The girl's eyes slowly narrowed as she recovered from the shock:

"I Am Afraid... I Do Not Comprehend... What You Mean, Boy."

Cheng Hao grinned and shook his head, somewhat disappointedly:

"Weren’t you some kind of high and almighty being, going about muttering truth this and truth that? You tell me that you do not even realize that I do not belong to this world?”

He smiled cheekily as he exhaggerated a bored expression and crossed his arms in front of his chest:

“I and that girl you are currently possessing are actually the one and the same, except she is… well… female. I am just borrowing this body for a while. It has something to do with a trial of some sort.”

"... So I See..." the child with glowing eyes returned the smile as her expression eased.

Her face grew solemn as she waved her sleeve, pointing all around: "No wonder this whole place is hollow!"

Suddenly, Cheng Hao's face fell as his surroundings changed. They were not changes discernible with the naked eye, however they were so clear that it was impossible to miss them.

The powerful presence of the ancient being had spread with the female Xu Ling as its center. The emitted aura was akin to that of a rotting corpse, as if the person had been dead for an unmeasurable long period of time.

At the same time however, an even more intense will had made the air tremble. Such will contained a burning determination that it alone had visibly affected their surroundings.

It was a will so pure, yet so powerful, it was like a world burning flame. And as if an actual flame was burning, like an invisible, blazing fire, the air trembled, the surroundings distorting, changing, twisting.

The heavens turned into the earth, clouds fell and formed oceans, mountains caved in and became bottomless pits... until space itself fell apart!

It was as if reality had been sucked into a black hole.

As if everything had been but a veil, masking the true face of the world, it was completely wiped away, like the removal of the tablecloth at the end of a meal.

With it gone, the reality that layer below the veil was revealed: it was actually... nothingness. Below the cover there was nothing, not even darkness. It was simply empty space, devoid of anything, a blankness that extended as far as the eye could see...

In the middle of that nothingness, a wide eyed Cheng Hao stared at his empty surroundings in amazement. He was back to his former appearence, a nine or so year old boy with a head full of long, black hair and a pair of bright, golden eyes.

The boy gaped and gulped multiple times before he could recover from the shock: the illusory world that the mysterious door had created within his mind had been completely wiped away!

He looked around as he felt terror swelling up in his chest: what now? What would happen now that everything had been completely wiped away? Was he going to remain there for eternity?

Anybody there... he wanted to ask. Of course, without any vessel to travel through, no sound escaped through his mouth. After all, this all might have been inside his head, but how could he call out to someone if nothing was around?

Could one picture a color he had never seen before? No. The same way of thought applied to this: if there was nothing around oneself, no one to talk or picture himself talking to, could one then imagine himself talking?

Kuh! It hurts! This is crazy! I shouldn't be able to see, hear, smell, taste or touch anything as I am surrounded by nothingness, and yet...

Cheng Hao felt his head ache as it refused to acknowledge the nothingness around itself and began to recognize shapes, blinding lights, deafening sounds and penetrating scents that weren't truly there. He felt his mind burning as he bordered madness.

This pain! It burns! IT BURNS! Make it stop, make it stop!

A living being could not accept loneliness. Humans in particular are extremely susceptible to company and would easily lose their sanity if left alone... now, Cheng Hao wasn't just alone. He was the only thing existing. How could his mind bear that thought? Cracks began to appear in his consciousness as it reached its limits...

"My Will Is Powerful Enough To Create, Bend And Wipe Away Realities… So Why Should I Not Recognize Whenever I Am In A World That I Do Not Acknowledge As Being Such? I May Be An Illusion… But That Does Not Mean That I Cannot Be Aware Of That..."

Cheng Hao's mind and whole body trembled as suddenly he found himself back into the room.

After setting his gaze onto that nothingness before, the bed’s white sheets were so bright that they were almost blinding.

The same applied to his hearing, smell and even to his touch: they all took a while to readjust to reality after being thrown into disarray by the previously mentioned trip into the blankness of the void.

Cheng Hao fell to his knees and curled into a ball as he ignored the words spoken by the being momentarily inhabiting the body of this world’s Xu Ling. Instead, he kept muttering as if in a trance:

"…alive, alive, alive, alive…”

The being’s eyes narrowed as his impression of the youth fell considerably. It sighed and was prepared to disapper from the world he had recognized as being a mere illusion… but was startled when the youth suddenly yelled:

“I am alive... ku... kuahahah!"

Cheng Hao laughed bitterly. He laughed at himself. He laughed at his weakness. He laughed at the death he had just escaped from. He laughed at the life he had almost lost.

And it was with a bright smile that he looked back up and glared at the young female with glowing eyes. A smile that was filled with burning determination, devoid of any terror that he might have displayed beforehand.

But a thousand years ago, a year or so ago if one only took notice of the time that had actually passed ever since the battle at the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect, he had experienced his mind shatter at the hands of the infamous Chaos Dragon.

And now, he had just experienced for the second time in the span of his second lifetime the feeling of having his mind break down.

Both of these situation could have easily led to an ugly death. But he had survived. How many times had Cheng Hao faced death? Too many to count. How many times had he survived? All of them, except for one. And that one time, he had experienced an oblivion even worse than death!

He had already experienced death! So how could he possibly get caught up, shook by something that was not? He couldn't. If not for himself, at least for those who had died and could not come back.

No matter the situation he was thrown into, no matter how dangerous of a place or how close to death he would find himself, if he was alive by the end of it, it would not be worth sulking over! He owed it to the countless comrades that had given their life for his cause! He owed it to them, so he would not be stopped here!

For now, he only looked forward to life!

Did he die? No! Then, why should he worry?

Xu Ling, or more accurately the ancient being inhabiting her body, nodded in appreciation as her impression of the youth increased, recovering from the previous fall.

"Those Eyes Of Yours... Can’t Say I Dislike Them." The ancient voice rang out once again, carrying a hint of pleasant surprise along with it. Finally, the person nodded:

“Fine!” As if Cheng Hao had passed some kind of test, Xu Ling sat cross-legged and slapped her tighs, sighing like an old woman.

“Tell Me, Child, What Is It That You Want To Know?” The girl’s eyes glowed even brighter now, as if the girl had found a reason to stay now compared to earlier and was determined to see that it would happen until the end.

Seeing that, Cheng Hao beamed as he also let himself fall on the ground. He pondered for a while, but then he smiled cheekily:

“I want to know… everything! But, first off, your name, identity, and how you were involved with the child in front of me!”

“…” The person frowned for a bit, but then nodded in acknowledgement and began to talk:

“Mmm... Telling You Everything Might Be A Problem, As It Would Take Too Long And, Being Dead Myself, I Do Not Have Much Time… In Fact, I Shoul Be Heading Off Already! However! This World Cannot Resist My Will, So I Shall Clear Some Stuff Up To You Before I Depart! Consider It A Gift On My Part.”

“My Name Was Forgotten A Long Time Ago. You Can Simply Refer To Me As Senior, As My Identity Is That Of A Spirit Of The Mountain, Just Like You. In Fact, I Am The Oldest Of The Last Generation Of Spirits. As For This Child…”

The being pointed at the body of the young girl and smiled bitterly:

“We Have Fought Each Other For A Long, Long Time… He Is, Or, More Accurately, Was, My One, Mortal Enemy.”