradually noticed some changes to the boy's demeanor.

"Little Yangde, did something happen during your outing from your sect?" The man asked.

Briefly, Cyrus contemplated how to handle the situation, but eventually settled on the one he found most interesting by nodding and answering, "Yes. I encountered some sort of inheritance during my journeys. It stuffed some of an older cultivator's memories in my head, and I think it forced down my own memories to make room for it all or something. From the memories I received, I should be able to get my own memories back after reaching Foundation Establishment since that will expand my inner domain. It's both good and bad, I think."

'Well, it's not a total lie, considering I should be able to access this body's latent memories at that point. Much easier to handle soul matters then.'

The old man's expression quickly changed from curious, to anxious, to totally flabbergasted. He silently contemplated for a few seconds while continuing their flight. Although uncommon, such inheritances did pop up from time to time. Eventually, he nodded and asked, "How strong was the person you gained this inheritance from?"

"...He reached Nascent Soul, at least."

'Well, I was way above that, but that might scare this old man to death.'

The man's reddish eyes brightened upon hearing the level of memory inheritance his great-grandson received. Then, he patted the boy's shoulder and said, "This is a huge boon. It is a heaven-sent opportunity for you to overcome your lack of talent and poor reputation."

'Pft. Cultivators' idea of talent is still stupid to me. I've seen so many so-called mediocre talents far surpass so-called heaven's favorites too many times to count so long as they get a push in the right direction.'

Uninterested in challenging the man's worldview, Cyrus decided to focus on another part of the man's statement and asked, "I have a bad reputation?"

"Hmm. Well, unfortunately, yes. How much of your memory is sealed at the moment?"

"I basically only know I'm Gu Yangde from the Gu family and I'm part of the Four Seasons Sect. I recall some common sense and knowledge, too, but a lot of personal details elude me, unfortunately."

"...Do you not recognize even your own favorite great-grandfather?"

"All I get from you is enough sense of familiarity to know we are blood related. Sorry, gramps."

"...Quickly try to reach Foundation Establishment, then. You're making this old man sad."

"Yeah, sure. I'm going to abolish my cultivation base and start from scratch though."

"Excuse me?!"

This time, the man halted and almost lost his control over the Qi holding his great-grandson in the air.

"Why are you surprised? The memories I obtained showed me how trash my cultivation base is. I'm better off starting from scratch."

"...It might be trash, but my descendant not even recognizing his own family will last longer. You're making your grandpa depressed, Little Yangde."

"It won't take too long."

The man shook his head, causing his dark blue hair with interspersed gray strands to flutter in the wind. Then, he sighed and replied, "As long as you can do our Gu Family proud and stop losing face for us, do whatever you want. I'll try to stop your father from beating you to death."

Eventually, the two arrived above the gates of a prominent and sprawling city. In fact, Cyrus couldn't help being surprised by its sheer size, not to mention the abundance of modern amenities he could see everywhere. This scene of both Qi and array powered plumbing, fountains, doors, lighting, and all sorts of utilities totally ran contrary to his expectations of medieval levels of technology he knew from his time playing the game of Seventh Heaven.

"Why are you surprised? Do you not even recognize your own home?"

"...Nah, it's just that in the memories I received, buildings, roads, and everything else were super simplistic. There weren't any fountains like those, or screens like those… It's honestly a bit jarring."

"Must've been memories from a long time ago, but it should still be very useful to your cultivation regardless. Anyway, our estate is over there, in case you don't recall."

Cyrus followed the man's pointed finger with his gaze and saw an extravagant mansion surrounded by housing for servants and large ornate gardens full of spirit herbs or beautiful spiritual plants.

'...I kinda expected it, but this is still a bit excessive, right?"