Yuan Zhen once again plummeted into an ocean of endless pain. His soul was not powerful enough to resist the power of the spear, and thus was beginning to be destroyed.
Within Yuan Zhen's core, Miss Huang was desperately trying to help him deal with the situation. She eventually came to understand that, ever since her body had been split from the grey figure, she no longer had control over any soul power.
Instead, the grey figure was the one to act on Yuan Zhen's behalf. He approached, bathed in aquamarine light, and stretched out his hand.
The light became mist, the very same aquamarine mist, and brought the spear into Yuan Zhen's core. Once it was there, the grey figure took it with his fingers and then turned around to face the void.
"This is the final stretch. Prepare, Yuan Zhen."
The grey-skinned man tossed the spar into the void. As it was sent flying, blood red and dark violet miasma poured out of it, reaching the ends of the seemingly infinite space.
The miasma continued to flow from the spear until there was nothing left. Finally, all the energy was drained from the spear and it shattered.
As for Yuan Zhen, he was clutching his stomach area and howling in pain. He had not yet been let down from the sky.
If his eyes were opened, he would be able to see two eyes staring at him from beyond the thin cloud layer. As time passed, the clouds thickened and obstructed the eyes behind them.
Yuan Zhen was experiencing a pain unlike any other. He couldn't shout, but he felt himself crying out in his mind. His soul was being stretched and twisted, but at the same time it felt like it was trying to remain at its original size.
His energy was motionless, unable to be controlled by even his soul power. His heart beat was inconsistent, sometimes sending his blood out to his body and other times not doing anything.
He was quickly losing his connection to his body. It was like his soul was attempting to break out while also trying to hold on.
He could not comprehend just what was happening.
This continued for hours upon hours, twenty of them to be exact. After almost a full day, he was able to control his soul power. His body was stable, but he still felt pain whenever he used his soul power. Even circulating his energy was stressful.
He didn't let up, continuing to bring pain to himself until it subsided, almost like he was that sort of person... *wink*
A bit sooner, he had a smile on his face and was comfortably controlling his soul and energy. When he sent his consciousness to his core, he saw that it had grown to the size of a human head, which was much too large in his opinion.
It had also taken on a color now. On the left half, there was a dark violet glint, while the right half was like bloodstained glass. He marvelled at it for almost a minute, feeling an even deeper resonance with his soul and core.
The moment he entered, he was assailed by pure soul energy. At that moment, he had almost perfectly reconnected with his soul. There was still something missing- or, more accurately- being held back.
He felt rejuvenated and alive nonetheless, but then he saw Miss Huang and the grey-skinned figure standing side by side. If that wasn't confusing enough, he looked at the man's face.
"Who the f- What is hap- Just- What!?"
Seeing him at a temporary loss for words, Miss Huang and the man shared a laugh.
"Sorry about that. Ahem! Who the fuck are you?"
With a wry smile, the grey-skinned man folded his hands behind his back and began slowly pacing.
"Before that, you should get your body somewhere safe." The man's voice was, essentially, a deeper and raspier version of Yuan Zhen's. Hearing it, Yuan Zhen couldn't help being a bit jealous. He had had such a badass voice in the past, but now he felt like his voice still carried a bit too much immaturity.
Heeding the advice, he returned to the outside world and found that he was slowly descending from the sky.
"It is done. May my works this day bring glory to The Exalted One on high." The intensity of that voice had greatly lessened, then the world returned to normal.
He noticed that the combined efforts of the bane-devils had actually triumphed over the barrier. They fled far away, perhaps less out of fear and more out of gleeful excitement.
Yuan Zhen spurred his energy and began running, but suddenly he felt his body lighten and almost raise off of the ground. To his surprise, his body was beginning to float, yet he was not losing speed.
He almost lost his balance, tensing his muscles and pulling himself up before he could fall to the ground. As he worked his energy into each of his muscles, he was able to easily control his flight.
With a push of his legs, his speed increased as the force send the winds into a state of disarray.
He took off into the sky, breaking past the clouds and entering the cloudless expanse.
In his delight, he forget his original goal. All he could focus on now was the feeling of flying. He did not even care about the reason why he could fly. It was known that only Immortal Spirit experts were able to fly, but he was barely half a step into Soul Nourishing.
Without questioning it, he flew and flew until he saw that he was above the sea. "Whoops!"
Nervously laughing, he flew back to the shore and landed, still smiling foolishly.
He found a secluded spot and sat down, returning to his core.
Miss Huang and the man were so deep in conversation that they actually didn't hear him announce his arrival. They were both laughing and talking about something, so Yuan Zhen decided to listen.
"Alright, my turn. Have you ever eaten a bull's penis?"
"Have I? Oh boy, you bet! It's the best part of the bull!" Miss Huang's mouth watered as she reminisced.
"Truer words have never been spoken, Madam. Others look down on it, but us true devoted experts know of the delightful piece of paradise hidden away in the meat of a bull's penis."
Listening in to that much, Yuan Zhen changed his mind and decided to disturb them after all.
"Ahem! Cough! Ahchoo!"
They were finally brought out of their own world and back into the world of the core. He eyed them strangely before sighing and focusing his gaze on the man.
"Well? Are you going to tell me now?"
The grey-skinned man smiled and nodded. Miss Huang's skull face contorted, but Yuan Zhen could just feel that she was smiling.
"I could hear your thoughts as you read the record, so I know that you understand the history of the Infallible Race."
Yuan Zhen rocked his head a bit before saying, "More or less. I've got a pretty good grasp, I'd say."
"Right. Then I don't need to waste time explaining. Instead, we'll start in the Netherworld."
At this time, Miss Huang interjected, "I know the Netherworld... I do?"
After stressing how important it was for her to shut up, Yuan Zhen told the man to continue.
"After the Celestial Emperor destroyed the layers of Hells and the Void-Space world, my soul wound up sealed within a confined space in the Netherworld."
"Isn't the Netherworld a part of Hell? Why was it not destroyed?"
The man exhaled, "You are right, but you are also wrong."
"I asked myself the same question when I arrived there, but the truth was actually obvious. I had died and gone to the Netherworld, meaning that the Netherworld was the realm of the dead."
"Throughout Hell, other than the Netherworld, the souls of the dead could not be found. As such, it is possible that the Celestial Emperor feared destroying that place."
"He feared? Wasn't it built by King Yan? Could Jiang not bypass whatever consequences came with destroying it?"
"If it was merely that, then he could have. However, King Yan merely built the Netherworld, but his power had no control over it. The necessity of a realm of the dead is not upheld by Yin or Yang, but by Primal Chaos."
Seeing that Yuan Zhen finally understood, the man continued.
"While in the Netherworld, I spent my time in meditation. I had been able to gleam some secrets in the final battle, and was able to further my understanding of Yin and Yang." Yuan Zhen gasped, his eyes narrowing before widening.
"You were a Primordial Beast?"
"Indeed, I was." The man had another wry smile on as he briefly pondered something.
"After what felt like a few days, my comprehension of Yin and Yang reached a kind of pinnacle. I had gleamed secrets of Life and Death, and found a way to break out of Samsara." Hearing that, Yuan Zhen couldn't help but think back at his own reincarnation.
"When my understanding reached that point, I started to plan my escape. Though I was just a soul, my understanding allowed my soul to break out of the shackles of Death. I took my time, searching for a guaranteed method of escape."
"I first learned that I would have to send my soul to a place with less Yin power than the Netherworld, but also with enough Yang energy to sustain my transmigration. Since Hell was completely destroyed, and the Celestial Emperor would surely sense my arrival in the realms of Heaven, I went to Earth."
"Despite my choice being almost perfect, I still suffered an immense drawback. I was not able to reincarnate as a perfect soul, but needed to attach myself to something in order to live."
"I found the most Yin-based item close by and merged with it. If you haven't guessed, what I merged with was the cultivation manual for what you call the 'Ghost-Devouring Soul Art.' It was a divergent form of the Soul Decimating Canon, so it was able to contain my soul well enough."
Yuan Zhen gleamed something, then he frowned and spoke, "You remained there until I appeared, then decided to attach yourself to me."
"Indeed. You were a decent candidate, so I decided to merge with and overpower your soul, then complete my rebirth with your body. However, there was something preventing me from breaking beyond the manual."
"I only managed to escape after you opened it, but then I still needed to make up for my lack of soul power. I need you to begin to emulate attributes of my own soul, and essentially forced you to develop your bloodlust. If it was strong enough, then that would make it easier to merge with your soul."
"If our soul's attributes could be similar, then I would be able to seamlessly merge with yours and take control even easier. But, of course, there were certain things even I could not predict."
"For example, your personality and endless desire for slaughter. You were, in every sense, a monster. Your madness struck fear into everyone, causing you to become a living legend. You even terrified the people you swore to fight for, and they feared you would soon turn against them."
"To even further exacerbate your bloodlust, your own kind joined hands with the enemy and turned against you. That was the moment your soul was transformed by your will, and you became something of an impossibility. Without even comprehending Yin and Yang, you overcame the shackles of Life and Death, breaking out of Samsara."
Yuan Zhen was shocked by this and turned his face away from the man and toward the void.
"You even brought my soul along with you, without knowing. I didn't realize it then, but your soul began to absorb my own. If I had chosen to resist, my limited soul power would have been nothing in the face of your own evolved soul."
"Because of that, we ended up conjoining. Even though I lacked soul power, I was still recognized as the dominant soul, and thus you reincarnated to look the way you do. But, despite being the dominant soul, I did not have control."
"No matter how hard I tried, I was unable to wrest control. I had to give up, otherwise I would have exhausted the little energy I had."
Yuan Zhen closed his eyes, took a breath, then nodded.
"I think I understand it all now. You were the one that helped me comprehend the Soul Decimating Canon, and you used me help replenish your energy." Hearing that, the man nodded.
"Then there's only one last question. You said you were a Primordial Beast, but only one Primordial Beast fought in the battle between Heaven and Hell."
The man frowned, a puzzled look on his face.
"I thought you already figured out that I was Ye Lingzi."
When he heard that, Yuan Zhen unconsciously looked toward Miss Huang and chuckled as he thought, 'No longer they seemed to be getting along so well.'
As he was in his head, Miss Huang and the grey-skinned man, Ye Lingzi, shared a look and shrugged.