As Xia Longwei held the cylindrical droplet of blood in his hands, a smile of unrestrained glee spread across his face. Slowly, he began to ascend into the sky. Meanwhile, The Stranger grinned as well, flying toward Xia Longwei, while the very earth beneath them trembled.
Seeing this, Xia Longwei spoke softly, "Come forth, True Body."
With those words, The Stranger appeared directly before Xia Longwei, and in an instant, Xia Longwei's form unravelled, reduced to countless strings that wrapped themselves around The Stranger. Now, it was The Stranger who held the droplet of blood in its hands.
Indeed, The Stranger was none other than the True Body of Xia Longwei, who had disguised itself as the Thousand Masks Sect Leader by overwriting reality. In truth, there had only ever been 11 sects, but Xia Longwei had fabricated a 12th.
Yet, this alone couldn't fully explain the situation. Reality Overwriting was an immensely complex and confusing phenomenon. With both Xia Fugui and Xia Longwei continuously overwriting reality, various nonsensical anomalies had emerged. One such anomaly was the unprecedented surge in power of the Dragon Generals, along with other peculiarities—like the existence of Jigme Perma.
In Xia Fugui's reality, Jigme Perma was meant to play a crucial role, but Xia Longwei's overwriting had reduced the character to insignificance, rewriting fate to render him useless.
The existence of the Maitreya served as another example. In Xia Longwei's reality, it possessed knowledge of certain things, yet Xia Fugui's overwriting had altered even that. The power of a mere clone of Xia Longwei's True Body fluctuated unpredictably due to the countless overwritings, making it impossible to determine a stable level.
The Stranger itself was once the Sect Master of an unknown sect, but through reality overwriting, it had been rewritten into becoming Xia Longwei's True Body. With reality overwriting, there was no clear, discernible moment of change. To a natural observer, events would seem disorienting at best—or they might not even notice the alterations at all.
Was Xia Longwei's True Body truly ever in the Transcendent Sky? Perhaps it was, or perhaps not. How powerful was the true Xia Fugui? No one in the present reality could say for sure.
This uncertainty sparked another question. If Reality Overwriting had such profound and unpredictable effects, then who—or what—was Xia Longwei, really? Was he truly a single individual who was just incredibly gifted or perhaps a dead man who had overwritten reality to create another Xia Longwei just a bit more talented?
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Ling Xuan approached the dying body of Xia Fugui, madness gleaming in his eyes. As Xia Fugui saw him nearing, he sighed softly.
"So, it was you, wasn't it?" Xia Fugui asked, as Ling Xuan stood before him.
The current Ling Xuan had no expression, only an undying, relentless gaze fixed on Xia Fugui. Seeing this, Xia Fugui seemed to understand something unspoken and nodded slightly.
"Life is truly something, isn't it, Ling Xuan?" Xia Fugui said, his voice weary but reflective. "It allows one to experience a myriad of emotions, memories, destinies... beginnings and endings. One choice can make a king, while the next makes a pauper. One can be a destroyer or a creator. A nurturer or a parasite. A hunter or the hunted. The loved or the hated, and many more."
He paused, his breath shallow, before continuing, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. "I don't really want to die. Nobody does, but... that isn't my choice, is it, Ling Xuan? I... don't have a choice in this. None of us do. Only you... and him. Or perhaps... not even him."
Xia Fugui began to laugh, a hollow sound that echoed in the emptiness around them.
"Hahahahah! So this is how it is! Even he isn't able to make choices! Hahahahah!"
His laughter gradually faded, leaving only a trace of bitterness on his lips. He gazed up at Ling Xuan, a strange resignation in his eyes.
"Very well then, realise your goal, Ling Xuan."
Xia Fugui closed his eyes, and his body dissipated into ash—ash that swirled around Ling Xuan before fusing into him. For the first time, Ling Xuan's expression changed, a maddened look distorting his face as he reflected on memories . Memories he had sealed away, hiding the truth that had always been right in front of him, yet he was never meant to know.
This entire war—everything—was his doing.
It was he who had allowed Xia Longwei to begin the Great Slaughter that led to the extinction of life on the world. The reason? It was simple.
The Qi Beholder Method, required enormous amounts of Qi to construct each meridian. The energy required was so vast that it would take a few trillion years of endless absorption to achieve. The Ling Xuan of that time had recognized this insurmountable obstacle and, in his ambition, had devised a shortcut.
Grandmasters were like living stars, each one holding enough Qi to shorten that time by millions of years. A single Grandmaster could shave off 50 million years from the endless cycle of absorption. And if Grandmasters were stars, then Xia Fugui was a quasar—a living wellspring of energy so vast that he alone possessed enough Qi to complete 99% of the meridians in an instant. If Ling Xuan could harness Xia Fugui's power, he could finish the Qi Beholder Method in mere moments.
But there was a problem—Xia Fugui was the strongest living being in the world. Killing him seemed impossible.
Or so it would have been, had Ling Xuan not found a way to use a borrowed knife. He knew Xia Longwei, the only being capable of challenging Xia Fugui, could serve his purpose. All he needed to do was set the pieces in motion, ensuring the conflict between the two would result in Xia Fugui's death.
Ling Xuan didn't understand why he had been the only one capable of jumpstarting this event. The war should have ignited on its own, without any form of intervention, and the result would have been the same—Xia Fugui's fall and the extinction of life. Yet, somehow, he had been the catalyst, the one to set everything in motion.
Perhaps, there was a reason for this buried deep beneath the layers of countless overwritings of reality. Yet now wasn't the time for such thought.
As the Qi surged into Ling Xuan's body, it felt as though the weight of the Sun had been placed upon his shoulders. The sheer magnitude of energy coursing through him was overwhelming, and his body began to fracture under the strain.
CRACK!
Suddenly, his left hand split apart, fissures spreading across the skin.
BANG!
In the next moment, his arm exploded, releasing torrents of Qi into the air.
"No! You will not!" Ling Xuan roared inwardly, his existing meridians fiercely pulling the escaping Qi back into his body, determined to contain the overwhelming power within.
"Urizen! Activate it!" Ling Xuan commanded sharply.
"Been a while, eh?" came the familiar voice, as the Qi automatically began surging into Ling Xuan's body, forming meridians with unfathomable precision.
"Complete the Tiger Pathway and initiate the Dragon Pathway!" Ling Xuan roared. The Qi intensified, rushing through him as meridians formed at an alarming rate. Each meridian crystallised with blinding speed, the pathways within him reaching completion faster than his mind could comprehend.
Ling Xuan's vision blurred as though he were experiencing an acid trip—shapes distorted, colours twisted, and reality bent at the edges. He was close to reaching the Dragon Pathway, the final threshold.
Meanwhile, Xia Longwei, who had completed his assimilation, observed Ling Xuan from afar and smiled faintly. "My friend… and enemy," he muttered.
Suddenly, his smile faltered. His eyes widened as everything around him began to distort. Multiple versions of himself appeared, shimmering like reflections in a broken mirror. Time and space warped chaotically around him, day and night reversing in rapid succession as the world seemed to unravel.
Time and space were converging—rushing toward a single, unknown point.
No, Xia Longwei knew exactly what this point was.
Suddenly, the scenery shifted, and an almost unending stream of beasts appeared before him—these were the Mythical Beasts. Their roars filled the air as they sensed the presence of a new power, their primal instincts urging them to attack. But before they could act, Xia Longwei simply waved his hand.
"Shoo."
With that single motion, the entire legion of Mythical Beasts turned to ash, disintegrating instantly. Only one remained, trembling and cowering in fear of Xia Longwei's overwhelming presence.
The scenery shifted again. This time, there was nothing—no life, no earth—only the Endless Sea and the Transcendent Sky. There was no light, but neither of them needed it. The two forces stood in a realm where existence itself had barely begun to take shape.
"This…" Xia Longwei's voice was calm, though a hint of wariness seeped into his words as he surveyed their surroundings. "Ling Xuan, why have you brought us here? To Genesis?"
He recognized the place instantly: the Origin Point of Existence. A realm before time or space, before life or death. A realm where only the Transcendent Sky and the Endless Sea existed.
This was Void.
Ling Xuan stood before Xia Longwei, his form transformed. He now wore a white robe adorned with purple streaks, his hair flowing freely around him as if caught in an unseen wind.
"To end this, what else?" Ling Xuan stated, his voice cold and devoid of emotion.
If one were to peer into Ling Xuan's body, they would have witnessed a remarkable sight: 271 meridians, glowing a sapphire blue, intricately woven throughout his being, with more still being produced.
Ling Xuan had achieved the Dragon Pathway.