Kao Dao Ji sighed helplessly whilst staring at Spectral Soul.
"Resisting is pointless…Usually, torture alone does not give you anything useful, as you cannot verify whether somebody is telling you the truth or not, or even if they know the truth.
They just say whatever they think will make the pain stop. After all, how can you prove otherwise?
But he is different. I doubt he has no way to discern the truth of my words, besides.
Seeing how twisted he is, I would not be surprised if he somehow found a way to make torture an actually useful method to gather information.
Moreover…He is the only hope I have to come back to life."
As he pondered over this, he turned his eyes a bit away, trying to not to stare at Spectral Soul too much, he began to speak.
"I…I used to be a human. Back on earth, but one day I had an accident and died.
And in this world, from the other side, a Featherman named 'Kao Dao Ji' died in the middle of his Immortal Ascension, turning miraculously into a Land Spirit.
When I opened my eyes, I became that Land Spirit, and I have been living as one all this time."
Spectral Soul raised his eyes, staring intently at him.
"That explains many things, and it aligns with what I can feel from you, and from him." He spoke whilst seeing through Kao Dao Ji, on the other side.
There was a massive knot that stretched beyond the Land of the Dead to an Immortal Aperture. From there, he could vaguely discern a certain sight.
"That story of yours…Is certainly interesting, but it also has several logical flaws, creating a sentient Land Spirit is not so easy. I, for one, made very thorough experiments regarding such things, and I failed.
Yet, you became one. Certainly, you were helped by somebody, and yet who could it be?
No Venerable, whom I am aware of, even came close to reaching this point, and nobody would even have the resources to work with.
Before I came to be, before I innovated in Soul Path, Soul Path was almost completely devoid of foundation.
Only a Venerable who came afterward could have profited from my research. And yet that is impossible."
"The only logical explanation I find is that Time Travel was somehow involved in the process. But that sounds very odd. What would be the purpose in achieving all of this just for you?"
Then, he added.
"Also. If you were just an 'ordinary' man before you arrived here, how could you know so much about this world? How could you know about me? How could you know about the Fated Venerable? And do not try to deceive me, I can see that the other you is hanging with him."
"So what is it? What are you hiding from me?"
Kao Dao Ji frowned.
He paused briefly, and surprisingly, Spectral Soul gave him the time to organize his thoughts.
"It's a bit weird…But before I arrived in this world, there was this novel, Reverend Insanity. I liked it back then when I lived on earth.
The story was…About this world and about 'Fang Yuan', there the story of how he became a Venerable was written, as well as his road to eternal life.
Then again, that last part was never written. I never knew how it ended."
For the very first time, the expression of Spectral Soul changed drastically.
"A novel which described events of the future, sent to another world?
This…How could it even happen? Who would even do this, and for what reason?" He thought to himself.
For a whole minute, he pondered over the possibilities.
He glanced briefly at Kao Dao Ji.
"When he spoke about such things, I could discern that the parts of his soul where those memories were stored. And I see no signs of trickery, nor of any alteration of his memories.
Is this truly what happened? Or perhaps my senses were fooled by whoever it is that stole my Supreme Grandmaster position?"
His expression became solemn.
"Tell me everything about that Novel."
Kao Dao Ji sighed.
Part by part, he began to explain everything, or at least all the parts he could remember of the novel, and as he kept talking, more and more the expression of Spectral Soul changed more and more.
Disbelief, astonishment, surprise.
"Many of the parts he described line up with my own speculations, and even plans. Not only those of the near future, but those plans I had once Fate was destroyed.
Whilst others are very inspiring and interesting.
mmm…But I cannot act hastily; I cannot assume those things are true.
Regardless…The more I hear him, the more I am convinced that at least a portion of what he said truly happened.
Spring Autumn Cicada, it had to be used after Fate was destroyed, but how? Even at Rank 9 on its own, it would lack the power to go back in time in a world without Fate…"
Still.
That is not what made him the wariest.
His expression grew increasingly heavy as the image of Fang Yuan appeared in his head.
"Everything points out to the same conclusion. The events truly happened, and then he went back. Did he believe that things would favor him more in an era without Venerables?
Or was he forced by circumstances to detonate Cicada?"
Spectral Soul pondered silently for several minutes.
Until finally, he turned his gaze towards Kao Dao Ji.
"I cannot verify the veracity of what you told me, but based on what you told me, and based on what I am seeing from the other side.
Neither of us wants to see the Will of whoever person is inside the Spring Autumn Cicada to come back to life.
And in that regard, I can help you greatly…Unfortunately, the time is rather short, I lack the prime resources, I only hold contact with a portion of your soul, and finally, I am no longer a Dao Lord.
Due to all those aspects, even grafting new properties onto your soul would be rather difficult.
In the current circumstances, the most I can do is impart to you some of my Immortal Killer Moves…
Even then. The situation will be very difficult. If you want even the slightest hope of survival, you need to be patient and wait for the right opportunity and-"
"Wait." Kao Dao Ji suddenly raised his hands.
To which Spectral Soul stopped.
"What is it?"
"I have a few questions I want to ask you, but first. You seem to be able to see how things are going from my side. Tell me, do we still have time?"
Spectral Soul stared at him, somewhat bemused, before nodding.
"We have some."
"But do not think I will indulge you pointlessly…"
"I know, I know…" Kao Dao Ji rolled his eyes.
"But the questions I have in mind are truly important.
For starters, I know that Crimson Soul is somehow related to Giant Sun, but I doubt that you were completely uninvolved either.
Especially because there are not that many Soul Path Immortals in the current era, speaking of which.
Why are there so few Soul Path Immortals in the current era, especially because they were so abundant during your era?"
Spectral Soul stared blankly at Kao Dao Ji.
The figure merely squinted his eyes.
"You suspect that there was a great scheme in play behind that decision?
But reality is much simpler.
But I guess there's no harm in telling you the whole story…"
"Giant Sun's clone was beaten over and over by me during my era; eventually, he perished at the hands of the pawns of Heavenly Court without a legacy.
But Giant Sun did not give up completely.
He wanted to create a golden era for Blood Path regardless, but he knew that trying again would fail, for his every move would be accounted for.
Instead of pointlessly creating another clone, he decided to put his trust in somebody else.
To an 'otherworldly demon.'
Hoping that they would succeed on his behalf.
During my time, I was already nearing my next Chaotic Tribulation.
I saw a decent amount of potential within him, so I accounted for two outcomes.
Either I survived my Chaotic Tribulation, or I did not.
If I survived my Tribulation, giving him a minor inheritance would allow him to grow greatly.
Once he matured fully, I would simply kill him and detonate his aperture inside my own.
But if I died.
There was merit, too.
You already know about my plan to grasp ten thousand Dao into one, to revive myself in a new body.
From my perspective, the more paths there are in the world, the more I stand to benefit.
Unfortunately, at that point, there was nobody who comprehended Blood Path properly other than Giant Sun's Clone, who had long since detonated his soul to prevent me from learning anything.
I feared that his inheritor would come to die just as quickly as he did; to prevent this, I imparted onto him my own inheritance.
Whether I died or not, I stood to benefit.
In the end, I ended up dying.
And he grew to become a rather formidable Rank 8.
But no matter how much he progresses….The outcome will be the same.
I will harvest everything he has to give."
Kao Dao Ji's lips trembled.
All of this?
All that Crimson Soul had ever accomplished was merely to become a more appetizing meal for Spectral Soul?
Spectral Soul truly lived up to expectations.
"Your other question can be answered by the former, but just in case you had not figured it out yet…"
"Why are there so few Soul Path Immortals, and why were there so few Immortals in general at the end of my era was rather simple.
You know about Chaotic Tribulations.
Those Tribulations are beyond anything you can imagine, so despairingly hard that there is barely any hope for survival.
They are so difficult that I was forced to extract as much power as I could muster.
To strengthen myself as much as possible, I simply killed every Soul Path Immortal and annexed their apertures onto my own just before the Tribulation began during each occasion.
Of course, I could not be too obvious; if I only killed Soul Path Immortals, nobody would have dared to cultivate such a path.
Which was why I simply killed anybody I could find. Whilst discretely pursuing and hunting down Soul Path Immortals.
Finally, the reason why Soul Path is rather weak at this point in time is simply that I died almost a millennium ago.
During a chaotic Tribulation, thus, the world only had a millennium to recover from the number of Immortals I killed."
Spectral Soul tilted his head.
Staring at Kao Dao Ji.
"Does knowing the truth change anything? Does it make you feel satisfied?
And is there something else you would like to know…?"
Kao Dao Ji's body had frozen in the spot as he stared at Spectral Soul.
"ah….eh….I….huh…."
…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH--------" Kao Zha Ji's arm was bitten by a massive shark.
He gritted his teeth.
Pressing his hand further into the shark's jaw.
A Rank 8 aurora spread through.
The body of the shark inflated.
To delay the process.
The shark produced several gills from which intense wind tides emerged, reducing the internal pressure within his body and deflating it rapidly.
Kao Zha Ji would not give an opening; however, he pressed on further but before he could kill him.
A bloodstream was shot towards Kao Zha Ji, who was pushed away.
The blood felt bitterly cold, yet strangely.
He felt that his wounds were melting.
Rapidly, they began to infect.
He triggered a healing method, but just as he did.
King Crimson flickered towards him.
Forcing him to duck down.
And then-
From beneath.
A strange half-moon projectile was shot.
His eyes widened.
He was forced to raise both of his hands to block.
His flesh was pierced through to the extent that even his bones could be seen.
He was also pushed upwards.
From above him.
King Crimson unleashed a kick.
Rolling Clouds Gu was triggered once more.
Using that Gu, he managed to block most of the force behind the kick, but the residual force pushed his body downwards even more.
His flesh and bone collided with the moon-shaped projectile, slicing through them even further.
Suddenly, King Crimson's figure vanished.
Kao Zha Ji raised his eyebrows, realizing it had teleported once more, but where and why?
A dark beam was unleashed from the direction where King Crimson previously was.
He tried to avoid, but another attack intercepted him-
Hui Gui Yu's body flickered at quasi-divine speed, punching him in the face.
His body was tossed towards the skies.
From the corner of his view, he could see King Crimson manifesting once more.
This time, there was a stern-looking Daoist.
Who raised his two arms towards him.
[Go To Jail]
Several bars appeared surrounding him, and his body felt numb as several Restriction Immortal Gu were activated.
[Atmospheric Pressure] He pointed at the man trying to kill him in one swift motion, but King Crimson merely carried him away.
Whilst the pressure from the side kept piling up.
Another bloodstream was shot towards his left, aiming at his stomach.
He snorted coldly.
Instead of bothering to avoid he purposefully rammed into it, his internal organs were smashed in the process, even so.
He managed to reach the neck of Leng Xue, which he snapped in one swift motion.
And to guarantee his death, his aura surged.
And he sliced his body into countless of pieces.
"Even if I die…Do not think you will go unscathed!" Kao Zha Ji muttered with cold sweat pouring down his forehead.
His voice was growing dimmer, and his vision was turning blurry. But the determination in his expression remained the same.