There was silence as Xiao waited for the answer, as the seconds went by so did he reach closer to death, the sound of blood flowing down Xiao's chest was the only thing of notice that stayed, his eyes shinned with the madness of what he was doing, the heavy pressure around him altering reality as it fits still surrounded him in a brooding silence.
As such time ticked by after which the pressure around him started to increase by the second, Xiao's hold on his dagger turning heavy and heavy, while his heart inches away from destruction and started to quake, though such pressure didn't last for long as it was met by another power, a power that has become an umbrella under which Xiao took protection,
A clash of the mighty took place for a moment after which the serene peace returned, Xiao could feel an unknown power covering him up as he felt a will of the unknown, and feeling it Xiao, knew that his gamble has paid off,
Accept.....
There weren't any words nor was there any action, just an intent he felt deep in his soul, a treaty has been made between the strongest and the weak, and overlooking the proof stood an absolute power...
Death...
Just as the contact of promise was made the power around Xiao started to disappear, leaving him gasping at the pain that was back, willing his ring Xiao took out a pill and he swallowed it, the calming powers of the medicine healing his injuries in seconds as he got back to his tip top condition, snapping his fingers all the blood that was around Xiao disappeared,
'A sickening feeling as always....'
The feeling of being utterly powerless, the only way he even came out successfully from this ordeal was because Xiao had to waver his life. The reason it worked wasn't because the person responsible for his suffering cared about him, no it was simply because the reason that he was useful, nothing more and nothing less,
'At least I achieved something....'
The bitter feeling didn't last within Xiao as he savored for a moment the victory he earned, it wasn't the best one but it was one step forward and he would keep walking over it until he reached the point where he will be able to take revenge all by himself,
"Life is just another cycle of torture...."
He muttered as he gazed at Li Lun, who was sleeping happily in his embrace, her cute frown to her sleeping yawn was very desirable, seeing it the deep dark desire of Xiao's that he was keeping in check was starting to sparkle out but he didn't let t lose for now as he took deep breaths to calm his mind down.
The desire to possess everything...
The desire to control everything...
The desire to make everything fearful.....
The desire to see and feel the greatest adventure...
And the desire for destruction and death...
They were burning deep within Xiao's heart, his own desires that were suppressed were now letting lose, he wanted everything, he wanted his revenge, he wanted to be strong and he wanted in his hands the greatest all beauties that would shake the cosmos, later on, this was the side of Xiao was that was let loose,
'Now is not the time, come stay in, for now, I will let them all lose then....'
He desperately told himself as he held his desires back in, he bit his lips as his body trembled for some time before returning back to normal, opening his eyes they flashed with a resolve that couldn't be stopped,
'Let's just relax for now.....'
Thinking so Xiao closed his eyes as he went into an enjoyable slumber.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 hours later~
Feeling an intense gaze focusing on him Xiao slowly opened his eyes, the first thing that entered his eyes was the face of Li Lun who still in his embrace was looking at him with a fond smile lighting her face, upon seeing her, Xiao moved much faster than she could react as he placed a small kiss on her forehead just above her third eye,
"How was the sleep?"
Xiao asked with a smile to which the star stuck Li Lun didn't reply as her mind processed the kiss that she just received, soon a full blush took over over Li Lun's face as she replied,
"I-I'm fine...."
Hearing her reply he smiled dotingly as he asked,
"Just when did you wake up?"
"Just half an hour"
Hearing Li Lun's reply Xiao froze for a moment, didn't that mean she was just looking at him for half an hour?
"Wanna go for the next round?"
He asked as he started to stand up, Li Lun reluctantly got off his lap,
"Of course, I am more confident than ever"
Li Lun replied with a toothy grin as she waved her hands around, seeing so Xiao nodded his head as he asked,
"Have you gotten yourself acquainted with the system of the tower?"
"Yeah, most of them"
Li Lun immediately replied,
"Good"
Saying so Xiao requested to Mia,
'Take us back to the lobby'
[[Yes, master]]
Soon the body of the two flashed before which they reappeared back from where they came and just like before the two of them headed to the portal without paying any attention to others that were gazing at them, reaching the tower and setting up Li Lun portal the two entered inside,
"Seconds challenge, Rite Of Unseen, find the unfindable void coy....."
The same emotionless voice spoke again as the two of them appeared in a rather humongous area, all around them they could see tall beautiful grey trees with green and black leaves touching on them, the grass was blue in color as it was spread out, and the two of them seemed to appear in a unique looking forest that was teeming with Void energy,
"Void coy? what's that?"
Xiao asked to Li Lun who was now having a difficult look on her face,
"The time limit is 15 days..."
The emotionless voice spoke again, giving the rules to the trial they have to pass,
"The void coy is a creature of the void, mostly found in the lesser void realm, they are evolved to jump through the smallest gaps in chaotic energy"
Li Lun replied as she started to look around her, her explanation still continuing,
"They aren't all that strong but it's impossible to catch them, to do so one must be capable of seeing into even the needle-like break point in energy and space"
Hearing her reply Xiao turned silent,
'Where is this void coy?'
[[Two meters from your direction north]]
Mia directly replied breaking all use of the trial,
"What do these organisms look like?"
Xiao asked,
"Think of small worms but even smaller with gray markings on them, their teeth would be outside their body, as they eat from the outside self"
Reaching here a disgusted look took Li Lun's face,
"So what do we do?"
Xiao asked to which Li Lun gaze a bitter reply,
"We need to awaken my third eye of the void"
"How do we open it up?"
Xiao asked, his eyes moving to the closed eyelids on the top of her head, for a normal human belonging to the empire who hasn't moved through the world, would definitely find the third eye on Li Lun's head extremely disturbing and unsightly but to Xiao who has traveled the heavens, it didn't affect him at all.
For heaven's sake, Xiao had actually once met a woman with only eyes on her face! thinking back to that experience Xiao's body naturally shuddered, that was one face he didn't want to even remember,
"I actually don't know...."
Li Lun muttered with a downcast expression, hearing so Xiao looked at Li Lun waiting for her explanation, a troubled expression marred Li Lun's face as she spoke in an unconfident voice,
"I actually don't know, it should normally open and work at my command but it doesn't seem to be the case now"
"That's odd...."
Xiao replied as he focused deeply on the shut-eye on Li Lun's forehead, a large part of Li Lun's power is actually depended on the third eye she has, the eye that lets her rip apart the extreme boundaries of space as if it made of paper, the eye that lets her mark her opponent such that none shall leave the grasp of her arrow,
'What's the main problem here?'
Xiao wondered as he gazed at Li Lun, in the book the part about Li Lun's story only began after she has entered the first level of the tower, the real level where all constellations fight against each other to reach the zenith of the tower, to get that one wish,
"What does it feel like when you try to access the eye?"
Xiao asked to which a brooding look took over Li Lun's face, a few seconds later she spoke,
"It's as if it's not accepting my command, more like a tantrum thrown by a little child when it's not feeling happy"
'You are talking about an eye right?'
Even though Xiao wanted to ask this he kept it in his heart, as he thought through the words that Li Lun spoke, while they sounded jibberish, it has their own sense of logic,
'Just what could be the problem?'
While he was thinking so suddenly Xiao's eyes lit up, a certain thought that he had passed aside entering his mind,
'Maybe it's...that?'
Just as he thought so the surrounding around them started to shake,
"Roar!"
The roar of a beast was heard as a certain bush was pushed aside, as a slithering beast emerged, it was completely black in color, it had four eyes on its head while its tail was long and sharp, capable of killing with a shot,
"Looks like we have company"
Xiao spoke but he didn't do anything, as the one beside him Li Lun shot an arrow at the beast who quickly dodged it, its mouth opened up as light started to gather within it, sadly that was the last thing it did as the arrow that was shot suddenly appeared from below the beast's chin and killing it with one plunge,
"Nice shot"
"Thanks"
Xiao spoke and Li Lun replied but they couldn't keep up their good luck forever as a humongous pressure started to reek out from somewhere, seeing so the duo's expression turned serious,
"Looks like the trial won't be just a search, it seems to be a search and survive"
Upon saying so the duo quickly moved away from their current location, Xiao knew that the beast had locked onto their aura and felt its power, he knew that neither he nor Li Lun has a chance against it now,
"Hole on tight"
Xiao said after which he quickly took Li Lun in a princess carry, enforcing his soul energy, Xiao activated one of his skills, [forgotten], and just as he did so his aura and life force completely vanished from existence, he was still there running about but no sense be it divine or immortal was now capable of sensing him or Li Lun,
"Wrope!?"
An enraged roar in a language Xiao couldn't understand was heard, hearing so a smile took Xiao's face as he moved quickly, his skill making it such that no detection ability could work on him, hence his path forward was completely uninterrupted, while Li Lun who was in his embrace seemed to have no desire to ask anything as she enjoyed the ride she was getting, coming even closer as she took in his scent,
'What the hell is this?'
While Teresa who wanted to enjoy the show looked completely flabbergasted, as she looked at the scene of Xiao leisurely moving around the forest, sneakily under the eyes of powerful beasts,
'Why can't I feel his presence?'
No matter how hard she tried, Teresa was couldn't feel Xiao's presence at all, her sense was at least at the top of the pyramid yet she couldn't sense anything, she could see him but nothing else, his existence was as if forgotten by the world,
'No heat, life or energy signature can be felt'
Her eyes turned grave when she thought of this, as goosebumps rose all over her, she was sure that if Xiao took the path of an assassin then he would undoubtedly emerge as the most dangerous one that ever existed,
'If that bastard got to know of this, I am sure that he will fight tooth and nail to get him'
In the end, Teresa shook her head as she just got back to enjoying the scene in front of her, mildly anticipating the time that the monster in front of her will grace the stage of the behemoths,
'I would love to see the face of those stuck-up fossils when he destroyed every logic they live by'
Thinking till here a chuckle left her mouth as she focused turned back to the duo that has now taken shelter in a relatively safe area,
"What was that?"
Li Lun asked, she had seen how none of the beauty around them seem to even feel their presence,
"Its a certain power"
Xiao nonchalantly replied, to which Li Lun took it as a fact, leaning against the cave she was in a small chuckle left her mouth, hearing so Xiao looked at Li Lun with a questioning gaze, seeing so she waved her hands about as she replied,
"Nothing, it's just that I always dreamed of this scenario, both of us together fighting hand in hand, me saving your life while you protected mine"
A fond smile of the past that she dreamed of not long ago appeared in Li Lun's mind, seeing so a wry smile took Xiao's face as she leaned against the wall he was in,
"Fun as that sounds we still have to figure out the problem with your eye, this whole place is teeming with beasts far beyond our level, its best to take caution while we hunt"
Xiao's power could definitely help them escape but it's on the premise that the beast is far away and was tracking him with its senses, in the case of an actual eye contact all he could do was run as far as possible until he could erase his presence and hide, and that could only even happen if the beast even let him out of its sight,
"True"
Li Lun replied, seeing so Xiao looked at her for a bit after which he spoke,
"Why don't you try to increase your sight over the space and void now, maybe we could get lucky"
Upon hearing Xiao's words Li Lun nodded her head, her expression turning serious as her eyes started to sparkle about, all around her small little cracks opening up, their insides looking dark and creepy. Li Lun kept opening several such cracks all around her, as her eyes seemingly started to come to life.
Looking deeply into it Xiao almost lost himself for a moment, he shook his head to regain his focus, and a bitter smile came to his face as he thought of a certain past,
'What a difference....'
In the past some time before his demise he had met the Li Lun that had grown, he couldn't see her body or anything else, she was covered by a grey cloak that hid everything, and only three eyes appeared in that darkness, all three of them darker than death without a shred of life.
Unlike the current eyes, he was seeing, were sparkles of grey were lighting and dancing in amethyst pair of eyes, looking like a sparkling gem.
Unknown Timeline....
An unknown Realm...
"Run! there's no stopping it!"
The hardened cry of a warrior was heard across the entire city, spreading far and wide, his voice loud enough to echo throughout but the inhabitants living within the city didn't need his reminder for they could feel the approaching danger.
Unlike the vast cities of the world, this one was small and mostly built for a temporary stay, everyone staying here were hardened warriors, though the thing about them being is that none of them belonged to any major forces or powers within the four heavens, all of them were now currently inside a realm accessible to the public.
A place where people with some money could try their luck to change their fate, the realm itself was extremely dangerous, with several areas yet to be moved through, 50% of the people that come here dies while the rest like slaves kept trying to change their fate, falling into a cycle of repeat, hoping that a day a treasure that will change them will reach their hands.
But right now none of the powerful warriors could be seen, all of them only had despair clouding their faces as they felt the approaching death, inching closer and closer towards them, the whole city was built for protection, a neutral area where the monsters lurking the whole realm couldn't harm them but that changed today.
For reasons unknown to them all the neutral zone seemingly canceled itself the beasts surrounding the entire realm had gone crazy as they now in a circle was inching towards the city for destruction, beasts that nobody had ever seen before, powerful ones that could end their lives, all of them were now barking towards them.
The people now were sitting ducks waiting to be slaughtered, the skies above turned blood red the whole city was shaking from the mighty quarks of the beast, in a few minutes the beasts would reach the city and all of them would be done for, none of the people here expected any help, they knew they were on their own,
"So this is the end.....huh"
A man covered by a dark brown cloak spoke as he stood above the shaking walls, his voice tired yet strong, his eyes bloodthirsty and dreadful, while an unwillingness to die filled him, his entire body reeked of blood, the sins of his chaining his body down, he had already lost count of the number of people he had slaughtered.
There was no joy, for him the slaughter made him stronger and that was it, he had to find his sister, he had to reach the top and make the people who looked down on him regret, and for that, he will betray and kill everyone he finds but now it seems that this is the end for him,
'Just one of the beasts is enough to smash me to death...'
He had come here to try his luck, with his meager power Xiao knew that he would be killed by the beasts, hence he didn't come here for treasure or hunt like the rest, he came here to hunt the ones that lived and thrived here.
The different species that lived here would be the nourishment that he needs to grow stronger, he just expected to manipulate the whole area turning themselves against each other and killing them all with tricks when they least expected it,
'Looks like all my work is down the drain here.....'
He has been here for half a year, taking small movements, hunting down the newbies, while he had been slowly manipulating the entire environment around here, just a bit more and a bloody war he could take advantage of would have been born, it wasn't his the first time and several powerful cites had fallen under his schemes.
But now it was his time to end it would seem,
"It's not the end...."
A sweet whispering voice spread across the entire city, the voice being soft and enchanting, just listening to it was almost making Xiao move according to that will and so under the eyes of the entire inhabitants a single figure started to float high into the sky, an enthralling bow in the figure's hand, while floating the cloak on the person fell,
"Wow...."
"Amazing..."
"Beautiful....."
Be it men or women all of them felt themselves fall into a daze at the beauty in front of them, it was so addictive that they couldn't help but leave all of their control behind, she was just that beautiful. Her body was still hidden but her face was more than enough to take control of the minds of the weaker cultivators without even having a charm control under her.
Shining beautiful gray hair that sizzled with the wind, amethyst eyes that sparkled with grey on them and a perfect face as if created with time and care by the cosmos could be seen. The woman's aura slowly started to rise as it soon covered the entire city, freezing everyone in place, thus effectively bringing people who were in their dreams out,
'She's beautiful but why does she feel familiar?'
Xiao who was standing on the wall thought, his heart starting to beat faster at the beauty in front of him, even with his cruel nature, even with his thoughts about a woman just being his release of lust, Xiao felt a sort of attraction to her, it would be better to say that he has had the hots for her, though Xiao didn't let it reign his heart as he completely squashed that feeling away.
He didn't need love not now nor in the future, for him, he wanted to reach the top and see the face of his sister that dared to leave.
Meanwhile, Li Lun floated above the ground, looking dainty as a Goddess, she kept her bow forward, no arrow was on it but it didn't matter as her soft lithe hand touched the string and pulled back and just as softly she let the string go and then the next moment nothing was left in front of her.
Xiao watched as the whole area the woman was facing distempered, all the beasts that were running were no more, nothing of their existence remained, and just like that Li Lun turned towards her other side doing the same soft movement and just like before the beasts no longer existed.
4 movements and 4 sides.....
That's all it took for a life-threatening situation that would wipe out millions to just stop like that,
'That power....'
A crazed desire flashed in Xiao's eyes as he saw the scene, the entire city was silent, none able to make a voice at the sudden shift one moment it was the end and the next there was nothing.....
Meanwhile, the calm-faced Li Lun who has done something good, smiled a bit her eyes traveled to the lives she kept safe but while doing so she felt an aura that felt familiar, her eyes focusing on the lone figure that stood above the walls, the moment she saw him she understood who he was, how could she forget the person she was engaged to?
Her eyes narrowed as she felt the immense aura of blood around him, she was keener towards evil and she could feel the epitome of malice on him, even a curse, her eyes flashed with intent after which it disappeared, thinking a bit her voice transmitted directly into his mind,
'On the account that I know you, I shall let you live but if I see you again, it shall be your death'
Hearing the voice suddenly Xiao was strangled, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the woman, whose eyes flashed at him, suddenly the figure of hers overlapped with the one he knew in the past,
'Impossible'
His eyes widened as he concluded, looking at the woman, a moment of sneer came to her face, in the past she was at his mercy, she was weak, now she stay high in the sky as a Goddess, while he lay on the ground, useless than trash,
'Again....'
Xiao clutched his hands tight, and he looked directly at her, even with everything he was unwilling to let go of, he had finally found a method to grow strong, he wasn't going to fail.
There they stood, one above the ground, her three eyes wide opened, two of them sparkling with a gray life, while the one in the middle layer there ominous while the other on the wall, his eyes even hidden, displayed a great desire to never give up, to reach where he wants to.
Without a word he turned around and left for Xiao knew, that right now he was powerless.
Watching him leave a small amount of happiness bloomed in Li Lun, she felt nothing for him anymore, he was of the past and shall stay in the past, thus she too disappeared.
But sadly fate wasn't done for they shall meet again, but this time the two burning stars would have dimmed.
Unknown Timeline...
Unknown Realm.....
The roars of laughter and uncontrollable sound of joy and vigor was heard all around, it was a well-decorated establishment where several people of different species could be seen sitting around round tables as they drank and enjoyed their feast, there was no grace or manner just pure animalistic enjoyment of finishing their mission and coming back alive and well.
It was more of an adventurous area that portrayed a sense of harmony and peace, with drinks and foods flying across the place and in such an environment at an edge that no one paid attention to sat a lonely figure in a broken and dirtied brown cloak, that seemed to have faced a lot of hardship on its own.
A dark deadly and tired aura surrounded the person completely contrary to the atmosphere around the place, the person in question Xiao just sat there like a lost lamb as he took small sips of the drink in front of him, a long yet short time has passed from the fated meeting with Li Lun and several things had already gone underway.
The once defying eyes of Xiao now no longer stay with him, his eyes were dead and unfeeling, and his back which stood straight even with the horrors of his past now bowed and broken, inside the clock his face haggard and defeated, the person that once vowed to stop at nothing to reach the top looked nothing more than dead.
He's sure that his willpower is greater than any but sometimes or most of the time the story doesn't have a happy ending, not everyone is lucky to have their fate turned around with just determination and no talent, especially not a villain like him, who by now had killed more than he could ever count.
He has a wish and in a sense, he had fulfilled it but the price he had to pay was everything that was dear to him.
He had promised himself to never fall in love....yet he did.
He had promised himself to never give up...yet he did.
He had promised himself to never yield to the crushing fate of the world....yet now he did.
He had promised himself to only not take from others and to never lose....yet now he lost someone again.
It is easy to dream and among those dreamers, a minuscule of them achieve what they dream of but what about the rest? were their pain, suffering, and dreams not equal to the ones who succeed? did they not work as hard as the rest? did they not bleed and work while others relaxed? yet why was it they failed?
Luck?
Fate?
Or a curse?
While the masses worship the small majority that succeeds that vast of them who worked harder and failed because of not having the luck the others had could only fade into the shadow and be lost forever, what could the losers do? cry injustice? no, they can only suck it up and be part of that large group that the world had broken again.
And now Xiao's being slowly swallowed up and he was on his last legs.....
It was then the screeching of a chair being pulled was heard and Xiao raised his head to face someone sitting in front of him, just like him the figure in front of him wore a cloak, everything hidden, in its hand was a drink and it disappeared into the darkness of the hoodie, not paying any attention Xiao just took a sip, everything tasting bland.
It was then by a coincident that both the figure placed their drink at the table and looked at each other, somehow by something they couldn't understand the two of them were able to gaze into the eyes of each other, Xiao's two dead eyes came to face with three twisted eyes in the darkness and just like him those three eyes were dead.....
By a miracle of chance that stood above the plane of impossibility the two of their eyes sparkled for a second, a kind of mysterious connection forming between the two losers as their gaze seemingly transcended all of the reason and time that provided their identity to each other,
'Xiao'
'Li Lun'
The two seemingly shaken just looked at each other a sense of unknown feeling welling up within them, just how many years was it ago did they seen each other?
The image of the past relaying in their minds, the proud and arrogant goddess with amethyst sparkling grey eyes of life, goodness, and power floating up above in the sky where no one can reach, that was Li Lun to Xiao.
An arrogant conceited man who slaughtered to get stronger yet his eyes burned with an unyielding will to rise to the stop, while many accepted their worth and stayed in the ground, Xiao accepting his worth did everything within his power to crawl through the ground to become powerful, that was Xiao to Li Lun.
Two different situations, one an Empress of the sky and the other a beggar of the ground but now? was there any difference between the two?
Years later be it the extremely talented Li Lun or the useless trash Xiao the two of them by a conscience of fate now sat at the same table with the same will of despair and death covering the two of them.
Now no longer does those eyes sparkle with goodness or power, now no longer do those eyes look unyielding, it has already given up.
Xiao gazed ahead, he coming to understand that even the talented that stood in the skies up above ain't protected from the harshness of the cosmos, it had the power to break anyone,
"Life is hard, huh....."
Xiao replied without any will to it,
"Indeed life is hard"
Li Lun replied, the silence filling the two as they started to sip on their drinks, a sense of comfort formed between the two, perhaps the recognition of losers or perhaps the identity and connection of the two, somehow the two felt at peace as they kept sipping the drink in their hands, for the first time in a long while the two enjoying a company,
"You're going to kill yourself?"
Xiao asked a seemingly deadly question to which Li Lun nonchalantly replied,
"Thought of it a few times but then I would feel disgusted to ending my life like that, I want to die but it would be with me fighting for a second chance, what about you?"
Her reply stormed Xiao for a bit after which he replied,
"Thought of ending it too sometimes but then the chance that she might come for me keeps me going"
His reply didn't spark anything in Li Lun as she questioned,
"Yuoru, right?"
"Yeah"
Xiao wasn't surprised, the story of the greatest phoenix falling in love with the greatest trash is after all the greatest joke circulating around, even more, when Yurou died to protect him,
"Ever fall in love?"
Xiao questioned to which Li Lun stayed silent, she seemed to be thinking about her choice after which she spoke,
"Yeah"
"Betrayed?"
He asked,
"Yup"
She replied with an emotionless tone as she drank her drink, even without a reply the two knew each other's answer, for their life was too similar yet different,
"Wanna talk about it?"
Xiao asked, for the first time in a long while, he thought of doing something outside of what he would do.
He thought of helping Li Lun, the thought of helping someone disgusted him, the world never treated him fairly, why should he then treat others fairly?
Xiao lived by it, the world was a shitty place, it gave him nothing but pain, and when he had found something to love it took that also away from him but now he didn't care anymore, he was too tired to hold on pettiness and revenge, many will question it and call him weak and a coward but had they gone through a fraction of the pain he has?
It's easy to talk about revenge but doing it, and having the will for it is another matter altogether,
"Why not...."
Li Lun replied, she too mysteriously understanding his goodwill, Li Lun has gone through a lot that her good nature was destroyed, that she was destroyed, which ended up with her losing any faith in the world but now just like Xiao she started to do something she had long given up on.
Relying on someone...
So she started to talk and talk about her problems and everything she went through, while Xiao sat there in silence listening to her story, he did not sympathize nor did he give any false words of encouragement, he just listened, and sometimes that is more than enough.
And so within the lively atmosphere that would make any depressed person jump in joy, a story of a broken woman that will even move the heartless to tears was told.
And so two losers of different perspectives enjoyed their drinks.
Their disdain for themselves makes them live, just to spite the world.
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!
"That's a nasty life...."
Xiao replied as he took a sip of his drink, the content in it making him slightly drunk, after all the pain he went through, the feeling of losing his mind through getting drunk is one of the few pleasures that were left in his life,
"Can't say it's perfect"
Li Lun spoke as she too took a sip of her drink,
"Betrayal, betrayal, and betrayal, quite the tough life to live by"
Xiao said as he looked at three dead eyes being reflected back at him,
"It's the only one I got..."
She said as her three eyes turned to focus back at her drink, her sight being lost in the swirls of the drink as she shook them,
"What about you? how did your life go after I disappeared?"
She questioned, her mood being one where she was not just going with the flow,
"Well after you disappeared my life's been pretty shitty"
Xiao said as his eyes turned a bit unfocused, his memories of the past being played through his mind,
"Somehow I feel it was more easier when I was a child, even though I was lost I still had faith in the world"
Li Lun spoke with an emotionless voice, which resulted in a complete silence between the two,
"Tell me if you could have your one wish granted, what would it be?"
Li Lun questioned, a sense of deeper meaning within her inquiry, this stumped Xiao for a bit as he stayed silent, he had long since forgotten about the fantasy of some mighty being just granting him a wish, even if it did just one wish wouldn't be enough to write away all the regrets that he's carrying in his heart,
"What if you could go back to the past? will you take it?"
Li Lun asked another question, a connection to the one before her, to this Xiao shook his head, he didn't need to think a lot to answer this question,
"I won't take it, all the will to live has already sipped away from me, the reason I am not killing myself is that I gave a promise that I won't"
His answer didn't satisfy Li Lun so she asked again,
"Won't you be able to rewrite all the regrets?"
"And then what? once again live all my life in the lower heaven? I am truly too tired, right now all I dream is a rest"
'',
Xiao's lifeless eyes spoke it all, even if he's allowed into the past, isn't it only worth it if he wants to live and change? with his current mental situation if he went to the past he will just be killing himself again, moreover, he would just be running away from the present, his heart right now is too empty of desires to redo that life again.
To fight, to scheme, to plan, to live, and to cultivate, he's too tired of it all, even with his technique to grow stronger from slaughter is useless, by now he has already figured out the hidden bomb in that technique, his life was already over, it's just a small ember living with the sheer will of a promise that he gave in the past,
"How can you guarantee that the past won't repeat itself, moreover what's there in the past that you desire?"
Xiao asked back to Li Lun who turned silent, she lightly took sips of the drink as she let it burn her on the inside,
"Xiao what if there's an entity out there determining our life the moment we are born?"
She didn't answer his question instead she asked another inquiry, to which Xiao immediately replied,
"Then I would love to fuck him, her, or it out"
And for the first time, a small fire lit in Xiao's eyes as his response sounded out, to this Li Lun nodded her head,
"Me too, I too wish to fuck up such a person up if they exist"
Li Lun's reply calmed Xiao down as he kept taking a sip of his drink, half an hour later, he stood up, placing a stone at the table he gave a bow to Li Lun as he spoke,
"It was nice meeting you, maybe in the past not written, we might have had a different fate"
Saying so Xiao turned around and walked away not even turning back as he left the connection to the past on the table, his mind already deciding upon its destination. While Li Lun lost in her thoughts sat there sipping on her drinks, her mind was too lost in an unknown past. As such the fateful meeting between the two stopped there and then. it's a small interaction that has been buried within Xiao's a mind and interaction that proved even the talented could fall.
But was that all that happened that day? or did something else take place?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hidden Timeline.
Erased Past.
Connected End.....
"Xiao what if there's an entity out there determining our life the moment we are born?"
Li Lun asked, as she did so a fire burned deep within her eyes, the life that seemed to be lost now burning deeper and higher with an intent that couldn't be extinguished, this question of hers caused Xiao to narrow his eyes, a small fire starting to flicker within him,
"If such an entry exists I want to fuck it up"
"Then what if I could grant you that chance?"
,m Li Lun asked, making Xiao silent, truthfully in his heart, he is already too tired to deal with anything anymore,
"Xiao asks your heart, do you truly want it to end like this? just once more why don't you try? just once more?"
'Follow current novels ON N (ovelB in.)',
Li Lun spoke, her eyes now peering into his, as if she found out a light within the darkness, her hands waving as she took out a normal-looking orb that was swirling with darkness enough to swallow all of light whole. She lightly placed it on the table before Xiao as she spoke,
"Consume this and you shall have the power to fight with me or more for some years"
Li Lun spoke with a neutral voice,
"What's the price?"
Xiao asked with a calm voice, as he eyed the orb on the table,
"Everything"
Li Lun replied, Xiao, stayed silent, looking deep in his heart to see if there is any burning will left, a minute of silence followed after which Xiao spoke,
"The sign of trust and worthiness"
His words were small but Li Lun understood them, she took out something and she passed it to Xiao, it was an information orb, he didn't hesitate to crush it as all the information filled his mind, it took some time for all the information to be processed by Xiao as he closed his eyes but the moment he opened them, the same flame similar to Li Lun now burned in his eyes, perhaps even hotter than hers.
He didn't hesitate to pick up the orb and swallow it whole, as he did so several questionable patterns hidden under the orbs started to appear in Xiao's body
Such symbols had even moved to cover even Xiao's face,
"Why me?"
He asked through gritted teeth as Xiao held in the immense pain that was filling his body,
"Why not you?"
Li Lun asked back with a maddened glint in her eyes.
Fuck the world!
Fuck its schemes!
And Fuck all the people in the world!
She's going to bring everything down! Everyone will feel the pain of her loss and now she has the perfect partner to move her plans,
"Shall we?"
She asked,
"Lets"
He replied as the two of them disappeared, leaving a silenced establishment that was now left with nothing! everyone there was dead, the dark gas from Xiao's body having swallowed them up the whole.
Two monsters hurt by the world had set out in revenge and the cosmos will pay the price for their anger.
2 Years Later~
"So, this is the price?"
Xiao asked as he gazed at the dead that lay all over in front and around him, millions upon millions of bodies littered around the area, all of them different species, some towering up to the sky as they seemed to pierce upward, others small as they lay dead but the fluctuating of energy from them enough to break worlds, their blood dyed the ground in several colors, while the sky shined with a similar redness, the armor around Xiao was completely broken, and the different symbols on his body were fluctuating,
"Cough....cough.....We did, it?"
A broken, hoarse, and a tired voice sounded out, Xiao's eyes looked down, and within his gaze lay Li Lun, no more was her face hidden but what came to one's eyes wasn't a beauty but a disfigured woman whose face was filled with scars that couldn't be healed, her eyes turning heavy as it started to close but she fought heavily against the feeling.
Just like Xiao all her armor was broken and destroyed, her limbs twisted, her bow broken and laying elsewhere, blood covering her entire body, while her life was slowly sipping away,
"We did it"
Xiao replied with a shaking tone as he looked down at the dying woman, the relationship between the two could be said to be now heavily complex, while their journey began just 2 years ago, the things they went through to get here were enough to fill a lifetime, it was filled with the two of them fighting together, and in the end even Xiao getting betrayed.
Yet in the end here the two of them are having fought back to back, with her giving her life to protect him, everything now lay at an end here,
"Cough....as long as we succeed its enough"
Li Lun spoke as she spat out blood from her mouth,
"Is it still a we?"
Xiao asked as he carefully placed Li Lun on his lap as he sat on the ground, relaxing himself a bit,
"Hehehe...cough...you know after everything I just wanted to end it all, to find a way to get out of this fucking.....#$%^&....cough"
"Looks like you can't still speak about it"
Xiao said as he felt the last of her words getting cut out,
"It doesn't matter, it's ending anyway, my only regret is not seeing it, that and..."
"And?"
'ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ No(ve) l Bi n',
He asked to which the dying Li Lun smiled at him, making his eyes widen, in all the two years he knew her she had never ever smiled, not even once,
"I love you"
Were her last words, after which the last embers of her life faded away, leaving behind a frozen Xiao who was looking at a woman that just died with a smile on her face, among the many ways he never thought the last words she said would be such, his trembling hands moved forward as he closed her eyes shut,
"It's being a good journey"
Austin spoke, as a fire lit in his hand, soon it covered her body and burned it all away in seconds after which he swallowed her existence whole as the symbols on his body lit up and a certain jaw emerged from his body, not just her all the corpses were eaten by him, he left nothing behind, at her current level Li Lun's body is a treasure in another level, even the others bodies were of some use.
Taking deep breaths for a moment, Xiao regulated whatever was left in his body, bringing in a semblance of balance, with quaking eyes he looked at himself,
,m 'Got 2 years more left'
With such thoughts he stood up, his eyes peering up high into the sky, soon a voice that sounded too lifeless was heard all around,
"State your wish"
This brought a deadly smile on Xiao's face, a smile covered with darkness and desire and a hint of madness, he looked at the symbol in his hand that was shinning brightly a 'gift' of the dead Li Lun,
"Sorry but even from the beginning our desires were never the same, unlike you I wanted something much more"
Having seemingly gotten rid of the ting hesitation in his heart Xiao looked high into the sky as he spoke,
"I wish for....."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Xiao....Xiao...."
Suddenly Xiao woke up, his eyes groggy as he looked around, in front of him stood Li Lun, her two sparkling eyes looking at him with worry filling her,
"Are you okay?"
She asked, to which he remained confused, it was only a few seconds later did he regain a sense of bearing,
"Yeah, I am fine"
He said as he waved his hand at her,
"Why? what happened?"
He enquired to which a troubled cute frown marred her face, she stood for a few seconds in thought after which she spoke,
"It's just you were mediating when suddenly your aura and presence started to go out of control, frankly you felt terrifying"
'',
As she spoke these words a hint of fear passed through Li Lun's eyes, the feeling that Xiao gave her felt as if he would swallow her whole,
"For a few seconds you looked to be out of control and I couldn't reach you as some sort of barrier formed around you but it suddenly disappeared a few seconds later and you seemed to be in a daze"
Hearing her words, now Xiao frowned, his heart in deep distraught, just when he felt like he was getting somewhat close to the secrets around him, something new was smashed into him, making him feel that he was still at the beginning,
'Just what were those visions?'
Everything was blurry but he saw some scenes, a twisted path that took place, far from what he remembered, everything was a glimpse from the agreement to him suddenly standing in a world of death and corpse as the only survivor,
'I don't even have a recollection of all these? just what secrets do I hold?'
Xiao's expression twisted up severely, and just as his thoughts were spiraling out of control, he felt his body being pulled as he fell into Li Lun's soft embrace, due to him being seated his head fell into the chest of the standing Li Lun,
"Li Lun?"
Xiao asked with confusion, to which she started to slowly pat his head, as she looked at him with deep trust and love, a feeling that made his heart squeeze tighter as his mind played through the supreme feeling of satisfaction he felt from the other Xiao who seemed to have betrayed Li Lin to the end,
"It's okay, everything fine, I can't bear to see such a look on your face"
She whispered as she hugged him tighter, while she still kept patting his head, a situation that was making him very awkward, all things considered, he was still older than Li Lun at heart,
"What expression was I making?"
He asked to which a thoughtful look took her face again,
"You looked as if you were in both anger and pain?"
Li Lun herself seemed to be in doubt, to this he smiled at the cute side of hers as he lightly pushed her a bit as he stood up, he towered over her a little as he nudged her nose playfully,
"Would you look at that, now you're comforting me?"
"Well, I just don't want to see you sad"
She replied in an innocent manner, making Xiao chuckle, he looked at her with warm eyes as he spoke,
"Thanks, I needed that"
Saying so he gave her a small kiss on her forehead, just beside her third eye,
"Now let me open up that eye of yours"
To his words, Li Lun nodded her head with a dreamy look adorned with a beautiful blush.
"Tell me Li Lun, do you think I find you repulsive with your eye?"
Xiao asked he looked deeply into her eyes, making her flinch the question directly drilled into her heart, breaking past all the protection that she had placed, just her reaction was more than enough for Xiao to understand why she was unable to use her eye of the void,
'Such a simple yet complex reason'
This doubt had been within Xiao's heart but he held it in since he wanted Li Lun to realize it herself but this sudden 'dream' of his threw a wrench into Xiao's plan, for now, his main objective is to get back to the four heavens and deal with some issues he should have dealt with a long time ago.
Just like everyone else Li Lun up and till now lived within the protected confines of the empire, she had never interacted with any other species, her rebirth had pushed into her mind several information about the whole cosmos and when the two of them arrived here she had seen species she had never before heard of.
This might have helped but it all in the end boiled down to the fact if Xiao felt any sort of revulsion towards Li Lun because she was not human anymore, in truth the current Li Lun was cuter than any other and she herself knew this too but even then her hearts restless, she knew now she has three eyes but as long as the third one is closed it won't make Xiao repulsive right?
This might be the thought that's running deeply through Li Lun's head, making it harder for her to open her third and most important eye,
"Li Lun, I will tell you this here and now, no matter how you look now or in the future, I will never ever find your appearance repulsive"
His words were strong and powerful, Xiao kept direct contact with Li Lun, making her understand everything he said deeply, his right hand held her face as he gave her a smile,
"Never push away power and if you ever have questions, don't hesitate to ask them to me, got it?"
He asked to which Li Lun nodded her head, her expression turning focused, her hand placed above Xiao's that held her face, to her what she needed was just a small reinforcement, her desire to push away was for Xiao but if he willed it she would take every power he speaks of,
"I'm sorry for worrying you"
She said with a smile as she took off her hands, and slowly she made some space from Xiao, she soon closed her eyes, a deep breath filling her, as the void Qi around her started to shake and quake, the third eye on her forehead trembling as the eyelids started to slowly open, and soon smoothly her void eye opened up.
It was grey in color, with no pupils inside, it was a complete grey, with a '�' symbol on it, contrary to the grey the symbol was shinning dark black, making a striking yet dangerous look, the moment it opened Xiao felt a small chill up his spine, pure evil darkness was felt from it, a few seconds later Li Lun opened her eyes as she looked at Xiao.
Her eyes peered into his, trying to find any discomfort but all she got was a warm prideful gaze, making her smile,
"Now, why don't we start the real hunt?"
Xiao asked to which Li Lun nodded her head, the void Qi around her trembling and surrounding her, the cave shook a little, as all the void Qi focused around the void eye, the marking on it lighting up as the light within Li Lun's eyes started to disappear, Xiao could tell that right now she wasn't gazing at the world but the cracks of space that surrounds the balance of life.
Xiao didn't say anything as he stood beside her, he knew at this moment she was more vulnerable than ever and her awakening wasn't gone unnoticed, his sense was stretched wide and Xiao could feel several powerful beings of this placing focusing towards them, their greed filling the entire plane,
'Looks like they all want a piece of her'
Xiao could understand their greed, the place was filled with void creatures, and for them to swallow up Li Lun would mean that they could perhaps get a chance to obtain her powers,
'Teresa sure is ruthless'
One small mistake here and Li Lun would be dead, of course, Xiao is sure that Teresa would intervene but even then the objective of moving around here is extremely hard, Li Lun had yet to practice enough to reach a level where she's capable of hiding her true lineage and power, whenever she opens her void eye everything greedy will rush to consume her.
Even though Xiao could feel the quaking of the ground, and the fast-approaching beasts that could take them both down he stood there guarding Li Lun with a calm face, soon Li Lun's void eyes seemed to dim down as her eyes regained their light, the eye on her forehead glowed on its own,
"So? any luck?"
Xiao asked to which Li Lun nodded her head, sweat filling her forehead,
"I found one three kilometers north of here"
"Good then let's go"
As he spoke he took up Li Lun and soon vanished from the cave, his skill [Forgotten] being put to use as his and Li Lun's presence completely disappeared, the powerful beasts that locked onto them screamed in rage as they quickly zoomed to their position bit by the time they reached here the two of them were long gone,
"Where is it correctly?"
Xiao asked, to which Li Lun closed her eyes, focusing around her to feel the fracturing lines of space, soon she pointed to a direction and Xiao started to move towards it with controlled speed, keeping his focus not to alert any unwanted beasts, he could still feel several of them lurking around for them,
???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????-????????????.????????????
"So what should we do?"
Xiao asked as he reached the location, Li Lun didn't reply as she waved her hand in a catching motion and the next moment she replied,
"Nothing"
As she said so she opened her hand in which lay a worm-like beast, barely the size of a pinky, with fleshy teeth peaking outward,
"Guess we are done"
Just as he finished saying so the two of them disappeared and just as they did powerful attacks that could wipe them off the world hit the area they were staying in.
The dizziness and the covering over his eyes faded away as Xiao appeared back in the very familiar white room along with Li Lun, both of them stood there in silence as within a few seconds the emotionless voice was heard again,
"The second trial has been completed...."
"Scanning the situation to distribute the reward..."
"Scanning completed..."
"Achievement completion rate, Li Lun: 80%, and Xiao: 20%"
"Rewards shall be distributed based on contributions..."
Just as the voice was over, a bright light flashed once again as it entered inside Li Lu and Xiao, this time the light entering Xiao was a bit more larger than the previous time,
'Guess it took in my action of rescuing Li Lun'
While he thought so the voice spoke again,
"Make a choice....."
"Continue or leave....."
Hearing this Xiao turned to Li Lun who too turned to look at him, a smile lighting up their face as Xiao spoke,
"Continue?"
"Of course"
The reply of Li Lun was more than enough as she spoke out,
"We wish to continue"
And once again they were whisked away, soon the two of them opened their eyes as sharp deadly winds started to hit their face, Xiao narrowed his eyes as he started to look around, from what he could see, he appeared to be above a certain cliff, sharp winds rose from below the abyss like area rising to the top.
Looking sideways there seems to be no way out, as they were transported to the very top of the cliff but what took Xiao's real attention is the fact that,
'The void Qi here is low, in fact, I can't almost feel it'
Just as he thought so he heard Li Lun coughing beside him,
"Cough....huff....urgh...."
It was as if she was having seizures as she directly fell into the ground clutching her throat with her body shaking heavily, she seemed to be struggling to grasp for air, seeing so Xiao crouched down to her as he held her body and started to pat her back,
'Qi deprivation, this is not good'
Xiao clearly knew what she was suffering from, its the situation where one's body is unable to get the Qi required, a similar situation of not having enough air to breathe, when a person reaches a level where the desired Qi doesn't exist the said person will undergo a seizure like a state while the body tries to adjust to the heavy change in atmosphere.
But its more dangerous for Li Lun, she's just a fledgling whose just getting used to having the void Qi around her, and to suddenly take it away would result in a dire situation, if not dealt with correctly she might even die, in normal situations, the body would take several hours for it to adapt, after which it would be fine but you would be unable to use your whole power.
This is the main reason that many don't travel between the realms, most only try so, when they reach a level of adequate power, else even if you are strong in one realm, in the other you might have your ass handed to you by even a kid, for adapting to an unknown Qi is not easy, many lost their lives due to it.
Of course, there are realms where there exists all the Qi as one, most high-level realms are born from the combination of immense Qi's around them, or the realms themselves will grow to be such, the one Xiao comes from is such and all high-level realms won't have this problem, it only arises to the low-level realms and beings that come unknown realms,
"In the sky birds of power fly high..."
"Targets unseen and seen float proud and high....."
"Take them all out and you shall leave..."
The emotional voice spoke again as Xiao tried his best to help Li Lun, using his minuscule gift to try to balance the extreme fight taking place due to the lack of Qi that was in her body. He looked above him as several small bird-like creatures started to rise from the abyss-like depth.
Xiao wasn't able to keep his focus on them as just as they appeared in the sky they seemed to flinch and disappear through space and just like that several of these birds started to flash through in the skies, the heavy wind blowing to the top creating a fluctuating scene of dance and beauty,
'So these are the targets'
Xiao couldn't help but agree that this trial is harder than the other ones before, this one's more prone to guide Li Lun's archery, making her style even deadlier than it already is but it would have to first begin with Li Lun getting used to having minuscule void Qi around her. He kept patting her back while giving her encouraging words,
'Sigh....this is going to be a long trial'
It was only an hour later did Li Lun get better, finally, she got some semblance of control over her body, and she started to adapt to the scarcity around her, right now the two of them were seated on the rocky cliff, with Li Lun leaning onto Xiao for support,
"How are you feeling now?"
Xiao asked, to which the panting Li Lun replied,
"Huff.....better...."
Saying so she took a deep breath while she tried to control the void Qi around her but it blasted like a bubble, her control was horrendous in the current environment,
"Hehe....don't worry, you will get better"
Xiao replied as he patted her head, making her pout,
"How are you not affected?"
She asked to which Xiao smugly shrugged his shoulder as he replied,
"Well I am better"
"humph narcissistically"
Li Lun commented, though a proud feeling filled her heart to which Xiao smiled,
"Thanks"
He took up the compliment to which Li Lun kept trying her best, not being willing to fall behind him, well sadly Li Lun didn't know that Xiao is already used to the scenario, even when he arrived on her legacy land if it wasn't for the death cloak he would have died, also in the current situation unlike Li Lun Xiao isn't that reliant on the void Qi, there's also the fact that he had experienced all this before and is quite used to it,
"This...huff....trial is.....huff.....harder than.....huff....I thought"
Li Lun spoke trying her best to get her breathing in rhythm, her entire body weight on him, while she used the connection between them to get more control,
"Yeah, it would seem that we will be stuck here for a while"
Xiao replied as he gazed at the flashing birds in the sky, the birds under seemed to be of a high number as different birds seemed to come and go in a certain pattern,
"Though....huff..... it's beautiful"
Li Lun said as she gazed at the birds moving all around,
"Yeah, it's beautiful but if we want to leave here we, or more precise you need to kill them"
Xiao said to which Li Lun turned silent,
"It's going to...huff... be quite....huff....tough"
She said moments later, feeling the wind and seeing the unpredictable movement of the birds,
"Well, it's good that we have some time on our hands"
"That's the hundredth shot"
Xiao spoke as Li Lun once again missed to hit any of the birds flying in the sky, snorkeling them up, they were unhittable as they kept flashing around, nothing capable of hitting them, several of those birds dominated the sky,
'Looks like this will take some time'
Xiao thought, the reason she was mainly missing is due to the fact that Li Lun isn't adjusted to all the differences around her, right now she was just performing at 5% of her power, it's only when she's completely adjusted will she be able to even land a shot,
"I will get them"
Li Lun spoke as she held her bow tighter, looking up at the birds her eyes narrowed after which she sat on the ground, and slowly she closed her eyes as she started to adjust herself to the world around her. While she did so Xiao didn't say anything as he sat some distance away from her, he was sure that they will be stuck here for some time hence all he can do is train a bit,
'I need to start the change'
Thinking so he too closed his eyes, his mind becoming entirely calm, while he activated a power that was granted to him as the prince of Death, the ability called,
Soul Devouring.
Slowly Xiao's consciousness started to get blurry and less focused, while an intense chill filled his body, he felt his consciousness being pulled out and felt his whole soul quake, he felt a paper-thin resistance trying to stop his movement but that didn't even last for a second after which the resistance was destroyed.
Soon the pulling speed stopped and a few seconds later Xiao opened his eyes, coming to focus he could see that all around him is darkness, utter darkness, and seemingly floating around him were several souls, all of them calm and....dead.
The thing was the fact that all the souls had different colors, either, brown, silver, gold, or cyan, some were bright while others were barely lit but in the end, all of them felt dead, floating around in the infinite chamber of the limbo with their consciousness completely on shut down,
'Most of these souls are too powerful for me'
Xiao thought, while soul devoured is indeed a broken ability it also has its limitations, for one he couldn't swallow a soul too much powerful than him, that would just lead to him being swallowed, there's also the fact that he shouldn't be too greedy with his devouring, at his current level just one soul itself will take a long time for him to completely swallow.
After all, Xiao will be taking in the person's complete understanding, and everything the person knows will belong to him, with his current cultivation Xiao's processing capacity hasn't reached a level where he could take in all those understandings in a short time,
'Let's see, I guess I will take one for the World Spirit path'
Xiao raised his hand as he felt through all the souls spread around, here he felt at home, the place he is, is the dark limbo of souls, the place where all dead souls will first lay before they either enter the cycle of rebirth or be taken by the underworld were depending on their chosen karma they will enter one of the underworlds of the 21 lords.
Xiao's mind started to feel all the souls spread around, most of them seemed to be more powerful than him, hence he kept looking, it was only after an hour of searching did Xiao finally find a perfect soul for him, though he couldn't really tell the time, as time isn't an actual concept here and if Time even tried to put its concepts here Death would definitely kick its ass if Time even has one.
Thanks to his gift of soul reader Xiao's able to tell a lot about a soul with just one glance and being who he is, his control and power would almost reach omniscience when he's in the realm of death, being the prince of Death has its one or two perks,
'A World Spirit Transformation spirit master at its peak, one purely focused on the path of World Spirit masters'
Thinking till here Xiao's eyes flashed with amusement, everyone believes that in death all secrets shall be buried because its the best guarantee but in his case, it will be his nourishment and growth, the souls he takes will have several techniques and hidden moves which would be swallowed up by him.
His enemies even after death would be contributing to the growth of his power. Xiao took up the soul, it was a small wisp, unlike all the colorful souls floating around him, the soul in his hand was colorless, one without any achievements affecting the cosmos as a whole, the soul's like a colorless gas as it floated in his hand.
Slowly moving his finger the soul moved along with him, wrapping into a small colorless stone-like image, and with that Xiao took it up and placed it in his mouth and swallowed, the soul itself being completely destroyed and its main essence entering inside Xiao, he made it such that the personality and useless memories were destroyed while only the knowledge he needs is swallowed up by him.
Bit by bit information started to spread to him, each one more complex than the next, while an existence was completely removed from well...existence, did Xiao feel anything at this? if he was being truthful....no.
The person he finished off wasn't his enemy, maybe he hadn't done anything to deserve something like this but so what? Xiao did what he had to do, if someone more powerful than him does the same to him, then so be it.
By now Xiao had stopped complaining about everything, perhaps at first he cried at the injustice he was facing but later on he came to live with it and move on, the powerful can do anything they want when they are in in the advantageous position, he took it as a fact and went along because Xiao knew that when he reaches such a power he would do the same,
'This is harder than I thought
Xiao grunted as he felt the enormous amount of information for him to swallow up, his whole being was engulfed by it as his soul tried to assimilate all the information it was taking it as it slowly got stronger. Xiao's mind fell into a trance, his body disappeared from the limbo and soon appeared back at his body.
A forced ripple spread out from his body as a blue light blasted out, information and understanding of the spirit realm filled Xiao, making his connection to it stronger, and a wider and humongous amount of spirit energy started to flow into him, causing his whole body to shudder, mystic blue light shined all around.
Li Lun who was concentrating was brought out of her thought as she turned to look at Xiao, her eyes widening at what she was seeing. She's no longer any lowly girl from the lower heavens, her mind is already fitted with several pieces of information letting her know what's taking place in front of her, this only caused her eyes to narrow as she felt Xiao moving too far away from her.
Li Lun turned around her eyes towards the birds in the sky, while her fighting spirit only rose higher and higher.
A Week Later:
"Just one more to go"
Xiao said as he looked at the arrow hitting the bird with calculated movements, its life being snuffed out as it turned to silver particles floating around, by now the skies already shinning with such particles, during this week Li Lun's growth in the bow was phenomenal, her frightening talents blooming forth.
She stood at the edge of the cliff, her small frame looking like an act of defiance against the huge abyss that faced her, her back straight, while she held onto her bow, it was stretched forth with a black colored arrow placed on it, Li Lun looked to be in tune with the world as her focus lay entirely on the one last bird flashing above the endless glittering of silver.
Each of her shots was getting more ridiculous than the next, even in the present scenario just one shot itself takes a lot of planning to accomplish, she had to feel the location where the void rift has to open, take into account the reaction of the bird and its natural movements, she would also have to calculate the win blowing from the bottom of the cliff, its heavy hits enough to make a small change in the trajectory of her arrow, making her miss.
It's mind-blowing to think that she reached such a level of her archery in just a week of practice,
"Huff....."
A deep breath left her mouth as she focused on the last bird flickering above in the sky, unlike its counterparts this one is smaller but what it lacked in size it made up in superior speed and movement, it also possess some sort of radar that seemed to alert it when danger was nigh,
'I am the void....'
A certain mantra filled Li Lun's mind as her whole focus spread to the world around her, feeling the gaps of space where she could connect with the void realm present, her eye in the middle opened up, its eerie darkness with the symbol on it lighting up and for Li Lun the world looked different, everything turned white while she felt several grey cracks across the reality she stood,
'Pull each cord as if it's my last'
She prepared herself as she recognized all the space break points to void, just one pull from the major ones and she will detribalize the whole space, bringing the destruction of the void to reality, slowly with expert movements Li Lun's void eye started to pull at the small cracks, wrapping it up in her control, while her mind started to feel fuzzy.
In normal circumstances, she's only able to control 2 of those cracks, yet now she was extending her control as she tried to master at least 10 different cracks! extreme mental pressure pushed into her mind, two lines of blood floating from her nose, touching her lips in the 'real' world yet she took in the pain, fighting through it as she tried her best to connect with all the 10 cracks.
Slowly but surely her control over the cracks started to get better, and so did the pain wrecking her mind, she bit her lips, holding in the pain filling her mind, she knew she had to take the risks, she wouldn't be left behind by Xiao, not after finally gaining a way to walk beside him,
'Connect!'
Li Lun's eyes were bloodshot, thankfully, in the end, her patience was gifted as she finally connected with the 10 grey cracks, a smile lighting up her face as her focus returned back to reality, her eyes looked at the bird's movement and just when everything was right she left the arrow go aiming forward, not towards the sky where the bird flew.
But that was more than enough for Li Lun, as a smile of victory has already graced her face. The arrow trudged forward only for a void rift to open in the front of its path taking it along, the next moment the bird in the sky trembled as if it felt danger and under its intelligent eyes about 10 different void rifts opened around it!
All the rifts were arranged in a perfect manner entrapping the small bird in a cage like an attack. Soon the arrow appeared from one but the bird dodged it in the nick of time, causing the arrow to enter another rift and be launched back again, this time to it missed causing it to enter another rift and bounce back, no matter what the bird did the arrow kept coming back and a single moment of error was enough to take the birds life,
"That's pretty brutal torturing the bird"
Xiao said as he walked up to Li Lun, she could have ended the bird in a much easier manner yet she took the harder path,
Best
"Well it deserves it, I went through a lot of difficulties just because of the small one"
Li Lun said remembering all the time that little one had intervened in her shot, causing her to make much more difficult shots to just take down a normal flickering bird, she didn't say anything else as Li Lun leaned onto Xiao who now stood beside her, Li Lun's face turned serene as she felt the warm embrace, slowly her void eye closed, while Austin with care wiped out the blood on her nose.
Feeling her state he used a certain World control that healed her body and helped her mind relax, these days had truly brought them a bit closer, it was just time spending training with each other and the 7 days felt short yet long, it was just the two of them trying to get better and stronger.
After Li Lun had gotten better the two of them had even sparred a bit, of course, Xiao won every time but it did help Li Lun to develop her power better, she also got to understand that she needed to keep giving her best if she wanted to stand Xiao, while the person in question got a nice opportunity to try out some of the understanding he got from the soul that he swallowed, he hadn't taken in the soul completely but he was getting close,
"Looks like it's done"
He said holding Li Lun in a light embrace and just as he finished speaking the cry of a dead bird was heard as the dark arrow completely served and ripped the small bird, its body turning into the biggest sparkle in the sky,
"Guess you really hate that bird"
Xiao said,
"I do"
Li Lun agreed and as such they stood like that in the same position for some seconds, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the sky as it lit with sparkles, making a breathtaking beauty, of course, the ego voice of the tower should have spoken just after the defeat but with Mia at his hands, he could delay it a bit, hence few more seconds went by after which the emotionless voice was heard,
"The third trial has been completed...."
"Scanning the situation to distribute the reward..."
"Scanning completed..."
"Achievement completion rate, Li Lun: 100%, and Xiao: 0%"
"Rewards shall be distributed based on contributions..."
'Looks like I won't be getting anything'
Xiao thought as a white light only entered inside Li Lun, leaving him empty, though he didn't mind, for he truly didn't do anything,
"Make a choice....."
"Continue or leave....."
"Leave"
The two of them spoke at the same time and once again their bodies were whisked off.