Yin Lian had never properly mourned for her people before, only ever focused of her revenge.
But now that she had a moment to think about it all, she wished she could have them back, have her simple and peaceful life back, but it was too late.
They were gone. And nothing would change that.
There was no hatred or desire for revenge right now, just the hollow feeling of loss. Of never being able to see them again, or feeling their love and affection again.
The girl just laid there, distraught and in pain as tears flowed out of her eyes like a waterfall.
That was all she did that day. She didn't even eat anything, she just cried her heart out, aching for the warmth of her parents embrace.
For the rest of the day, the chambers of the inheritance halls were filled with sobs and cries of a little girl who had lost everything.
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The following day, Yin Lian woke up with puffy eyes and little desire to get up. Still unable to cope with the fact that everyone she ever knew and loved was gone.
She would never be able to see them again, hear them again, feel them again. And if she really did become a true Cultivator, then she might eventually forget their faces, as she had heard that cultivators could live for forever.
Which wasn't entirely untrue, but only those who had reached the highest realms could truly say they lived forever. Those in little worlds like this one couldn't ever live up to such a reputation. Maybe in the eyes of mortals, but in the view of fellow cultivators, not so much.
*Sigh* "Yin Lian, I know you're mourning, but you have to stay strong. I know that it's hard, I know what it's like losing someone you love, but you have to keep on living, for their sake." The Will spoke, its voice filled with a layer of grief and longing, but also encouragement.
"Your parents wouldn't want you to stay shelled up in here and wither away for the rest of your life. They would want you to live on, not for them, but for yourself. They would be devastated by your current state." At this point, the Will was just cajoling her whilst also subtly manipulating her out of her depressive state.
And it was working, to a degree that is.
Yin Lian did feel a little better, but she still felt horrible deep inside. She had wished that she was the one who had died instead, so that her parents could've lived.
Or maybe some other terrible thing befell the rest of the village, or had this happen at some other village. Anything, anything that didn't include her family dying.
She just didn't want to be alone in this world. The Will was helpful, but it never really felt like someone that would always be there to support her, be by her side no matter the circumstances.
Cultivating was never something she wanted to do. She never had a prospect of becoming a cultivator, she thought that she would just grow up into a pretty woman and fall in love with a boy, get married and continue her family line.
But then, out of nowhere, all of that, those hopes, dreams and expectations were all burned into ashes and cinders, never to see the light of day again.
And as the girls thoughts turned to the incident that sparked all of this, her Asura Meridian began to work up, swelling with the pure and unbridled seething hatred, overpowering her sadness with a desire for revenge.
Unlike before though, this wrath was blinding as it permeated her entire system. Her mind was overtaken by the thirst for revenge, and in that state, she finally got up. But not to cultivate.
"…" The Will could clearly see what was happening, but there was little it could do to help her out of this state.
All it could do was prevent her from leaving the temple early, lest she make a mistake and die from some wild beast if the surrounding forest.
Which was where she was currently headed. In her anger, she wanted to leave the Inheritance temple and slay those two men.
But the Will wouldn't let her, so it sealed off the stairs leading out, putting up an imperceivable barrier in front of them. This way, she would be forced to stay here.
She was not yet ready to face the dangers of the world just yet.
And although the Will wished that it could calm the impatient and vengeful little girl, it knew that with her cultivation path, she would need to learn how to control this on her own.
Which was another reason that she was being kept in here. To learn to control this rage, otherwise it would just get her killed in the heat of battle.
The moment Yin Lian walked into the barrier, she walked into it banging her head against it. This sent her into a wild fury where she just started to punch the barrier.
Each hit sent shockwaves throughout the area and caused the barrier to ripple slightly like water.
*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*
Yin Lian's strength was boundless and her punches relentless to go with it, using her full strength to try and shatter the barrier the was preventing her from going up and out of the temple. Each punch exerting a force of over five hundred thousand kilograms.
For several minutes, the booming sounds of Yin Lian's punches rang throughout the Inheritance temple. Minutes then turned into hours, and several hours after that, she finally collapsed, her body deprived of energy.
She fell to her knee's, eyes baggy and breathing heavy, she let her head fall against the barrier as her body slumped down, tired and unable to continue punching away the barrier.
"Got it all out of your system yet?" The Will probed, hoping for all of that emotion to have been let out by now.
But unfortunately, this just created a new kind of rage.
With a sudden burst of adrenaline and a surge of wrath, Yin Lian got up, spun around and yelled as she pointed up into the darkness above, "Why won't you let out!?!?!"
"Because you'll die." The Will responded bluntly.
Yin Lian slowly lowered her both her head and her arm, her little body trembling, her rage just continuing to build up as she muttered, "That won't work on me this time…"
"Mmm, it won't, but that doesn't make it any less true. If you go out there now as is, you will die. You're not ready to leave just yet. Patience is an essential to being a cultivator, and for you specifically, learning to control your anger will be even more important."
"You can't let the hatred control you, because you'll fail to do anything properly the moment you do, which will get you killed, be it by man, or by beast. You have to advance to the next stage of cultivation first and learn to control your emotions properly. Only then will I allow you to leave."
Yin Lian just grumbled as she stomped her way back to the crystal throne. Once there, she got up and sat on it, her back against the back with a cross pout, her arms also crossed in a childish manner.
Sighing internally, the Will prepared to get her to open her next Dantian, but suddenly saw her doing it by herself on instinct.
It wasn't efficient by any means, but she was doing it, which was weird because she hadn't even read the technique that would allow her to even do as such.
"What… Are you doing?" The Will asked in pure befuddlement, which was evident in its voice by how out of character it sounded.
This sudden bewilderment from the Will caused Yin Lian to come out of her pouting and become confused herself. She had no idea what the Will was talking about.
"What do you mean? I'm not doing anything." She retorted with a snort.
"Yes you are, you're absorbing the Essence from the throne you're on to open your Middle Dantian!" The Will snapped back.
Yin Lian had no idea what to say back as she genuinely had no idea what the Will was talking about. So instead, she just responded with, "Well I don't wanna open it!"
It wasn't much of an act of defiance, she was just still upset from the earlier encounter.
The Will audible sighed, thinking to itself, 'Right, she's still a child at heart. So annoying.'
"If you want to upset your near perfect foundation, then fine by me, go right ahead." The Will sputtered spitefully, knowing that this would irk the girl.
And it was right, as Yin Lian's right eye twitched and her brows furrowed in irritation.
"FINE! I'll do it, but when I do, I get to leave." She yelled as she gave her ultimatum.
The Will then gave her its ultimatum, "You can leave once you've made decent progress with the Qi Gathering realm and practiced some techniques. And before you start spouting like a cicada, you need to get this far to actually kill things. Do I make myself clear?"
Yin Lian lowered her gaze and thought about the Will's proposal for a minute before she begrudgingly accepted.