Chapitre 323: Dao Separation
On the Qi Plane, shortly after Devil appeared and unexpectedly punched the unsuspecting 'Yaan' in the face with his full strength, the two both ended up losing consciousness, at opposite ends of the Heavenly Path Province.
Yaan was now a Dao Immortal, but more importantly, he was also the formation spirit of his own formation – the fact that Devil had somehow knocked his teeth out, despite his formation spirit body possessing only a form that he manifested using his will, and no actual teeth, was really bizarre; it was caused solely by Devil's desire to see his teeth get knocked out. However, as soon as Devil lost consciousness due to the injuries that he sustained in crossing over to the Qi Plane, Yaan's body rapidly recovered, and after a few moments, he regained consciousness.
It took a few minutes for his blurry mind to clear up, and when he recalled what had happened just now…he felt completely bewildered.
Since he had more or less recovered, as had the Heavenly Rebirth Formation, he took a step and crossed over from the far South to the far North of the province, reaching Devil's body which was almost completely submerged in a lake of his own Immortal Slaughter Spirit Body's crimson miasma.
As if sensing Yaan's arrival, the unconscious Devil's eyes shot open and he suddenly sat up, ignoring his grievous injuries which were worsened by his erratic movement. When he tried to get to his feet, Yaan sighed and shook his head, before waving his hand and gently pushing him back down with an illusory gust of wind.
"Damned peaceful Qi bastard, don't look down on me!" Devil growled out whilst releasing a palpable killing intent, which Yaan hastily prevented from leaking out any further, knowing that this killing intent would spell death for every living being in the Heavenly Path Province if it was truly allowed to manifest itself.
Yaan had no idea why Devil had suddenly attacked him, nor why he seemed to hold such ill will towards him, but right now, after determining that Devil had actually somewhat calmed down and didn't really intend to kill him, he shook his head with a sigh and pointed at Devil with his index finger.
Whoosh!
Energy erupted from the Spirit Heart, which happened to be directly below Devil's half-crippled spirit body right now. A massive influx of energy spread out from Yaan, from the Spirit Heart, and from every reach of the crimson formation dome, all at the same time. This energy fused together in a three-way spiral, before storming down into Devil's body.
The tension in Devil's injured body was quickly relieved and his mind relaxed, allowing Yaan to exhale in relief, before he started to heal this bizarre man properly.
"Devil, we are not enemies. I have no idea what your grievance with me is, but I'm sure that it's misplaced. We will need to work together to face the Primordial Devil, so for now…just relax and let me heal you." Yaan spoke softly, but he still kept a safe distance from Devil, just in case he went crazy again.
"Just who needs your help? Get your power away from me, peaceful failure of a clone!"
Yaan smiled wryly and shook his head. He increased the spiral of energy's influx into Devil's mind, until Devil's consciousness was subdued enough that all he could do was continue to tiredly mutter curses at Yaan, whilst Yaan continued to do his all to heal him.
Half a day later, the lake of crimson miasma which had continually erupted from Devil's body like a broken geyser was nowhere to be seen. Devil now stood up, upon the old Yuso Mountain, renamed by the Ghu Clan to North Ghu Mountain, and renamed by Yaan once again to Heart Mountain.
The red-haired slaughterous spirit stared across the dozen feet distance between himself and the red-robed Yaan. Although this Yaan looked very similar to Yaan's original form, there were some minor differences, such as his brown eyes and his softer expression – this gave him away as the Dao Clone of Qi, Yaan's more human side, even though he still firmly went by his original name; Yaan.
When Yaan looked into Devil's red eyes and saw the barely restrained irritation and killing intent, he smiled wryly, having no idea just what had brought this on.
"Devil, we have never even met before, what grievance could you possibly have with me?" Yaan asked dubiously.
"What grievance? What grievance you ask? My grievance, is that you, a pathetic ball of emotions who clings to mundane things like 'love' and 'home', actually attained a named dao heart and ascended to the Dao Immortal Realm before me! You! You, with your ridiculous 'heart of protection'! How could I not hate you for this?!"
Yaan stared at Devil blankly for a moment. After processing that this person was being genuinely serious right now, Yaan's eyes widened and he couldn't help but ask:
"Is it really that important? You achieved the same stage immediately after me, and you didn't have nearly as much difficulty in overcoming your tribulation as I did. You retained your original form and cultivation path, whilst I was forced to become the spirit of the formation that I created in order to ascend successfully."
Devil paused for a moment. He stared at Yaan, before furrowing his brows and squinting at him so deeply that Yaan wasn't sure what to think anymore.
"You're not bothered that I attained a superior immortal state compared to you?" Devil finally asked.
"Superior?" Yaan raised an eyebrow, before laughing and shaking his head. "That's entirely a matter of perspective. I might have been forced to this end, but I became a being with the ability to protect my home, even from someone as absurdly strong as you. You might be stronger in the outside world, but the inside of this formation is my territory…my home. This place is my home, and it is also my heart…even though I was forced to this end, I couldn't have asked for a better result."
"Tch. You're seriously annoying, you know that?" Devil clicked his tongue. "Where is your pride? Your competitive spirit? Your desire to surpass me? Where…is your desire to become the final state of Yaan?!"
At this point, 'Yaan' paused.
"I…am Yaan…"
Devil laughed mockingly when he heard this uncertain response.
"You might look like him, and you might be using his name…but you are not Yaan. You should have realised it too. I'm certain that even that failure, Knowledge, also realised this truth, despite giving up on reaching the Immortal Step. In fact, him giving up on the Immortal Step, is a result of him realising the truth prior to ascending past the shackles of his past."
Yaan fell silent. He had no response, because he knew that what Devil said was the truth.
They had all seen and sensed one another's presence. They had all felt the main body's presence too, and realised that all this time, the main body had been experiencing their lives alongside them, like a silent shadow lingering over them, hiding in an unseen corner of their dao.
Prior to the Immortal Step, both the Dao Clone of Qi and the Dao Clone of Soul had considered themselves to be a part of Yaan's complete self, without giving much thought to what this really meant. However, the moment they ascended to the Immortal Step and realised the truth, it was like a mental shackle, or perhaps a restraint which Yaan had previously held over their own unique daos, had been released. They were no longer just a part of Yaan, even though he could still see and feel everything that they could see and feel…
They had become their own independent entities.
But Knowledge was different. Knowledge had realised the truth prior to the Immortal Step, causing the 'truth' that he had realised, to be completely different compared to the other two. His revelation was that he was akin to Yaan's arm; he was Yaan, and Yaan was him. Because he had realised this before attaining his own named dao heart however, he had accepted this as his truth, rather than rejecting it and breaking free from the karma which tied himself and Yaan together as one.
It was for this very reason that Knowledge had realised…that it was impossible for him to reach the Immortal Step. He could not attain a named dao heart, because he was not his own individual, he was simply an extension of Yaan's own dao.
Neither of them knew that Knowledge, despite knowing that the other two Dao Clones had gained their independence, still believed that the both of them were no different than him; they were also extensions of Yaan's dao. The only difference was that their path and purpose was different than his own.
After falling silent for a long time as Devil watched him with a mocking sneer, Yaan finally looked up with a firm gaze.
"Just because we have separated from the main body, does not make him our enemy."
"Oh? Are you sure of that? Because if that's the case…why has he not crossed over to the Qi Plane, now that he has awoken?"
'Yaan' flinched slightly. This was something that he had been trying not to dwell on, but the thought couldn't help but cross his mind now and again.
If the main body was their ally, then why, upon regaining consciousness, did he not immediately join them on the Qi Plane, where their battle against the Primordial Devil would inevitably take place? Why…did it seem like he had abandoned them…?
At this point, both Devil and 'Yaan' fell silent. They had seen through the truth…and yet, they still didn't understand anything at all.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone