The old man, whose body floated above the water as if something were dragging him backward, stared up. His eyes shone with a viscous, uncanny light, as if he were looking at something utterly alien.He beheld Mingyin, who now possessed a completely transformed body. Half of his face was covered by a glowing, crack-like pattern.
The left side of his hair shone proudly in brilliant shades of blue and white, matching his left eye, which blazed with an icy, terrifying luminescence.Mingyin looked completely different. His hair had grown long and messy, styled in wild, uneven black spikes, while the right side blended seamlessly into a striking, bright white, creating a dramatic contrast. Ethereal blue fragments, resembling supernatural paint chips, drifted lazily from his strands.
His features had sharpened beautifully. His grey-blue eyes were piercing, but his right eye now glowed with an icy blue light. The intense luminescence gave the impression of immense, concentrated power. He looked completely calm, yet fiercely focused. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, his lips parted just enough to signal absolute concentration. He looked like a hunter who had locked onto his target and would never let anything distract him again.His face had become slim and youthful, with exceptionally fine features. Intricate, cracked, glass-like patterns spread across his skin, creating a dramatic, symbolic effect—as if his very body were breaking through its mortal limits. He stood confidently, holding one hand beside his face with his index and middle fingers extended. Combined with his unwavering stare, his pose radiated absolute certainty rather than empty flashiness.
His peasant rags dissolved. In their place appeared a white tunic accented with deep blue highlights, bound at the waist by a sharp, silk-ash sash. The cool blue tones matched the dangerous glow of his eye, reinforcing the freezing, determined atmosphere around him.
He gave off the terrifying aura of someone awakening to their ultimate potential—cold, unwavering, and fiercely competitive. Between the glowing eye, the fracturing skin, and the flowing blue fragments, he looked entirely superhuman.
In that single instant, his internal perception of speed surpassed the speed of light. He turned around, his eyes turning hungry, almost insane with anticipation.
He had expected to see Mingyin react this way, but in the next moment, Mingyin stepped down and smiled.The old man offered an awkward smile in return. "
Ahh, Mingyin, you've gotten quite flashy since last time, ahahaha!""Ahahaha! Shove that up your ass," Mingyin snapped. "
You will answer my questions, or else!"Suddenly, Mingyin raised his fist, veins pumping fiercely as soul energy rushed wildly through his hands, causing them to tremble with raw power."If you don't speak, I will crush you with one hand," Mingyin threatened. "Crushing you with two hands would be too quick.
One hand will make it far more gruesome. First, I'll turn your limbs useless. Then, I'll cause your flesh to swell, eventually tearing it apart until your bones twist like twigs! In the end, you'll be nothing but an unrecognizable corpse!"The old man trembled violently, instantly dropping to the ground to kowtow several times. "Please, Master Mingyin! Show this old man some mercy!
I will tell you everything, just please don't kill me!""Fine. Tell me, what happened to me?" Mingyin demanded. "
Why have my memories vanished? And what were those black eyes behind the spark-like bubble? Furthermore... who am I?"The old man hesitated for a moment.
Seeing this, Mingyin raised his fist, acting as if he were about to smash him to death.The old man frantically shook his head. "No! What I mean is... we know you regressed from another world.
You have cultivated through trillions of regressions!"Mingyin froze. He lunged forward, grabbing the old man by the neck and lifting him into the air.
Bringing the man's face right up to his own, he shouted, "How?!"The old man sighed, putting on an innocent expression. "See, young man, I—"
Shut up old man "I am far more ancient than this entire mortal world," the old man stammered, shaking. "I am the second oldest being beneath the Nine Rulers. So, calling me 'old man' doesn't truly do me justice. You should call me Ancient Old Young Grandpa!"He sighed again, trembling under Mingyin's grip.
"See, Mingyin, after you vanished, I couldn't explain it to you, so—""If you waste my time even once more, I will smash your mouth so you can't even scream," Mingyin interrupted coldly.
"Then I will start with your head, move to your hands, then your joints, before plucking every single hair from your body. I'll take my time, ripping them out one by one, ending with your beard. You won't be able to scream or move. You'll just sit there numb, unable to cry because I'll smash your eyes and blind you first. Eventually, you will die here, and I will just heal you to restart the process.
Then you'll finally know what it feels like to regress over and over again!"The old man shook, completely paralyzed by fear. He was entirely helpless.
Mingyin possessed the power of at least a Quasi-Sage Artist Rank Four, while he was just a regular Sage Artist who had been going easy on a mortal Mingyin to help him pass his trial. Now, Mingyin was strong enough to brutally beat anyone in his way. He wasn't about to waste time.
Terrified, the old man blurted everything out while trembling. "Mingyin! I promise I will tell you everything! Please, don't hurt me!"Mingyin rolled his eyes and nodded."
First of all, I'll explain everything. What happened is that you, Mingyin, came from another world. You must understand one thing: when a person comes from another world, their soul is not bound by the fate of our heavenly beings.
We mortal people are descendants of the Heavenly Realm, so we are naturally bound by fate ninety-nine percent of the time. The remaining one percent is our only chance—like the mortal rulers—to defy it.
But this world has been covered by fate for a very long time. The Nine Heavens are completely shrouded, and people's fates are one hundred percent controlled."
The old man paused, catching his breath. "But those who come from a different timeline or dimension are not restricted by this fated dimension.
Fate is above the universe and everything else, but it is not above dimensions and the void! Coming from another world grants you a natural resistance to fate, but here is the catch."
Mingyin froze, a cold smile spreading across his face as he nodded, encouraging the old man to speak faster.The old man gritted his teeth and continued, "While you aren't bound by this world's dimension, your fate from your original world can still intertwine with it.
That fifty percent resistance can help you defy it, but it can also cause you to suffer something worse than death.
When you defy it, your half-dimensional realm will shatter, leaving you ninety-nine percent covered by fate! So while it is useful, merely defying fate won't be enough. And that is all I know.
Our mortal world is weak and lacks the deeper information of the higher realms. We are just the abyss looking up at the light."
Mingyin froze as a sudden memory sparked within him. He remembered hearing this exact same sentence during a regression from a long time ago."So wait..." Mingyin muttered. "The reason I regress an infinite number of times is because of my earthly half-soul?"
The old man nodded. "Earthly what?"Mingyin shook his head, dismissing the confusion, and pressed on with his questions.
"I have several more questions. I know you're working with that dragon-looking customs guy. Do you know him? And what about the dragon made of smoke?""Ahh, those two? Yeah, I know them. What about them?""Oh..." Mingyin murmured.
"It seems like that idiot has finally realized his gruesome mistake. So, tell me what happened in that tree when I killed the man embedded in the ground."
The old man sighed. "The old man inside there was a trap meant to hold you, intending to turn you into his new vessel."
Mingyin froze, mentally calculating the situation as a sudden realization hit him. "If the old man I killed inside the ground poured his soul into the artifact I used to fake my cultivation... that means he got out of my body. The last time I heard him, he said he would look for another body."
The old man shook his head as he explained, "It won't hurt to tell you now. He has a split soul. One soul was meant to use you to gain information on all the trillions of memories you possess.
He needed that because of the debt he owes to the new elder of the Nine Tribes Inheritance Sect—the very place where the culprit is holding the Fate Building."Mingyin froze, the words striking heavily into his chest. "
So, you're saying he manipulated my thoughts so I'd never realize he was planning to take over my body, all to hand me over to the elder of the Nine Inheritance Tribes?"
The old man shook his head, then nodded in agreement, before asking a question of his own. "Even though that—"
Halt !