The trip had now continued for a few more days after leaving The Orchid City's Ruins. Never was Ziyun more nervous than now. The past few days have been intense. Never had she seen her crush Wang Wei as tense or nervous. Wang Wei represented for her absolute confidence. He had always been as firm as a mountain with his conviction and resolution always unwavering but now she started to see cracks appearing on the image she had painted. Wang Wei had always been a hero in Ziyun's eyes. His display of knowledge and confidence had always impressed her and it was her goal to one day reach his level and now Ziyun was discovering day after day that Wang Wei isn't as perfect as he seemed in the past. This brought her doubts. If even Wang Wei was showing such emotion then the place they were heading to was more dangerous than she could imagine.
Having Wang Wei's perfect image shatter in Ziyun's mind surprisingly didn't lower her opinion on him, on the contrary. Her feelings only grew stronger on the past few days as Wang Wei's imperfections showed more. She had always put him on a pedestal, comparing him to a son of heaven sent to deliver heaven's will before going back to where he should belongs but he is only human. Ziyun had always feeled somewhat unworthy of him but now that his 'divinity' is shattering and him showing doubts and fear only led to her developing an instinct of possessiveness and protectiveness toward him. Her only wants for the journey was to cheer him up and alleviate his burden. She feels that she had succeeded to a certain extent but she has yet to hug him to confort him. She would do it the moment his state worsen a little. Yes, she wouldn't miss the chance to confort her friend.
Ning'er was trying to calm down her excitement. She could feel the power radiating from the marsh they were about to step in. She could feel Ziyun's worries for Wang Wei and she was bothered by it. Ziyun had always been the lady like type. She had the manners fitting the City Lord's daughter and was a little envious of it. She always thought herself more like the amazones tribe that Wang Wei had once briefly mentioned than the princess waiting to be saved by a charming prince and now when it mattered, when it involved the only possible male that had been a potential romantic interest she could picture. Even if Wang Wei wasn't like other boys he must surely prefer the more girly type, right? Now that they were about to step in a dangerous zone, she could have some answers.
" Wei'er, do you find Ziyun girly?"
'' Did Ziyun told you about our first meeting? "
" Yes many times. ''
'' Did she also told you that I thought she was a boy? "
" Pffftt, really? "
'' Yeah, she had that weird hair bowl cut. As all boys in the party had long hair, I found that she was the most manly with her relative short hair. ''
Ziyun grabbed him by the ear while shaking him :
" Who's the manly person you were talking about? "
" I think it's the person who is now using violence. ''
'' Haha! You can't refute his claims Yun'er. You do behave sometimes like a boy now that I think about it. ''
'' So am I really a tomboy?"
" You are. '' responded the 2 others.
'' It isn't my fault if you give me the urge sometimes to hit you. It's your fault not mine. I always behave with others. ''
'' Too bad I think that's the best part of you. You appear as the perfect lady like person but then the next moment behave like a ruffian. It's the same with Ning'er who appears as a gentle and shy girl but is as stubborn and unruly as one can find. These imperfections are what makes you special and lovely. I love those sides of yours. ''
'' WeiWei, is something wrong? You never said similar things before. ''
'' You will sooner have a complete change of mindset so I thought I could say it before it's too late. I deeply care about you two and I hope it will be mutual after all of this. ''
The 3 teens shared a group hug for a few seconds before stepping into the black marshs. The girls stayed close to Wang Wei who was using a strange unknown technique to repell the miasma. A few hours of journey later they once again used the same method with ropes to descend a cliff. They were now standing on a platform filled with complicated inscriptions. Ning'er tried hard to figure out a solution but had to ask for explanation from the boy who was starting at the bottom.
'' Wei'er, this array is truly complicated. How can we decode it? "
" My dear Ning'er, to do it one must initially discover and separate what's right from wrong. All the arrays use fake Inscription to make it look more complicated and difficult. In this case only th... ''
His words were interrupted by a sudden noise. The wall began to crack and open.
'' It seems we're invited to go in. Stay behind me and follow my steps. ''
The group entered what seemed like a cave, they walked a few minutes before stopping before a black spring.
'' Let's start. Lay down on your back. It may be painful and you may loose consciousness for a little time but I'll be here with you the whole time, don't worry. ''
The girls did, Wang Wei put his palms on their foreheads and then there was a light coming from the girl's bodies that were accompanied by moans and cries of pain. Soon the light faded, the girls were now unconscious and Wang Wei had 2 new temporal pages in his hands. A tiny form appeared with a question.
'' What did you do, young one? Where did this incredible power comes from? "
" I just gave them their memories back. I am more interested in what you are. I thought I comprehended everything but it seems that a few things are out of my understanding. ''
'' It's normal that you do. I am Yu Yan, the fire spiritual god. ''
'' I am not talking about that god complex that you developed. I'm speaking about your origins. You're not human. Not completely at least. I thought I comprehended everything but it still appears that I have more to discover and uncover. ''
'' Who do you think you are talking to young man? I am a spiritual god of the human tribe. I wield the law of fire and I have been the protector of mankind for thousands of years. Show me some respect. ''
'' Sure, 'human godess'. ''
Yu Yan was infuriated. She had been hiding for thousands of years to recover her shattered divinity's spark and the first visitors that she had was a weird group that she couldn't read the thoughts of. The young man was even more enigmatic as she sensed the he was somewhat powerful but couldn't find out his rank or technique used. Has the world evolved tremendously to have such a human being? She couldn't tell but she was curious about it.
Wang Wei remained silent for a few hours at the girls side. They still have to wake up and he was starting to panic. It shouldn't have taken this long.
He regained hope as Ziyun started moving and finally opened her eyes. She seemed intrigued as she looked around her until her eyes fell on Wang Wei. She seemed confused when looking at him but her eyes soon widened as she hugged him fiercely :
" WeiWei, you're alive. I missed you. ''
'' What are you talking about? ''
'' Where have you been all those years? How can you still be alive? Wait. You are here with me. Is it another dream?"
" Relax, take a deep breath. What is the last thing you remember?"
" I was still fleeing from the city. I was, I was, I was impaled by, I am dead. We are dead. Why did you die you moron? Why did you have to leave? Don't you recognize me anymore? I may have changed and grow up but it's me Ziyun! "
" Relax, you're not dead just confused. Look at yourself. Think deeply of how we came here. ''
Ziyun tried to look at herself but found nothing out of ordinary. She did seems to feel that her hands were a little smaller. She took a mirror of her pocket and examined her face. She is younger but what seems like 3 or 4 years. How could this happen? What happened? She took time to scan her surrounding once again. There was her lost friend Ning'er nearby and she looked the same as when she disappeared. She was then hit by a terrible headache accompanied by a sudden flow of memories. The same happened with Ning'er after her awake but she couldn't utter a word before being assaulted by a series of memories.
The 3 were now sitting in a circle. Wang Wei began by saying :
" I am sure you all have tremendous amounts of questions. I will first start by telling you the story of the world. You can ask for anything you don't understand but try to abstain from it if possible. ''
'' This story starts millions of years ago on a different planet or as you say 'domain'. That planet was populated by countless beasts. That planet was one of a kind and the survival was harsh. The 'domain' was filled with a powerful energy that could help those beasts undergo some kind of evolution and with times they gained conscious and wisdom while absorbing it. When they were finally capable of thinking, they invented what is today known as cultivation. ''
'' Those beasts continued cultivating until reaching a rank known as the Emeperor Rank but it was their limits. Through divination, they could feel that there was still more rank to breakthrough and that at their level of power they couldn't overpower 'God' and be the true rulers. They missed something important to reach that level and they started seeking ways to lay their paws or whatever on it. ''
'' Through divination they finally found the means to reach that level. They found a place where they could get the necessary knowledge and wisdom to comprehend the rules of the universe. That place was the place we live in, what was called previously Earth. ''
'' That place didn't contain any heavenly type of energy and even the spiritual energy was so thin that they could not pinpoint its accurate position or claim their knowledge. ''
'' To claim what they need they began introducing the concept of cultivation through novels and myths. They used their divination to influence people to write great adventures about cultivators powerful enough to claim all riches and beauties. These stories were enticing and tempting so that people of that world would start cultivating and these Emperors could use it to pinpoint their location and open a portal to their world. ''
'' Although these stories were popular, it wasn't enough so that people could transcend and breakthrough. It was then that the 9 Emperors united to perform the greatest divination technique that they could perform. That technique was so powerful that it inflicted several backlash but they took the risk as the benefits would compensate it greatly later on. That technique was so powerful that it could recount the adventures of a person that will be born millions of years afterward and his struggle for the benefit of his world. That technique was so powerful that even the contents were unknown to them and the target of this divination is the calamity bringer know as 'Mad Snail'. ''
'' That story was about Nie Li's second life after perishing to a great enemy and going back in time to save the world. ''
'' That story was a huge success. Many people were fascinated by his adventures and were enthusiastic about his conquests. The technique used by the Emperors was so tyrannical that the consumption of their life's forces were greater that they could imagine. 'Mad Snail' began having difficulties recounting Nie Li's story. The story that was at first published daily become weakly then monthly while stopping at certain periods of time. As the story's kept being published the calamity bringer was having difficulty seeing the continuation. This wasn't what the Emperors hoped for but it was what led to the fulfillment of their plans. As the story kept being more and more interesting while the following up is slow the people come up with what would start their doom. ''
'' It appeared initially as a joke and then it was adopted by a large number of people. They had started what they called 'The Dao Of Patience'. This was the first cultivation technique to appear and as people were performing it, the first changes happened. ''