BAM!
The earth trembled slightly as Xia Longwei landed on the island. In front of them stood a tall male figure, draped in immaculate white robes that shimmered under the sun. The robes were adorned with intricate patterns of gold thread, and several jewels of varying sizes and colours were pierced into his body.
"The Maitreya has been expecting you," the man spoke, his voice calm yet commanding, carrying a moderate pitch that resonated through the air. Without waiting for a response, he turned and began to walk towards the grand temple that loomed ahead, its ancient stone walls covered in climbing ivy and inscriptions.
Ling Xuan, taken aback, furrowed his brow in confusion. "So I guessed wrong?" he pondered internally, the gears of his mind turning rapidly. The realisation brought a slight shrug to his shoulders
As they walked forward into the stone temple, a faint murmuring spread out, like whispers from ancient spirits.
"From Old shall exist new and from new shall be reborn the Old."
Ling Xuan furrowed his brows, the cryptic words echoing in his mind as they approached the end of the stone hallway. A massive, ornate door loomed in front of them, covered in intricate carvings and sacred symbols.
"From the decaying corpse of yesteryear shall the flower of tomorrow obtain essence!"
The sound grew louder with each step, transforming into a deafening roar as they stood on the threshold of the door.
CREAK
The door opened, revealing a sight that instantly reminded Ling Xuan of a temple visit a few days prior. Exactly thirty-one individuals knelt on the ground, all naked but adorned with gold piercings. Their chants merged into a cacophony of devotion.
"Glory to the Maitreya! The Imperishable!"
They all knelt before a single, androgynous figure enshrined in a crystal that shimmered spectacularly under the dim light. This figure sat on a throne made of an unknown metal, exuding an aura of otherworldly power. Their indifferent gaze shifted from the devotees to Ling Xuan and Xia Longwei.
The Maitreya opened its mouth and spoke, its voice a paradox of sonorous yet rigid, loud yet soft, peaceful yet chaotic tones.
"Took you longer than expected, O Dragon Son and Forger, yet all is fine. I have awaited your arrival for thousands of years."
"Well, greetings, Maitreya," Ling Xuan replied, his voice steady despite the surreal surroundings. Xia Longwei, however, only stared at the Maitreya with narrowed eyes.
The Maitreya's gaze settled on Xia Longwei. "So, you've understood, O Dragon Son?"
"Don't refer to me with that title, Ashborne," Xia Longwei replied calmly, though his voice simmered with barely contained wrath.
The Maitreya slowly stood up from the throne, its movements graceful and deliberate, and walked towards the duo. "Very well, I shall respect your request." With a nod and a wave of its hand, all the worshipping devotees turned to ash and reconverged into the Maitreya's form.
Ling Xuan watched in astonishment.
The Maitreya's gaze turned to Ling Xuan, its expressionless face somehow conveying displeasure. It suddenly furrowed its nonexistent brows. "Why do you have 'that' thing with you?"
Before Ling Xuan could react, he felt something being pulled from within him.
BOOM!
A shockwave erupted as Xia Longwei moved to shield Ling Xuan. "Don't even think of doing that," he warned, dashing towards the Maitreya.
BOOM!
An explosion tore through the temple, destroying everything in its path. Ling Xuan desperately tried to escape, but his speed was insufficient. "Don't tell me I'm going to die here!" he thought frantically.
Suddenly, the explosion vanished, along with the temple itself. Ling Xuan blinked in confusion, surveying the now empty area.
"Huh?" he thought, trying to comprehend what had just happened.
SWOOSH!
Suddenly, Ling Xuan heard something flying towards him and quickly dodged. As he turned to see, he noticed a spear embedded in a nearby tree. It was primitive, with the head attached to the wooden body through cloth tinted in red.
As Ling Xuan observed the spear, he heard unintelligible sounds approaching. Turning to look, he saw a group of men running towards him, clad in woollen clothes and wielding spears. One man was presumably the owner of the spear now stuck in the tree.
"Am I in the past?!" Ling Xuan thought, his mind racing. One of the men thrust his spear towards Ling Xuan, who easily caught it without a problem and threw the man to the ground with such force that it incapacitated him.
The others were alarmed, yet before they could even think of retreating,
WHOOSH!
Ling Xuan dashed forward, striking all of them in their abdomens with precision and speed. They fell to the ground, groaning in pain, completely incapacitated by Ling Xuan's swift and powerful attack.
Ling Xuan swiftly caught hold of one of the incapacitated men. The man had rough, sun-weathered skin, and his eyes were wide with fear.
Qi Devour Subset Technique - Memory Devour!
Ling Xuan's hands glowed with a faint blue light as Qi began to flow from the man's body into Ling Xuan's. The man's flesh rapidly withered, his body shrivelling up into an old, desiccated corpse.
"So that's what it is, eh?" Ling Xuan frowned, processing the new information. Memory Devour was a subset technique used to read an individual's memories by absorbing Qi from their brain and filtering it into usable information. The knowledge Ling Xuan had received was unsettling.
"Guess I was right," Ling Xuan grimaced. He was indeed in the past—more specifically, 500,000 years in the past.
"Now how am I supposed to get back?" Ling Xuan sighed, surveying his surroundings. He was in the very early days of the Archipelago, the landscape around him lush and untamed, filled with dense, ancient forests and strange, primal creatures.
Suddenly, intense pressure flooded his senses, a foreboding feeling of immense power approaching. The pressure abruptly stopped as a figure appeared before him.
It was the Maitreya!
The Maitreya looked exactly the same as it did 500,000 years in the future: androgynous features, a face carved with serene indifference, and a body enshrined in shimmering crystal. Its eyes were dark voids that seemed to peer into the depths of one's soul.
"Die," it muttered, raising its hand to strike Ling Xuan. The air around its hand crackled with destructive energy, the very space seeming to warp under the pressure.
BOOM!
The Maitreya was suddenly knocked back!
"Take that, you fucker," Xia Longwei exclaimed, swooping down from above. His majestic wings were fully unfolded, glistening with iridescent scales that caught the sunlight. His tri-pupil eyes, each iris a shifting kaleidoscope of colours, blazed with intensity.
As Xia Longwei exulted, he noticed Ling Xuan and quickly threw something towards one of the incapacitated men. "Talk to you later!" Xia Longwei shouted, charging at the Maitreya. The two clashed with a thunderous impact and vanished.
"What the hell is happening?" Ling Xuan exclaimed, his mind spinning from the chaotic series of events.
"We're ripping each other through time," a voice sounded. One of the incapacitated men, who had a small nail-shaped object embedded in his neck, began to speak.
"Xia Longwei, is that you?" Ling Xuan asked, eyes wide with astonishment.
"Yup, I hijacked the brain of this dude by transferring some Qi that implanted and overwrote his personality," Xia Longwei clarified through the man.
"Alright, so mind telling me what just happened?" Ling Xuan asked, trying to steady his thoughts.
"Yup, so what you just saw was me fighting Maitreya and dragging it to another point in time," Xia Longwei explained.
"Point in time?" Ling Xuan echoed, struggling to grasp the concept.
"Yeah, so I never knew that a person could do this, but it happens when you have excellent control over Qi," Xia Longwei began. "I wasn't able to do it on the Mainland due to Father using his power to restrict it, but not here. I can summon millions of myself, each from a different instance of time, and we can fight together. Of course, this also applies to the Maitreya, who is also infinitely duplicating itself and fighting. It's really fun."
Ling Xuan's eyes widened further as he tried to process the sheer scale of the conflict.