Yin Hei smiled and he descended, landing in front of Fu Yin himself once again. Except, this smile was not due to happiness, but due to absolute hatred.

The man grabbed Fu Yin by the collar of his robes and then spat on his face "You... Thought that you had grown lucky? It is too bad the heavens owe me too much, so much in fact that you shouldn't hope for miracles! I have all the favor of the Heavens in this Plane! Me, and me alone!"

Fu Yin gritted his teeth in anger "You... Well, I won't say you won't succeed as that would be too cliché... However you do realize you are going through the old 'big and powerful bad guy gives away his plan to the world while raising countless death flags' cliché, don't you?"

Yin Hei gritted his teeth and punched the boy in the chest, so hard that the other fell face first on the ground, spitting out blood: most likely, a few ribs had broken.

"I told you not to talk back to me! Or did I? I do not remember! Ahaha! Still, you should get the gist of it and shut up... Or else..." Yin Hei grinned viciously.

Fu Yin desperately looked around, in search of something that could help in fight... When suddenly his eyes widened and his pupils shrunk, as if the eye sockets were about to bulge out! He gaped, incapable of believing what he was seeing.

He looked from Yin Hei to the thing that he had saw and he laughed even though blood splurged out of his clothes: his blue eyes filled with scorn and killing intent as he crawled up.

"I dare you... To punch me again! First though, look behind you, if you don't, you are a chicken!" He laughed and he spread his arms.

Yin Hei frowned: did the child lose his sanity perhaps? He was about to turn when he thought about something: this was a trap.

'The boy probably had some kind of treasure that would enable to defeat me if I let my guard down! You actually tried to deceive me like that! You fool!' The man smirked 'I would never fall for that!'

"A living chicken is still better than a decaying dragon!" He said and charged a punch.

Fu Yin's smile grew wider and he even whistled a happy tune.

Yin Hei furrowed his brows: the kid was a bit too calm about this... Was this actually not a trap? He was about to turn again, but then he slapped himself across the face 'Don't fall for it you idiot!'

He turned to look at the child with amazement: with just a few words, he had managed to confuse his mind... twice! Still, in the end, he had decided.

'I'll kill him first and worry about stuff later!' He charged his right fist once more and he punched out with all his might "Die!!!"

Suddenly, Yin Hei had an eerie feeling, as if death's scythe was resting on his neck.

He wanted to stop his own blow, but he could not as he was already in full swing! The Dragon gritted his teeth and put more power into the punch: it was now only a single palm away from the boy's chest, now it was half of that and half again...

The man smiled and yelled "You are dead!"

BAM!

The sound rang out and a thick fog could be seen emanating outwards from the point of impact. The people from the Sect felt their legs grow weak: such power, there was no way Fu Yin could possibly survive!

Then, their faces changed when the mist began to churn and fade away... Revealing an astonishing scene: Fu Yin was laying on the ground, but he was fine, meanwhile Yin Hei was still in the motion of the swing and, finally, a person clutched Yin Hei's right hand within his...

The blow had actually been blocked by someone! Who was that?

Well... He wore tattered and bloody white robes, had bright golden eyes, a straight nose pointing slightly up, a small mouth and straight, long, black hair that were now fluttering in the wind...

A single trickle of blood fell from the sides of his mouth and, while his eyes did not show any sign of life, they still burned with intense fighting spirit!

"H-How! This... This isn't possible!" Yin Hei cried out and jumped backwards. His own body was now in tatters and he had no more tricks up his sleeve... And now this boy shows up!

He braced for a counterattack, but none came. Yin Hei was astonished to see that the child was standing in the same exact position as before, his palm extended out to block Yin Hei's blow at Fu Yin's chest and his other hand pushing the same boy back to protect him from any shockwaves.

Yet, there was no more fighting spirit, it was as if the boy had turned back into a mindless corpse. Yet, Yin Hei remembered the terror he had just felt from the child's gaze.

How was this possible? Evidently, Cheng Hao's mind was shattered, so how did he do it?

If one could see inside the boy's mind, they would notice that everything had been thrown into disarray... except for a single, remaining shard that shined brighter than ever before...

This shard was... A will. The will to find enough power protect his friends, his family, his loved ones, with all his might! After his mind had shattered, all that remained was this single shard! This was what he wished for the most!

Yet now, another smaller shard flew up: if he was protecting his friends, doesn't that mean that the one he was protecting was one? Who was he?

This boy... Was Fu Yin! Now, if he remembered Fu Yin, why would he not remember the members of the All But In Blood Alliance... Thus also Xiao Wu?

His mind shuddered and then, shard after shard, it began to piece itself back together.

His mind was now about 1 percent complete!

And if he remembered Xiao Wu, why should he not remember Lu Fang or Goldy? And why should he not remember everyone else and the fact he had gone through a long journey to get here?

10, 20, 30, 40... 50 percent!

Just like that, his broken mind began to mend together. Soon, it was more than that measly one percent that had recovered!

Yin Hei trembled and anxiously called out "Hellish Nightmare Dragon!"

His face contorted with fear as he stepped away from the boy: the child's muddled gaze was getting clear and clearer by the second!

Meanwhile, Cheng Hao remembered of his journey towards the Sect, of how it began... And that he was actually a reborn soul! He was the Evil Saint, he was Xū Líng!

From 50... to 60 percent!

Blacky turned and, when he understood what was happening, he shivered as well: after all, his life was in Cheng Hao's hands. If the boy woke up, he would most likely die as soon as the child understood what was going on!

...

The boy remembered himself slaughter his way to the heavens, killing countless cultivators and beasts alike, his abilities of that time came back to him as he shuddered.

From 60 to 70 percent!

Still, a question remained yet again... Why? Why would he do that?

He then vaguely remembered a black figure dismembering a flame with his bare hands, while three more figures looked on petrified. Then, a bright golden light suddenly appeared and the black figure bent over, spitting out blood.

He heard the roar of rage of the black figure as it was sent flying out of the flying island. He now remembered its name: Worldlords Floating Island.

80 percent!

What happened, why was he on that island? That's right, he woke up, he was no one, then his name had been given to him! He remembered a person that stayed with him all the time... Wasn't that the person the same that had been dismembered before while in her flaming form? Wait... Her?

90 percent!

Was the person a female? Who was she? The figure of three people appeared in his mind: a dark-skinned man with white hair, a bald youth with an azure dragon tattooed on his head and back, a woman with feline and exotic looks as well as whisker marks on her cheeks and a blurry image that he couldn't quite make out.

These four figures then trembled and changed into four gigantic beasts: a Black Turtle, an Azure Dragon, a White Tiger and a Vermillion Bird... Was she one of them? Her figure remained a mystery... He could not piece together that final piece...

99 percent!

Blacky roared and flew towards the boy... Right now, he was only a few dozen meters away from him, his jaws ready to bite the flesh.

Cheng Hao searched through his memory but could not find the real appearance of that mysterious person, but he knew instinctively that she had to be important, so important that he had to find out who she was to completely restore his mind!

Suddenly, a single thing caught his mind... it was a red feather. It was a few steps away from him and it shone with bright red and golden light.

It had just landed, as if it had been thrown down from above! It had probably been dropped by a passing bird, nothing serious, yet... Why was the call from the feather so intense?

Suddenly, the feather crumbled away, as if it was only an illusion and it turned into a bright stream that entered the boy's consciousness!

Cheng Hao shuddered.

Why?

Because he had just remembered the flame torn apart by the black figure. The black figure... He knew his identity! It was none other than the person he hated the most, Tian!

Back then, from the dying flame, one last ember had fallen down on the ground and had turned into a single feather, which had in turn gotten blown away in the wind... This feather belonged to that gigantic red bird he had seen before in his memories, right? But wasn't the flame... The girl?

99,9 percent!

Suddenly, he remembered! He remembered it all!

The conversation he had with that great bird about that being its true form and about it not being truly a human... Yes, the red bird was the girl! There was no doubt! But then, who was that girl! He remembered her face, her appearance but one thing was missing...

It was a smile. The most dazzling smile he had ever seen.

Two rows of fine, white teeth were arranged into the most beautiful of smiles. And with that single smile... He had finally put back the seemingly last, remaining piece. That girl... Was none other than his sister, best friend... And the person he had loved the most in the whole world! As of now, Cheng Hao's mind was... 100% complete!

Yet, Cheng Hao could feel that there was something still hidden deep in his mind, memories that had been sealed away. Unfortunately, this was no time to look any deeper into that!

Time suddenly seemed to dilate as Cheng Hao felt something moving within his Sea of Consciousness.

"Not bad... To actually thinking of leaving a single strand of will behind that would then create a cascade effect and make you regain your memories... Ingenius, indeed, but it would all have been for naught had it not been for that feather! Still, above my expectations!"

The voice sounded out in his consciousness.

Cheng Hao shivered when he heard that voice: it was archaic, ancient and, most of all, devoid of any emotion! It was on a totally different level than the strange presence that had promised to aid him before the battle, or even that being from his past as Xū Líng that had possessed his body.

At least, they had emotions, but this guy... He clearly had none!

"Senior... Who are you, if I might ask?"

The voice seemed to ponder for a while and then answered with a single word "... Power"

...

Blacky trembled at first when he sensed Cheng Hao's aura had changed slightly, but then he gritted his teeth "I have a current cultivation of the peak Saintly stage and a true cultivation of the Supreme stage! I refuse to believe that he can defeat me!"

He sped towards Cheng Hao when, suddenly, the child's presence changed completely, as if he had become another person.

"You hate the heavens... We do so too. We are the guardians of everything that is, is not, will exist and will not exist..." the voice spoke using Cheng Hao's mouth "Immortality... Is the way mortals rebel against us, the rulers. That is unacceptable. The only way in which one should become immortal is not by surpassing the Mountain, but by becoming one with it..."

"We do not require you to understand. We shall simply impart you with power... it will be up to you how you will use it, but you will find out that, in the end, you will use it for the sake of Her, the Mountain. Now watch, and etch into your mind the might of the Mountain. The might of True Immortality. The Immortality that comes not with the enmity, but with the union of the Mortal and that which is Celestial..."

Cheng Hao's eyes changed and they became completely emotionless as they glowed with an otherworldly green light...

"The union of the Man... and the Mountain!"

Cheng Hao suddenly found himself losing control of his body to the Archaic Presence.

"Do not strive to go higher than the tallest of Mountains" the voice seemed to lecture "Become the Mountain. Destroy the Immortals, trespassers of the Mountain. Become the Soul of the Mountain!"

He put his two hands in front of him and a green character for Immortal 仙 appeared, weighing down incredible might.

He then pointed at the oncoming Hellish Nightmare Dragon and the symbol followed the movement of his finger. Suddenly, as soon as the symbol aligned with the monster, the Nightmare Dragon felt as if a mountain was weighing down on it!

It crashed down and felt all the bones in his body were starting to crack from the pressure of that single symbol!

The beast tried to get up, but the 仙 symbol shone with even brighter green light, applying even more pressure. The beast could only watch powerlessly and tremble as it fell down. The mysterious being using Cheng Hao's body said nothing as he flew upwards: he was not using any sort of cultivation base, yet he flew!

It was absolutely mind-bending, still Cheng Hao did not wish to focus on that. He merely wished to know what the Archaic existence's next move would be! He stared wide-eyedly from his consciousness, not daring to miss anything.

The Snake-like beast trembled and it began to feel that his body was sinking in the earth. Then, as it thought that this would how it would end, he suddenly had a horrible feeling, as if the reaper's scythe was resting on his neck.

Cheng Hao clenched his fist that had been pointing at the symbol and the character for Immortal 仙 began to shrink until it became as small as an infant's head. Suddenly, the mysterious being in the boy's body lifted a finger and pointed at the sky:

That one finger seemed to eclipse all else as it also began to shine with otherworldly green light. It had become an incredibly sharp blade, capable of cutting apart reality itself!

"Look carefully, little boy surnamed Xū and named Líng... This, is the truth" The finger slowly fell down, until it touched the great symbol for Immortal: the symbol trembled, as if it was feeling that death was imminent.

Then, Cheng Hao put his finger exactly where the juncture between the character Ren 人 and the character Shān 山 were.

Cheng Hao's green pupils suddenly shrunk as the boy's expression turned into anger and solemnity, like a god that was about to deliver divine tribulation in the weak mortals!

The boy opened his mouth and he loudly bellowed, the sound silencing every other in the heavens and earth for nine whole breaths!

"SUNDER! THE! IMMORTAL!!!"

His fingers cut through the imposing symbol like a hot knife cutting through butter and, as soon as they finished the cut, Blacky trembled once.

Right now, the character for Immortal was cut apart, on one side was the person 人, on the other was the Mountain 山 and what looked like an insurmountable rift divided the two.

The snake then began shaking as he began to gasp for air "You... What did you do? My power! My cultivation... I cannot feel it! The Qi is gone!" It fell on its back, completely powerless.

As he stared from within his consciousness at the actions of the mysterious being controlling his body, Cheng Hao gaped, completely stunned: he understood a bit of what happened... But that was just too shocking!

"Sunder the relationship between the Mountain and the Person! You dare leech your strength from Her, the Mother of all, the Mountain, and you actually bellow in rage when it is severed for you! Ungrateful Hypocrite!"

As if its emotionlessness had been faked, the mysterious being snapped "Feel your powerlessness as the cultivator becomes but a mortal!"

It yelled at the terrified Blacky and then began speaking to Cheng Hao, its tone now kind and full of emotion

"Heavensborn, they call your kind. And yet, you are the very opposite of the definition of a heavensborn! You may not know what it means now, but you will come to know. This is my first gift to you for opposing the Heavens!"

"This is for not clashing with the Mountain as your fate dictated! To go against the Immortal Will! For going against your own Fate and instead of traveling that path that many had thread times before, you didn't choose at all! You made a new one!" The presence smiled.

"That is what a true Heavenly Being, a Spirit of the Mountain should do and you fulfill all the requirements! And that is why you, although an Heavensborn, are still more than worthy of becoming my successor! To inherit my title as the Spirit of the Mountain!"

Title: Chapter 69 - Sunder The Immortal, Become The Spirit!