Meanwhile, Xian—who had just been erased—found himself in a strange place. It was dark, yet suffused with an odd, ambient energy.
*That damn Allied,* he thought bitterly. *I don't even know if my total regeneration is still intact.*
Then a realization struck him. *Wait a minute. If I were truly dead, I shouldn't be able to think like this.*
He felt a breeze brush against him. *How can there be wind here?*
The wind grew stronger, faster, until he was caught in its current. He heard the deafening roar of thunder and the sharp crack of lightning. When he opened his eyes, he found himself hurtling toward the center of a massive storm.
*Wait—how did I get here?! How am I even here? What *is* this?*
He couldn't move freely. He couldn't speak. All he could do was surrender to the storm's current.
Then, as he entered the eye of the storm, his consciousness snapped back. He suddenly reappeared directly behind Allied.
"I'm still alive," Xian said.
Allied and Aron both spun around. Allied's lips curled into a faint smile.
"Good. You're still useful."
Aron quickly added this phenomenon to his growing database. He looked genuinely puzzled. "How did you come back? Wasn't your regeneration ability gone?"
Xian crossed his arms, still processing what had happened. "I just found this out myself, but apparently, this Path also has a regeneration mechanism. It just works differently. The function is the same, though."
Allied tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
Xian explained, "My regeneration as a cultivator came from my core. But this time... it felt like I was carried along by a thunderstorm. Maybe that's the effect of this Path."
Aron leaned forward. "How do you know that? Were you conscious while you were in there?"
"Only partially," Xian admitted. "I was just following the current."
Allied stroked his chin thoughtfully. "If you're still intact, then the mechanism is indeed similar to your previous core or essence."
Xian nodded. "That's what it seems like. If the system weren't similar, there's no way I'd still have my body, memories, information, data, and other aspects intact."
Allied's eyes gleamed. "If that's the case, then as long as you're connected to your Path, you essentially can't die, right?"
Xian grinned, confidence returning. "In theory, yes."
"Just as I suspected," Allied said. "There's no way that symbol would store your data, information, and soul without reason."
He straightened up. "Alright then. Let's train some more. There's still plenty of data to collect."
Xian's grin vanished. "Seriously?! I just got these new abilities! Almost everything I learned before is gone!"
Allied's voice hardened. "We don't have time to wait for you to cry about it. Our time is limited. If you have a grudge, take it out on Alvion."
Xian blinked. "Who's Alvion?"
Allied's gaze darkened. "The leader of the Epitaph team."
Xian's eyes widened. "How do you know his name?"
Allied smirked. "Remember the Alcrypna Incident?"
Understanding dawned on Xian's face. "So he's the one who used that artifact to merge the timelines and erase cultivators, replacing them with Paths. But how do you know his name?"
Allied crossed his arms. "What do you think I was doing in Alola all that time? You think I was just on vacation? For your information, I destroyed one of the Epitaph team's branches there. And of course, they had plenty of important documents. Did you think I couldn't read?"
Xian fell silent for a moment.
Allied clapped his hands. "Alright. Let's just continue training. Better than wasting your time thinking about useless things."
They both prepared for the second simulation. Xian needed to understand exactly what abilities he could wield with this new Path.
Aron reactivated the simulator, and they dove back in.
As they trained, Aron continued gathering and analyzing the data he had obtained. *Paths... troublesome new abilities,* he mused, *but I'll admit, this might end up being more useful.* He took another sip of his coffee and resumed his work.