50 DENIAL 3/3 AND MYSTERIOUS LIGHT-SHADOW ANCESTORs TALE (1/2)
It had been…
”Death” Cheng Hao muttered pensively.
”Death?” The droopy-eyed girl frowned her brows.
”Yes…” Cheng Hao's smile grew as bitter as it was glad. ”For me to take the first step… I had to die.”
Cheng Hao sighed as he actively came to realize that his death and consequent rebirth had acted as a balm for his soul, truly changing himself. He was the 'reborn Evil Saint', and yet, the only thing that remained within him of that feral monster with blue eyes were his memories.
It looks like, in the end, the Evil Saint truly DID die back then, in that battle at the top of the world.
'Cheng Hao…'
In front of a stunned ashen haired, grey robed Rin, the golden eyed youth clutched his own chest as he shed a tear, thinking in his head:
'It seems, I owe you far more than I had ever imagined. Truly, thank you. Thanks to you… I could truly be REBORN! I was reborn not as that monster… but as CHENG HAO!'
And at this moment, deep within the child's mind, a huge yet unnoticeable change occurred.
Originally, after his rebirth, Xu Ling's soul had been split in two: the smaller part had been golden and less dense and was the eight-year-old Cheng Hao's soul, while the bigger part had been a deep blue and much denser, being the Evil Saint Xu Ling's soul. Right now however, the bonds between the two souls had weakened considerably as a result of Cheng Hao truly having become an existence no longer dependent on Xu Ling, having become a true person!
As if having lied in wait for this realization on Cheng Hao's part and the separations of the souls since the beginning, the faint outline of a spark suddenly appeared deep within the space where the Immortal Ascension Tower was located. The spark flickered before reappearing next to the two souls, decisively rending the connection between the two. Next, it proceeded to wrestle with the bigger, denser, blue soul. Even the bigger blue soul could only hold on for a bit before it dispersed with a silent screech and was completely absorbed by the golden soul again: having absorbed the remnants of blue, the golden soul instantly underwent a qualitative change, growing until its size outclassed even the original gold-and-blue initial soul.
This time however, it no longer retained its individuality, and the two souls truly became one, forming into 'Cheng Hao'.
The spark, having completed all this secretly, once again dimmed down and grew invisible to the senses before once again disappearing from sight, falling back into its deep slumber.
As for what such changes had brought to the man in question, Cheng Hao, he was surprised to find the Immortal Ascension Tower within his consciousness suddenly resonating with him many times clearer than it had ever done before: seemingly without a reason, the connection between man and 'Martial Way' had grown many times clearer. He wiped away his tears with the back of his palm before he began to explore the change to his Immortal Ascension Tower.
”This is?” He waved his hand as, suddenly, Qi strand after Qi strand poured out of his cultivation base, gathering above his palm, forming into the Martial Avatar. The sight of the inverted pagoda caused Rin to stare on with wide eyes. More shocking however was when she witnessed first-hand how the surface of the pagoda rippled to become a purple orb; the Purple Moon!
”THIS IS!!!” Cheng Hao gaped, unable to believe the degree of freedom at which he could bend the Qi strands. Originally, other than changing the Immortal Ascension Tower into a Martial Way with the traits of the Purple Moon, he had tried to do the same with its Martial Avatar. However, even if he changed the attributes of the Martial Way within his consciousness, there would be no change to his Martial Avatars in the outside world. The 'connection' between him and his own Martial Way had been too thin to accomplish that!
Now however… with a thought, the inverted golden pagoda rippled continuously and its aura followed, emulating first the glow of the Purple Moon, followed by the vicious presence of the Black Dragon and ultimately going back to its initial state.
It was as if a barrier had been removed, allowing him to freely link the Way to its Avatar.
Actually, make that Avatar-'s': after summoning a second Martial Avatar out, it immediately followed after the first, the inverted pagoda rippled continuously under Cheng Hao's scrutinizing eye. After several tests, his eyes gleamed with excitement: Martial Avatars, unlike Martial Ways, did not have the same unique aura that could allow people to easily discern them apart from other treasures. Thanks to this sudden and unforeseen boost… he would be able to finally utilize a portion of the Immortal Ascension Tower in battle without fearing others would find out about it as he had before!
It was only at this moment that Cheng Hao suddenly remembered where he was: he slowly turned around to find a wide-eyed Rin looking at him playing around with his inverted pagodas with her mouth in an 'o' shape.