Within Mu Chen’s body, something mystical had happened. While his body was undergoing the intense physical torture, his consciousness had already been transported to an unknown space.

A white ball appeared out of thin air in the middle of a circular stone chamber, then slowly morphed into a youth wearing white robes. He had a delicate yet handsome face, dark hair and deep black eyes. This white robed youth was actually Mu Chen’s consciousness personified.

“Where am I?” Mu Chen wondered aloud as he swept his gaze over his surroundings. His voice echoed throughout the empty stone chamber. There was not a single soul to be seen. It seemed that he was all alone in this place.

Just as he turned back to the front, an old wooden door suddenly materialized in the stone wall in front of him. Mu Chen walked over and slowly pushed the door open. The wooden door swung open with a loud creak.

A gust of cold wind blew into his face, sending his hair flying around him. He stepped out of the door and into the middle of a forest. The sea of trees were seemingly endless, stretching out into the horizon. The canopy cast dark shadows on the ground, giving the forest an eerie vibe. Mu Chen turned around but the old wooden door had already vanished at some point.

“Hmmm…” Mu Chen mused as he looked up at the gray, overcast sky. At this time, snow began to fall. A snowflake slowly drifted downward and landed on the palm of his hand. Looking closely, he could see the intricate, unique pattern on the snowflake, which quickly melted due to his body heat.

Mu Chen’s robes fluttered in the wind as he walked forward, heading into the forest. With every minute that passed, the snow got heavier and thicker, piling up below his feet. His visibility was reduced to only several meters ahead and every step he took left deep footprints in the snow. However, the strange thing was, he did not feel cold at all, as if the surroundings did not even affect him.

He walked for an unknown amount of time before he stopped abruptly in his tracks. In the distance, he could see someone. It was a young boy, a child of around seven or eight years old. He wore tattered clothes and had a torn cloak wrapped around his shoulders. In his hands he held a piece of dry and dirty bread, ripping away at it using his teeth.

The boy was trembling and walking unsteadily, and a few times it looked like he was going to collapse, but the boy always trudged on and never fell. Although he was stick thin and his face was pale and gaunt, his eyes were brighter and clearer than ever.

“I will become stronger! I must become stronger!” Those eyes blazed with indomitable will and fighting spirit.

Mu Chen stood silently in the shadow of a massive tree, watching. His gaze was fixed on the boy up till the kid disappeared into the forest.

Whoosh! The scene changed. The heavy snow, the dark forest and the boy had disappeared, as if they were never there in the first place.

This time, the chirping of birds and the buzzing of insects could be heard. Mu Chen once again found himself in a forest, but this time standing outside the gates of a large fort constructed out of wood. The gates were not locked, but were in fact slightly ajar.

He pushed open the gates and strode into the fort. The first thing he saw and smelled was blood. There were dozens of mutilated corpses and various weapons strewn all over the ground. Some of these bodies were missing various limbs such as their arms and legs, while a few had no head. Gaping wounds, the kind left by a sharp blade, were left all over these corpses. Blood flowed like streams of water from the dead bodies, dyeing the earth red.

In the middle of the fort stood a single black robed figure with a bloodied saber in one hand, and a decapitated head that he held by the hair in the other. This figure was a youth of around sixteen, with long dark hair and black eyes, deep like the abyss. In front of him was a headless corpse that was in a kneeling position.

Drip, drip, drip. Drops of fresh blood dripped from the tip of the saber and also from the bloody neck of the decapitated head. The youth’s dark hair fluttered in the wind as he breathed heavily. He then turned around and slowly walked toward the entrance of the fort, leaving a literal trail of blood drops in his wake.

The youth did not seem like he noticed Mu Chen’s existence at all. In fact, he actually walked straight through Mu Chen, passing right through his body.

“If you try to kill me, then I will try to kill you. This is the rule of the world!” The youth and Mu Chen muttered at the same time. The youth walked out of the fort and disappeared into the forest.

“Whoever you are, why are you showing me this?” Mu Chen spoke aloud after the youth had gone.

“This was the first time you killed someone. You killed a total of 43 people that day. Do you remember?” A familiar voice came from behind him.

Mu Chen turned around and came face to face with himself. To be precise, this person looked identical to him, as if he was standing in front of a mirror. He also had the same face and voice, however this copy was wearing a black robe and had a wide smile on his face.

“I don’t remember every person I kill.” Mu Chen’s expression was calm. “They tried to kill me, so I killed them all. It is just that simple.”

Whoosh! The scenery changed for the third time. This time, his other self was standing beside him.

They were standing in the midst of a burning city. The gates were wide open, buildings were collapsing from the intense blaze, cultivators and ordinary people of all genders and ages were shouting and screaming as they ran. Some took advantage of the chaos and looted to their heart's content, while some started fighting with each other. It was absolute chaos.

The sky was dark gray, with thunder rumbling and lightning flashing through the sky. A light drizzle of rain fell upon the burning city, but the flames kept on burning non stop.

High up in the sky, two figures were locked in battle. One was a spear wielding man wearing black robes with glowing violet eyes, and the other a burly red haired man who wielded a massive saber that was engulfed in blazing flame.

The spear wielding man was Mu Chen, or to be precise, it was Wang Kang, the him from his previous life. He wielded the spear with great proficiency and every strike was fearsome and vicious, aiming to take the opponent's life. His opponent also wielded his massive saber masterfully, sending out waves of scorching flames with every slash.

Clang! Clang! Clang! The two men clashed with their weapons over and over at lightning speed. Every time their weapons collided, powerful energy waves would surge forth from the impact and cause even more destruction in the city down below. Some people who got too close were instantly crushed to paste or sliced to bits by the rampant shockwaves, while stronger cultivators were sent flying and smashed heavily into the ground, lying motionless with blood flowing from their orifices. Others who were more unfortunate were engulfed by flames and burnt to death, screaming in agony.

“The Battle of Crimson City. You fought against the Flame Dragon Huo Kong.” The black robed Mu Chen said.

“I remember. He tried to kill me, so I killed him. He was weak.” Mu Chen’s eyes were calm like still water as the flames, death and destruction were reflected in his eyes.

“Look. Do you see how many people you killed?” The black robed Mu Chen gestured at the cultivators and civilians who were dying in horrific fashions, screaming and crying. There were children crying for their dead parents, couples crying for their deceased other halves and friends crying for their fallen buddies.

“Yes, I see them.” Mu Chen nodded, looking straight at every one of them, but his expression did not change in the slightest.

“Are these people not innocent? Do you feel guilty for causing their deaths? Is what you did not wrong? Why did you not help them?” The black robed Mu Chen questioned him.

“Foolish and naive.” Mu Chen smiled as he shook his head.

“Why?”

“Right or wrong?” Mu Chen laughed. “Righteous or Evil? Those things do not exist. Justice does not exist. In this world, there is no such thing as good or bad. There is only a winner and a loser, the strong and the weak! The winner takes all, and the loser forfeits his life! I, Mu Chen, will not be the loser!”

"You ask me why I didn’t help those people, but will they offer me help if they are in the same position? Why are they not helping each other to escape? Humans are selfish by nature and will do anything to benefit themselves and their family. They have compassion yet they never truly wish to help others from the bottom of their hearts. They only offer assistance because they hope to be rewarded."

“Because Huo Kong was weaker than me, he died. Because these people were not strong enough, they died. It is simple. If you do not want to bow down, then rise up! If you do not want to be weak, then become strong! If you do not want to be killed, then fight back!”

The black robed Mu Chen was silent for a long while, as if he didn't expect such an answer. The white and black robed Mu Chen stood quietly, staring up at the sky as they watched the end of the battle.