The people of Heavenly Court stared at the defiled corpse of Blue Lead with varying expressions.
Among them.
There was one who stood above the rest.
The Heaven Overseer Lord.
"This…Went far above our expectations, even though we made our arrangements in case you teleported yourselves here.
We never thought it would be under those circumstances.
You…Who would ever guess that you'd actually seize the Spring Autumn Cicada?" He smiled sincerely as he spoke those last words.
Star Constellation figured as much.
Those words, spoken so loudly, were obviously meant for somebody to hear, and the latter cooperation suggested a curious possibility.
That somebody had snatched the Cicada and travelled back in time.
Regarding the identity of such a person, they had their suspicions.
Even so.
"Whether you wished for it or not, you have become a great hero of humanity!" The Heaven Overseer Lord praised him.
"You may have been a pawn planted by Red Lotus, but you do not need to heed to his words any more.
I do not know what lies he told you, or what he used to convince you to stand on opposite sides.
However, we do not have to be enemies. Not truly.
Star Constellation messed around with you because she did not know the truth.
And by the time she realised your identity, you had already positioned yourself as her enemy by bringing Le Tu at your side.
But this misunderstanding can be cleared today.
Not only will your offences be pardoned, but we will also give you the antidote your body desperately craves.
We can also bring you to our fold. You can become one of us."
Kao Dao Ji tilted his head.
"You seem confused? As I suspected, Red Lotus fed your head with lies.
We, people from Heavenly Court, have never discriminated against otherworldly demons.
As long as they are humans, they can be accepted."
The Heaven Overseer Lord approached slowly, with his arms stretched.
"All you have to do is let go of the Cicada in your hand, and everything you wish for can be yours today!"
"They think I am the thief!" Kao Dao Ji realized immediately, followed by which he closed his eyes.
As he recalled the prophecy again.
"The skies will darken; the world shall be tainted with red. When Paradise drifts far from mortal reach, pray in your heart, and keep dreaming — it will come true.
And yet — the Human Tribulations know no end.The skies will be overturned;ashes will rise, clouds will descend.A crimson and a black soul will emerge.
For the three bodies to escape,the five minds must unite —share their dream and escape the blight.
But when the dream fades, and reality awaits —Cicada will stir its wings and burrow within the shell.Yin-Yang tides will converge; azure rays will vanquish the dark.The skies beyond will open and clear.The bridge to Heaven will be revealed.
Open your palm, and all will be yours."
He finally understood what the last phrase of the poem meant.
Due to the unique circumstances and the fact that his soul was not even his.
But instead, it was the stolen soul of Blue Lead, which had been overwritten by his memories, meaning that he was virtually undistinguishable from a human being.
So much so that the people of Heavenly Court could not even tell otherwise!
Which meant that the offer was truly genuine.
As long as he accepted it.
He would get everything his heart wished for. He would no longer have to struggle.
He would be able to live like a king for thousands of years, and none would be the wiser.
Yet.
He clenched his fists.
How could he?
"What is this feeling?"
How after everything he had gone through?
The people who had died for him.
The people who had died because of him.
"Why do I feel that something is wrong…?"
How could he turn his back on those people?
"Am I missing something?"
He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist in rage.
Memories flashed inside his head.
"It was far too unlikely for me to outsmart you or beat you in the current circumstances; besides, even if I did, this was not the outcome I wished for…
There is another layer you never noticed, because you were too busy with your own issues.
Sounds familiar?
And I did not even sound half as smug as you did.
As for what that ' layer ' is I am talking about?
Figure it out yourself, idiot."
"Why? Would the thief say those words before dying? Another layer…? No, what else can there be? The prophecy led to this point, didn't it? That is all there is to it. Why was he acting so mysteriously? Is there something I don't know? But if he knew why would he say so in such a roundabout manner?"
His doubts increased, and yet.
"What is the point of knowing 'why?'
What good will knowing the truth do to me now?"
Heaven Overseer Lord waved his hands as he shouted.
"Are you insane? if you kill us, you will die too! And once this body dies, how will you protect your main body?" He raised his staff, which commanded several greyish-pink clouds.
But Kao Dao Ji ignored his words.
He charged towards the horde of clouds.
Brain Storm!
Through the pinkish cloud that Kao Dao Ji was charging towards to, electricity began to flow through.
The electricity partially ignored his defences, directly heading towards his body.
The threat of the Killer Move alone itself was limited; it required quite a bit of time to take effect; however, it was a powerful area-denial spell to force his opponent to retreat.
And yet.
He did not retreat.
However, he also did not fight blindly; using his understanding of Cloud and Lighting Dao, he traversed through the whole road without perishing.
But the cost, too, was massive.
The Heaven Overseer Lord widened his eyes as he caught a glimpse of Kao Dao Ji bleeding from seven orifices.
"Why would you go to such lengths?" He asked in shock.
Even if Kao Dao Ji held an antidote somehow and could treat himself from the poison, whilst while unexpected, it seemed feasible.
The wounds he inflicted on himself due to stubbornness were far too severe.
Which would likely prove fatal, especially because the Formation was still set in place.
There was nowhere to run.
Was he truly determined to die here?
"Why? Because you took everything from me, scum." Kao Dao Ji spoke coldly.
The Heaven Overseer Lord widened his eyes as he realised his miscalculation.
His head was ripped out of his shoulders in one swift gesture.
However, even after that, he did not slow down in the slightest.
He would not rest until every single Rank 8 had perished.
Fang Yuan observed the situation with curiosity.
In reality.
His situation had been from the very beginning rather pitiful.
To prevent himself from being caught by Red Lotus schemes, or by Star Constellation's gaze.
He hid himself as much as possible in the river of time, without making much of a splash.
He knew that the second he was discovered, he would die.
This was why he was forced to follow after Crimson Soul.
Why he had taken such a massive risk as to try to seize a body, with so many eyes observing.
The truth was.
He knew that the chances of seizing the body of Blue Lead were miniscule, and he knew that there was a trap.
But despite everything, he walked willingly towards the trap, because he had no other choice.
In the end, he was defeated by an upstart.
This course of action was, while unexpected, not that surprising.
What truly surprised him was the fact that he was still alive.
He was supposed to be Red Lotus's pawn, wasn't he?
If he were an otherworldly demon, it could be chalked up to free will, but the one who beat him was anything but one.
In other words.
His defeat had already been arranged from the beginning, and so had been his survival.
But why?
What purpose was there in letting him live?
The more he pondered over this, the more incongruencies he felt.
His Attainment in Wisdom and Human Path assured him that there was something wrong.
He pondered and pondered.
Until suddenly.
A memory echoed inside his mind.
…
"What do you think, Red Lotus? Do you think this plan is feasible?"
"What is the point of me even saying anything now? The world is already on the verge of death. At this point, all we can do is pray that your plan works…"
Fang Yuan chuckled.
"Right, and what do you think?"
There was a figure with a yellow hood.
He took off the hood and let his long, lustrous yellow-pale hair flow out.
The man had beautiful green-jade-like eyes.
His skin was pale and had a sickly yellow tone.
The face of the figure looked rather childish; he was smiling at him while revealing his teeth.
While Fang Yuan squinted his eyes.
"Among all Venerables, you alone are the most mysterious of all."
"Unlike others who built a legacy, who built entire bloodlines and kingdoms, or who built sects in their legacy, or who simply made their names known through the heavens above, until they reached the zenith. Or who secluded themselves to seek immortality.
You…Chose oblivion.
You created the most powerful Information Path Killer Move in the world.
You overwrote the memories of the people, you overwrote the recorded books, you rewrote the mountains and the rivers, you rewrote the heavens above.
All for the purpose of not being recalled.
Even Star Constellation forgot you ever walked the earth, and she only found the slightest traces of your interference across the eons, and thus began to call you 'Anomaly.'
A being who never appeared with its true shape, always taking the shape of somebody else.
Sometimes the one of Red Lotus, sometimes the one of Star Constellation.
Just what have you been planning? What is your goal?
Yellow King?"
…
…
….
Fang Yuan's mind spun around.
"What is this? I feel like I am remembering something, and yet what was that memory?" He felt in the same way that a person would feel with a word at the tip of the tongue.
The memory, while it existed, simply could not be accessed.
It was just like how a computer stored information.
Even if Gigabytes were stored, as long as the computer forgot where the register where they were located.
Then even if the information remained intact, the computer simply could not access to it.
It functionally was as if it did not exist.
Furthermore.
The space where the memory was supposed to be stored would eventually be filled by other memories.
Eventually, everything surrounding this memory would be overwritten until nothing remained.
By that point, the information would be impossible to recover.
This was the power of 'Overwrite.'