Po Ming, can you please come over here for a bit?"
Mingyin called out. "It's nothing personal... just a side effect I want to explain."Po Ming turned around, looking back with a frail expression on his face.
"What do you need, Mingyin?"Hearing his voice, Mingyin looked down.
He reached out, gripped Po Ming's shoulder, and spoke quietly. "Po Ming, I have a question."Po Ming looked back with a pleasant, curious expression. "What do you mean, Mingyin? Why are you acting so strange? It's like you want to tell me something."
Mingyin, however, did not meet his gaze. He looked past him, staring far into the distance.If he stays here, he will die an insufferable death, Mingyin thought bitterly.
It is better to end his suffering now.
But Mingyin wanted to be completely honest—more honest than he had ever been in his entire life. So, he asked Po Ming the one question he had always wanted to ask."Who are you truly, Po Ming? And to be honest... am I just part of the debris my future self talked about?
"Po Ming froze. Hearing those words come out of Mingyin's mouth, he let out a heavy sigh and looked down at the ground."
Mingyin... where I come from is not truly the First Heaven, nor anywhere in the Nine Heavens," Po Ming confessed. "Instead, I was born in a world of chaos."Mingyin froze. A sudden, sharp buzzing filled his ears.
"You... what?"Po Ming sighed briefly before continuing. "The world I came from is a secret world.
It is a hidden land separate from the First Heaven, where we are not recognized as true heavenly beings. We are just like you, but only a single step higher in rank."Mingyin's mind raced as he processed the truth. "
So you came from the chaos... Wait, if you came from the chaos, were you sent here just to observe our mortal world?"Po Ming nodded slowly. "
The world I came from—and this may shock you—has watched your regressions. The moment where you almost achieved the Sovereignty Path has happened at least 100 million times.
Your future self broke that timeline to save you from dying.
Or rather, it seems you broke that curse on your own."Mingyin's entire mind shook with terror.As he quickly tried to piece the questions together, he was met with a harsh, unyielding truth.
The regression after he almost achieved the Sovereignty Path had failed at least 100 million times. Yet, he had absolutely no memory of it.
Mingyin suspected that his repeated deaths were tied to the entity trying to steal and inhabit his body. But right now, he couldn't make sense of anything."Po Ming... does that mean I could never have escaped the mortal world?""
Yes, that is correct," Po Ming replied gently. "It seems that only because of your future self—or your own sheer strength—you finally achieved it."
Mingyin could hardly believe it. Then, a line about the Father of Existence echoed in his mind:
A lost, wandering soul.Was he just a lost, wandering soul? Or was he trapped, wandering endlessly inside a brutal cycle of regression?Mingyin's breathing grew heavy, a grimace distorting his face.
No matter how much I persevere, I don't even know who I am. It seems I cannot return... No, I must return to the mortal world.
Suddenly, the other half of Mingyin's hair and eyes flared with an insane, brilliant white glow.
Deep cracks began to web across his face. He tightly gripped Po Ming's shoulder.
Po Ming smiled warmly. He expected Mingyin to say something heroic—to say that he would wash away the loneliness and continue to persevere until the very end.
He expected him to remain the same Mingyin he admired: someone who could change his flow like a river, yet remain as unmoved as a mountain by holding onto his core concepts."
Mingyin," Po Ming said softly, "I wanted to tell you that I have always observed you throughout these regressions. I saw you as my hero, the one I truly admire. Because of you, I found out who you are.
You are the hero. You are my sunshine, while I am your moon."Mingyin still refused to meet his eyes.
He turned his head away, hiding the darkness pooling in his gaze. He was trying desperately to hold it in, trying not to be a hypocrite.
He couldn't bring himself to speak the words, but he could act on them.Po Ming continued, unaware. "
You are the person I admire. Because of you, I found my truth, and that truth is breaking fate... and..."Suddenly, Po Ming's face turned grim.
He looked away, clenching his fists tightly. Then, he looked down and nodded respectfully."
Mingyin... your damn concept. You truly are someone who will always change."
Po Ming stared at the ground as a single tear fell. In that moment, a horrific hallucination flashed before his eyes. He saw a vast sea of dead corpses, blood leaking heavily from the earth.
He saw his own mother floating in that sea of blood—the sea known as fate.Just like the countless others falling into the abyss, Po Ming finally came to accept the truth.
Everything and everyone I cherish, admire, and chase after will eventually fall into the river of fate and die. There are no true eternal believers in a world where one person's steps are simply followed by others.
The one who dies will only be followed by the next.We are all just mud, waiting to blossom like a lotus."
Po Ming..." Mingyin whispered, still looking down.Beneath the surface, dark roots could be seen curling around Po Ming.
They were silently invading his gut, his legs, and his neck, starving him from the inside out. Po Ming could have avoided them, but he chose to stay right there. He finally gave up. He didn't know who that person before him truly was anymore, but he recognized him.
My true, foolish, failed, reflected self.Mingyin suddenly clenched his fist.Sparks began to rise from Po Ming's skin. His body blurred, turning into a snowy, invisible mist.
As the sparks drifted away, his left hand vanished. Soon after, his right hand and both of his legs disappeared into nothingness.Po Ming smiled one last time and spoke his final words. "
Don't you dare think that enlightenment is the end."With that, he dissolved completely into the air, leaving nothing but fading sparks.
In those final moments, a rush of memories flushed through Po Ming's mind. He remembered his mother, and he remembered his abusive father. He had so many questions left to ask.
But out of pure admiration, he had been saved from a gruesome death he otherwise could never have escaped.
I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't achieve the life I wanted to achieve...
Mingyin caught the leftover glowing sparks of Po Ming's soul. Traveling to another realm, he prepared to pour all of his root energy into a sanctuary.
He arrived before a vast temple, as massive as a fortress castle, entirely surrounded by dead,
withered trees. He pushed open the heavy temple doors. The sparks drifted from his hands and floated inside.Mingyin poured his soul force energy into the altar of the shrine-like hall.
As the energy hit the floor, seven glowing tablets materialized and floated silently in the air.Mingyin had once found a scroll detailing the various realms,
which led him to this hidden temple—a place meant to safeguard a lost soul within a dangerous spirit realm. If Po Ming stayed here,
he would finally rest in peace. He would never have to know of his agonizing existence, escaping the cruel gravity that wandering souls face when they are barred from entering what lies beyond death.
This sanctuary was known as the
[Temple of Rest for Lost Wandering Souls]."
Po Ming... as a lost wandering soul, you can finally rest, huh?"Mingyin smiled faintly. He turned around and closed the heavy temple doors behind him."
I wish the lost wandering soul in me could rest, too."