Chapter 1599 1582: Return to Hell (1)
Chapter 1599 1582: Return to Hell (1)
A world without bounds or limits, yet defined and contained. It was as contradictory as it sounded, but Wei Wuyin was most familiar with this unique space. It was Hell. The literal manifestation and location of Hell and all its denizens. Of which, Wei Wuyin, the Neo-Dawn Ascendant Emperor, found himself an occupant for the fourth time.
Who would have guessed that this fourth time was not to tackle the Fourth Calamity but to repeat the First Calamity? After all these years, Wei Wuyin was here as a whole, not an amnesiac with a fresh, fragmented, and disrupted personality segregated from his consciousness and memories.
Wei Wuyin was here with his true body and true soul, so there was no coming back upon failure, the latter of which still lacked any protections gained from cultivating the Scripture of Sin and the True Soul of Sin. He would be eradicated should he fail-no exceptions.
Not even his Stellar-Paragon Physique and Mystic-tier True Void Dragon Bloodline would keep him alive. His True Soul would be cleansed alongside his real body, eradicating the Primordial Seed of Sin that had merged flawlessly with him. Fortunately, his knowledge and experience handling matters of Hell and the Heavenly Daos were sufficient to establish a baseline of confidence.
'So I do have to repeat the Calamities of Hell. What a peculiar development. Are they different or similar?' Wei Wuyin thought as he walked on the flat surface in a randomly selected direction. Within moments, he caught a glimpse of a luminous glow in the distance. The glow was mystifying and carried an irresistible allure.
Whispers flowed through the air, disembodied yet clear.
They were voices, fragments of Wei Wuyin's memories, each as familiar as Wei Wuyin's own heartbeat-voices that he could never, ever forget. As he stepped closer to the glowing radiance, the surroundings morphed chaotically until they stabilized into solid shapes and recognizable terrain. Trees of black wood bark with crimson leaves came to being alongside a sky of grey, insidiously dull and unbearably gloomy. The leaves dripped with a sanguine liquid as if the trees were crying, diffusing a strong scent of blood in the air.
The voices ended abruptly. An eerie, unexpected silence conquered the world entirely. The glow was soon directly before Wei Wuyin, and he saw the origins of the glow. A lake that was as blue as Lin Ziyan's eyes.
Wei Wuyin's eyes flashed with a tinge of nostalgia. While he hadn't been all there all those years ago, he had devoured the 'him' that had experienced this as a blank slate. He recalled...pissing by this very lake. Even back then, he found himself admirable to an incredible extreme. His first mark on the Calamities of Hell was none other than to piss on it.
Within the lake, faint images flickered alongside familiar voices. These voices carried tenderness, hatred, rage, joy, sternness, or strict admonishments. It was of all flavors from all over. The 'him' before treated these voices and flashes of images as nothing more than a show. These images were of his past, of his future, of alternate pasts, of alternate futures. They encapsulated all that was and could be.
They sought to drown him and cleanse his soul by eliciting a strong emotional response. The trees surrounding him would then drip with blood and he'd inevitably be invaded, slowly cleansed until his original self was gone and only the purest of his True Soul remained for reincarnation. Unfortunately for him, this process would eradicate his body as well as the Primordial Seeds of Sin: Pride & Lust from his True Soul, thereby destroying his True Soul as well!
He didn't even need to delay or contemplate his next move. With a single step, he jumped directly into the lake as memories of his past washed over him. Perhaps the past Wei Wuyin would struggle with such a situation, but the current Wei Wuyin's Heart of Cultivation and will had been reinforced to a zenith degree far surpassing a typical mortal.
These relived memories could affect him in the same way as a gentle breeze could affect a Solar Star.
Regardless of whether the lake forced him to take the physical reenactment of his past traumas or happiness, he remained entirely unfazed as he absorbed and accepted them all. Within a few minutes, he slowly rose from the lake without a single drop of water on him. The crimson leaves and sanguine liquid remained unmoved while the lake's glow vanished and the voices faded as if washed away by an abrupt gust. The voices carried ripples of reluctance with it, whistling in the air and then vanishing entirely.
The first lake was completed.
'There are forty-nine lakes total, each containing a distinct memory, an alternative past, or possibility of my future. It took me seven years and seven months to complete last time. I spent most of that time trying to escape or simply idling about in my amnesic state.' Wei Wuyin saw another luminous glow in the distance. He didn't hesitate to walk forward, stepping upon the water. The lake abruptly vanished, becoming solid earth.
'As long as I show no rejection of my past, distraught, regret, yearning, or fearful emotions towards my alternative pasts of what ifs, and reject all ill-destined futures and remain unmoved by artificial blessed futures, then I can conquer each lake. That's the logic behind it. It's not about not showing emotion, but about reacting with the appropriate emotion while avoiding any disillusionment or negativity. What a terrifying Calamity.'
During his first attempt at this, he was given the 'Survived' mark. This was largely because none of the lakes could stimulate any effect on him, simply meaning he outlasted the calamity's influence rather than defeating any aspect of it. In a way, he passed without any failure solely due to viewing these memories with a strong feeling of disconnect, and therefore never felt any sensation of 'loss' throughout his seven-year stay.
This time...he intended to conquer this Hell!
The Calamity of True Loss! He was determined to claim it!
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