After conquering the Darkness Region, Aurelius felt the world around him shatter. He found himself back in the Kill Tower, now standing at level 150. A message from the tower spirit greeted him: "Congratulations on completing level 150. You will now be transferred to the Inheritance Hall."
Within moments, he was teleported to the Inheritance Hall. When he regained his consciousness, the scene transformed into a vast, white expanse. At its center stood a colossal statue, exuding an ancient aura of absolute authority.
The statue was breathtaking: a towering figure with a regal bearing, holding a sword aloft as if challenging the heavens. From the statue's feet, multicolored threads spread out, each thread representing a different element—fire, water, earth, air, wood, space, time, darkness, all the dao could be seen—forming a complete cycle. The face of the statue was tilted upwards, eyes fierce and defiant, as if his laws and commands were absolute and no one could defy them.
Aurelius felt a wave of admiration; the statue's conqueror aura and attitude towards the heavens ignited a fierce desire to reach the same height or surpass it in his heart.
Recalling the tower spirit's words, "After you reach the Inheritance Ground, bow towards the statue three times. After you bow, a wave of energy will wash over you and then your consciousness will be taken to another space to receive the inheritance."
According to the instructions, Aurelius approached the statue and bowed three times. As he stood up, a wave of energy began to emit from the statue. The energy moved towards him, enveloping him in a warm, comforting embrace. His consciousness was gently pulled away without harming his body. Next, another wave of energy was released, enveloping his consciousness and creating a protective barrier.
Then Aurelius's consciousness embarked on a journey through space and time. He watched as it left his underworld, broke the underworld barrier, and arrived in the main universe. As Aurelius was moving outside the universe, he noticed wounds that caused the division of the universes into three realms.
As he traveled through chaos, he noticed many universes similar to his own. It may be due to a protective membrane or some other reason, but Aurelius could see runic formations around every universe.
Aurelius didn't know how long he moved but crossed a vast stretch of chaos before he felt another membrane, the membrane of chaos, the protective layer. Again, he broke the membrane and reached another dimension known as Immortal.
Aurelius didn't know what this place was, but he felt from every fiber of his soul that this was the path, the path to immortality. Aurelius didn't stay for long; when he broke the barrier of the origin dimension, he reached the trans-dimension, where he saw four different rivers traveling in the hidden dimension.
As Aurelius looked at the four rivers, he felt some sort of connection to one of them. Then Aurelius realized the river was known as the River of Styx, the river that took his soul from Earth to the underworld.
Aurelius stayed in the trans-dimension for a second before he felt movement. Aurelius once again broke the barrier to reach a deeper dimension. The moment Aurelius arrived in this dimension, he noticed a river, a colorful and beautiful river - the Space-Time River.
Then his consciousness entered the Space-Time River and moved backward through time. As he moved backward, Aurelius noticed many civilizations and in the next second, he forgot what he had noticed. After what felt like eons, his consciousness finally reached a specific point in time and space and dove back into the river.
Looking around, Aurelius found himself in a place as black as the depths of space. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a fierce battle. He saw a figure whose aura resembled the statue from the Inheritance Hall.
This person was fighting hundreds of foes, wielding a sword with unmatched skill. Each slash of the sword tore through space and time, creating waves of destruction and creation that seemed to shape heaven and earth with every clash. The other people fighting also unleashed different types of Dao, each Dao carrying a different system. It was hard to recognize with his current standing.
Then suddenly, time accelerated, and Aurelius couldn't clearly see the battle anymore, but the fight remained in his heart, never to be forgotten. When time slowed again, the fight was over. The lone figure, who looked exactly like the statue, stood unhurt in the middle of a battlefield. As Aurelius's consciousness arrived, the warrior sensed him. With a single step, the warrior arrived before Aurelius.
"Hmm, something about you is different," the warrior mumbled, his eyes changing from dark black to a golden-purple hue. As his eyes shifted, he looked deep into Aurelius's past, present, and future, understanding everything about him and why his consciousness had arrived.
As the warrior's eyes looked at Aurelius, he felt an immense pressure, unlike anything he had experienced before. Thankfully, the protective layer from the statue enveloped him, allowing him to withstand it. He wanted to speak but found himself unable to. The warrior, understanding everything, said, "So, you have triggered an opportunity, which my future self left, causing you to travel to the past and meet me." With that, the pressure lifted, and Aurelius could finally breathe.
Even in his conscious form, Aurelius felt the need to take a deep breath to calm himself. After composing himself, he said, "Greetings, senior. I am Aurelius. I didn't expect to meet you directly when I said I would receive the inheritance."
The warrior responded, "If it was just inheritance, you would have been taken to the hidden dimension inside the statue and received it. But you triggered a hidden mechanism which resulted in this long journey."
"Even with my current level, I can't see what conditions caused it to trigger. Everything was hidden from my future self and even from me. What I don't understand is why my future self went to such lengths to create a statue and ask a favor from the king of hell to send the statue to a specific universe at a specific space-time."
The warrior fell into deep thought, then suddenly looked at Aurelius, trying to discern his past, present, and future, reviewing everything in greater detail. As he looked through, he felt a timeline that was attached to the main timeline but on the brink of collapse.
The moment he noticed that, the warrior frowned and tried to investigate the timeline. He noticed a completely different present and future of Aurelius. As he continued to investigate, he finally understood the collapse of the timeline.
Then the warrior mumbled, "Fate breaker... ah, no... no... he still has not broken, but he has fulfilled some of the conditions." The warrior shook his head. "These should not be the only reason." Then the warrior looked again to find what he had missed. After a while, he mumbled, "Chaos, underworld, the past, the present, karma, destiny, fate breaker... So that's how it is. Forbidden person, that's what my future self is after, a person who is outside the bounds of the known and unknown."
Suddenly, he started laughing. "So that's how it is," he said. Looking at Aurelius, the warrior said, "Kid, I understand the reason for your arrival. Now I will give you two options. First, take my opportunity. Survive, and you can create a legend that no one can surpass from the beginning of time. But if you fail, you will die and become dust."
"Second, miss the opportunity. You will not be infected by my karma."
Aurelius thought carefully, hesitant about which path to take. It had been 5000 years since he started cultivating; he had no idea of the extent of cultivation now he was thrown into another bigger plot.
He wanted to deny the offer, but then he heard voices in his head. The voices were loud, pleading for him to save them, break their fate, and change their destiny.
He paused, remembering the voices he heard since he started cultivating in the underworld. He had occasionally heard these voices. He didn't understand them, but he knew they were somehow connected to him.
The warrior noticed the change in Aurelius and said, "Obsession echo, huh?"
Hearing this, Aurelius stopped thinking and looked at the warrior. "Senior, what is an obsession echo?"
The warrior looked at him and sighed but said truthfully, "Kid, even without my future self interfering, your fate was already filled with despair and cries of loved ones."
"An obsession echo, as the name implies, is an echo that travels through time and space without boundaries. It happens when a person from the future suffers a tragedy so painful that it scars their soul. In their desperation to change the outcome, they burn their cultivation and release an echo—a message to their past self to alter the future."
"The obsession echo you heard is from your future self."
Hearing this, Aurelius's expression changed. He knew he would face many dangers in his cultivation path, but he never imagined something so dire would happen that his future self would send an obsession echo to his past.
Deep in thought, Aurelius's decision shifted from denial to acceptance. He looked at the warrior and said, "Senior, please accept me as your disciple."
The warrior looked at him and asked, "Are you sure, kid?"
Aurelius nodded. "Since my future self had to resort to an obsession echo, it means my future outcome is not something I desire. Even though I desire invincibility, it was not my end goal but to have a safe life where my family, my wife, and children can grow without any harm."
"That's the reason I wanted to deny and not be implicated by your karma. Now, since I understand the obsession echo, I think I need to change my perspective, from now on I will never let go of any opportunities that can make me stronger"
The warrior, impressed by his resolve, said, "Since you accept it, I will now take you as my disciple." The moment he said that, Aurelius bowed towards him and said, "Disciple greets master." Then the warrior released energy that hit Aurelius's forehead, creating a lotus flower inside his consciousness.
"Now that you are my disciple, remember my title. You may not be able to remember my name even if I say it. But you can remember my title: Firmament Suppressor. Even if you know my title, never use it; the moment you use it, my enemies can find you just from the karma the title inflicts."
Firmament Suppressor then shot another light towards Aurelius. "I have given you two cultivation techniques. One is a sword technique called 'Slash.' The technique Slash, as the name implies, means it can slash through anything. If you can't slash, it means you are not powerful enough. The second technique I want to give you is the Heaven-Hell Cultivation Technique. This is the technique you will need most after you reincarnated and break through the spiritual realm. You will not understand now, but try to compare this technique before reincarnation, as it is very difficult for your current self."
Aurelius nodded and responded, "Thank you, Master."
Firmament Suppressor waved his hand. "Before you go back, I will give you missions. Remember them." After saying that, Firmament Suppressor gave some missions that he needed to complete in his life before reincarnating and after reincarnating.
Aurelius, after hearing the missions, listened seriously, nodded, and said, "I will complete them as you command."
Aurelius was then zapped back to the present. Seeing Aurelius return, Firmament Suppressor mumbled, "What happened in the future that made me resort to this method? Something must have happened in the Firmament Realm. The old fogy must be up to something."
The Dao Suppressor sighed. "Let's hope everything went well."
Back in the Inheritance Hall, Aurelius's consciousness returned to his body. He looked at himself and remembered everything that had happened. His eyes grew more determined to gain power and cut down every obstacle. With renewed resolve, Aurelius left the Kill Tower.