Replaying the Past

"Hey…what's going on?"

Like the other spirits, the female spirit stared into the illusion doubtfully.

When they saw Yaan step towards the illusion of his younger self, they assumed that in the end, he had decided to go through with devouring his illusory self in order to attain the Perfect Grade. Like this, he would rapidly improve his mental power within the illusion, finally absorbing the remainder of his mind from his body outside, then quickly shattering the illusion and re-fusing his mind with his physical body. Whilst this would not guarantee his success in stepping onto the psyche path, it would provide him with an excellent opportunity and chance to do so.

But that did not happen. In fact, it was as if Yaan had simply disappeared!

"Is he gone?" The female spirit asked again doubtfully.

"How could he be?" The devil spirit frowned, shaking his crimson head. "If he had failed, the illusion would end. The fact that the illusion is still active means that he has not died."

For a moment, everyone became silent. Subconsciously, the group all turned towards the old trial spirit, since he amongst all those present, he was the one who understood this formation and the true-false illusion world the best. He was, after all, the overseer of the 4th trial!

Even the devil spirit who managed the inheritance as a whole could not compare to this old spirit's specific knowledge regarding the various intricacies of the 4th trial.

"He seems to have fused his mind into the illusory form of his younger self…but why? Delaying the devouring of his illusory self will cause his own strength within the illusion to decline, whilst the illusion of himself will grow stronger…there is no benefit to devouring a stronger illusion, as it is still merely his own self illusion…I hope that he doesn't expect to reach the end of the illusion and redo everything from the beginning, since reaching the end of the illusion without escaping is equivalent to failing the trial…"

As the old spirit muttered to himself, the others shared a glance, but kept their silence. If even this old man could not comprehend Yaan's actions, then how could they possibly hope to do so?

Within the true-false illusion world…

After Yaan stepped into the body of his younger self, it really was as if he had disappeared from the world. There was no longer a noticeable trace of him within the illusion trial, but it was as the devil spirit said - since the illusion was still active, he was still there.

But now, the only piece of him remaining within the illusion was his consciousness itself. He no longer possessed an illusory body or form of any sort that he could use to move about within the illusion, as he gave up this form when he fused his consciousness into the illusion of his younger self.

With no way to interact with this illusion or to influence this body he now occupied, Yaan fell silent, simply observing as he re-experienced the actions of his younger self. It gave him a bizarre, nostalgic feeling, or perhaps it was closer to deja vu…reliving his past like this was certainly strange. He could see and hear everything that this body experienced, as if he really was back in this time again, only now, there was nothing he could do to change the procession of events.

Yaan watched silently as he ran. He observed the devastation across the mountain, but also paid attention to the expressions and emotions of his younger self. Not only could he see what his illusory self saw, but he could feel what he felt also. This perfect replication of the emotions he felt years ago was somewhat eery.

Yaan eventually left behind the death and despair on Heavenly Path Mountain, entering the dark forest with no clear goal in mind. He was driven only by his desire to survive, even though he wasn't quite sure why he craved this survival so desperately.

He spent a few months passing through the dark forest, gradually honing his combat skill and building up his vital energy.

Eventually, he entered the mortal lands, just south of the dark forest. He spent some time travelling through these lands, causing his heart to gradually become more at ease. The peace and tranquility of travelling from peaceful settlement to settlement was a much needed break from the terrors of his life on Heavenly Path Mountain.

Yaan arrived at North Ghu City. He watched as the boat guard killed a demonic Qi master who dared to fly above the lake around the city.

He entered the city, noting the cruel way in which a man was killed aboard the boat, whilst his woman was taken by her killer, yet nobody even spared them a glance.

He explored the city, getting a job in a small store and eventually meeting Ghu Nadda. Yaan felt some strange feelings on meeting these people from his past once again, but he remained unmoving and simply watched.

He killed in the bloody arena, he trained, he fought and killed, and he trained some more.

As the time for the opening of the mysterious 'North Ghu Inheritance' drew closer, Yaan finally met the situation he had been waiting for, the situation he would pay closer attention to.

He met the North Ghu City Lord.

Since his departure from Heavenly Path Mountain, Yaan's scheme to make use of the Ghu Clan for his own benefit was by far his greatest mistake and failure. At the heart of this incident, was of course the North Ghu City Lord. Yaan wanted to carefully observe his interactions with the City Lord so that he could learn from this mistake properly. Hopefully, this would help him to avoid making similar blunders in the future.

The first sign he found of something being amiss, was actually immediately upon his initial meeting with the City Lord.

After experiencing the betrayal of the Ghu Clan, Yaan had become more perceptive, but also more cautious towards others. Especially in this situation where he was only observing this memory as a passenger, he was able to properly assess the City Lord as they met within his residence.

Before the imposing man even opened his mouth, Yaan could already see it; the disdain in his gaze. That was the look of someone who was truly looking down on him. His words and actions made it seem as if he was treating Yaan as an equal, as if he actually admired him for his boldness in handling this matter.

In truth, he had been scheming against Yaan from the very second they met. How could Yaan, a mere 3-Star demon, possibly be considered worthy of dealing with an Origin Soul realm powerhouse on equal terms? This 'negotiation' was manipulated by the City Lord from start to end, he never intended to let Yaan benefit from this matter.

With each of the conditions that Yaan stated, the look in the City Lord's eyes grew colder. In the past, Yaan did not notice this at all, but now…

It was too clear.

Compared to his futile attempts at trying to see through Rui's feelings, the City Lord was infinitely more open. Of course, it was only possible to notice the small hints given away in a person's eyes and body language which gave insight into their true feelings, if you were focussed specifically on these things.

Yaan pondered. If he were back in the real world, and a powerful Origin Soul realm Qi master pressured him with their aura once again, would he be able to keep a sound enough mind that he could calmly assess them like this…?

He was uncertain, but made a mental note that if he found himself in such a situation once again, he absolutely needed to remain calm and collected. This could be the difference between doing the playing and being played.

Aside from his dealing's with the City Lord, there were two other situations that Yaan planned to pay close attention to. One of these was obviously everything that had occurred from his entrance into the inheritance…the other involved the golden armour.

Or more specifically, the spirit of this armour, and more importantly, that mysterious woman.

Truthfully, Yaan couldn't help but feel some anticipation towards this. When he entered that strange space before, he was dazed and not acting like his usual self. However, he was certain that whether it was the 'celestial demon general' or that unknown woman, both were shocking entities, the likes of which were extremely difficult to meet in this life.

Yaan had encountered many unusual people in his life, but that woman was by far the most shocking. If he believed that Rui was an immortal, then he could only assume that the woman within that place was a literal god.

As Yaan watched the North Ghu City Lord release the seal from the armour, he re-experienced the scene of the armour suddenly releasing that horrifying aura. The City Lord grabbed Yaan and rushed backwards, and in the end, Yaan rushed forwards in an attempt to bind the treasure spirit.

'I should have realised that poison oaths have their issues in this moment…the City Lord actually allowed me to risk myself to save the both of us. This could definitely be considered as harming me 'indirectly', yet it is not. The wording in these contracts is too vague, they're too easily manipulated…'

Yaan, despite once again feeling shocked by the aura released by the golden armour, still retained his sound mind and assessed the situation calmly.

However, the second he touched the armour, pressing a single drop of blood essence upon its surface, he could no longer remain calm.

The moment he reappeared within that black space, Yaan saw the giant golden wall ahead, though he now knew that this was merely one toe belonging to the treasure spirit, the 'celestial demon general'. From his memory, he knew that his younger self should be about to touch the toe after staring at it for some time…

For the first time since he fused his mind into this illusory body, he experienced something that deviated completely from his original memories. This overthrew all that Yaan believed he had understood regarding this illusion world, but he didn't have the luxury to ponder this right now.

A giant golden vortex with a divine aura appeared some distance away from him. Yaan was shocked, as was his younger self. It was unfortunate that Yaan was unable to take any actions at this point, he could only continue to observe as his illusory past self reacted.

His mind trembled as a woman bathed in golden light stepped out from the golden vortex, before the gate rapidly closed behind her. Yaan recognised this woman, only, she arrived earlier than he remembered…and her demeanour was completely different!

Where before, she acted gently and amicably, now, her expression was extremely ferocious! The glaring golden light surrounding her figure was shocking, so shocking that it illuminated the entire space here, causing the celestial demon to step back in terror. As for Yaan himself, he was frozen to the spot, helplessly staring forwards as the woman took a step towards him.

With a single step, she appeared just a dozen feet away. The moment she came to a stop. Yaan's eyes widened as a faint green line appeared between the two of them!

'This line, this connection, it's the same one I saw between myself and Rui back on Heavenly Path Mountain! Not only that, it's also very similar to the green chain I saw between myself and the inheritance entrance!' Yaan's mind trembled.

What happened next could only be described as a series of actions that completely shattered his world view.

The woman completely ignored Yaan and narrowed her eyes. As the green link between them trembled and seemed as if it was about to disappear, she actually reached out and slammed her golden hand on top of it, grasping the translucent green line within the palm of her hand!

After touching the green line, it lit up with a brilliant light. This light did not emanate freely, but instead flowed rapidly into the woman's arm. For a moment, she closed her eyes, as if observing the energy that flowed into her body. Yaan could only stand there dumbfoundedly, his heart racing as he awaited the conclusion to this bizarre discrepancy that did not occur in his memory of this event.

Slowly, the woman opened her eyes. She removed her hand from the green string, causing it to rapidly vanish from sight.

She smiled at Yaan with an expression of shock and delight. Her ferocity from before was nowhere to be seen, instead, it was replaced by a happy friendliness and a caring look that left Yaan feeling totally bewildered.

"We finally meet again…" She spoke gently, laughing as she saw the bafflement on Yaan's face grow deeper.

"Firstly, let's separate the two of you for now." After saying something that made Yaan's heart lurch, she casually waved her hand.

Yaan instinctively closed his eyes as he was surrounded by a wave of golden light, then when he reopened his eyes, he found himself somewhere else entirely. He slowly looked around, taking in the stunning sights around him.

He was stood atop a large hill, and all around him, there was spectacular imagery the likes of which he had never seen before. Flowers bloomed, birds chirped in the light breeze, clouds drifted by calmly…

And everything sparkled with an incandescent glimmer, as if this world was made from a dream. The colours of everything seemed to be chosen by an expert designer, as if this entire world was made solely to be aesthetically appealing.

As Yaan's gaze settled on the woman, who had taken a seat on the other side of a small table whilst watching him amusedly, she gestured towards the opposing chair with a smile.

"Please, sit. I'm sure you have many questions. Whilst I can't answer everything right now, we still have a lot to talk about…Yaan."