Wei Wuyin was enveloped by a sudden outburst of light, devoured, and sucked away. For a split second, he felt himself delve into the depths of nothingness as if he was welcomed by the divinity of nihility. He lost his sense of self and awareness.
,m Slowly, his senses returned. Accompanying them was the smell of raw mud, wet grass, and the scent of birds. This scent was specifically of the Red Dove, a creature that was etched at the forefront of Wei Wuyin's memories. As a child, he would spend time near the demon mountains with the naivety and bravery of a young master, as fearlessly as a newborn lion's cub.
The guards would make haste to retrieve him. They scoured and yelled their lungs out, while Wei Wuyin loved hiding within the trees, perched on the horizontal branches while petting the nearby baby doves. Those were days of mischief and happiness, totally unforgettable.
Their smell, especially when wet, was faintly fragrant.
The air had a tint of the faintest violet color, emitting an insidious aura that made one instinctively develop disgust and distaste. But to Wei Wuyin, this air felt peaceful and gentle, like the most beautiful lover.
"Where am I?" Wei Wuyin asked, his voice weak and soft.
Surprised, Wei Wuyin clutched at his throat with his right hand. The softness of unrefined flesh and calmly flowing blood within his veins caused his heart to race. °I've lost my cultivation?° A jolt of panic struck his mind, causing him to look about curiously.
Accidentally, he kicked a slightly big pebble and felt a sting on his exposed toes. He looked down and noticed the dangling piece of prideful manhood between his legs; his eyes narrowed slightly as he found himself naked, possessing a fleshly body that hadn't experienced a single day of cultivation.
But what made him narrow his eyes wasn't that discovery; what made him narrow his eyes were the flowers growing nearby. They were violet-colored roses with twisted, tendril-like thorns—Deep-Violet Lunar Roses. They glowed during the night, releasing a soft, gentle light that resembled lunar satellites in the sky.
"Dai…Lyn…" Those words struggled to come out of his throat, tragic and painful as a freshly dealt fatal wound. The smell of doves, the tint of the air, and the Deep-Violet Lunar Roses, this was none other than Dai Lyn's burial grounds, located to the southeast of Red Dove City before its bloody destruction at his hands.
Why was he here? Where were his Astral Souls?
He instinctively touched his upper torso, recalling the crystallized Myriad Yore Continent he carried with him, typically dangling right there. He had never left home. But he found nothing. A sense of indescribable emptiness and loneliness emerged in his heart.
When was the last time he was truly, truly alone? He couldn't remember.
"Who are you?" A voice of incomparable familiarity resounded, fierce and demanding. Wei Wuyin turned around; his eyes widened uncontrollably, and his thoughts instantly stilled. Before him was a downright devilishly handsome man, his stature was tall, his posture upright and majestic, and his eyes, those silver eyes that seemingly contained the innate truths of the world and boundlessly infinite illusions, were as alluring as a beauty seducing you with no ulterior motives.
"Oh?" The voice exclaimed slightly, a notable amount of killing intent within its voice subsided. "Another Temporal Apparition? Interesting."
Wei Wuyin was deeply startled and puzzled as he heard the man's voice but was unable to understand the language he spoke. It felt as if he was looking into a mirror! This man was identical to the smallest detail, and while he was clothed, groomed, and debonair, standing with strength and presence, all aspects absent from the currently nude Wei Wuyin, he was indeed Wei Wuyin!
Or at least, he was another Wei Wuyin!
"..." Wei Wuyin scrambled to think, finding his enhanced and empowered mind to be completely absent. He had no cultivation to speak of, as mortal as they come, as weak as he's ever been. He weakly took a step backward, instinctively feeling hesitant and fearful of the passive aura that this Wei Wuyin released.
There was an air of unfathomability to him. While his cultivation was gone, his senses were as acute as ever, and he easily spotted this powerful presence that could only exist amongst those at the Earthly Saint Phase! However, he had the faintest feeling that Wu Yu wouldn't be this Wei Wuyin's match.
"Stop." The Wei Wuyin before him softly ordered.
"...!" Wei Wuyin found his body seizing up into a sudden pause, his breath caught in his throat, and his heart racing rapidly. He was terrified…of himself? But he saw the mirror image of an existence before him begin to point his finger slightly to a space behind Wei Wuyin.
"I moved their grave a little; she's resting there beneath the roses." The words that this Wei Wuyin spoke were incomparably gentle, without the slightest ill-intent, and Wei Wuyin instantly took a deep breath and moved forward, sending a gaze behind him as emotion dripped from his eyes.
"So she's here," Wei Wuyin muttered with a melancholic tone. A light of gloom and depression flashed. After a while, Wei Wuyin turned back to his mirror copy, his eyes flashing as he regained his calm. The sense of fear left his body, his thoughts flowed smoothly, and he felt a wisp of cultivation flow back into his body.
"It'll take some time for you to regain your strength. It'll catch up," that clothed Wei Wuyin said patiently, walking forward as he stood next to the naked Wei Wuyin, seemingly unbothered by his existence. The clothed Wei Wuyin kneeled on one knee, his silver eyes staring at the roses with the softest and warmest of gazes.
Wei Wuyin just stood there, silently watching as he felt his cultivation slowly return. The energies were coming from nowhere and fueled him with great, unparalleled strength. He was now at the Qi Condensation Realm, the first stage of it—Qi Creation.
A long, long silence followed. Wei Wuyin soon regained his cultivation to the third stage—Elemental Birth. He could feel the elemental powers re-enter his body one by one, manifesting as if he was cultivating them.
"You're…?" The naked Wei Wuyin asked, his eyes staring at the visage of this groomed and powerful Wei Wuyin. He didn't know what to ask.
False Reality.
The clothed Wei Wuyin didn't look up. He lifted his left hand and softly caressed the rose petals, replying: "One hundred and twenty-eight this year." Despite the nude Wei Wuyin's inability to find the right question, this Wei Wuyin answered as if predicting what he'd ask.
Qi Essence.
Wei Wuyin's heart violently shook. This Wei Wuyin was over twice his age! But, how? No, that wasn't the correct question. He was currently too disoriented to think correctly, lacking his cultivation, once more reappearing on the Myriad Yore Continent and then facing himself. It was hard to get a good grasp on what the right questions even were. Was this even him?
Sky Ruler.
"Do you know why I'm here?" The nude Wei Wuyin cautiously asked. This Wei Wuyin was far too calm not to know what was going on. Furthermore, he called him something in the language of Mysticism, and Wei Wuyin couldn't understand it.
Soul Idol.
"You're a Temporal Apparition; those four spirits of mischief love causing all sorts of trouble, and this is merely a consequence of their choices. No need to worry; I, too, faced this once before." The tone with which he spoke was incredibly leveled, lacking the slightest bit of surprise or shock. It was clear that this version of Wei Wuyin had faced this once before. Fortunately, he was speaking in a language that Wei Wuyin fully understood, allowing him to realize that he was a 'Temporal Apparition'.
Light Reflection.
Suddenly, a nostalgic light surged in his eyes. "I remember my River of Time Tribulation, terrifying and confusing, to say the least." There was the faintest of smiles on his face, clearly finding what he had faced before amusing.
"River of Time Tribulation? The Temporal Eye Astral Tribulation?" Wei Wuyin was uncertain, feeling instinctively in his heart that this wasn't the correct name for his tribulation.
Gravity Emission.
"Hm?" Finally, the clothed Wei Wuyin glanced upwards, curiosity slowly fueled his gaze as he began to frown. "No—the River of Time Earthly Tribulation Gate. What are you…?" Suddenly, the clothed Wei Wuyin's eyes began to widen ever-so-slightly.
Wei Wuyin had finally regained all of his cultivation. He completely ceased rising in his cultivation base, ending at the Realm World Phase, the Seventh Stage of the Astral Core Realm! The aura he exuded was peerless, as transcendent as his cultivation base!
"You're…!" The clothed Wei Wuyin slowly rose while the shock in his eyes grew. "How old are you?"
"Sixty, this year."
A frigid silence descended.
Then, they both turned their gazes.
"What the hell is this?" An annoyed voice laced with some weakness and irritation resounded. "You have got to be shitting me! Do you guys want to kill me or something?!" Despite the hoarseness, the voice was enraged to the maximum.
The two Wei Wuyin looked over, finding another 'Wei Wuyin', as nude as the day he was born.