Chapter 456 - 456. Lives
The androgynous voice resounded inside the mental sphere.
At once Noah knew that Heaven and Earth were aware of his transmigration.
"Don't be surprised, my child. We are the world itself, we were there when you reached us as just a powerless soul, waiting to be dismantled."
The figure made by Noah's sea continued to speak, revealing the secrets behind his birth.
'It keeps referring to itself as "we", does it mean that Heaven and Earth are two different entities? Is it even safe to call them entities? Also, why does it speaks? I've never read about an Earth Tribulation where the copy speaks.'
Noah reviewed the information he knew about the Tribulations when that unusual situation happened.
It must be said that he had studied a lot of records concerning such crucial points of the cultivation journey, the academy and the records of the Hive made him completely prepared for them.
The Pain Tribulation tested the will of a cultivator, the reconstruction of the body was some sort of reward that Heaven and Earth gave to those able to pass it but it was generally considered the easiest one.
The Earth Tribulation tested the mind and its individuality, a cultivator had to be able to surpass its copy to claim the right to continue walking in the cultivation journey.
The Heaven Tribulation tested the entirety of the cultivator, be its strength or defense.
All three of them were an expression of Heaven and Earth's will, they were referred by past cultivators as the limits that the world set for the humans and that only truly exceptional existences could cross those thresholds to fully enter the heroic ranks.
Yet, what interested Noah more than the reason why Heaven and Earth were speaking to him during his Tribulation was another thing.
"Why did I keep my memories?"
Noah asked through his half-transparent figure.
From what he had understood, his soul was meant to be dismantled, possibly meaning that his consciousness was meant to disappear.
However, that didn't happen, leading Noah to keep his memories and his personality, which ultimately made him become a cultivation addict since he was still a kid.
"Because you were empty."
The figure answered before explaining further.
"You had no valuable skills, no valuable knowledge, not even the will to live, there was no reason to dismantle you to create a different soul. You lacked the qualities that a cultivator must have so we simply placed you next to a loving mother in a wealthy family. We didn't expect you to abandon a peaceful life and sacrifice everything for the vain search for power, that was our miscalculation."
After those words, Noah seemed to freeze.
The memories of his childhood surged as if they were an unstoppable tide.
He had always been aware that he had sacrificed Lily to pursue power, or rather, he didn't want to escape with her before he reached a certain level but he simply hadn't been fast enough.
Yet, his situation now seemed to be part of the arrangements of Heaven and Earth.
Rhys wouldn't have paid Lily too much attention if Noah didn't begin to cultivate.
Rhys wouldn't have started beating her if Noah didn't progress faster than his son and daughter.
Rhys wouldn't have killed her if Noah wasn't of the darkness element.
All those events were linked to Noah's cultivation but he had always thought that it was just bad luck to have a father like Rhys, he had no reason to suspect anything else after all!
However, now it appeared that everything was linked to his transmigration and the memories of his first life.
"In our plans, you would have had a happy life as a mortal. You were going to become a counselor, your mother would have accompanied you for half of your life and she would have been able to see your descendants become accepted as true heirs of the Balvan family. Instead, you became an abomination that actively opposes our will and that brings death wherever it passes."
Small spheres made of Noah's mental energy rose from the sea as the figure spoke.
They depicted the events that it was describing, Noah was able to see the life imagined by Heaven and Earth through those images.
He saw his mother's face showing a proud expression as he held a scroll in his hands, Li Neregnes, his old teacher, stood next to him as he patted his shoulder.
Then, he saw his mother again.
She seemed older as she held the hand of a pregnant woman that was going through labor, Noah was in a corner of the room in the image showed by the azure sphere.
Then, there was a funeral.
In the image, Noah cried as he looked at a tomb while a beautiful woman held his hand and two children clung to his robe, the sphere seemed to depict Lily's funeral.
The last one depicted an old Noah wearing a proud smile as he looked toward two women that strongly resembled Lily in their features.
Thomas Balvan was giving them some sort of reward and, according to their expressions, it didn't seem worthless.
More spheres rose from the sea, they depicted Noah's second life and his struggles during his journey.
They floated next to the spheres with the images of the life that Heaven and Earth had planned for him, the contrast between those two lives could make anyone think twice about choosing which path take.
The mental energy expended to create those spheres escaped Noah's control and go on the figure's side, it was clear that those events were part of the Earth Tribulation.
Noah appeared stunned but, in reality, he looked at those images with deep interest.
He wanted to memorize what he had sacrificed to forge his determination before his anger exploded.
When he had enough of that imaginary life, he raised a hand toward the Kesier runes at the center of his sphere.
The runes released a humming sound at his command but the snort from the figure, followed by its loud words, stopped that noise from echoing further.
"I am Earth! I have given birth to the Kesier species before you were even born! Did you really think that they would affect me?"
It was at that point that Noah decided to reclaim control of his mental energy, the anger that he had suppressed to fully listen to Earth's words burst out, making the spheres depicting Noah's lives explode.