Standing in the desert, I gazed at the colossal tree adorned with mossy rock formations resembling a gigantic elephant, its grandeur contrasting with the lifeless expanse of the desert. The oasis in the center provided a glimmer of life in this desolation.
I let out a light sigh as I looked at the familiar surroundings, "This dream again..."
Looking around at my surroundings, I noticed a man standing by the colossal tree. He appeared to be in his early twenties, with long ink-black hair and heterochromatic eyes that shone like precious jewels. What struck me as most peculiar, however, was the uncanny resemblance of his face to my own.
'So, it was another memory fragment... But why is it so much clearer this time?'
I pondered this matter for a moment, but before I could draw any conclusions, the "other" me began to move. He approached the tree and placed his hands upon its trunk, closing his eyes in concentration.
"Huu..." My other self let out a breath with closed eyes as he seemed to focus on something.
*Szzt...
Golden threads radiated from his body, extending toward the colossal tree. They slithered over it like snakes, weaving a complex web that covered its entire form. Some threads split apart, reaching out to the elephantine rock and the surrounding vegetation.
A few of these golden threads even seemed to head in my direction. However, as they reached me, they simply passed through my ethereal form.
Soon, the entire landscape was interlaced with these golden threads, connecting various points in the world. Some extended to faraway places, disappearing into the distant horizons.
*Bzzt!!
In an instant, the golden threads transformed into tiny motes of light. They rushed toward my other self's body, penetrating him as he abruptly opened his eyes, a golden radiance now present in those odd-colored irises.
'Karmic ties insight!' It was a technique that I had some familiarity with, yet it felt so... unfamiliar now.
Before I knew it, the scenery before me transformed and shifted, and I found myself in an entirely new and unknown location.
...
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...
It was a vast grassland, with trees scattered across the landscape and as the sun began to set, it painted the sky in shades of red.
"Urk...!" A sudden sound caught my attention, and I turned to find a woman standing nearby. She wore tattered green robes, and most of her features appeared blurry and unclear, like an old, damaged photograph. However, I could still see a trail of red liquid seeping from her mouth.
'Those blemishes covering her body, rotten and wrinkled blemishes... that's quite the poison...'
I turned my gaze to see distant streaks of light in the skies rushing toward the woman, while she glanced to the side at a gigantic elephant-like creature made from entwined roots, its crumbling form covered in wilted moss.
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"Tch!" She clicked her tongue in annoyance as she noticed her pursuers had caught up to her. "So, you caught up, huh?" Although I couldn't see her face clearly, it seemed like the woman's expression contorted into a frown.
The group of newcomers was led by a man with green hair, and he was accompanied by various women, some of whom exuded an immortal aura. However, despite being able to tell their cultivation base I couldn't tell much about their appearances.
"Mo Suyin, cease your actions and put an end to your futile efforts!" The leader spoke with arrogance, blatantly looking down upon Mo Suyin. (He seemed like an asshole.)
'Mo Suyin...!' My eyes widened in surprise as I heard her name, even though I already knew that she had died in that future, however... to see it myself was a completely different matter.
As I began to grow anxious over the scene before me, Mo Suyin glared at her pursuers. However, she paid the leading man no heed and instead directed her anger at one of the women following him, her voice filled with subdued anger, "You treacherous bitch!"
'This...,' I followed Mo Suyin's gaze toward the woman she was glaring at, 'She must be...'
"███ ██████!" However, Mo Suyin's next words were incomprehensible screeches that rang out in my head, causing me to clutch it in pain.
The woman Mo Suyin had called out to twitched and looked down towards the ground, traces of guilt apparent in her blurry expression.
"Hmph! Sophistry!" The man from earlier stepped forward as if shielding the women from Mo Suyin.
"Ha!" Mo Suyin sneered at them. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. I'll have you all die here today!"
The man sneered back, "And how would you, in that pathetic state of yours, achieve it?" He looked at Mo Suyin, who was covered in blood, with contempt.
By the time I overcame the searing pain in my head, a bright emerald shout out of Mo Suyin's body,
'No... This!' I realized what the nature of that light was, the entire surroundings were drowned in that light,
...
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...
Returning to the desert I once again saw my other self, "To die in such a way..." He spoke in a calm voice as I just stood still behind him, not moving at all, looking down at my ghostly translucent hands.
"How foolish."
Hearing those words, my gaze snapped towards the other me, wondering how he could say something like that, especially after...
"Y█n Xi██ng..." His next words grew indistinct as our surroundings warped. As I turned to look around, the world had lost all its color.
All that remained was a desolate world devoid of color as if someone had drained the life and vibrancy from the world.
"You..." An eerily familiar voice emanated from behind me.
"You!" I turned to confront the owner of that voice, gasping as I beheld the man in white robes. His hair was as dark as ink, his skin as pale as jade, and his eyes seemed to hold the darkness of the entire world within them.
"Urk!" Before I could react, the man disappeared and reappeared in front of me, his hand closing around my neck, lifting my body from the ground.
"█████ ███ ███," His incomprehensible voice reverberated in my mind as I struggled to maintain consciousness, "██ ████ ███████."
I attempted to curse at him, but my efforts were futile as my body burned and warped, making it nearly impossible to form coherent thoughts.
"████!" As my vision faded, the man threw me aside onto the ground. In my diminishing sight, I could see him clicking his tongue in annoyance, his gaze fixed on those golden "eyes" that covered the desolate skies.
That was the last thing I witnessed as I succumbed to the comforting embrace of darkness.
...
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...
Jianyu stirred in his sleep, slowly emerging from the depths of darkness.
His room was bathed in a soothing atmosphere, with the soft sunlight gently seeping through the curtains. As he groggily opened his eyes, they were met with an unexpected sight— a pair of golden eyes gazing at him from above, just like in his dream.
In his sleepy state, Jianyu reached out toward those eyes without thinking, his fingers extending toward them. However, what he felt beneath his touch was surprising.
"Hyii!!"
The sensation beneath his touch was unexpectedly warm and soft like silk brushing against his skin. His tired mind, however, didn't fully comprehend the peculiarity of the situation or the strange noise he heard as he closed his eyes basking in the warm sensation.
However, the warmth continued to grow, becoming impossible to ignore.
Not being able to ignore it, Jianyu couldn't help but open his eyes once more, and what he saw left him bewildered. The golden eyes belonged to a young woman, and her face was flushed with a deep crimson hue. It was Xiao Xiang, who seemed as if she was about to faint from embarrassment.