novelraw Chapter 231: A Fake Soul's Dream [1]
Chapter 231: A Fake Soul's Dream [1]
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"For how long are you going to sleep, Yang? It's already past morning! Wake up, change your clothes, eat your breakfast, and go train at the dojo already, you lazy bum!"
"Ugh?! Who the hell do you think you are— Ah?!"
Louis' eyes widened as he found himself in a completely different world, at a different time, in a different present.
He looked around and realized his body was small. He had long black hair and wore simple Asian clothes like those from ancient China.
"What the…?"
As he examined the old wooden shack that served as his home in the poorest streets of this nameless city, a grumpy old man kicked him in the face.
"Agh!"
"Who do you think you are, talking to your father like that, you little bastard?"
Louis rolled across the ground, feeling the pain as if it were real. He looked around in panic, breathing heavily.
But then he slowly calmed down and began to meditate.
Within his soul, he could feel his treasures resonating with his intent.
His body felt strange. He was ethereal.
"I see… This is a memory…"
As he stood up, gradually regaining his composure, he looked outside the house and saw a vast city filled with hundreds of thousands of people going about their daily lives.
"…"
The Sect Master of the Sword Ki Sect had been so strong that he was almost like a Grievance, similar to the bosses of the layers in the Dimensional Labyrinth.
Once Louis had devoured his soul, he was forced to relive the man's memories.
"I'll likely have my soul devoured in return if I don't find him… but…"
He looked into the mirror.
"Could it be that I am him?"
This was the first time something like this had happened. Instead of merely watching the devoured soul's life as a spectator through his Fantasy Heart, he was now living it.
"You little bastard, come here and face me!"
"…"
Louis turned back to the boy's father, who swung his fist at his own son.
"Huh?!"
With a simple movement, he avoided the punch.
His eyes grew sharper.
"Don't you dare touch me again."
His voice echoed through the house, carrying an intent his father had never felt before.
The old, balding man stepped back, sensing powerful qi radiating from his son.
"Y-You…? What? Since when did you…?"
"Old man."
"Eek! Y-Yes?"
Louis' pressure alone made his "father" shiver and retreat further.
"Tell me where we are. What is this place? What is this world called?"
"Eh?"
"Tell me."
"Stupid brat…! You think I'm afraid?!"
The man stood up and threw another punch.
Louis avoided it effortlessly and planted his foot squarely on his father's face, sending him flying across the room and crashing through the window.
CRASH!
As he walked out of the house, Louis glared at his unconscious father with contempt.
"Useless garbage."
He strolled through the dark alleys and was soon greeted by a group of children.
"Hey, there he is!"
"Yang!"
"You missed school!"
"…?"
Louis sharpened his intent as he looked at the children. They seemed mostly harmless.
So even this man had friends when he was young.
"I guess I did," Louis said, glancing around. "Tell me, where are we? What school do you mean?"
"…?"
"What?"
"Did you lose your memories?"
"Kind of," Louis sighed. "Sorry, but can you tell me?"
Despite everything, Louis had a soft spot for children, and he did not treat them as harshly as he had the man.
"Uuh, well…"
"We're in Spring Autumn City."
"In the Central Plains."
"…Huh."
Louis looked around, feeling the air and everything around him. It all felt far too real, even though he knew it was only an illusion.
"What is the name of this world?"
"…? Name?"
"The world is just the world, no?"
"Does it have a name? It's just the world."
"Of course children wouldn't know much," Louis clicked his tongue. "Move aside. I am busy."
"Wait, don't go that way!"
"Yang, wait!"
"Ah, he really went there…"
Louis ignored them and continued forward, quickly encountering those his "friends" feared: a band of thugs.
They looked at him with smirking faces, led by a notorious man with several scars across his face.
"Hey Yang, long time no see, kid! I've got a new job for you. Interested?"
"…Job?"
Louis played along.
"We want you to use those sticky fingers of yours to steal from an Elder."
"…?"
"His name is Kai. He's the Elder of the Sword School you attend!"
"…"
Kai. Now that was a name he recognized. It was the old man he had killed effortlessly before.
His Autumn Water sword had been a precious treasure.
"We've heard he got his hands on some advancement pills that cost a fortune!"
"If you can steal them from his desk, we'll pay you well."
"We'll distract him. The old fool's too kind, after all."
"…"
Louis stared at them in silence and nodded.
"I see. Well… I'll kill you instead."
"Eh?"
"What?"
"…?"
Louis had no desire to cooperate with filthy criminals. He swung his hand as Sword Intent surged, splitting the thug in front of him cleanly in two.
Gory flesh and blood sprayed everywhere. The man's pulsating organs still twitched even after being severed.
"A-Ahhh!"
"Gaaaahhh!"
"W-What the fuck?!"
The other three thugs screamed in horror, but Louis showed no mercy. His eyes gleamed bright white, and with three swift slashes of Sword Intent, he diced them like fruit.
"Pathetic weaklings. Planning to rob a cultivator? Are you courting death?"
Louis shook his head and walked away, leaving the gory mess for others to clean.
As he moved through the city, he leaped from one building to another.
Although he could not channel his Incarnations, Skills, or Spells, he could still draw on the power of his Cultivation Methods.
Even as a child in this strange dream, he was already incredibly strong.
He stared at the entire city for a while, then tried to jump beyond the walls into the wilderness that stretched beyond the horizon.
However, he struck an invisible formation protecting the city and fell back to the ground.
"Hey kid, what are you doing?!"
"There's a formation! You can't leave without passing through the gates!"
"Also, nobody is letting a kid leave alone."
"Ugh…" Louis groaned, ignoring the guards and walking away.
He continued questioning people and observing everything, quietly admiring the beauty of this world, until he reached the Sword School.
It was where Yang had attended, a place that taught how to wield a sword.
He walked inside and looked around. Disciples were sparring with wooden swords.
Some channeled faint threads of sword qi into their blades, making them sharp enough to cut through their opponents' weapons.
Eventually, this small school would likely become the foundation of the Ki Sword Sect in the distant Immortal Mountains.
"Why am I here? When can I leave?"
He had tried to escape this place for what felt like a long time but remained trapped.
Perhaps he was still engaged in some kind of mental battle.
Maybe he should not have been so greedy and absorbed the Sect Master's soul…
But he had desperately wanted to complete the cultivation method.
"There must be a way out of here. There is something I must fulfill… or someone I must slay."
In his previous experiences, he simply had to slay the boss monster to leave.
But here things were different. It seemed that he himself was the "boss monster."
So what was his goal?
Should he die here and risk his soul being overtaken?
"No, there is something I must do… Ah."
"Hmm?! Yang! What are you doing here?! At this hour?!"
Elder Kai walked toward him, about to slap him across the face, but Louis narrowly avoided the blow.
"Hmph! Avoiding a slap to reprimand you for coming so late?!"
"I…"
Louis resisted the impulse to kill the man and held back.
"I want to learn the sword qi method you have been developing, Elder Kai."
"Huh?"
"Please."
"…"
Kai was stunned. The lazy, mischievous, good-for-nothing Yang had suddenly had a change of heart!
The other disciples fell silent as they stared at him.
"And since when have you wanted to train so diligently? Your father has to force you out of bed every day, and he even lost an arm and an eye to get you here…"
"…"
"And yet you never cared about anything taught in this school! What has made you change your heart?"
"Nothing in particular."
"…?"
Although the other disciples raised their eyebrows in confusion, Louis remained calm and composed.
That calmness and sharp intent quickly made Kai realize he was not lying.
"You…"
"…"
"What has happened to you? That aura, that qi! You are not the same Yang I saw yesterday."
"I had a change of heart and awakened something."
"…?"
The students all glared at him with confused expressions.
Just who was this little bastard to say something so shameless?!
"Awakening a little something, huh?" Kai raised an eyebrow. "Very well… if you insist, so be it. Still, maybe you are just lying and pretending to be motivated. I am not falling for it a third time, Yang! If you want to prove to me that you actually want to take this seriously, then…"
Elder Kai looked at his students and called over the strongest among them, a tall young woman with silver hair tied in a ponytail.
"Ming Shieng, come here."
She walked forward and faced Louis with a sharp gaze.
"This is Ming Shieng. You know her already, right? She is our most talented swordswoman and is already close to reaching the peak of Qi Gathering," Kai said. "If you are truly telling the truth, then face her! Fight her until I deem your efforts worthy. I am not asking you to defeat her. That's… hahaha, impossible! But I still want to test you. Do you understand, Ming Shieng?"
"Yes, Master Kai!" she nodded while bowing, then glared at Louis with a confident smirk. "Ready for your beatdown, Yang?"
"…Sure," Louis shrugged. He was only half-heartedly committed right now.
Both were moved to the backyard, where a small combat area awaited.
The students all gathered to watch as Louis—or rather, Yang—faced the most talented Ming Shieng.
"Ming, huh? I remember her."
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