21 Companion (2/2)
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The next day, was part of the weekend break however everyone were still called over to school, even the ones who lived in the city. The whole school was called over to assemble to the courtyard. There stood around 750 students. 15 rows of around 50 students, 3 rows per grade. In front of the students were the staff. The teachers, dorm leaders, supporting staff. All were assembled in front of Principal Yao.
”I am here due to some recent events that you may or may not have heard about. As you there was an incident with demonic beasts a few days ago. Students were hurt. However last night another incident occurred. There was a challenge in the nearby woods. The demonic beast was also in the woods and once again students were injured.”
There was a worried chatter amongst the students. Conversations went along the lines of, ”Did they deal with it yet?”,”How could this have happened?”,etc. However, all this chatter was silenced at the principals next announcement.
”To this I propose some new rules. The woods are strictly forbidden from entry for the time being. Unless with adult supervision, nobody is allowed inside. Furthermore, for those who live in the dorms, nobody is to leave the dorms after and hour after the sun sets. Requests can be made to the dorm leader if it is within reason. Think of this as not something to restrict you but something to protect. We must keep you all safe from the clutches of the demonic beasts.”
And thus ended Principal Yao's speech. Everyone was instructed to leave and return home or to their dorms. As it was a weekend, they were free to do whatever they wanted. Xin Fan returned to his room and meditated. He needed as much preparation as possible until the inevitable occurs.
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3 weeks has passed uneventfully. There were no sightings of demonic beasts nor any challenges. Even if they challenged Xin Fan, he would have rejected them in favor of training. He would still do his normal routine like hang out with Tianfei and now also Chilong as well as do his club duties. However other than that he would wholeheartedly train his soul. The fragmentation had reached 90% slowly over the period of time. The pain he felt every time the percentage increased also seemed to lessen. It was only until the end of the month that the number finally hit 100.
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[ Soul Fragmentation at 100% ]
[ Soul has begun to split ]
Xin Fan was inside his domain waiting for the inevitable to occur. The whole domain started to shake as Xin Fan was feeling pain in his head. He saw visions of a different life. In his visions he would hear words like ”Murderer” and ”Extremist” however in every scene, the figure seemed indifferent and ignore it as if it were nothing. The 'Sun' in his domain was synchronized with his heart rate. As the pain worsened, the sun would flash different colors like red and white. For every second, he felt as if a thousand knives were cutting into his mind. This kept happening until the sun split with a small bit shooting off to the side. The disturbance in the domain has stopped completely as did the pain. Xin Fan looked up to see two suns in the sky.
[ Congratulation in surviving the first tribulation ]
[ Achievement 'First Tribulation' has replaced 'The fracture begins' +15% gold gain ]
[ Personality Xin Kong has spawned ]
”Does that sun represent my soul?”
Xin Fan had never taken notice of the sun. He simply assumed that it was there as a default setting. He never questioned why there was only one sun despite the real world having multiple. He never questioned why it was always daytime in the domain.
”So it seems.”
Xin Fan jumped up from the tree in fright. It was unusual to hear another voice within the domain. Xin Fan turned around to see a man. He was extremely familiar with the man. It was the same man in his visions except only know it was a lot clearer. The man was wearing long pure white robes which neatly fitted his body. His skin was clear with no wrinkles whatsoever. His snow white hair extended towards his waist as if he had never cut them in his life. Although he seemed frail, Xin Fan could still see faint definitions of muscles under the robes. His most distinguishing feature is his seemingly lack of emotions. While Xin Fan was freaking out, he simply sat there calmly waiting for Xin Fan to settle down.
”So I assume you are Xin Kong?”
”Indeed. Normally I go by 'Ninth Priest of Eight Restraints Mountain' but it's fine. Call me whatever you want. After all, I am you and you are me.”
And so Xin Fan now had a companion in his domain. Little did he know that soon, the place would start to get crowded.