Chapter 62: The truth revealed.
The moment the silver-haired man opened his eyes, Liang Chen once more felt space all around him turn solid, creaking and seemingly on the verge of shattering. Liang Chen quickly cupped his hands and gave the man a deep bow.
"Senior, this junior apologizes for disturbing you, it was an accident!"
He had no idea where this was, nor did he know if the silver-haired man in front of him was real or if he was just an image created by the corpse. But what he did know was that this silver-haired man was easily able to kill him, it probably didn't even require a thought.
But strangely enough, the silver-haired man didn't do anything. He simply looked at Liang Chen with a calm gaze that contained a deep and gentle kindness, like a father looking at his child. The silver-haired man waved his hand, his voice weak and tranquil.
"Don't apologize. I died long ago, this is just a residual piece of my soul that i have kept in hibernation over the years. Come closer, child, let me take a look at how the Sebettu have changed over the years."
Liang Chen quickly took a few steps forward, deeply shocked. This was just a residual piece of the man's soul? Yet it still had so much power, even after his death, which had happened who knows how many years ago? Just how mighty was he when he was still alive?
When Liang Chen stepped closer, he felt a thin stream of energy leave the silver-haired man's body and enter his own, flowing through his veins. He didn't know why, but this stream of energy felt so comfortable, so familiar. After a short moment, the eyebrows of the silver-haired man rose in surprise, a confused voice escaping from his lips.
"Such a pure bloodline... It can only be this pure if you were born during the Genesis War, but your age..."
Another stream of energy entered Liang Chen's body, but this stream of energy flowed to his chest, to a spot next to his heart. Once the stream stopped moving, Liang Chen could feel the stream enter his mind, and he instantly felt that all his secrets had been seen through. The silver-haired man was far stronger than him, so Liang Chen could only quietly wait for him to finish whatever he was doing. The stream left his mind and chest after a short while, the silver-haired man shaking his head and letting out a pitying sigh.
"So that's how it is... Poor child, your parents didn't even have time to tell you everything, they could only seal up the information inside your mind and hope for the best."
Liang Chen couldn't help but feel his heart rate speed up. Did this silver-haired man know about his birth parents, as well as whatever was sealed up inside that crack in his mind?
"Senior, what do you mean?"
Liang Chen considered Qing Feng and Qing Lan to be his parents, they had raised him and treated him as their own son, so he saw them as his real parents. But that didn't mean that he wasn't at least a little curious about his real parents, about why he had been abandoned in the forest as a baby. The silver-haired man's body shimmered slightly, but he didn't pay much attention to it, slowly starting to talk.
"Let me explain it all to you from the start, explain to you the history of us, the Sebettu, as well as about this multiverse. Child, did you know that there are multiple universes?"
Liang Chen quickly gave a nod of his head. When he had received the jade fragment that contained the Ocean God Physique, the human shape had mentioned that it had scoured through several other universes to look for the remaining fragments. The silver-haired man looked slightly surprised that Liang Chen already knew this information, but he only gave a faint nod, continuing his explanation, completely blowing Liang Chen's mind.
"In this multiverse, there exist 81 main universes and countless minor universes. These 81 main universes all have their own rulers, making them so powerful that few dare invade them. The Void King rules 9 main universes, the Nine Star Demon God rules 9, the Divine Emperor rules 9, the Dark Dawn Lord rules 9, the Heaven Splitting King rules 9, and the last 36 are all ruled by a myriad of different alliances and weaker kings. These 81 main universes are far larger than any of the minor universes, countless times larger. I heard that the Nine Star Demon God and the Void King came from minor universes, but I don't know if this is true."
Someone could rule multiple universes? And not just normal universes it sounded like, but several of the main universes? Liang Chen made sure to firmly engrave the titles of these people in his mind, deciding to see if he could find information about them in the future. The silver-haired man raised his head to the sky, his eyes filling with a deep sadness as he seemingly peered through space.
"This universe we are in right now is just one of the countless minor universes, it doesn't even have a ruler of its own. Or at least, it didn't have one back during the Genesis War, I don't know about now. The Genesis War that took place all those years ago was one of the many wars of survival that our Sebettu race took part in. The Rahu universe that we came from is simply too small, it cannot hold all the members of our race. So to prevent our race from fighting and killing itself for resources and space, we had to start invading other universes, constantly looking for places where our race could build a new home."
The more Liang Chen heard, the more shocked he became. Just this planet felt infinitely large to him, so he couldn't even fathom how large this universe had to be. Yet there was a race that had so many inhabitants that a universe became too small for them, forcing them to seek out others? Just how many people did this race have? At the same time, Liang Chen noticed something from the silver-haired man's words, but he almost didn't dare believe his own thoughts.
"Senior, what is the Sebettu race?"
This silver-haired man was clearly from the Sebettu race, and it seemed like he had arrived in this universe during the Genesis War. Was that when he had died? Had this piece of his soul been here ever since the Genesis war? Liang Chen also remembered the human shape mention the Sebettu when he handed Liang Chen the jade fragment. A proud smile appeared on the face of the silver-haired man as he started to explain.
"The Sebettu race is the name given to the children of the Heaven Devouring Dragon Origin Beast known as Rahu. An Origin Beast is a Demonic beast that was born alongside a universe, it holds unimaginable power."
A Demonic beast born alongside an entire universe, just how much strength did such a beast hold? The silver-haired man let out another sigh, giving a weak shake of his head.
"At his peak, Rahu could swallow minor universe whole, even devouring the laws of that universe and using them to strengthen himself. But Rahu died long ago, long before the Genesis War took place. Because of that, the bloodline of the Sebettu has gotten more and more impure over time, with only a few still holding on to some supremely pure bloodlines that contain a fragment of Rahu's power."
Liang Chen could feel his heart skip a beat. Swallow an entire minor universe?! Just how mighty was this Rahu? And just what could kill a beast like this? Liang Chen didn't ask any of these questions now, continuing to quietly listen to the history of this multiverse, as well as the history of the Sebettu.
"As the children of an Origin Beast, us Sebettu have inherited some of our Ancestor's traits. The first trait is that all Sebettu only have average talent and the second trait is a part of Rahu's Heaven Devouring ability. All Sebettu start as a blank canvas, clean and untainted, able to absorb all kinds of elements. When we start cultivating, we will devour a large amount of the element that we wish to cultivate, transforming our bodies so that they will only accept those elements. This gives us a greater affinity for those elements, but bars us from ever using any other elements."
All Demonic beast had very low talent when it came to cultivation, the same was true even for Origin Beasts. Liang Chen felt his own thoughts grow more certain when he heard the explanation of the silver-haired man, but he still didn't speak up, still not completely certain, almost not wanting to believe it.
"There is but one exception to this rule, and that is the element given to us by our bloodline. Rahu devoured countless universes and absorbed numerous laws, all of which entered his bloodline and was inherited by his children. The purer one's bloodline is, the stronger the element you inherited was. I have heard that Rahu's direct children even inherited his Heaven Devouring law, giving them a chance to reach his height. Your bloodline is pure, but it is quite far from that level of purity, it is at best at the purity of a fourth generation. Of course, mine is even further away."
The words of the silver-haired man blew away the last remaining doubt in Liang Chen's mind, a somewhat bitter smile appearing on his face.
"So I am not human, but a Sebettu?"
This was something he had never expected, that not only was he not a human, but he was also part of the race that had invaded this universe countless years ago. He couldn't help but wonder, would his parents still have adopted him if they knew this? The silver-haired man nodded his head, a gentle and warm smile on his face.
"Yes, you are one of my people."
Right after the man spoke, he let out a cough, his body turning translucent, shimmering fiercely as the energy he radiated rapidly dropped. Liang Chen couldn't help but hurriedly call out when he saw this scene.
"Senior?!"
This silver-haired man was the first person Liang Chen had met that knew something about Liang Chen's birth, he was the only person who could answer some of the things that Liang Chen was curious about. The silver-haired man continued to cough for a bit, shimmering as if he was about to vanish. After he stopped coughing, he waved his hand in a casual manner, his face still calm and relaxed.
"My soul has only been able to stay alive because it has been in a hibernating state. Now that I have woken up and am talking, my energy is rapidly draining. Very soon, I will vanish."
He had already died all those years ago, this would just be the final part of his soul dissipating, allowing him to finally rest. Of course, had it not been for him sensing Liang Chen's bloodline and waking up from his hibernating state, he could have kept sleeping here for many more years. The silver-haired man once again waved his hand, beckoning for Liang Chen to step closer.
"Child, I thought I would have the time to tell you everything, but it seems that I was wrong. The best I can do is to slightly awaken your bloodline, breaking the seal that your parents placed on the information that they have stored inside you. Once that seal is broken, you should learn everything that you need to know."
The silver-haired man placed his hand on Liang Chen's head, and Liang Chen could feel his heart rate quickening. What exactly was the information that his birth parents had sealed up in his mind? The silver-haired man didn't immediately awaken Liang Chen's bloodline, speaking to him with a kind smile.
"Child, your blood is that of the Sebettu race, but you have been raised in this world as a Human. Let the past stay in the past and let the grudges of the older generation be resolved by the older generation. Do not worry too much about labels, simply follow your heart and live as you wish, live as what you believe yourself to be."
The silver-haired man had lived for countless years and experienced countless things. He was a calm and carefree man who believed that following one's heart and living freely was the true way of living. After he spoke, a silver light flashed in the hand of the silver man, sinking into Liang Chen's mind, directly entering that black crack.
Right after unleashing that silver light, the silver-haired man vanished, the last piece of his soul dispersing, granting him true death. The space around Liang Chen started to shimmer and shake, quickly vanishing, replaced by the shore of that silver lake. The corpse of the silver-haired man was still sitting in front of him, as if everything he had seen just now was nothing but a dream.
But at this time, Liang Chen's eyes were closed, his eyebrows furrowed. After the silver light entered the crack, the entire city within Liang Chen's mind started to tremble fiercely, as if it was about to shatter.
The city stopped trembling after a bit, a gray stream of energy flying out from the crack and entering Liang Chen's mind. As more of the gray stream started to enter Liang Chen's mind, the crack started to slowly close up, disappearing after fulfilling its purpose.
As the gray stream of energy flooded his mind with information and memories, a change also happened within his body. He had previously seen that there were three streams of energy in his body, the golden one that symbolized his lightning element, the green one that symbolized his poison element, and the unknown gray one.
That gray stream now started to move and change, gathering together and condensing. Half of the stream condensed until it became solid, becoming a thin stream of gray blood that mixed together with his own, quickly spreading through his body, starting to repair his wounds and restoring his energy. The other half of the stream stayed in energy form, heading towards his two budding seeds.
The stream of energy gathered beneath the two other seeds, quickly gathering together and forming a new seed, one that was completely gray in color, twice the size of his other seeds. The seed quickly started cracking, spreading roots throughout his entire body, some roots entering the black egg in his dantian.
As the third seed started to grow and bud, the two other seeds started to follow suit, calling out in joy as they started growing again. After only a short bit of time had passed, all three seeds sprouted and bloomed. The three seeds bloomed into three lotuses, but these lotuses didn't have any leaves, they only had the very core of the lotus. There were signs that each of the three lotuses was going to grow a leaf soon, but it had yet to fully grow.
Once all three seeds had cracked and bloomed, Liang Chen opened his eyes and let out an understanding sigh.
"So that's how it is, that's why I was lying in that forest as a child."
The crack in his mind had flooded him with information and memories, all things that his actual birth parents had sealed up there. The names of his birth parents were Ren Yazhu and Ren Shuren, with Yazhu being his birth mother and Shuren being his birth father. They were both third generation members of the Sebettu race, and they had volunteered to take part in the invasion of this universe.
Towards the end of the Genesis War, they had given birth to Liang Chen. But as they realized that the war was lost and they were going to lose their lives, they had chosen to spare Liang Chen from sharing their fate. They pooled their powers, using all the energy within their bloodline to tear open a rift in time itself, throwing Liang Chen into it and sending him into the future, away from the war.
The element, or law as it was often called by stronger cultivators, that Liang Chen had gained after awakening his bloodline, was the same law that his parents had, the law of time, one of the highest of laws. His bloodline had been just barely awakened, so he couldn't properly use it just yet. Only once he became stronger would he slowly be able to bring forth the true might of his bloodline, the diluted bloodline of the Heaven Devouring Dragon.
Liang Chen sank his vision into his own body, examining the gray blood that was his bloodline, as well as observing the three leafless lotuses that had grown beneath his heart, a slight mutter escaping his lips when he saw them.
"Three lotuses, but none of them have grown any leaves, so my cultivation can be considered to be around the late stage of the Xiantian Tower realm."
Part of the information that had been stored in his mind was about the cultivation systems of the Sebettu, things his birth parents had prepared for him. These lotuses were to a Sebettu what the Ascended Tower was to a human. The more leaves the lotuses had, the higher his cultivation would be.
The way to increase the number of leaves was rather easy, he could either deepen his understanding over the elements he could control, or he could just gather up enough energy of said elements and pour it into the lotuses. The more leaves the lotuses had, the purer the energy had to be for them to grow.
After the three lotuses bloomed, Qi once again started to flow through Liang Chen's body. When he cultivated the Ascended Tower cultivation system, Liang Chen's Qi had slightly disturbed his control over the lightning he drew from the Lightning Seed, they were two different cultivation methods after all. But this new Qi in his body came from his three lotuses, it would not disturb his control over his elements, it would instead make it even easier to control them.
Liang Chen removed his vision from within his body, taking a few breaths as his thoughts started to move.
"Sebettu...Human...?"
He had the blood of the Sebettu but had been raised as a human. Because of the Genesis war, the two races didn't exactly have a friendly relationship, with only a few rare Sebettu being friends with humans. Should he follow his blood, or should he follow his mind?
After his thoughts continued to run in circles, Liang Chen gave himself a heavy slap, leaving a bright red mark on his face. After slapping himself, he shook his head with a light chuckle.
"I am Liang Chen, the son of Qing Feng and Qing Lan. My enemy is Qing Lan Yong and vile people like him, my friends are Big Sister Chun, Yan Ying, Yan Ling, and the others from the Storm Wolf sect."
Sebettu? Human? There was no need to bother thinking about any of those things. He was Liang Chen, he was the Bright Dawn. He would live as his heart wished to, just as he had done up to now. So what if he wasn't human, it changed nothing.
As for his birth parents, while he would use the power he gained thanks to their bloodline, the law of time, he would not recognize them as his parents. He only had two parents, Qing Feng and Qing Lan, the ones that had raised him.
After clearing up his mind, Liang Chen felt completely relaxed and refreshed, a wide smile on his face. Entering this hidden realm had truly been the right decision. He had made new friends, increased his strength, even gained a completely new element he could use! All that remained now was to find a way to leave this hidden realm.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
ShiranuiShukumei
ShiranuiShukumei Fun fact, of the various titles mentioned in this chapter, three are references to my other ongoing stories, while the last ones are teasers about the MC's of other stories that I am working on and plan to eventually release. Can you guess who each is and what powers they have?
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