"It's finally over."
Wei Wuyin comfortably laid against the warm, soft, feathery embrace of Bai Lin as the two floated across the Dark Void that contained no essence or energy, simply Chaos Mana in its purest form. Should the outside world view the once-known region of the Desolate Dragnet Stellar Region, they would see a dark blot of nothingness, absent of life and light.
Even the Tiangou's humongous form would be difficult to sense while immersed in Chaos Mana. However, she was unaffected by the environment change; her breathing had grown smoother, and her body more relaxed.
The last two months were absolute hell for Wei Wuyin, as if he was plunged into a cycle of never-ending pain that originated from his body and mind. The plight of his Second Mind was taken upon himself, shared through their connection. Fortunately, he withstood the terrible agony without shattering his psyche.
In fact, his psyche might have shattered if not for—
"It seems I didn't need either of my plans, thanks to the Neo-Dawn Paragon-Forging Pill's effects," Wei Wuyin gleefully thought as he stayed in Bai Lin's gentle hug. It continuously soothed his slightly trembling body which was still suffering from the aftereffects of the pain.
The newly established physique had circumvented his need for his initial plan or his contingencies. Since the beginning, Wei Wuyin knew that his Second Mind was likely to suffer sequelae from its experiences, including a type of self-imploding degradation. With Eden as his Astral Soul and an Alchemic Eden Astral Soul no less, a Spirit of Cultivation of the Mind Dao, Wei Wuyin was astutely aware of the consequences, and so was his Second Mind.
They understood that for the sake of survival, there was a high chance that his Second Mind might be sacrificed due to the circumstances, and this was something the Second Mind had knowingly accepted. They hadn't expected Wei Wuyin to still be in the process of transforming his physique when the Third Calamity initiated.
Wei Wuyin had long since expected his Second Mind to have perished during those months after returning and was unimaginably startled by the Second Mind's manifestation remaining, especially since it was segregated from his soul, unable to harness any of his cultivated power to protect itself. However, much like himself, his Second Mind was intelligent, resourceful, and swift-acting.
It had somehow galvanized the Enlightened Scholarly Mist to maintain itself until Wei Wuyin finished his physique transformation. This allowed Wei Wuyin to deploy their original plan. Wei Wuyin would reconnect their souls, and then both would withstand the pain together, using Ori, King, and Kratos to jointly resist the impact while Eden expelled the sensation from their minds little by little so as to not accumulate the pain into a genuine soul-tearing experience.
The second contingency plan was to sever the Second Mind's quintessential mental strength and re-cultivate it, essentially expelling everything except the most crucial aspects of the Second Mind. It would lose all its accumulated knowledge and be considerably weaker for a long, long time. There were three other contingency plans as well, but after connecting with the Second Mind's cancer-like abnormal state, Wei Wuyin had taken the entirety of the pain at once, a huge unexpected outcome.
But the outcome, nevertheless, had left Wei Wuyin vulnerable. He hadn't expected that the Hellfire that had essentially etched itself into his bones had carried over post-calamity and was reignited by Ori's Soul Light. At the moment, his bones no longer contained any traces of Hellfire, but they were unimaginably pure, vastly different from his grey bones; their translucent crystal-like appearance left him feeling bewildered and awed.
"It was really intense," Wei Wuyin remarked emotionally.
"Sorry," Ori's voice spoke out apologetically.
Wei Wuyin's heart raced slightly from hearing the earnest-sounding self-blame contained within its voice. Ori was partially at fault; it failed to control the Essence Blood of Bai Lin and then caused the Hellfire to ignite within his bones. After all, if Ori hadn't lost control, then Wei Wuyin would've overcome this unexpected calamity with an equal amount of ease as he already had. The perilous sequence of events was unexpected, consisting of various unpredictable circumstances, but that failure had unleashed all of it onto Wei Wuyin, nearly claiming his and the lives of their siblings.
Having said that, Ori had rectified its mistake in a massive way and greatly benefited from the calamity itself. The other portion of the blame was solely upon Wei Wuyin, carelessly connecting with the Second Mind and causing his Astral Souls to suffer heavy consequences that led to it all. They were both twin dominoes that fell at the same time, leading up to this result.
Wei Wuyin could only console Ori by owning up to his mistake: "It's not just your fault; most of it is mine. I panicked at the opportunity to save the Second Mind and didn't think too deeply about the consequences of connecting with its bloated state. I should've slowed down and considered it from more angles, and for that, I nearly got all of us killed." Pausing for a moment, he let loose a sigh of emotional guilt.
"I'm sorry." While they were only two words, Wei Wuyin conveyed all his apologetic feelings without holding anything back. If they had died after surviving the Third Calamity, that would be the biggest joke in the world.
"It's my fault too," Eden echoed their emotions, feeling equally responsible. If it had stayed a little aware, it could've contained the Nirvanic Flames with ease before it could erupt. "I'm sorry."
"Tch," King didn't shy from taking responsibility. It could've annihilated the Essence Blood of Bai Lin with its edge, severing the fuel for the Nirvanic Flames, but it, too, had lost itself in the pain and couldn't react.
"Hmph!" Kratos released a snorting roar, clearly trying to convey that they should feel sorry!
"..."
"..."
"..."
Kratos felt all their senses on it; it released a small roar. Bullies, all of them! "Sorry! Happy?" After exploding with its apology, it slunk into the heart with an aggrieved roar. But it knew in its heart that it was in the best position to avert any disaster. As a Draconic Void Astral Soul, capable of grasping Time and Space, and had the greatest number of ways to prevent all of this, it had been the worst out of all of them and hadn't even helped out to solve the crisis.
"Hehe!" Ori giggled. The self-blame within its tone and spirit was completely erased. "It's fine! We all messed up, right? So it's okay because we're all still here!" Ori's words caused the three Astral Souls and Wei Wuyin to pause instantly, stunned by those simple words.
Because we're all here!
Wei Wuyin couldn't help but form a warm, grateful smile. That was right! It didn't matter if they made a mistake; it didn't matter if they barely survived; all that mattered was they were all here—together. It was a simple sentiment, but one that echoed throughout their True Soul.
After talking a little more, the atmosphere between them had returned to a steady normal, absent of guilt or frustration, and they soon focused their attention elsewhere. At that moment, Bai Lin hugged him tightly with her body and two overlaid wings, and she was currently sleeping.
Wei Wuyin's experience had lasted two months before he could extricate himself from the agony and placate the growing mass that was the Second Mind's manifestation, settling it in the Palace of Eden to recuperate. Bai Lin had never left his side since.
"What is this space?" Wei Wuyin didn't wake Bai Lin, instead focusing on this strange area of only Chaos Mana. Normally, as a mortal, the Dark Chill of the Void would've left him deader than dry wood, but his Mana Dominance of the Origin State and True Void Dragon-Hybrid body allowed him to safely exist alongside Chaos Mana.
This area, however, was inhospitable. The Chaos Mana here was unbearably dense, blocking off all forms of light and Spiritual Sense. Without his Mana Dominance, Wei Wuyin wouldn't be able to sense anything, even with his True Void Dragon's innate senses.
"This Chaos Mana…can an Ascended being survive here?" Wei Wuyin was genuinely curious as the environment felt extremely hazardous. He did not doubt that a Heavenly Saint or a cultivator with an Origin State Spirit of Cultivation, like himself, could survive. Still, the sheer density of Chaos Mana felt abnormally vicious.
While it was purely a feeling, he felt that if he could condense Chaos Mana to this point, he could harm Earthly Saints, perhaps even Worldly Saints. This came from the experience of his alternative self's memories, a genuine Earthly Saint, and certainly not an ordinary one. While the debonair Wei Wuyin had jetted forward in his cultivation, his comprehensive combat strength was top-tier amongst Earthly Saints.
"You're finally awake," the Heavenly War Spirit said weakly. Wei Wuyin could feel that it was also affected by the pain, especially since it housed itself at Eden's base. Even Bai Xiu had forcefully entered his Saint Ring after returning to the Neo-Dawn Ascension Cauldron.
"Are you okay?" Wei Wuyin asked with concern.
"...I am, but I-" The Heavenly War Spirit halted her words, pausing unnaturally as she thought for a moment, but decided to not say what she was going to say, instead asking: "What was that fire that was released from your bones?"
"..." Wei Wuyin frowned slightly; unfortunately, he didn't think he could tell her about the Hellfire without consequences, especially since his instincts were telling him never to disclose this to any other living soul that wasn't attached to himself and the Bloodline of Sin, such as his Astral Souls, about the details of Hell. "I don't know," was all he could say.
Shockingly, the Heavenly War Spirit didn't press for an answer. She explained in a feeble tone: "You're in an Absolute Void Region; no, you created an Absolute Void Region."
Absolute Void Region? Wei Wuyin had never heard that term in either of his lives, so he couldn't help but feel intrigued, and the Heavenly War Spirit didn't keep it from him, but it started to speak in the language of Mysticism. Fortunately, Wei Wuyin fully understood her.
"An Absolute Void Region is an area of the Dark Void that has been abandoned by the heavens, lacking all essential energies and essences that stabilize it, and even isolated from the outside world. Of course, it still has spatial and time properties, but life-granting qualities have been entirely stripped away and can not support the Daos."
Wei Wuyin was thunderstruck. Abandoned by the heavens? Oddly enough, he instantly frowned. "Isn't this a contradiction? If it's abandoned by the heavens, how can other energies exist? If space and time energies don't exist here, how can this area have properties relating to them?"
"I…don't know." The Heavenly War Spirit was stunned for a long while, seemingly realizing that her knowledge conflicted with reality. This was unexpected. This meant she didn't quite understand the principles of the Absolute Void Region! Moreover, she might even be entirely wrong!
Wei Wuyin, however, knew that she was wrong. Ori answered what he felt in his heart: "I think crucial Laws are absent here, and the path of cultivation can not be supported because of this. But…the heavens are present and haven't left."
"What Laws?" Wei Wuyin asked curiously. He, too, felt that there was something absent here, but he didn't know why he felt that way.
Then, Ori giggled energetically. "My Law!"
"Your Law?" Wei Wuyin was taken aback. Then, as if struck by a lightning bolt, he delved into his Dantian and discovered a glob tethered to Ori. She grasped a Law Seed too?! Furthermore, his eyes widened in disbelief as her Astral Core was no longer just a perfect spherical white orb without any flaws.
IT WAS BURNING!
"WHAT?!" Wei Wuyin nearly acted to douse the flames when he realized that the flames were a part of Ori! They were pure white and seemed to contain a type of endlessly transformative quality, making it difficult for Wei Wuyin to properly grasp if it was a blazing fire or spiraling wind, sometimes even felt like crackling lightning or swirling light!
"You've…changed?" Wei Wuyin had just woken up after experiencing two months of tortuous pain, and he hadn't taken the time to inspect everything properly, but he now realized that Ori had changed! It wasn't a regular change either, but a tremendous one! An evolution!
"Hehe!" Ori excitedly laughed, ecstatic about its new transformation. "I did what King did! Hehe!"
"What King did?" Wei Wuyin was unable to comprehend that for a long while until he felt it. There was a feeling from Ori's Astral Core that resembled the Imperial Heaven Aura, the Elemental Origin Aura, and another aura that felt as if it was the beginning of all things, bringing forth unity, transformation, and connection—an Aura of Origin.
Did Ori emulate King and transform itself?! Ori did!
"You can call me…Uhm, I don't really know…"
"..." Wei Wuyin, King, Kratos, Eden, and the Heavenly War Spirit.