The space next to Carl distorted as a blue ethereal being warped out as it dove towards him, Sam upon seeing this acted fast and yanked the being from Carl and bound it within what most ghost cultivators call the ethereal cage.
"What up with you yanking air all of a sudden?! Don't tell me you got drunk from a cola?" Carl laughed to which Sam rubbed the back of his head
"Nah that not it... but I should be getting back home, thanks for the clothes change" he thanked before skidding of the roof and jumping to the balcony before landing on the lawn in quick agile movement, "when did he get so althetic?" Carl asked himself before climbing down.
As soon as Sam got home he checked on his younger siblings making sure they were in bed he walked into his room and started to inspect the ethereal being he had trapped.
"So what were you trying to do to my friend?" he asked as he unleashed his aura the being trembled as it sensed danger from Sam and ultimately decided to reply
"How can I harm myself Sam, on the contrary I should be the one asking questions here," the being replied in an all to familiar voice
"Carl?!" Sam stated and asked at the same time.
"Well yes... though not your current Carl, I am Carl albeit not of this timeline," he replied his features now being more apparent as he looked more like Carl's father than Carl himself.
"A much older Carl one that's in his middle ages and can supposedly transverse space time?! Try again, who are you?" Sam asked as his voice and tone became much more overbearing.
"I am who I claim to be and I didn't send myself back here, it just happened," he replied the tone of Sam's voice was all too familiar with him.
'He's overly cautious about me' he deduced as he tried again from a different angle.
"Let's say I believe that, then why were you trying to possess him?" he asked "Well that's the only way for me live no?!" he asked an obvious question which earned Sam's sigh
"This dumb fuck... of course you'd do something like that, you nearly committed suicide, for you to live, bullshit both of you would die," he sighed helplessly as he remembered the homeless man he had encountered.
"What do you mean die it's the same body and we are the same soul, why would I die? Heck why would either of us die? Wouldn't we just merge?" Ethereal Carl asked stumped at the revelation
"Same body and soul who fed you that crap, your soul is different, the timelines are different, unless you can find a core resonance between the two his body will without a doubt reject you," he explained as he massaged his temples. "The route you should have pursued is absorption, but neither of you know that."
"Wait if you're here doesn't that mean you're already..." Sam realized
"Dead? well yes I died ..." ethereal Carl interrupted his eyes blazed in ethereal flames of wrath
'It seems more like murdered to me, this malice and hostility reminds me of the nine heavens,' Sam mused internally
"Be that as it may you can't possess Carl not while I'm around," Sam stated factly his tone not ready to allow compromise "...and if you see yourself ballsy enough to try so..." he chuckled but his chuckle was so nefarious that's it made Carl shudder "...I DON'T MIND DESTROYING YOU," he threatened as his aura flared rampantly
'Sam wasn't like this in the previous timeline, did my action of transmigration stipulate a change...my God.' Carl thought internally before coming to a plausible conclusion.
'If it's him I'm sure he'll look out for me.' He then broke into a nostalgic smile that beared a mix of pain, joy and a lifetime of memories, 'he's the only bastard that stood with me till the end, even if it meant his death.'
"I have a proposal to make," he started his eyes looked into Sam "which is?"
Sam asked he knew all to well that deals with wandering souls beared to many unaccounted loopholes.
"I have three conditions and in exchange I'll impart all the knowledge I bear onto you," he stated.
"I can still get all your knowledge even without your impartion you know?" Sam questioned curiously
"I know but we both know you won't do that." Carl smiled cheekily at his long time best friend and brother, although from different timelines his core was still the same.
Carl smiled amicably before continuing
"Firstly protect my family and ensure their well-being when IT begins," he stated firmly not willing to compromise their safety...not again atleast.
"Secondly take care of the fool that was my past self that block is too kind for his own good," he said his voice traced with pain "and lastly..." he kowtowed his head touching the ground.
"...I beseech you to bring the Zodiac Guilds unprecedented torment and despair," his voice brimmed with malice as his eyes quivered with wrath, it was so intense that Sam nearly begun to sweat despite his countless years as a cultivator.
'Sweet Lord what did they do to earn enough hate that'll transverse timelines," he mused as he broke into a sadistic smile.
"Fine but I'll be doing more than just taking your knowledge, I'll be absorbing your entire existence, you'll experience True death are we clear on the terms?" Sam asked as he stood up and walked towards the grovelling soul.
"So long as you keep your part take whatever you see but my will... even the most miniscule fragment please carry it out for our exchange to be fair," he replied earning a nod from Sam before he asked
"All the Zodiacs or a select few?"
"As much as I'd love all of them to burn in the depths of hell.... Only Leo, Taurus, Aries, Cancer and Capricorn, only those five formed the Daria Alliance. Ahh and if possible add the Jade and Scarlet Behemoths too" he cackled.
"Alright, and also I won't be holding onto your remnant will, no matter how miniscule. I might not be able to fully make him absorb you but... I am able to make him absorb the remnant of your will is that...." he paused as he looked at Carl who was almost shedding tears.
"You are a good friend Sam... no your more than a friend, you were...you are the best friend a guy could ask for, I'm sorry for how it ended in my last life and thank you for being there till the very end... I'm grateful brother."
Sam nodded and closed his eyes and fell into the lotus position as he begun absorbing Carl's soul no more words were exchanged but Sam knew all too well that Carl's future was not roses and sunflowers.
'How is his soul so potent heck it's equal to all the souls that elevated my heavenly body... no it's much greater,' he added before fully absorbing it.
With the abundance of Essence his body was filled to the brim as he broke through the second level of Celestial Body.
His body begun to be restructured from within as his bones and marrow were destroyed and remade while being strengthen, enhanced and refined. His blood flowed much better, his organs were strengthened as he burnt away the impurities within his body.
The process was painful and required immense willpower but during the said process however Sam fell into a trance as the life of Carl played out in his mind from his financial and family struggles, to his fall into gambling, gangs, mafias, cartels and syndicates, to his losses and his gains he watched it all until his demise to his so called comrades
The lifetime of memories flashed within his mind like the currents of a river.
Once he finished the air around Sam stilled, no to be precise it froze as if afraid to move and then like the calm before the storm hit.
BOOM
His aura flared as he roared "THEY DARE?!!!!" his wrath was a mix of his and Carl's he witnessed his tortures and pain, a being he considered a friend a brother to be treated so ... and worst of all he saw his own fate and future his own demise under the same folks it irked him to his core as on this night and oath was made
"EVEN IF THE CELESTIAL HAVENS DESCEND ONTO THIS WORLD EVEN IF THE ABYSS SPLITS OPEN AND SEETHES WITH VOID TO YOU ALL WHO DEEMED IT FIT TO TOY WITH MY KIN, I WILL END YOOOUUUU!!!!!.." his golden eyes now tainted with scarlet crimson pupils that only sought slaughter "... EVEN IF ITS THE LAST THING I DO," he vowed as he calmed himself.
Numerous plans formulated in his mind as he sought to first make his foundation before it begun
"The launch of Vestia Online I look forward to it now more than ever."