"Bai Liang! Your despicable soul will perish in hell fire and never to reincarnate again!"
In the sky, a figure clad in white hovered as his robe danced from the turbulent wind. His pure white hair was swept with grandeur under the brewing storm and rumbling thunder. In his hand was a sharp long sword, glinting with the blood of his enemy dripping to the grasses below.
He was the embodiment of ice and snow. Like the fiercest blizzard, he had claimed the lives of hundreds, almost a thousand immortals in his frenzy massacre in a mere 2 nights.
His demonic red eyes swept across the hundreds of cultivators surrounding him on their respective swords. Within his indifference was a hint of resentment which amounted nothing to the hatred engulfing his raging heart.
"Condemn me all you want. I do not care," he spoke without any fluctuation in his voice. Yet the serenity seared deeper fear into those who heard him. "You killed my master and will pay with your death."
"Your master is a traitor. His death is his just deserve," an elderly replied through gritted teeth. "3 righteous sects have fallen under your hand. You have delivered retribution to those who are responsible for your master's death. How much more destruction do you wish to cause!?"
"You may treat me as nature itself." Bai Liang raised his sword. "I am just another cycle of destruction you brought upon yourself. I will not stop. This world should cease to exist without my master in it."
The people were alarmed and were about to launch an attack to disrupt him when lightning bolted down from heaven and split the sky. It struck right towards Bai Liang and blasted him down with an earth-shattering thunder.
With nothing anchoring down their swords, the shockwave threw everyone within its vicinity tens of miles away. The lightning scorched the forest below, leaving a large patch of barren area with no signs of life.
Not even a trace of the white-haired man himself.
Inside a space, enclosed with countless mirrors, Bai Liang lay motionless. Heaven's supposed wrath didn't leave a scratch on his jade skin, and he seemed as if he was merely sleeping.
His long, white eyelashes fluttered as he slowly regained consciousness and opened his eyes. The first thing that greeted him was his reflection that he momentarily thought he had died and his soul was seeing what was left of his body.
But this thought was proved to be wrong when a magnanimous voice made itself known and rumbled the space with its depth.
"You are awake," it said.
Bai Liang propped himself up, and his silk-white hair slipped down his shoulders. He sat on his knees and took in the space around him, trying to find the source of the voice. "Where am I?"
"This is the mirror space. I have no choice but to put you in confinement."
Bai Liang lowered his gaze, meeting his reflection yet again. "I suppose one's greatest enemy is oneself."
"Heaven will not wrong you, Bai Liang. Your master's death should not have happened. It strayed from fate's trajectory and would have resulted in the collapse of the world by your hand if we had not intervened."
"If you could intervene, why did you not prevent my master's death altogether?" Bai Liang wanted to scoff or scorn but all he could muster was an empty gaze.
He could no longer feel any emotion. His happiness, sadness, anger, everything had been taken away by his master to his grave. With his master's gone, the world didn't deserve to exist. Nobody deserved to continue their life as if his master's existence meant nothing to them.
If he could, he would also destroy the sun and moon that continued bringing days and nights to the world despite his master's death.
"Our intervention is very limited and restricted. Even our decision to confine you right now is already treading the thin line of heavenly laws."
Bai Liang couldn't care less. He leaned to one side of the small space, curling his thin body like a pitiful child, and rested his head on his knees with a tired heart.
"Is this an eternal confinement? If so, I rather you claim my life and return me to my master's side."
"Your master is not completely lost yet," the voice denied.
Bai Liang paused and raised his head, choosing to look up to where he felt that the voice was coming from. "What do you mean?"
He witnessed the last of his master's breath with his own eyes and even cremated him as he willed it. He stored some of his ashes in his amulet while he scattered the rest to the spiritual spring at the highest point of the sacred mountain. Not a single trace of his spirit was left. If it was, he would've already attempted soul reconstruction.
"Before his soul is claimed by heaven, it scattered itself to several words. As of now, he has already reincarnated himself in these worlds."
Bai Liang's heart shook, and a smile finally bloomed on his frozen face, like the arrival of plum flowers amidst winter. He rested his cheek back to his knees, contented with the fact. His master was indeed the most powerful. He wasn't the least bit surprised that he could reincarnate himself.
Seeing his reaction, the voice was stumped. "Do you not wish to return to his side?"
"As long as my master is alive and happy, nothing else matters. He suffered enough in our world. He should live carefreely in these other worlds. Moreover…" Bai Liang looked at his hand. "…I am not the person he loved anymore."
"Unfortunately, he is destined to not be able to live for long." The voice turned grave.
Bai Liang frowned and straightened back. "What do you mean?"
"The trajectory of fate is a very delicate thing. With his forceful insertion into these worlds, it is bound to stray from its predetermined path and will lead these worlds to their doom instead. Just like what happened with yours. Before your master will be able to live a full life, the world will collapse ahead."
Bai Liang stood up with a heavy expression. "This is not merely a threat, is it? Is there a reason why you confine me like this instead of claiming my soul?"
"Yes." The voice never intended to hide it. "In exchange for preserving your soul, we want you to maintain the trajectory of these worlds and prevent their collapse. In a way, this is also for your master's sake."
"With what my master is causing, are you going to exact punishment on him?"
"If you successfully prevent their collapse, we are willing to pardon him. Admittedly, the root of this issue is our negligence," the voice promised. "You will also be pardoned since the number of lives you will salvage in those worlds will outweigh the blood you have spilled."
"Heaven is certainly merciful," Bai Liang said in distrust.
"This is a special case. In exchange, both of you will not be allowed to enter your next cycle of reincarnation. You will forever be the servant of heaven and guard the River of Reincarnation. With the souls of 7,000 worlds being gathered in one place, many unruly beings are coveting to steal them. We never have enough personnel."
Bai Liang thought about it for a long while. If his decision would only affect himself, he wouldn't hesitate to accept these terms. But this also involved his master. He didn't want to pit his master into unfavorable terms.
"If you are still unsure, let me give you one more piece of information," the voice helplessly added. "Your master has used up all his reincarnation cycle. If you do not accept this, once his soul is restored, it will be neutralized and recycled into a new one."
Once he heard that, Bai Liang finally agreed to accept the task. If his master was dissatisfied with this arrangement later, he would bear everything and let his master go.
The voice's tone lightened in appreciation. "Your master scattered himself to the worlds of a lower plane than yours because of his severe injury. He does not have any memory of his previous lives, so avoid mentioning anything involving it. This also goes for our existence and this arrangement."
With a nod of affirmation, the mirror right across Bai Liang rippled and distorted his reflection. When he touched it, his finger was met with a liquid surface, and it swallowed his hand in.
"The sword spirit inside of you will assist you through your task. Each world has its own to maintain its balance, so do be careful not to break it or else you will be expelled. It will be very difficult to reenter when the world has you under its radar," the voice warned.
"I understand."
"Heaven is with you, Bai Liang."