Deep inside Chen Mo's soul space.
The elder's consciousness slipped through the rift he had torn in Chen Mo's defenses, emerging into the young man's soul space. He expected to find himself in some grand mindscape befitting one who wielded such incredible power. Instead, he was greeted by an endless void of inky blackness, not even the faintest glimmer of light to be seen.
"What is the meaning of this?" the elder muttered, his disembodied voice echoing weirdly in the abyss. He willed himself to move forward, though the concept of direction seemed meaningless in this place without reference points.
He thought it was a good thing that he was only in his soul state, if he was in his body form, he wouldn't survive a minute in this empty void.
As he navigated the strange, empty space, the elder grew increasingly restless and uneasy. How could the kid's spiritual sea be utterly devoid of anything? Surely there had to be something, some semblance of his psyche manifest here?
He wondered to himself whether the space element cultivators had no spiritual sea.
Just as his doubts reached a fevered pitch, the elder noticed a tiny pinprick of golden light in the distance, swirling lazily. He immediately surged towards it, the light growing brighter and more intense with every second until it engulfed his senses in a warm, radiant glow.
The elder threw up a metaphysical arm to shield his eyes, squinting against the brilliant luminance. "What happened? Where am I?"
As his vision slowly adjusted, he turned his head, only for his jaw to go slack in astonishment. Surrounding him in a vast panorama were millions - no, billions - of figures, each an exact replica of Chen Mo's physical form. They were seated in meditation, souls burning like brilliant stars as ethereal energy danced around their forms in dazzling spirals and eddies.
The elder's mouth worked soundlessly as he beheld the staggering display of soul power, a level of cultivation he could scarcely comprehend. The very air thrummed and distorted from the metaphysical pressures being exerted. Just being in the presence of these infinite Chen Mos made his core tremble, sweat beading on his brow from the sheer, overwhelming spiritual might.
"This...This is too much! I've never seen such soul power in my entire life!" the elder wheezed, turning this way and that in stunned disbelief. "It's enough to destroy the mortal world a million times over just by thinking about it!"
He immediately tried to back away, to retreat from this place that made a mockery of everything he thought he knew. But his metaphysical form stumbled, pitching forward until he found himself in an involuntary bow before the cultivating figures.
"Dammit! I just wanted some dumb treasure why do I have to go through all this"
As the elder struggled to lift his head, a new presence exploded into his awareness like a supernova, forcing his gaze upwards. There, seated upon a throne of blazing gold that seemed to be the epicenter of the very cosmos itself, was a figure he instantly recognized - a middle-aged version of Chen Mo regarding him coolly, his chin rested upon one upraised hand.
The elder's psyche reeled, every fiber of his being screaming at him to look away from that unmistakable face, that overwhelming aura of power older than the universe itself. Yet he found himself utterly transfixed, bound not by any force but the sheer gravity of this being's existence.
"Wh-What's going on?" he rasped out, terror and awe warring within him. "That man... he wasn't there before! As soon as I saw him, I became unable to move! Is this... the true difference in our power?!"
As panic took hold and the elder frantically searched for a way to escape, a lilting feminine voice broke through the oppressive atmosphere. If Chen Mo was here, he'd immediately recognize her as Rasiel, or at least that's what she claims to be.
"Oh my... I didn't expect to have a new visitor so soon."
From behind the golden throne strode a lithe, impossibly beautiful woman with features that seemed to shift and change with every blink of the elder's eye. One moment he saw the face of a blushing maiden, the next an inscrutable celestial beauty, then a terrifying demonic visage - ever-changing, always captivating.
"I'm sorry that my lord is busy and cannot entertain you properly," the woman continued with a sly smile, running one delicate hand over the back of the throne's imposing headrest. "Now then... what shall we do to make your stay more... eventful?"
The last word dripped with dark promise, sending chills down the elder's metaphysical spine. Before he could even think to speak or beg for mercy, the world around him fractured, reality itself shattering into countless shards.
And then the screaming began.
An unholy wail torn from the deepest recesses of the elder's soul split the aether, his body contorting and thrashing as unimaginable agonies were visited upon his very existence. Planes of reality peeled apart in crystalline shreds, the innumerable Chen Mo avatars bearing silent witness as their progenitor looked on, unmoved by the torment.
For the elder, what followed was an eternity of anguish beyond mortal comprehension. Every nerve in his psyche was set ablaze, his sense of self unraveled like a tapestry in the nuclear fires of a reborn cosmos. Again and again, he was unmade, broken down to his most fundamental components only to be reshaped and shattered anew in cycling torments that annihilated all semblance of coherent thought or memory.
By the time the cataclysmic experience finally ended, the elder's spirit was little more than a scorched, gibbering ruin, cast adrift in the endless void once more as the radiant visions of Chen Mo's transcendent inner world vanished like a fleeting mirage.
…
Mei Clan.
Chen Mo's eyes slowly fluttered open, breaking his deep meditative trance. He blinked a few times, adjusting to the dim lighting of the setting sun. With a grunt of effort, he stretched his arms over his head, feeling the pleasant burn of stiff muscles being extended after holding the cross-legged lotus position for so long.
As his mind cleared the hazy fog of intense cultivation, Chen Mo's thoughts turned inward, probing the state of his soul space in the aftermath of that harrowing ordeal with the grasping elder. "It's just as I thought," he murmured to himself. "I can't feel that old bastard's presence inside my soul space anymore."
A wry smile played across his lips as his psyche brushed against that other, infinitely more potent essence still lingering within his metaphysical core. "I guess that woman is still in there."
Chen Mo exhaled a weary sigh, running one hand through his sweat-dampened hair. "Anyway, I'll worry about that later. It's not like I'm strong enough to get rid of her, besides...she's… ??? [REDACTED] – [CONCEALED INFORMATION]"
He trailed off, not quite willing to voice his deeper speculations about the true nature of that mysterious feminine force which had so utterly subjugated the invading elder. There was still too much he didn't understand about the full depths of his inherited legacy.
But one thing was clear, as long as she remained there, his soul space was safe.
"She seems to be guarding something. Just how long…"
Shaking his head to dispel the circular thoughts, Chen Mo focused instead on the tangible gains his ordeal had provided. "Although things didn't exactly go as planned, I managed to fully analyze the elder's soul and gain some of his soul cultivation techniques."
His mind flashed back to the excruciating lash of absolute cold that had frozen his very existence when the elder unleashed that "Absolute Zero" technique. Now, Chen Mo could reproduce that same soul-freezing power if not greater, along with the myriad other esoteric arts the elder had devoted his life to mastering.
"But besides that," Chen Mo continued, a fierce light of accomplishment burning in his eyes. "The biggest harvest was that I gained an understanding of the law of ice from the elder's energies."
It wasn't a true comprehension of the Ice Laws, not yet - but rather an elemental affinity, a seed that could potentially blossom into so much more. Thanks to the [Development] skill, Chen Mo had been able to replicate and analyze the technique's essence until he had forged his own personalized understanding, his very own Law of Ice.
"And from what I can sense, there's an even higher level of mastery than just understanding a Law," Chen Mo murmured, partly to himself. "Some deeper, transcendent truth underlying it all. But it seems I can't achieve that just yet."
"I tried duplicating the law and merging it even more but nothing happened"
Nevertheless, his achievements represented a massive leap forward in his cultivation journey. Now he could be said to be a cultivation powerhouse in the mortal world.
With renewed determination burning in his core, Chen Mo rose to his feet, sweeping his gaze around the now barren Mei Clan where the day's tribulations had played out.
"Time to move on to the next stage," he stated firmly. "With the news of me defeating the Mei Clan, my Protagonist Sect will gain some reputation and will be able to recruit new disciples."
Chen Mo thinks to himself that ever since his memories merged with the previous Chen Mo, he's been feeling more and more inclined to revive the Chen Family's sect.
His fingers clenched into a white-knuckled fist, ice crystals blossoming around his arm in a frozen spiral.
"The Heavenly Palace will regret ever crossing the path of my Chen Family!"
…
With the aftermath of his battle with the treacherous elder finally behind him, Chen Mo turned his attention back to the still unconscious form of Mei Ling lying on the ground. He strode over to her, taking a moment to study her delicate features with a calculating gaze. Even in this vulnerable state, he could sense the immense latent potential simmering within her.
'Activate Skill [Existence]'
[
Name: Mei Ling/Yin Mei
Cultivation: 3rd Stage Foundation Establishment
Information: Yin Mei's reincarnation avatar, ???, Fox Demon, ???
]
'Just as I thought, her status as a reincarnation avatar didn't revert'
Gently, he knelt down and scooped Mei Ling up into his arms, cradling her protectively against his chest. With but a whisper of exertion, Chen Mo willed his transcendent energies to manifest, levitating them both up into the air until they hovered high above the Mei clan's mountain valley compound.
His piercing gaze swept over the sprawling architecture below, lingering on the opulent villas and treasured halls that had no doubt been paid for with the spoils of the Mei clan's deplorable misdeeds. A cruel smirk played across Chen Mo's lips as he extended one hand, a constellation of glimmering spirit blades coalescing in the air before him.
"These upstarts have grown too arrogant, daring to bully my people and coveting my Chen Family's treasure," he intoned, the words laced with disdain. "It's time they were reminded of their place."
With but a mental twitch, the blades launched in a blinding fusillade, precise streams of light raining down to inscribe massive characters upon the tiled rooftops and courtyard pathways below.
'THE PROTAGONIST SECT IS NOT EASY TO BULLY'
Chen Mo watched with a sense of vicious satisfaction as his message permanently scarred the clan's ostentatious facades. Let that serve as an ominous portent of the reckoning to come.
Of course, a bit of property damage was the least of what the wretched Mei clan deserved after their transgressions against Mei Ling and his own Chen lineage. Which was why, Chen Mo had preceded his grand proclamation by...appropriating a few choice valuables and heirlooms on his way through the compound. Supplies and resources to aid in the rebuilding of his sect, plundered from these false scions as recompense.
"There, I'd say we're about even for now," Chen Mo chuckled darkly, giving the comatose Mei Ling a gentle pat on the head. "I said I'd deal with them for you, didn't I? Now you don't have to worry anymore."
With a final disdainful look at the defaced Mei clan grounds, Chen Mo turned and soared off into the distance, Mei Ling secure in his grasp. They had taken the first step on a long road filled with formidable enemies and even greater challenges.
But Chen Mo was undaunted. With the vengeful will of his ancestors driving him forward and his massively overpowered Programmer Job, he would cut a swath through anyone foolish enough to obstruct the revival of the Protagonist Sect's glory!
*VOLUME 1 END