Listen While Reading: 隔世一梦 (和声伴奏版)

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“Hah…”

The Heavenly Demon woke up, opening his red eyes the next morning.

He slowly walked out of his bed and stretched.

Despite the nanobots still being present, the rest of his body had been almost fully healed from the exhaustion and damage he received in Anna’s fight.

And above all, the stamina he had been losing over time had recovered slightly, enough to make him feel refreshed.

However, the thing he felt the most was not any of these.

No, he felt a strange, fluttering feeling, which brought him back to his youngest years.

He looked through the window of his room, the calm breeze washing over his feathered face and his beak.

“How long has it been since I was treated like that? With so much care… By someone else?”

His eyes, which were often sharp and had a slight hint of insanity, were now melancholic, calm, and slightly doubtful of his previous convictions and ideals.

What Anna did to him wasn’t merely healing; she took care of him, made sure he felt well and good, and did everything possible for him to recover.

It was a show of affection similar to what someone would receive from a family member, from a sister, a mother, or a grandmother.

“Why am I remembering these old feelings I made sure to never recall now?”

Although he was an orphan from a young age, he at least lived his first four years with his parents. From the foggy memories he had of them, he could still remember his mother, a beautiful and small crow lady, humming to him as she took care of him when he had caught a strong fever.

“Everything will be alright, dear~ Mama is here for you~”

When he was nothing but a little chick that needed the help of his mother to take care of him, he could still recall her gently sitting by his side, changing the handkerchief over his head to regulate his temperature, and feeding him vegetable soup full of medicinal herbs.

“Ma… ma…”

“There, there, drink your soup slowly. One spoon at a time. You’ll get better soon, alright?”

“Gulp… Its bitter…”

“If it’s bitter, it means it works~!”

“Hmm…”

The Heavenly Demon recalled those old, foggy memories, which he thought he had already forgotten, with great pain. The emotions he had attempted many times to forget, to hide below his new persona, resurfaced one after another.

His heart was beating faster as he felt… weak, weaker than he had ever felt before. He remembered his mother, a gift he never thought he would receive. His beloved mother.

“Mo… ther…”

The old crow, who was thousands of years old, began to cry.

He remembered her as the first person who ever showed him affection.

Tears constantly flowed from his eyes as he covered his face with his own hands.

“Mother…!”

He kept crying like a young boy; it felt… freeing, as if he was finally letting go of something that had been within him this entire time.

The sorrow, the nostalgia, the happiness—everything is mixed together.

He felt more alive than ever before.

“Hah…”

He laughed.

“My disciple, you’ve made me cry twice now…” He looked into the sky. “You have truly and utterly defeated this old man…”

Despite having thought that forbidding his emotions was the right path to supremacy, many times he was proven wrong.

And now, as he experienced all the emotions he had bottled for thousands of years, he felt a strange epiphany.

His understanding of the world, of its balance, of the heavens, the earth, the elements, and Yin and Yang.

Slowly and steadily, he began to comprehend more.

This whole time, forbidding his emotions was what was making him weaker.

“To accept oneself is to never forbid oneself.” He laughed. “I never accepted myself this entire time! Despite always saying I was being myself, I was lying to myself. I wasn’t being true to my own feelings; I bottled them! I… I’ve been a fool.”

The powers that surged from his hands looked different; the Demonic Ki he had refined thousands of years ago, which seemed dull to him before, had changed. It looked sparkling, full of things he could improve.

What Anna had done for him was more than just caring for his wounds; she made him remember that he was alive, a living being, and that every emotion he experienced, from the most pathetic to the strongest of them, was part of who he was.

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Part of what made him whole…

And one of the emotions he had unbottled and then bottled again surged once more too.

Memories of her appeared in his mind.

Not his mother, no.

It was a beautiful and fair maiden, full of elegance and charisma, with the mission to save the world.

To protect the weak from the wicked, to bring order and justice. She was the figurehead of righteousness.

Correct, precise, and unmovable!

And she had white feathers and beautiful, golden eyes, and her long neck was soft and elegant.

And her smile…

So beautiful.

“Hue Xian…” He sighed. “I wonder how you’re doing…”

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(Anna’s POV)

I woke up the next morning feeling rather refreshed. Thankfully, Violet realized his spiky body hurt me, so he turned as small as possible, around the size of a melon, and rested next to me without bothering me. He was such a considerate boy; I should reward him with tasty snacks later.

It was a new day! I quickly jumped off the bed after petting and leaving my pets by the side. They all greeted me with cute groans.

“Waarr~” Snow gave a funny sound as he yawned, and then he looked at me with his cute blue eyes and sniffed my face, proceeding by licking my nose. “Woof!” He wagged his tail cutely.

“Good morning, haha!” I giggled, petting his head. “You’re so fluffy! I guess you’re indeed a snow wolf, Snow.”

“Wargh…” He yawned again.

“Kyuuh!” Violet also wanted petting, so I offered him some.

“When you turn into your baby form, your exoskeleton becomes so slim~” I said. “And it is a bit oily too, so it’s nice to touch.”

“Chuu…” Meanwhile, Shiro didn’t ask for anything; she looked at me from afar and then flew off into the ceiling. “Waff!”

“Okay, I get it; you want some food.” I sighed. “Alright, time to begin another day, I guess!”

I stood out and then started my day. I moved to the bathroom, did my various deeds, took a warm bath, and got some new clothes, of which I brought plenty from my Inventory. I wasn’t going to wear the ancient Chinese robes they offered me, nope.

“Good morning, Fang Shuan~”

I greeted Fang Shuan, who was sitting cross-legged outside the door.

“Good morning, Lady Anna. How was your sleep?”

“Well enough! How about you? Did you catch any shuteye, or did you continue cultivating, or, well, trying?”

“I’ve been trying these last hours… Still nothing, but I think I am beginning to grasp something. That Holy Nether Essence you can gather, Lady Anna. May I have some of it?”

Holy Nether Essence is the unique “energy currency” that my Skill Specialization requires to work. I can gather it by simply extracting it from the bodies of any monster I kill. I am still gathering enough to get to one million, but I am currently at like 950k, so I’m getting closer to my Specialization getting an upgrade.

“Sure? How much?” I asked.

“Hmmm, ten thousand should be enough?” He wondered.

“Gotcha~” I touched his forehead and transferred the energy into him. “Like this?”

FLUOSH!

“Yes, perfect! Thank you very much.” Fang Shuan politely bowed.

“It’s nothing!” I smiled. “What are you going to do with it?”

“The many minds inside of me, you see, give me insights.” He said. “Ways to shape things, having their perspective truly helps. Now that we have the energy that created me, we might be able to figure out something.”

“Nice! Well, if you find out something, tell me! I might also benefit from it.” I smiled. “Ah, did that sound too selfish?”

“Not at all; you’re my new master, and you gave me a second life; of course I will share what I find, Lady Anna.” He laughed. “There is no need to act humble.”

“Oh, alright then~” I shrugged. “Let’s go now; I want you to interact with the old crow.”

“Hahh… I suppose there’s no helping it.” Fang Shuan stood back up and walked behind me.

As we made our way there, I took a peek at my Purgatory Realm through the {Purgatory All-Seeing Eyes}. I noticed the area that had merged with Murim’s Dungeon slowly becoming darker; it seems the demonic energy of the Purgatory was slowly corrupting it anyway.

Meanwhile, the White Heaven Fragment and the Black Heaven Fragment were floating in midair, looking the same as before. They were high in the sky, though. And about the Death Apostles, it seems Bael and Agares went inside the Purgatory automatically after a while and are now inside Murim’s Temple with the other Death Apostles.

They were… meditating?

“What are you guys doing?” I asked, my voice reverberating across the entire pocket realm.

“Uwaagh!” Astaroth got scared and broke his concentration. “That scared the shit out of me! Be more considerate, oi!”

“Craah…” Neberius groaned. “I agree! Be careful, craaah!”

“Um, sorry? So what are you doing?” I sighed.

“We’ve been trying to cultivate Ki.” Said Bael.

“I was the one with the idea,” Agares said.

“I thought you already could?” I wondered.

“We, in fact, weren’t using it before. This energy seems very interesting. Our Demonic Energy is obviously superior!” Bael smiled. “However… Ki has its advantages and strengths. If we can become stronger and sturdier, we might not easily die—I mean, they might not easily die. We survived quite fine with Agares.”

“Bastard! I didn’t die because I wanted to or because I was weak!” Aim roared like a wild cat. “I died because I was caught off guard!”

“Nah, Aim, you were killed because you sucked; admit it.” Agares laughed.

“Y-You damn…!” Aim roared. “I am the fastest of all of you!!!”

“That doesn’t change anything… If you can’t think fast enough, what use is your speed?” Agares said. “Think a bit better, Aim. Well, Ki might help you think faster if you imbue it into your brain… Haha.”

“You guys really like messing with each another.” I looked at the scene. “Well, do your best, I guess? I might call you later; perhaps you could learn a few things from the heavenly demon.”

“I want to learn from the crow! He’s my fellow crow brother!” Neberius said.

Despite the two being crows, Neberius was much larger, more monstrous, and taller. He had long arms with sharp claws, a giant crow head with four eyes, longer wings with claws at their ends, and a slightly curved stance. He was at least twice as tall as the heavenly demon, who looked elegant and handsome in comparison, with normal proportions.

“I wouldn’t go as far as calling him your fellow brother…” I sighed. “Don’t do that; he’s going to get pissed.”

“CRAAH?!” Neberius had a hard time dealing with those harsh words.

I quickly took my sight away from the purgatory as we met Ying Shen, who was walking with a table full of food he was going to bring me for my breakfast in bed. He was such a considerate and fluffy fox youngster.

“Ahh, Lady Anna, you’re awake ahead of time yet again!” He sighed. “Oh right, the Heavenly Lord Demon has awakened! He looks really fine! And healthy! Like, I’ve never seen him before!”

“Wait, really?! Did my healing work that well?” I wondered.

“It sure did; please come with me!” He quickly ran with the things in his hands with surprising dexterity as we reached the crow’s room.

“My disciple!” He greeted me by extending his arms. “Come here, give me a hug!”

“EH?!” I quickly stepped back in shock. “Why a hug? Eh? You’re actually giving me one? Wait, wait a bit!”

“Get away from my lady, you fiend! I bet you want to kill her now that you’re recovered, right?!” Fang Shuan pointed his spear at him.

“Hahahaha!” The heavenly demon laughed merrily. “I’ve never felt this well in my entire life! I have somehow… I don’t know, awakened more than just physically? Perhaps mentally. Thank you, Anna. Truly. I did take care of you when you almost died too. I suppose when you helped me, it was just to repay that favor.”

“Maybe…” I looked elsewhere. “Anyways, let’s eat something if you’re feeling alright. I still need to give you a sponsorship.” I smiled.

“Sponsorship?” He wondered.

“Heh, you’ll see what it does!” I said.

“Fine, so be it! I know my disciple has no ill will against me! Whatever you do, it is to help this old man, isn’t it? You’re such a good person, Anna. It is refreshing.” He laughed.

“Yeaah…” I muttered.

“Oh right! I might as well tell you. Today, we officially begin your training, my genius disciple. I shall teach you not only the way to cultivate Heavenly Demonic Ki, but I’ll also try to teach you my unique Divine Martial Arts.” He said.

“Eh?! Really? For real?!” I asked with euphoric hype.

“Indeed! You deserve that, as my disciple, I must pass on my legacy to the younger generations.” He nodded. “I’ve already decided on it.”

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep