Touching the Jade on the left, an influx of information entered Cain's mind.

"Heavenly Body Technique.....it can reach the Fusion stage?! T-This is what I needed!"

(Zhao Long truly held heavenly fate. He was to inherit two powerful cultivators inheritances of both paths. He would have become a legend.)

The voice was filled with pity, making Cain unconsciously frown.

Cain decided to immerse himself in reading the technique.

"The Heavenly Body Technique is a boundless technique that doesn't have any restrictions on which type of mystical beings are used or in which order! You can simply find spirits and harness them with no restrictions!"

(What? What type of technique is this? Not even the heavens should allow this!)

"Wait, that's not all. The jade says that the downsides are extreme. The mystical beings have to be of the high tiers or else the cultivator will be weaker than those in their same stage, and other cultivators who also use high-tier mystical beings will always be stronger than a cultivator of this technique, however, what it lacks in power can be made up in versatility. But there's another downside...." Cain's voice became quiet.

(I don't like how you lowered your voice. Is the downside that great?)

"Kind of....to cultivate it, we need to use heavenly energy and dilute it in our Dantian to refine our body. It's what allows us to contain whatever we wish. Only, the jade says heavenly energy is extremely rare."

Cain went on to explain, "What's in the corpse's right hand is a heavenly jade, but it only has enough energy to get us to the Peak of the founding stage...we would need to look for more heavenly energy..."

(Interesting....so it's a resource-heavy technique, but the benefits are worth it...)

The voice chuckled. (Don't worry, we'll find heavenly energy one way or another. I imagine we can do something similar to what the demons do or find spiritual treasures with heavenly energy inside them. It shouldn't be too hard.)

Cain paused for a while, in the end, he bowed to the dead Master and took the heavenly jade.

'He didn't even leave who he was in the jade. I'm curious how he ended up dying here....'

Cain took the 9 Lock Master's exit and returned to the hideout where he left and went back to Origin Mountain just in the nick of time.

"Ah, Cain I was looking for you. Tomorrow we will have our next lesson. Have you decided if you wish to follow my technique?"

Fang Yuan descended from the sky and smiled while he stood before his Disciple.

"Master, I have found a technique to cultivate."

Fang Yuan's smile widened.

'So my student is going to forge his own path. How good!'

He didn't even realize the bundle of cloth outlining a sword in his disciple's hand. "Great! Do you mind if I see it?"

Cain thought for a moment, deep in thought. Eventually, he took out the jade.

"Here you go, Master."

As soon as Fang Yuan touched the jade his body shook. The information went straight to his mind and awe could be the only word to describe his his facial expression.

"This...this is amazing! you found such a good technique. I won't ask but you must understand how amazing this is right!"

"Disciple knows."

"..."

Fang Yuan became serious as he studied the jade.

"I'll look into this "Heavenly Energy". Tomorrow I'll give you a gift. It will be the day you enter the Founding Stage." Fang Yuan chuckled and ruffled Cain's hair as he gave back the jade.

His actions caused Cain to realize how kind his master was...and how short he was compared to him.

...

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The next day rolled around and Cain sat seriously on the mountain Peak with his master beside him.

"Since you have your technique, I will not give you my own. What I will do, however, is set you on your course, becoming a full-fledged cultivator. I will give you your first Mystical being as well as pass down my sword art."

"Master...." Cain was filled with emotion.

Fang Yuan gestured for silence, "Say nothing. Just let me show you first."

Behind his back, Fang Yuan brought out an orb of rotating spiritual qi. He directed the qi to Cain who held it in his hands, slowly unraveling the qi.

In the qi, was a small blue light in the shape of the sword. But what was most important was the sword's detail and depth, it almost looked like a real sword, one that made the qi around it shudder.

"This...."

"It's an 8th Tier Sword Spirit, I've had it prepared for a long time." The smile on Fang Yuan's face could melt 1,000-year-old ice. It was a smile of warmth and love.

It was so overwhelming tears started to roll down Cain's cheeks. He tried to hold them back, but he couldn't.

He didn't understand it, he couldn't understand why Fang Yuan would go this far. Cain then realized he couldn't understand a lot of things.

He couldn't help but cry, he couldn't help but become confused.

"Master....why....why do this for me, am I...am I not a demon...."

Fang Yuan took no time to sit beside his student.

"Now why do you think that? You are not a demon, don't listen to Grand Elder Moon. There may be such a being inside you but that doesn't make you a demon."

Cain went to rub his eyes, he could feel something swelling inside him but Fang Yuan's hand glowed and the dark feeling was forced back down.

"Now, my Disciple. What do you want, what do you truly want right now." Fang Yuan's kind smile appeared again, it was like a beacon for Cain in his distress.

His words caused Cain's mind to click. Clarity filled his head as thoughts spun and connected the dots.

Cain knew his situation, he knew he was being controlled, he knew how weak and pitiful his life was, being a pawn to his own self.

The dam-stopping Cain's tears broke. All of the emotions he had stored away were broken. Never in his life has he been given such unwarranted care, not even from John or Luna, not even from himself.

He had been beaten down, used, and used again. He once had the chance to escape this fate but his other self ruined it and took over at the climax. Cain had been stopped time and again from achieving his goals. He was just like the Dream Lord, he was fated to be trapped and used by something he hated.

'No more.....no more....'

His tears became instilled with qi, his emotions were pushing a gate long sealed. Before only slivers could be seen, but now, that young and ignorant child would break free once again. Cain had never been malicious or hateful, he was scared and alone.

The boy's memories were split with another being. His memories didn't even stack up to 20 years. Almost all of them during some point, were mysteriously taken.

So now, all that was left was a young boy confused and estranged. Believing things he had no memory of, thinking he knew knowledge that was in reality, shadows meant to trick him.

Cain clutched his head as his tears became rivers. 'Why do I feel like everything is against me!'

He was a template, just like before when he first entered Netherane. Only this time, there was someone there to stop his dark descent. There was someone unaffected by the world, someone who simply didn't care and wanted what was best no matter the obstacles.

Cain didn't know how such a person could exist, or how he was so lucky to become his disciple, but it didn't matter.

If it was only a slim chance, he would take it, if it was almost impossible he would attempt it. He didn't want to remain in this dark place, he didn't want to remain a pawn.

Tears flowed and gathered akin to an ocean as Fang Yuan smiled and let his Disciple get it all out.

"I..sniff...I want him to leave! I don't like him, I want it gone! I don't want to listen to it, I want to be free from him!"

Fang Yuan continued to smile as he patted his disciple's hand.

"Then I will grant your wish. I will scour the 7 Provinces and look for a way to expunge this demon of yours. You won't have to listen to it, you will no longer be forced against your will."

"What...you can't remove it? But...it knows now...It's going to hurt me!" Cain's expectations weren't met.

His mind became a mess. The delusion of his memories had reduced his mind to a childlike state temporarily.

Even still, Fang Yuan continued to smile.

"Silly apprentice, with me here...."

Cain watched his master's eyes become cold and sharp, an invisible pressure pressed down on the whole mountain peak.

"That demon won't dare touch you!"

...

In a realm of blood and war, a dark-haired man sat on a throne of fresh bodies surrounded by a turtle and 3 other spirits.

"Hah, I can't do anything for now. I'll have to hope my current preparations were enough. Who would have thought such a person existed, how could the world give birth to such unwarranted kindness!?"

This more sinister Cain was disgusted with what he saw. The sea of blood and bones boiled as the spirits and even some red figures in the distance quivered.

"I shouldn't have taken so many memories. Now I might have ruined my plans...but I should have expected this, when rewriting someone they can be rewritten by others as well. My hope of becoming whole again has reduced.....I should start looking into the other backup plans while I wait...."

Cain became deep in thought as the mindscape settled and all beings became calm once again.

...

On a mountain peak, Dai Tian gazed off in the distance, towards Origin Mountain.

In the sky above the mountain, he could see a sinister pillar regress and become smaller.

"Good, that boy's fate has shifted. Now he has a good chance of breaking free from the thing lingering in his body."

The Elder stepped into the air and left.

"I just hope you succeed, and let my Immortal Sect soar, then....finally...we might be able to save ourselves from our fate."

Dai Tian looked up, directly above the world, blue fate energy converged in the appearance of a screen. The screen projected an ominous and foreboding event that would lead to catastrophe.

"The ancient records said when the 3000 Worlds lost, the universe would come under a single being. After that time, all beings unknowingly became that being's slaves. I felt long ago, that this place wasn't our home, I would leave to see outside the 7 Provinces but the fate energy keeps stopping me..."

The elder became determined. "I must look for the fragment of the Great Dao!"