Battles and warfare;
Treasures and discoveries;
Encounters and separations;
Triumphs and tragedies;
Memories floated in Bai Qi's mind as he dwelled deeper and deeper into his own self, or at least who he considered himself to be.
An assassination;
A prepared, untested yet successful escape;
A land of technology;
A land of no qi;
A rainbow-colored sapling;
A journey along the Astral Road currents;
And while he had started it as a way to anchor himself to something, it seemed to be creating a change in this strange world as well.
Strands of purple, coming from the haze that the current Bai Qi considered as himself, extended towards the white cloud, the one that, in truth, should be the authentic Bai Qi.
Not that Bai Qi noticed this change or how his own current purple started mixing and merging with the enormous white cloud.
After all, how could Bai Qi notice anything if he had willingly closed his eyes?
Or what was supposed to be the eyes on a presence.
And voluntarily drove his conscious self into memories?
Memories that were closer and closer from what he considered himself now?
***
At some point, unknown as he could not feel anything about the passage of time, the individual that thought of himself as Bai Qi, at least since awakening in this strange place, his memories altered.
Or, maybe, it should be said that memories that were his but at the same time did not begin surfacing before him?
An average, if not even small, manor, with a representation of seven islands surrounded by a lake representing the sea;
A middle-aged man of middle stature and average build, with a nearly ebony hair and black eyes that were painfully alike to the ones of a young boy standing nearby;
A woman with clear blue eyes that looked like the sky, and an even darker shade of black hair, much like the same boy;
A party, with a young and mortal boy along with the man and woman, his parents;
A journey meant to broaden horizons and studies;
An old, white-haired, mortal man that introduced himself as his uncle and taught the boy who had not even thought of cultivation about politics and economy;
A letter about a tragedy, a massacre;
Another journey, one with the same objectives as before, but also meant to protect the young boy;
A cultivator and envoy, a teacher;
The vast expanses of the grasslands;
A town almost entirely filled with leather and cloth tents, with people dressed in leather robes and tusk-like ornaments on their necks;
Yet another journey. One meant to lead the boy to a place that would change his life but only led to death...
An enormous white cloud, with streaks of purple, extended tendrils of haze, surrounding and absorbing a small, green orb.
***
And then, these memories somehow changed, again, becoming more vivid, or maybe, properly his own?
A journey along the Astral Road currents;
A figure of light;
A dead boy's body;
A revival? A fresh start;
A savior? A lucky encounter;
A place to call home? Training and joining a Sect;
Adventures? Advancement, battles, people to call friends;
Misadventures? Treason, truth, death, wounds, strength, will;
War...
Covering three directions of what was a raven-black earth and sky world, a white cloud with several streaks of purple and a single one of green.
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***
Memories? Nightmares? But definitively not part of the self that defined itself as Bai Qi.
A destroyed land;
An enormous, horned, armored figure;
A dozen of bloodstained, cloudy figures;
A swing of a brightly-shining sword;
A head woven of multi-colored flames on the ground;
A prepared ritual;
A journey along the Astral Road currents;
A young, recently born, black-eyed and black-haired mortal;
A host...
And as these, not understandable, recollections flowed, black mixed with the white, the green, and the purple.
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"Will he?" A worried female voice asked.
"He will. I am sure he will." A growl, low and with concealed pain within but somehow reassuring, followed in response.
"Days have passed, and there has been no change in his condition..." A deep voice said.
"He hass alwayss made it through, it iss impossible for him to sssimply die!" An angry hiss immediately resounded.
"But..." A different female started to speak but abruptly stopped, only to follow in a half-whisper, "...his soul, it isn't present."
"No, it is." Yet another female voice interjected, one that lacked emotion and sounded even, continuing after a short pause, "It is fragmented, but I can feel its presence. And also how it is gradually intensifying. The [Remembrance of a Life] is definitively working."
"And what about that?!" A roar, one unexpected by others as not a single gasp was heard in response, filled up the shadow-filled space where the conversation was taking place.
"We do not know. Not even a half-saint formation has been able to restore that." The deep man's voice sounded again before something snapped, and the golden shine of an active formation suddenly emerged from the darkness, only to disappear a moment later.
"No matter what medicines, treasures, or formations we have used, there has been no result in healing that." The even woman's voice added.
"But I do not understand what is that?" A low and yet unheard voice questioned.
"Who knows what kind of method did he cultivate with." A cloth rustled as the man spoke, probably as his robe shuffled in a shrug or similar.
"No, it's not a cultivation method. I, we have seen it before." The growling voice spoke up, dismissing the man's guess.
"Huh? What do you mean?" This time it was the man's turn to question.
"Before, as both my sister and companions should be able to confirm, he once lost control because of an interruption during cultivation and transformed into something covered with similar scales." The growling voice softened as it mentioned the word interruption but continued as before after that.
"Interruption? That was no mere interruption. He lost control after assuming we were in danger, so maybe the same happened now?" A similar growling voice followed after the previous one, but this one was slightly more restrained, even slightly melodic, although it hid neither the grief nor anger it contained.
"So in the end, we are the ones to blame... Damn!" The worried tone from the beginning exclaimed in a mix of fury and bitterness.
"It is clear that he saved you and all of us. So, it may be so indeed. But it is no time to decide who carries the blame. I will try to consult with the Great Headmaster. It is unthinkable for the overlord of the [Great Forest] to have no way to help." The calm and collected voice concluded with determination, and on this note, the conversation died.
Thirteen presences, shrouded in darkness, inside a small room with only a single item, a white, simple-looking throne that sometimes shone blue and sometimes gold, continued to observe, silently, the young man sitting on it...
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Along with the memories came the understanding.
Along with understanding came the calm.
And along with the calm came the solution.
***
Someone, as it wasn't Bai Qi, now that Kui Mulang's and Wu Guang's souls were completely parts of his own, opened his eyes. And on the black rock, under the black sky, it wasn't a multi-colored cloud anymore, but a human-like figure, although not many details could be discernible of its looks, shrouded by darkness.
"It certainly seems funny now that I learned of Kui Mulang's past." Bai Qi's voice sounded, and this time it was indeed his own, alone.
Bai Qi was killed, by the people supposed to follow and obey Him, the sovereigns of the four forests.
Kui Mulang was killed, by the demons that were supposed to serve him, the guards of the Kui demon clan.
Wu Guang's parents, aunt, servants, and even he himself. All were killed by the ploys of people supposed to be either uninvolved or friends with them.
Kui Mulang selected Wu Guang's soul, saving a semblance of his life and hoping to one day revive. A ritual meant to connect him with a soul, one filled up in grief and desire for revenge, and one that worked almost as intended, with the only exception being the weakness and lack of talent of his host.
Bai Qi found Wu Guang's body, occupying the still-warm flesh of the dead boy as a way to return to true life, one of a cultivator. And what was low, even nonexistent before, talent, was supplanted by knowledge, willpower, and the heavenly gift of the [Master of Everything, Ruler of Nothing] cultivation method.
"Kui Mulang saved me twice, both times by his own desire. No matter what motivation he had before but, this time, he was ready to sacrifice himself, at least to pay back to my, or our, killer." Bai Qi's voice mulled, now aware of the events that followed after he went unconscious.
Not that there was much to see, as Kui Mulang, without limiting himself and aware that he would die along with Bai Qi anyway, had released all of the essence he had gathered, materializing not as a part of Bai Qi's soul but as a true demon in flesh.
His sheer presence had been enough to make the bonejade's one wane, as without a host, the latter was nothing more than a mirage. With an aura pressure enough to crush a Warrior King, yes, but still, nothing more than a mirage that was dispelled by a simple wave of Kui Mulang's claw. And while Bai Qi had previously underestimated Kui Mulang's real power, he had no choice but accept that the demon had been something so fearful than even the immortal Bai Qi would have required preparation, allies, and probably even several trump cards to deal with it.
After all, if the sheer essence, the remains of his life hidden in Wu Guang's and then Bai Qi's soul was enough to make Kui Mulang materialize as a Saint, that could mean only that during life, he had been, at least, a True Immortal!
As for Huo Ah, the person responsible for the entire siege and for Bai Qi's state, he met the most horrible end possible for any cultivator. Meeting an opponent so above one's level that one's body would be squashed by it's mere presence. Devoid of the Bonejade's protection, and with Kui Mulang having not the slightest intention to hold back, Huo Ah, the one that almost managed to bring an entire power to ruin, exploded in a cloud of blood and gore.
"But, while I felt it adequate to consider revenge something that I should not concentrate it, is it now?" Bai Qi's voice sounded again as he came to the conclusion that it wasn't so. And that there would be not one, but two revenges to take.
Wu Guang's revenge had succeeded. Maybe he was dead and could not influence, participate, or acknowledge it, but neither Eagle Kingdom, Three Hills Sect, nor Black Eagles existed anymore.
So... how could Bai Qi's and Kui Mulang's revenges be forgotten?
"Now, even if I am unsure how, I do feel that I can awaken. For now, as Bai Qi, later, who knows?" Bai Qi's voice resounded, for the last time, in this absolutely black world, and suddenly, the figure dissapeared, leaving only the ebony earth and sky.
*Swoosh*
A wisp of white suddenly crossed the absolute blackness, but no one, not even the newly reformed soul that owned this place, had sensed or noticed it...