- — ☯ — -

Not long after, his soul was involuntarily pulled from afar. He found himself anchored amidst a large ritual circle representing the Great Wheel of Reincarnation. It was where the inner disciples of the temple settled their ‘funerals’.

A group of monks sat around the circle and incanted the great deeds of Muchen Feng as he was set to depart. This particular record was somewhat lacking for a disciple, as he had done far too little for their cause.

Yet, he was accepted as a brother nonetheless. Such was their way. Some were great warriors, others scholars of the path, whereas he simply contributed with a few billion yuan. Heh.

“—in his final moments, he staved off catastrophe, saving a city of mortals from imminent death. May our brother’s deeds serve as a lesson for all to come.”

As his mentor’s words drew to a close, a few quizzical glances were shot at the anchored soul. Some with mirth, others with more compassion. Either way, few could sympathize with his folly. Well, not that it mattered to him.

Muchen Feng didn’t care in the least about their opinions, neither when he sacrificed himself nor whether they scolded him in their records. He had already steeled his determination to undo it all from the start.

He would do something completely revolutionary. By going back in the past to relive his old life, he would thwart the undead’s uprising and also finish what he started. Thereafter, he’d accompany his wife to their hundredth year anniversary, living a blissful and accomplished long life.

The ritual flickered with a silver brilliance as the disciples united their chants to cleanse his soul and help it pass onward. Normally, this would be completed in an instant, and the soul would settle within the Samsara wheel for a few decades or centuries, before unknowingly reincarnating into a newborn life.

Muchen had no plans for final death, however. As the ritual activated, he drew power from his very soul and in a single burst invested all of his will into a time reversal trigger, seeking to undermine the circle and re-purpose it to travel into the past, rather than reincarnate into the future.

The sudden change was much too sudden even for his mentor to notice in time, and the ritual circle spun out of control immediately. Hijacking their vast power, he swayed the ritual’s vector with relative ease.

“Muchen! What are you—” before his master could even berate him, a vortex formed and sought to draw in the anchored soul.

“Forgive me, master. I bear too much regret to pass on. This disciple is unfilial, but I will make it up to you soon.”

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Muchen flashed towards the vortex, knowing success was within reach.

Yet, just as half of his ephemeral body made it through the narrow channel, a wrinkled old hand appeared from the vortex and everything stopped.

The soul lay frozen in the middle of the passage along with the dozen disciples who still had their hands raised for the paused chant.

An old man stepped out of the time void, dressed in a creased white tuxedo. The odd suit contrasted his aged brown skin that may as well have been mistaken for millennia old tree bark.

“What is it you think you are doing, magi?” he asked with a solemn, yet strangely gentle tone.

“A Karmic Enforcer!” At the sight of this apparition, Muchen’s mentor shouted in panic and without any of the grace befitting his status.

If it weren’t for the fact that this creature was one of the oldest and most infamous karmic spirits, one would mistake him for a dying old man. Alas, he was practically invincible in his domain, and few ever managed to disobey his orders and live.

“I must say, in all my eons of existence — this has got to be the most blatant and foolish mistake I have come to witness.”

The man continued to speak calmly, his tone devoid of any aggressiveness. Yet even so, everyone felt as if their life could end at any moment. Or rather, the man was capable of ending their life in the ‘past’, before they could even acknowledge they perished.

This terrifying existence was the true sovereign of time. Yet, unlike the magi who suffered the whims of Kismet, he was unfettered by Karma. On the contrary, he represented it. A spirit born for the sole purpose of preventing egregious misuses of The Wheel of Ages — Time.

It didn’t bode well for the group to be caught in the flagrant act, and they had all but surrendered themselves to their fate.

“Please show leniency! My disciple is foolish and didn’t know the weight of his action.”

The old master bowed deeply as he sought mercy without shame. For all his power, he felt terror in front of the unassuming spirit. The others couldn’t even move nor speak in his presence, not that they would dare if they could.

Yet, just as the saying goes that the newborn calves are unafraid of tigers, Muchen didn’t know nor care about the man’s identity. His determination was steeled long ago, and he would go even against his mentor to pursue his wish, not to mention a stranger.

A flickering white light burst from the vortex in that instant, as Muchen’s soul burned with renewed vigor and fled!

A blinding radiance dazed everyone’s spirit, and by the time they reacted, the vortex spun once more. Muchen’s soul flashed forward, unwilling to be constrained a second longer.

“Fool.” It commented blandly.

The spirit reached out a hand and lay it on the back of the soul as it sought passage. It was a gentle tap. Yet, that insignificant touch set about a domino effect across the river of time.

It seemed as though the essence of Muchen’s soul was aging and flowing out into nothingness. His brilliant spirit dimmed immediately, while his memories and will were being eroded by chaos with each passing second.

Muchen’s soul shrieked in pain like a tormented wraith. He felt his past being erased, a fragment at a time. He knew true death was upon him, and that this time it was permanent. Even his right to reincarnate would be stripped of him if his soul was consumed, not to mention accomplishing any of his dreams.

“Old Wrinkle, don’t you dare!”

It was in that moment that his mentor showed weakness. For once, his emotions lashed out freely and he burst with immense power, stunning the entire temple.

The spirit was also dazed for a moment, and in that instant Muchen broke his confines and made it through.

The vortex disappeared.