"So... you've arrived..."

A cold emotionless voice laced with hidden intent.

Eyes that lacked any warmth, assessing the worth of all they gazed upon.

A mind that calculated his every action and words that held multiple meanings.

Being in his presence evoked a deep sense of insecurity, as if one's very soul lay exposed, subject to the scrutiny of his amethyst eyes.

This was how Yin Xifeng remembered Jianyu to be in her previous life.

...

"Do have a seat, Xifeng." The emotionless voice startled Xifeng, "A-ah, Yes."

While the voice wasn't exactly cold or unwelcoming, however, it was still a far cry from the warm welcome she had grown accustomed to.

Seating herself in front of her fiance, Xifeng nervously stole glances at his face, which to her dismay was completely void of any emotions.

"Well then, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

His words were unadorned, skipping all pleasantries, as if her very presence was of no interest to him. It struck a chord in Xifeng, leaving her with a knot in her heart and caused her to grow even more panicked.

"I-I... Grandpa told me that you had suffered from some injuries, s-so, I thought I should visit you..."

Xifeng stammered, attempting to put on a bright smile to mask her anxiety. However, Jianyu didn't overlook the shift in her expression and demeanor.

"I am doing fine. So, I think there's no need for you to worry about it anymore."

"Is that so..."

Xifeng replied in a dejected manner, and a heavy silence settled in the atmosphere.

"Xifeng." At the call of her name, Xifeng's body tensed, and she looked towards Jianyu, desperately trying to maintain her smile.

"Yes."

"Xifeng...", Jianyu asked with a slight frown, "Do you have something you wish to tell me?"

Xifeng's heart raced, her breath grew shallow, and beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

"J-jianyu, What d-do you mean by–"

"Xifeng," Jianyu's stern voice echoed through the room, silencing Xifeng, who now noticed the deep frown on his face.

"As I have certain matters to look after currently, I'm afraid I must ask you to take your leave."

Xifeng wanted to say something, anything, however, before she could say anything...

"Lei Qiang, please escort Miss Xifeng toward the exit."

Yin Xifeng's world went blank. All the hopes and dreams she had nurtured until now began to crumble apart in an instant. Her heart grew clouded with a torrent of emotions that drove her to her limits...

...

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...

Back in her room, Xifeng's mind spiraled into a frenzy.

"Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?"

In the midst of her muddled emotions, Yin Xifeng muttered in a desperate tone, her words growing louder and more frantic with each repetition.

"Why?!!"

Unable to bear the weight of her emotions any longer, Yin Xifeng grabbed onto a jade vase and hurled it across the room. It collided with a shelf, causing various decorative items to fall and shatter on the floor while an aura of flames danced around her.

All these years... she had worked tirelessly to avoid a repetition of her past mistakes. She had spent her every waking moment in an constant state of fear, fear of that horrid future... Yet why...

"Just why..." Yin Xifeng's eyes grew moist as the flames around her died out, Her sobs grew louder, echoing off the walls, as she fell to her knees amidst the debris.

She felt like everything was collapsing, the life she had yearned for and had lived through all that fear for, began to crumble apart... just like that...

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

Tears streamed down her face, her vision blurred, and her breath turned to ragged gasps. She clutched at her chest, desperately seeking a semblance of calm within this storm of emotions. But unfortunately, for her there was no respite, and the overwhelming stress caused her to lose consciousness.

...

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

...

Alone in his room, Jianyu's grip on his chest tightened as he gritted his teeth in pain. A piercing headache and a searing pain made him feel as though his body was burning from the inside, while his qi grew increasingly chaotic.

It all began when he saw Xifeng, and with each passing moment he spent with her, the torment deepened.

In an effort to quell the agony and regain some semblance of composure, Jianyu began to piece together his fragmented memories and draw conclusions.

First and foremost, Jianyu recognized that his inner-devil tribulation had been highly irregular, and the heavens were undoubtedly to blame for it. As for how was he so sure of this, without consulting anyone else?

As someone who had once held the reins of fate and karma with his own two hands, Jianyu was entirely aware of how his inner-devil tribulation had been triggered. It was nurtured over time, specifically through his every interaction with the Heaven's pawn, Xiao Dong.

Using that fool as a conduit, the heavens had methodically constructed karmic ties with Jianyu, using that to influence his sea of consciousness leading to his recent mental instability, the onset of disturbing nightmares from his past, and the chaotic disruption of his mind and soul.

Furthermore, when Jianyu's mental state reached its lowest point, his core formation tribulation and an inner-devil tribulation had 'mysteriously' begun of their own accord.

The only entity that should have the authority over tribulations was the Heavens themselves, leaving no doubt in Jianyu's mind that they were the root cause of his tribulations.

Moreover, that wasn't the only issue at hand as there was something that weighed over his mind heavily

'Xifeng has memories of the future... I am sure of it.'

Jianyu had been plagued by fragmented dreams of the future, and as his nightmares worsened, these visions became increasingly unsettling. Among them were glimpses of Xifeng "betraying" him and the scene of Mo Suyin's "death".

Before, he didn't have much time to ponder over it and dismissed these memories as part of the Heavens influence, which made sense.

However, thinking back, there were many things that he found odd. From Xifeng's behavior, her demeanor, her calculated approach, as if she knew everything about him. She always maintained a distance that made him feel comfortable.

Yet, what struck him as the most unusual was his own behavior.

He had drawn conclusions about Xifeng far too easily, even resorting to illogical comparisons with character archetypes from works of fiction like novels, something he would never have done as Zhou Tiandi. After all, no matter what the heavens might scheme, he had always been better at scheming than the heavens.

It was as if he had harbored preconceived notions about her from the very beginning.

So he had delved into the extensive information he had previously gathered through Lei Qiang and her subordinates regarding Xifeng. He had initially ignored this data, dismissing it as unimportant or unreliable. Later on, he had refrained from revisiting it, choosing to place trust in Xifeng.

And it all became clear now. From her abrupt shift in personality during childhood to her uncanny ability to plan for the future as if she had prophetic powers, everything pointed out the obvious.

In the past few years, Xifeng had methodically recruited talented individuals, had her subordinates embark on treasure hunts which almost always ended with remarkable success, and took part in various events with an exceptional foresight, almost too exceptional.

Finally, her reaction from today's meeting...

"How foolish I was..."

It had never been in Zhou Tiandi's nature to trust someone, to smile without ulterior motives, or to expose his weakness to others. None of these traits had ever aligned with his character. Yet, he had never noticed the glaring incongruity in his actions.

He hadn't questioned why he felt an unexplainable sense of familiarity toward his family, nor had he delved into the reasons behind his deep affinity for Mo Suyin and Xin Guang, to the point of placing his trust in them without 'ensuring' their loyalty by his 'usual' methods.

It was as if he had known them for a long time.

However, there were still some thing Jianyu didn't understand

'But why does she have such memories? I can explain my memory fragments as me being a rather irregular existence and perhaps having reached Dao realm in the previous timeline... and the same most likely applies to the other dao realm experts who could've felt the ripples in the Sea of TIme.'

Jianyu pondered, his dull eyes regaining some of their original beauty as the voices in his head shrunk back to a slight hum

"I must confirm my doubts as soon as possible and take appropriate measures... as soon as I stabilize my Yin-yang formation..."

However, Jianyu had another doubt in his mind...

'To think her presence would affect me to such a great extent, despite, me using the untethered heart mantra... Even though I only have merely a few hours of memories of the future? Did she somehow become that important to me? Despite, having only known her for less than a decade?'

|Still as naive as ever, aren't you?|

"Urgh!" Jianyu winced as a sharp pang of pain coursed through his head, and his eyes dimmed once more as a voice echoed in his mind, "This damn inner-devil!"

To prevent his Qi from spiraling out of control, Jianyu redirected his focus to the 'Untethered heart mantra,' silencing the intrusive voices once again.

"... I should consult Grandfather about this."

Xin Dongyang as someone who has reached the Dao realm was someone who should be able to help Jianyu,

There were two distinct methods for "time travel", one involving the transfer of a soul or memories from the Sea of time, which then fused with an existing individual in the current timeline. This method was relatively simple and caused fewer disruptions in reality.

The second method, however, was far more complex and nearly impossible to achieve– turning back time, effectively rewinding the entire reality to a previous point, like resetting a save point in a game.

'If it's the latter, then that would explain the memories, but any sane Dao realm expert would eliminate such an anomaly... unless...'

Jianyu's expression grew stern as he considered an even more improbable possibility.

'No... could it be? Did that woman somehow come into possession of a temporal beast?!'