A figure sat down on his golden throne in the Northern Plains.
Their body was eight feet tall.
And he was radiating a majestic presence.
And yet.
His flesh was rotting, his eyes whilst containing endless cunning.
Were also tainted by red, whilst the iris had turned grey.
Veins sprouted out from his body, and he had a greenish color on his skin.
His eyes were almost half-closed as he stared at the spectacle.
The battle between Heavenly Court and Crimson Soul had reached its peak, a battle like the world had not seen in centuries, and yet.
He remained completely indifferent to it.
He looked contemplative.
"Strange….The Cicada was destroyed before my eyes, and yet. I can still perceive its aftereffects in my luck.
The threat has not faded, but it has concealed itself brilliantly." The man muttered; his voice was extremely deep.
"Should I remain here, pretending that nothing is happening, or should I intervene?" The figure clicked its tongue.
"No. Revealing myself too harshly would only make the people of Heavenly Court know I am here. I should not act until it's absolutely necessary, and only if I can guarantee that the Spring Autumn Cicada will activate, and everyone will forget about my actions."
"Even so, if the situation does not improve, perhaps I should use Nothing is Certain Except Success, as long as I decrease its output to the limit, they should not be able to trace it back to here."
But the figure shook his head.
"No. Star Constellation is far too cunning; she proved this much when she killed my clone.
Besides, the other arrangements of Red Lotus have yet to unfold completely.
I only need to be patient."
As the figure muttered those words.
He recalled a memory from over a hundred thousand years ago.
...
…..
….
"Red Lotus. I am very curious. Why have you told me to come here? So far away from your other arrangements, at the very edge of the world?
You already told me enough of the details of your plan, so I can cooperate.
And I doubt you will be as generous as to give me the full picture, lest I make use of it to turn it to my advantage.
So, what is the point of dragging me here?"
The figure of Red Lotus sighed.
"My fears are not of what is to come. But rather from what comes after."
"It may be difficult for you to imagine, but since the day I ascended to become a Time Dao Lord.
My perception of the time stream has grown to unimaginable levels.
I can witness even the shallowest tides; I can perceive even the slightest incongruences of Fate.
And through it, I could discern the future long before my death, as well as the myriad possibilities that may arrive.
And yet.
My abilities are not absolute.
While I can still discern futures that come during the Great Dream Era, those which come after 'Fate' is destroyed elude me completely.
I cannot visualize what will come after.
For somebody like me who has witnessed so many possibilities, such a world elates me.
I cannot help but wonder what mysteries this future holds.
And yet…I am also scared."
Giant Sun stared at Red Lotus, somewhat surprised.
"Scared of what?"
"I am scared of the one I chose to undertake this task."
"Fang Yuan is…Different from you and me, he does not care about this world in the slightest, and he has no pride or honor.
If pushed into a corner, he will risk the world's end just for the slightest chance of survival."
Giant Sun paused whilst listening attentively.
"And where does that lead to?"
"If he tries to force my hand, and force me to help him go back in time. I will ensure to ruin his attempt.
He will be forced so far into the past that he will no longer even possess a body."
Giant Sun's ears twitched a bit as he heard those words.
"You will bring him to my era?"
Red Lotus shrugged.
"Not quite. It will be just a few centuries at the end of the next Venerable's era."
Giant Sun raised his eyebrows.
"Then why are you telling me this-" Suddenly, his expression changed.
"Do you know about my plans?"
Red Lotus smiled plainly.
"You intend to turn yourself into a zombie right after you die."
Then he added.
"The Venerable that comes after you will similarly cheat death. He will rule the land of the dead, and you will be among the living."
Red Lotus chuckled.
"With both of you standing, I can rest assured you will be able to stop him."
But Giant Sun merely frowned.
"And what makes you sure about that? If he comes here, it means he succeeded, he broke Fate, and he also became a Rank 9.
How can you be so sure your arrangements will be able to stop someone like him?"
Red Lotus smiled.
"Why don't you take a look at this?" Red Lotus's Will threw a jade towards Giant Sun.
Giant Sun inspected its contents, and his eyes widened almost comically.
There were over a thousand Killer Moves inside.
And each single Killer Move used one Gu as the core.
Spring Autumn Cicada.
Giant Sun scrolled through the contents, and he saw that among the techniques there was even a Luck Path Method.
Through Spring and Winter.
A method which could be mixed alongside Spring Autumn Cicada, that in simple terms.
Changed the configuration of Spring Autumn Cicada; it was a bit more complicated than that, but in simple terms.
Most frequently, the Spring Autumn Cicada, upon activation, would produce '10' bad luck upon regressing.
This method changed the proportion.
Creating a 110 of bad luck and a 100 of good luck.
Most frequently, the effect itself would do nothing, but somebody like Giant Sun could easily exploit it.
He could take the good luck and simply discard the bad luck.
Of course, the activation was not for free. The cost would be paid by both the Giant Sun of the future and the one who regressed, but its effectiveness was undeniable.
Giant Sun stared at Red Lotus in bewilderment.
"To be able to come up with a Killer Move mimicking a path that did not exist yet in your era…You truly are something, Red Lotus."
"Do not give me too much credit; I merely stole your work."
Giant Sun lowered his gaze.
Indeed, he noticed several points of inspiration in his work, most importantly from the perspective of a Dao Lord.
Red Lotus's work was very amateurish.
There was plenty of room for improvement.
Even so. The Killer Move itself was still too wondrous.
Especially because amongst the methods there was even the method to seize the Spring Autumn Cicada.
The range was limited, but if one was within a few meters of the user, they could establish a nexus between both sides.
Enabling the person to enter into the Spring Autumn Cicada just as it regressed into the past.
Moreover, it would also partially destabilize the Will of the original user of the Cicada.
Giving the user a modest advantage in the tug of war for control of the Cicada.
And the most amazing part was that this Killer Move was centered around countering a Rank 8 Spring Autumn Cicada and yet employed purely Mortal Gu.
The method defied comprehension.
The most amazing part was that it was a Killer Move designed to be manipulable, with just a few Immortal Gu additions as well. With the reinforcement of a few thousand Dao Marks, it could even counter the Rank 9 Spring Autumn Cicada.
"Hah…You truly will give me the chance to steal the Spring Autumn Cicada for myself?" Giant Sun grinned.
But Red Lotus sighed.
"More or less. If you are not an otherworldly demon, the Gu, whilst useful, is not too heaven-defying.
Of course, with your ability to manipulate luck, things may turn out differently for you; I cannot tell.
However, if you fail to achieve your goals using the Spring Autumn Cicada after seizing it.
I beg of you. To destroy it and enable my inheritor to succeed.
And with the knowledge you will then possess, stop him from succeeding again. In the future timeline." Red Lotus said pleadingly; however, Giant Sun snorted coldly.
"Do not pretend that you will not share the method with Spectral Soul."
Red Lotus sighed.
"Of course, I will. What choice do I have? All I can do is pray that neither of you is able to attain it and that everything works out somehow..."
"Tough luck, fortune will favor me, as it always has..." Giant Sun chuckled to him as he shrugged.
Then his expression grew serious as he added.
"Let me ask you one thing."
"Is that it? Is that the extent of your arrangements to stop him?"
Red Lotus sighed.
"Indeed. That is as far as I could go. I spent most of my efforts on my other arrangements.
Besides, even if I tried to go further, by the time they travel back in time, I am sure they will know the River of Time like the back of their palm.
However, they can only know of things that will still exist by then.
Once I outrun my purpose, I ask you to kill me and destroy this island.
But before that, let me add.
While, despite my limitations, I could still plot or scheme, to hide it from him would be too difficult.
And the help I could provide would be too meager, besides. I doubt you'd be elated to simply aid me in succeeding; if anything, you may step on my toes to try to outwit me and seize the Spring Autumn Cicada for yourself.
Thus, all I can do is offer you this meager help.
And a warning....
If you find Spring Autumn Cicada of Rank 9 in the River of Time, they are not me."
Giant Sun chuckled.
"Red Lotus, you were such a liar. You said you had no other arrangements, and yet.
That boy Kao Dao Ji…Heh.
I'd like to intervene, but my luck tells me that I should not.
That if I try to act, something will go wrong.
Of course, I cannot tell if this is the truth or if somebody has obscured my luck.
Regardless, I dare not try.
Not yet, at least…"
As the figure thought this, he closed one of his eyes.
And enabled it to slumber, whilst with the other he kept observing the battle between both sides.
…
Meanwhile, in the Dream Realm.
The days and nights went by.
The feet of Kao Dao Ji slowly recovered.
In truth, he had some Rank 1 Healing Gu with him, or at least he did at the beginning.
But their effect was too insignificant to regenerate the body properly in those first days.
And by the time they would show a greater effect, it was already too late.
Those Gu had died of hunger.
And so had most of his other Gu.
The situation outside was changing too; whilst the trio of Gu Masters had been observing him before, they were forced to leave.
As the effects of the blizzard kept vanishing, more and more beasts began to migrate.
By this point, a beast stampede seemed imminent.
Whereas Kao Dao Ji preserved the meat.
The cave was rather special; in it, the cold was very well-preserved, and many Mortal Gu Materials could persist for a long time.
And the same logic applied to corpses.
Whilst distasteful, he was able to drag the corpse and eat it in small portions.
Every time he did, he felt the disgust in his body growing worse and worse.
To distract his mind, he kept cultivating silently.
Once more, the days and the weeks passed by.
…
Kao Dao Ji glanced through the glimpse of the barrier and noticed that the beast stampede had finally solidified.
The most optimal choice would be to wait until the tempest passed, and where he would come out safely…
But.
His stomach was growling.
Troubles came one upon another, upon another, upon another, upon another, upon another, upon another, upon another, upon another, upon another, upon another…
Kao Dao Ji's body was trembling, yet he smiled widely whilst touching his cheeks with his hands
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
"No, no, no. This is not real. I am not here. I am just in a dream." He muttered to himself weakly, yet the excuse seemed as flimsy as paper.
How could this be a dream?
"No…No, I need to remember who I am; I am Kao Dao Ji and back on earth I was called-"
His pupils narrowed.
He froze in the spot and tried to recall.
"What was my name again?"
He frowned deeply.
"And where exactly did I live? Who were my parents?"
"I…I cannot remember. Any of it."
"Then was I always Kao Dao Ji?" He frowned deeply.
"No, no, I still remember. I used to watch anime, and I used to read novels and play games.
Celeste, Deltarune, Jujutsu Kaisen, Naruto, Jojo, Baki, Lord of the Mysteries, The Legendary Mechanic...I remember so many things from that life.
But why? Why can't I remember my own name? Why can't I remember the faces of my family? How many brothers or sisters did I have?"
He squinted his eyes.
He tried to peer into his own mind to recall.
But his pupils widened as he recalled a blue screen.
[UnfetteredFeatherman33]
That was his nametag in a game unworthy of being mentioned.
Featherman. Featherman.
His own nametag back then used to be that.
While it seemed extremely trivial, it was also deeply unsettling.
"I remember back then I used to like angelic depictions and characters with wings, due to that reason I also grew to love Featherman even though they did basically nothing in the whole novel.
Was that a coincidence?
Or.
Was I given the body of a Featherman because I happened to like them, or…
I liked Featherman because I was guided to do so.
If so, how much of my life was influenced?
And how did I never realize this before?"
But then he recalled.
Many, many times, he had asked about why he was here.
And yet.
No matter how he stretched his mind, he was unable to figure out a tenth as much in several hours of thinking as what he had now.
An ominous feeling reached his mind as he made a wild guess.
"What if the Rank 9 Killer Move inside of me can affect my cognition, preventing me from piercing out certain 'answers', no matter how hard I try?"
The logic was simple.
What if there were a way to alter the mind in such a way that a person could never figure out what 2 + 2 was, even if they knew the two numbers and even if they knew how to sum?
That also explained a whole lot of things.
If he applied this logic to others, it would also explain why Heavenly Court was so desperate to capture him, because they too were unable to pierce through the truth, no matter how obvious.
Ordinary Anti-Deduction Killer Moves were usually divided into two camps.
One. The Killer Move acted as a camouflage, preventing the divine sense of others from inspecting the user.
Second, the Killer Move affected the thread of divine sense, be it by cutting it down or by altering its trajectory, redirecting it towards its original source.
Hence, the effect is known as counter-deducing.
Yet those were not the only ways.
Just the most popular in the world.
To explain it in other words.
The first method was like using Gu to make oneself invisible to the naked eye.
The second method was like hitting the eye to stop the target from seeing the user.
But the third one?
It was like parading naked before a person, yet the other person would be unable to see a thing.
Though he was still not sure if this third method applied to only him or if it extended to others.
Even so.
"Why am I able to figure out this much now? What has changed?"
He blinked.
"The Dream Realm! Their influence inside the dream realm is wavering." As he made his realization, he then added.
"While I am not sure why they put me in the Dream Realm and are risking jeopardizing their plans, the whole situation is simply too strange."
"I do not believe whoever did this would do this simply to stop the Cicada; there were so many other ways they could have solved this. They simply could have told Spectral Soul where the Cicada would appear, and he would rip them apart.
If they were afraid of Spectral Soul getting his hands on it, they could still have warned Giant Sun.
I can easily make up ten plans that are at least half as difficult as this one, and which require fewer steps and are easier to execute.
So why was I chosen for this task?
Unless the Cicada is not the goal, but simply a way to force my hand to make me act in the way they want me to?"
But then his pupils shrank.
"But even if I figured out this much, what if I forget it later?
I am safe from the effects now because I am in a dream, but once I leave, the protection will cease. The question is: Does the method stop me from figuring out the truth, but once I know it, it stops working?
Or is a method that can erode my memory to make me forget such things?"
He frowned.
But he heavily suspected the latter.
Why? Because he could not recall his previous life properly.
And when he arrived, he could, but as the years went by, he slowly forgot.
He considered that it could be simply forgetting, due to the years, but the fact that he preserved other memories discarded the possibility.
Of course, he could be wrong, but why would he take the chance?
He frowned. Anything he did within the Dream Realm would be erased; only a Dream Path Gu could exist afterwards.
But how could he figure out a Dream Path Gu Recipe on his own, during such a short period?
Think.
Think.
How else could he preserve this knowledge?
"What if I share this with someone else? The other me may still be affected by the method, but there were other people inside the dream realm. If I contact them before the dream ends, I can still preserve this. And they may remind me of this too."
Kao Dao Ji began to plot.
…
…
…