The first light had just broke through the horizon when Relic arrived back ontop of the hut on a green hill.
Pascal was inside the hut but was not sleeping on the bed. Her head lied on the table, and there were food underneath a glass cover to keep in the freshness.
His hearts soften at the scene and a smile broke out on his face.
As if she felt his presence, Pascal opened her eyes and turned to see Relic was standing behind her.
“Uncle Astor, how did your……”
Relic suddenly grabbed her and gave her a hug. The two stood there in silence with Pascal in a dazed state. He held onto her tightly, as if he was scared that she would not feel the embrace of his love.
“Pascal, I promise I will always be here for you. Even if the world abandons you, I will always be here.” Tears fell from his eyes.
She did not understand what had caused her uncle to behave like this but his feelings touched her. She felt like these were his true feelings and that he would definitely keep what he said. At this point her heart was entirely warm. Before, because of her family and the way they treated her, she always carried a small blockade around her heart. Now, it was completely gone as her heart now lied completely in Relic’s hands.
“En, thank you uncle.” She nodded
The next morning, Relic told Pascal about the situation regarding the Heavens Sunder manual and the problem it had caused. Having experienced the attack which happened just yesterday, she agreed it was too dangerous for her to continue to teach it and for the citizens to continue to cultivate it.
He flew up into the sky and took out a flute. With everyone unaware, he pressed his lips on the flute and began to play.
The melody coming from the flute was beautiful and divine. The whole town heard it and they all felt like they were in bliss, and everyone, even the wandering cultivators, soon fell into deep slumber.
He then switched over to a different melody. This time, the sound was a bit more elegant and refined. Those affected would have their memories slowly wiped away. The divine sound echoed in their minds and pushed away any thoughts. He played for a few hours which wiped out the memories of those who heard it, by about one month.
When the people of the town woke up, they were all confused and scared. Memories were misplaced; people could not make heads or tails of what had happened. How did this building suddenly appear when it was still in construction? Why did our calendar say it is one month further than what it is supposed to be?
Questions rained from the people of the town and many were initially frightened. However, nothing was drastically different and no one was hurt. This event soon became a phenomenon the citizens of the town accepted and discussed to anyone interested to listen.
There were two people Relic decided to have altered memories. One was the women who lost her son from the cultivator who killed the boy.
He peered into her memories and saw that she was a single mother and was raising her son by herself. After the father left, her world consisted only of her son, and without him, she was nothing.
He then looked at the local orphanage and scanned the orphans. There was a boy. His parents abandoned him when he was a toddler, but he did not carry any hate in his heart. He wanted to be loved but he also loved others more.
He saw that these two were in a place where they needed another. He did not erase the memory of her first son and she would remember that he was killed by a cultivator. But, he altered her memory so that there was now a second son. This son was loved by his mom and was obedient but shy. She had adopted him merely a year ago from the orphanage.
To the boy, he altered his memory in which he was adopted by a loving mother. He had a brother that was tragically struck by a cultivator. Although he was sad, he had to stay strong for his now grieving mother.
The dazed mother and son woke and cried in each other arms.
“Dominic, why did fate allow you to be killed!” tears cried out of her eyes. Her wails were heard by many and quickly she gained looks of sympathy.
“Mother don’t cry, I’m still here.” A little boy grabbed his mother’s hand and held it tight. Although there were tears in his eyes he showed a strong front.
“David, my son, I hope you will be strong someday. Strong enough so that you will never be bullied by others.”
“Don’t worry mother, I will work hard to be a cultivator someday, and then I will give you the best life possible!”
The two cried in each others arms. But in their hearts the process of healing had already begun.
Pascal saw the scene and tears welled up In her eyes. Only now did she realize how truly powerful this uncle of hers was.
“Let’s go, let us not bother these people anymore.” He gestured for her to leave
Three years passed and the town had long recovered from this event. Luckily, no other sect was able to get a hold of any information regarding the Heavens sunder sect’s technique, so there were no more trouble after Relic had erased everyone’s mind. The two returned to their blissful days of routine.
...
Today, Relic was a bit more anxious than normal. That was because today was the day Pascal would break through to the Spirit realm.
Energy undulations were pulsating around Pascal.
Boom
An explosive sound could be heard from her body..
“I did it, I broke through!”
“Mn, congratulations.”
“En, Thanks!”
“Will she become an older version of herself when she next wakes up?” He was anxious and a bit fearful.
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With every new break through, she became closer to her original self.
“Will master accept me as I’m now?”
“Uncle, I’m a bit tired, I think I will go to sleep now.”
He snapped out of his daze
“Alright, Good night.” He waved her good night.
The time passed the same as usual and Relic waited for the 3 days until she would wake up.
On the third day she finally awoke.
Their eyes met instantly and without any notice, her body leapt forth as she hugged around Relic's neck.
He stood there, stunned. Was this reunion really that impactful to her? The thought crossed his mind. However, it did not deter him from returning the hug.
“Welcome Back, Pascal”
“Uncle, I want to live here with you forever!”
“Wha…what are you talking about?”
“I will quit the Thunder Storm Sect and live here with you.”
“What about your friends and family? I should have told you this before, but it is not so easy to come here you know. The protection of the powerful cultivator prohibits those at the golden world realm from entering into this town you know. Your father would not be able to come and see you.” He explained.
She smiled playfully.
“Uncle, I’m a grown women now, you don’t need to lie anymore.”
She performed an incantation gesture and erased the illusion spell which had allowed her to see herself with her own perception. After having broken through to the Spirit realm, she now looked to be that of a middle aged woman. There were still visible signs of aging, but her skin was still tight enough that it there was still buoyancy. There were no more visible liver spots and her scars were also gone. Her body also looked to be of a very healthy woman of that age.
“I must have looked like a granny when I was 5!” She smiled
She focused her energy, and her entire body began to glow. She was visibly getting younger and younger until she looked exactly the same as how she did in the past. She had dark blue hair and perfect hazelnut coloured eyes. Her skin was flawless and her body oozed with the aura of youth.
Relic became shocked and stunned. He tried to speak but no words could escape his mouth.
Seeing the shocked look on Relic’s face, she gave a light chuckle.
“Uncle…..no, Mister Astor, it is nothing to be shocked about.”
When one reaches the Spirit realm, their life span extends to around 300 years. Along with a long longevity, they are also able to manually adjust their appearance. It would not be hard for a fully grown man to look like that of a small child boy.
What confused Relic was not that she was able to do such things, but how did she know that he was lying.
“You know, when I remember my life back in the Thunder Storm Sect, I realize that a huge chunk of my memories were gone. I could only remember the time after I advanced and broke through to the Spirit realm. People were congratulating me on reaching the Spirit Realm, but I had already broke through when I was 19. How could that be, I wondered. Now, that I’ve woken up, I realized there was something incredibly weird since the time I first came here.”
Relic stumbled onto a chair, unsure of what to do.
She continued, “When I was 5 people treated me like an old granny, at age 15 people could not help but praise me on looking younger. That is very strange in of itself. There is also the fact that everyone ages so slowly despite there being a supposed 11 year gap between my 5 year old self and my 15 year old self. There is no time formation here is there, mister Astor? And the extreme expert that lives here, it is only you, right?”
Relic sighed. “Yes, you are correct.”
“Great, now that the lies are out of the way, I want to know, what happened to me? I can tell, my age should already be passed the century mark.”
“You… I-I can’t say.” Relic trembled at the question. Could he tell her what she had gone through? No, he couldn’t! The women standing across from him had yet to be tainted. She was smart, but no one could relax upon hearing a horrific past as bad as hers.
Seeing the troubled look on Relic's face, she decided to give up on the question.
“Never mind, it doesn’t matter.” She walked towards Relic and slowly got close him until they were only a hair apart. Her lips parted seductively.
“Do you remember when I was ‘16’, you told me you will always be there for me even if the world abandoned me. Was what you said true?”
“O-Of course!” His mind was beginning to break down.
“What happened to master?! This couldn’t be her real personality, right?” Even when he was with her during her younger days, he never witnessed this side of her.
It was as if an entirely new personality had completely taken over. In truth, this was indeed her real personality which no one had ever seen before. The years of verbal abuse she received from her father and sister had barred her heart which made her a cold and quiet woman. However, ever since this ‘uncle’ of hers, entered her life, those bars were completely lifted and she was free to exhibit whatever she felt.
“Then, there is no reason for you this deny my request. I will stay here with you from now on!”
“Yes, but…”
“I know every time I break through a realm, more memories resurface. I will eventually know the truth of what happened to me and the Thunder Storm Sect. Heck, I'm not even sure if the Sect is still around! But, as long as I’m with you, it doesn’t matter what my past reveals.” She smiled
“Master….” He muttered to himself.
The Person in front of him was vastly different to the person he remembered. She was now a bright star brimming with confidence and happiness. As oppose to the cold and lonely women of the past. Even when he was with her in the past, she never truly opened up to him, so he only got to know a small side of her then.
“You have taken care of me when no one else did, thank you.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek before moving away.
His heart pounded loudly and his face grew a little red.
Cough...Cough...
“You’re welcome….. You are probably hungry, let’s eat.”
He immediately set out several dishes of food. The fragrance dispersed the awkward tension he felt and they both sat down to eat.
He scooped out some rice into their usual bowl and handed it to her which she accepted with a smile.
“Maybe this is for the best.” He sighed to himself.
As he picked up some of the food he could feel an intense stare looking at him. It was obviously coming from Pascal who was solely focused at looking at his face.
“Uh, what is the matter, Pascal?”
“You know, recently, or to say, a long time ago, I picked up a young child and took him in as a disciple.”
It was at this point Relic began to sweat internally and outwardly as well.
“Is that so…?” he tried to reply calmly.
“In a way, you and he look quite similar.”
“Ah, well, there are only so many ways a person can look. I’m sure it isn’t too hard to find a person who looks like yourself if you really searched.” He laughed awkwardly.
She held her chopsticks to the side and dropped it on the floor.
“Oh dear, mister Astor, do you mind picking up my chopsticks.”
“Haha, Pascal, you are so close to them yourself. It is not appropriate to ask others to do such things for you.” He said as he scratched his nose.
Her eye suddenly became sharp and solemn. “You dare oppose master’s orders!” she spoke in an aloof manner.
“Disciple does not dare!” He got on the floor and gave a bow.
“Ah….” It was too late.
“So you are my Little Relic.” She dived towards him and gave him a big hug.
Her now supple breasts pressed against his face.
His face was red as a rose.
“M-master…..”
“Ah, who would have known I picked up such a good disciple back then. Truly, a blessing from the heavens!”
The reason she had not immediately asked who he was, was because she had already guessed his identity when she woke up.
That little boy back then and the young handsome man standing before her. How could she not have guessed?
“Master does not know the misfortune that befallen her, but knowing that disciple had not giving up on me has already made me extremely proud! You are so strong now too!”
Those words shook his soul. Those words were the only thing he ever wanted to hear. At this moment, tears welled up and for the first time in over 70 years. Tears flowed down from his eyes. The pain and suffering he had gone through, made it all now worth it.
“Let it out, little disciple, master is here.” It was as if a mother was comforting her child.
After everything calmed down, she did not ask about what happened to her. Instead, she asked about him and about his adventures. Although she heard them as a child and teenager, she now wanted to hear it fully and not just the interesting parts.
Of course he excluded the part where she abandoned him and only said that he was involved in an accident which forced him to go out adventuring. The two chatted and laughed through the night.
When it was time for the two to sleep, she suggested that they should just sleep in the same bed. They were now both adults, nothing was going to happen unless they wanted to.
Relic, of course, refused and was not comfortable to even sleep next to her anymore. He decided to go outside and meditate through the night.