Chapter 236 - Endless Golden Cloud

Yaan lay down on the ground, which was now clear from corpses, blood and ash. In his anger, he ended up collapsing the mountain of corpses, creating an opening in the centre of the bloody wasteland.

He realised that the flagpole which held the major scroll was now right beside to him. Since nobody else dared to enter this place anymore, Yaan had confidence that he would be able to climb the pole and retrieve the major scroll, but right now, he simply didn’t care.

He lay on his back for an unknown period of time. Perhaps, he would have continued to lay here like this forever, were it not for Rui interrupting his daze.

“It seems that we have some things to discuss, Yaan…”

Yaan blinked, slowly turning and looking at the elegant demoness, who appeared before him in his hour of need. Now that he thought about it, Rui had been there for him like this a few times…not that she did so out of compassion.

Since she wanted to talk, it could only mean that these recent events, namely the Fragment of Soul and the Fragment of Mind suddenly appearing before him, had also resonated with her. After seeing this play out, she had come to realise certain things.

However, Yaan’s response was outside of her expectations.

“Rui, have you heard of the four primordial demons?”

She was silent for a moment, before she nodded slowly.

“I have.”

Yaan chuckled. He shook his head, then turned away from her, looking up at the sky as he spoke.

“Supposedly, I’m the reincarnation of the Primordial Devil, haha…remember what you said to me back in the true-false illusion world, Rui? About me being older than I seem? You said that the illusion world should have started at the beginning of my life, and you were right…I was born in this world as a fragment of the Primordial Devil, awakening within the body of some poor kid when he was six years old. It’s absurd, to the point that it’s almost laughable! And yet…it’s the truth of my life…”

Rui stared at Yaan with wide eyes. When Yaan glanced at her, he almost burst into laughter.

“So you can make an expression like that too, huh? You act as if you’ve cut off your emotions, but I guess even you can feel shocked…”

When Rui realised that her expression had slipped, she quickly readjusted herself, returning to her usual indifferent look.

“It seems that realising you are being controlled by a sentient being has truly shook you…” Rui said slowly. “But really, how is this any different from before? You always knew that you were being controlled by your fate, the only difference is that now, you know that your ‘fate’ is being manipulated by an intelligent being.”

“I suppose that’s true…” Yaan muttered. However, the one thing Rui forgot to mention, was that every single effort he had made towards resisting his fate was simply laughable. Every resistant action of his was planned by the mastermind behind this scheme, Yaan was just like a puppet, unable to go against his controller’s decisions.

After a moment of silence, he looked at Rui with a strangely clear gaze.

“So. I’m a fragment of the Primordial Devil, who is said to be the original body temperer. The two of us are connected together by karmic fate, our fates are clearly connected to the Fiend Transformation technique, and since you followed the Qi refining path…”

“It is as you have deduced.” Rui acknowledged Yaan’s deduction, not needing him to finish to know what he was getting at. Since she knew that she could no longer hide this from him, she freely admitted the truth.

“Supposedly, I am the reincarnation of the Primordial Asura, the Qi Plane’s primordial demon, and the original Qi refiner in this world.”

She paused for a moment, then added:

“Of course, I would never believe something so absurd without being presented with irrefutable proof. And besides, so what if I am the reincarnation of that person? I am no longer that person, I am me, and only me.”

“Hmm…”

Rui tried to see through Yaan’s expression, but his emotionless eyes and his lacklustre expression showed nothing of his inner thoughts.

Truthfully, she completely understood how he felt, and in fact, she was no less shocked by their recent revelations. However, she needed Yaan to continue cultivating, or else she would never even have the chance to return to this world. If she could not return, she would be unable to find the truth for herself.

Just as she was about to say something, Yaan stood up and stretched. She was glad to see him get up…he had been lying down for three straight months, ever since he awoke from his insanity and burned out his rage, looking like he might never bother moving again. However, in the next moment, she looked up sharply at the sky. She was shocked to see a golden cloud forming, but her shock only deepened when she saw Yaan acting as if everything was as usual whilst he continued to stretch his arms.

“You…you triggered your heavenly blessing! You’re stepping into Nirvana right now?!”

“Well, why not? Think about it, Rui. Some all knowing, all powerful being, has been controlling my life, from my birth until now. Does it even matter what choices I make? If that being wants me to die right now, I will certainly die. If they want me to live, they will help me to live.”

Hearing his careless explanation, Rui had to restrain herself from shouting at him. For the first time in the past thousand years, she was actually feeling…anger!

“You! It doesn’t matter how shocking that being might be, they cannot interfere in your immortal ascension tribulation! Have you considered that maybe, they have been helping you to become an immortal via the Four Paths Cultivation technique, and they did not expect you to do something so reckless like entering Nirvana so carelessly?! You could very well die due to this impulsive decision, even if that being wants you to live!”

Hearing this, Yaan looked at Rui with that same clear expression, only…she saw something in his eyes.

She saw an insane gleam. This was not the gaze of someone who had given up, it was the gaze of a person who was willing to do anything to control their own fate, even if it only allowed them to take control over their own death!

“If I die despite that being’s desire for me to live, I will be dying on my own terms, and not according to some twisted ‘fate’. Either me taking this step right now is a part of that being’s plan, in which case I will live…or I will die, having finally made a decision that was my own.”

Yaan finally looked up at the golden cloud, which continued to expand, further, further, further…

The heavenly blessing grew at the same rate for everyone, but because everyone’s heavenly blessing differed in size, it took varying periods of time to fully form.

And Yaan’s heavenly blessing was…huge.

Yaan’s situation was vastly different compared to others when they entered Nirvana. Typically, cultivators entered Nirvana after cultivating a single path to the peak of the Foundation Step. Typically, a cultivator would only possess immortal stage dao comprehension in a single dao, if at all. Typically, a cultivator would enter Nirvana once their lifespan reached its end, since they would be better prepared that way.

Yaan cultivated four paths, not one. Not only that, but his four paths all possessed the attribute of slaughter, making them far stronger than normal.

Yaan possessed immortal stage dao comprehension in two daos; illusions and slaughter. He used his dao of illusions to enter Nirvana, since this dao had always been one close to his heart. It was also because he used this dao, that he spent practically no time at all comprehending the realm boundary, which should have taken him centuries to comprehend due to the complexity of the four different overlapping paths.

Yaan was not even 300 years old when he stepped into Nirvana. Since he still had so much mortal life essence remaining, his heavenly blessing, along with his corresponding heavenly calamity, would be many times stronger.

All of these things contributed towards Yaan’s heavenly blessing, which seemed to continue growing endlessly, as if it would simply never stop expanding.

When the golden cloud surpassed Ga Shu’s in size, Yaan wasn’t surprised. When it became twice the size of Ga Shu’s, he could still accept it.

But then it became, three, four, five…ten…twenty…thirty times larger…

“Uh…” This was outside of Yaan’s expectations. He looked up with an odd expression, wondering just when it would stop.

**********

The Primordial Sage naturally saw this, as did the red-haired man. When Yaan’s heavenly blessing surpassed a certain size, he turned to the sage with a questioning look.

“Is this normal? Or at least, is it as expected?”

“It is the heavenly dao’s influence…the heavenly dao now wants him dead. The accompanying calamity for a blessing of this size will be difficult to overcome.”

“What?!” The red-haired man exclaimed, standing up and facing her with an incredulous gaze. “I thought you said the heavenly dao has been obstructing you, and that it would support his growth in order to raise him into a monster capable of killing me?!”

The Primordial Sage remained silent for some time, but her green eyes shone with intelligence.

“Either the heavenly dao recently changed its approach, or it was a bluff from the beginning. Regardless, right now, the heavenly dao wants him to die in order to deprive you of this opportunity.”

“If he dies now, this will all be for nothing!” The red-haired man roared out loud, his aura spreading outwards, filling this hall with killing intent and hatred.

“There are still three years until the calamity.” The Primordial Sage responded, unaffected by his rage.

“But if we don’t interfere, what is three years? We can no longer remain so distant!”

After a few seconds, the Primordial Sage nodded.

“That is correct. I will divine the optimal path within three days.”