by M. Q. Kajack
I remembered that Greeks temples used to have a statue inside or some altar for worshipping gods and goddesses of some sort, yet there was nothing in this one at all. I checked each corner with my soul power—it was far more useful than my sight—but found nothing. You Ye was touching everywhere, moving what was left of her beautiful hands. I could see her frenetic face. She was getting desperate, tears constantly flowing from her eyes.
“You Ye, let’s rest here tonight,” I said, not waiting for her reply.
“Brother Ye, I’m sorry. I—”
I interrupted her with an embrace. I didn’t want her to feel worse. After all, it was no big deal. Once the System started to work normally, I would be completely restored. She broke down. She was a strong girl, but the reality was harsh. She pledged love to a half body, she lost half her life, and on top of that, her head was filled with false hope by some stupid old man’s words. It was normal for her to cry like a baby. It took her three whole hours of crying before she finally fell asleep.
It took myself two hours to settle my thoughts after You Ye fell sleep. I was utterly disappointed in myself. No matter the power I had and the number of people I erased from this plane of existence, I couldn’t protect the women I cared about. Shu Yi and Shu Er disappeared and I knew nothing about them; You Ye ended up in this state because of me. I was starting to wonder if I brought back luck to those around me.
Worse, my mind was becoming more and more unstable with each thought of disappointment on myself, as if not believing in myself was threatening my existence. The Death Core’s influence was pressing me, what I was supposed to do? If I didn’t care about the people around me or doubt myself, I felt that my soul wouldn’t be burdened by the Death Core, but then... what would I become? Would I still be me? Would have I been conquered by the Death Core then?
There were far too many questions filling my head. I was not good at philosophy at all, but each question only brought more questions. I couldn’t remember where I was or how this all started anymore. There were only questions and questions.
I lost track of all my senses.
Suddenly, I found myself surrounded by darkness devoid of any sound.
Did my soul get out of the Death Core? Could it be... my body was destroyed?
I started to panic. If my body was destroyed, I should be back in my ball form, yet I wasn’t. I doubted the Death Core was destroyed, but I didn’t understand where I was and I was getting worried sick for You Ye.
“Where am I ?”
“Inside you,” answered a familiar voice.
“Inside me?” I muttered, trying to understand what this familiar voice told me. Inside me, where? I have been already inside my soul form several times but it isn’t like this.
“Yes, inside you,” said the voice.
“Who are you? Show yourself!” I shouted. I didn’t have time for this bullshit. I needed to go and save You Ye.
“You are not in control,” said the voice.
“In control of what? Tell me! I’m not in the mood to play games,” I yelled to the darkness. I couldn’t detect where the voice was coming from.
“I do not know. I’m sealed here because of you. You should know what you’ve done,” explained the voice.
Now, this was getting more confusing. I remained silent for a few minutes to think about what the voice told me so far. Finally, after some thought, I knew why the voice sounded so familiar. It was Shi Yin, the voice of the Demon Timeless Sword. Back then, to prevent her soul from dissipating, I sealed her in the System. Hold on... I was inside the System? Was that even possible? The System said before that it was fused with my soul, but I had been inside my soul several times and the System was not there. But then again... how was it possible that I was in the same place as the sealed soul?
“Hey! You are Sister Shi Yin, right?” I asked without delicacy.
“Yes, you finally remember me,” replied the familiar voice.
“I remember I sealed you. Have you untied the seal?” I needed her to provide me with more information or I wouldn’t be able to know where the hell I was. If she wasn’t sealed, she should be dissipating based on the state she was in before I sealed her.
“No, since the moment you sealed me, I was here. When you absorbed me, I thought I would cease to exist, but I didn’t. After that, I appeared here, then I was afraid that I would continue to dissipate yet I didn’t. At first, I thought time was static here or something like that, but I could feel some traces of time so I knew time was not static. But I don’t understand why my soul is not dissipating, it’s like the process has been stopped even though my soul is badly damaged, as if something glued all the pieces together and I became a whole soul again.”
At least I knew sealing her soul was the right path as it would prevent her soul from dissipating, but still, her explanation didn’t reveal too much information.
Suddenly, the sound of a bell echoed through my mind several times.
Ding!
Ding!
System successfully fused with Death Core, perfect balance achieved.
Accessing Death Core data granted.
Processing Death Core... Please wait.
I floated in the darkness, waiting for the System to finish. It was speaking in my head again!
The voice of the System sounded normal inside of my soul, only for me to listen. I still couldn’t track where the voice from the Demon Timeless Sword was coming from. In any case, I didn’t need to wait long. The System resounded again.
Processed Death Core.
Updated Death Core information.
Death Core: Newborn unknown existence. Contains life and death, unbalanced. Everlasting. Laws present all. In expansion.
Death Core space stabilized. Two realms present.
Unsealing Purgatory.
Realms establishment succeed.
Purgatory Linked to the first realm.
Purgatory updated and unsealed.
Purgatory: Open the gates of samsara for the nearby souls. Souls absorbed will be placed in the first realm waiting for utilization.
Granting access to the second realm.
Granted.
Created Skill Home.
Home: Able to teleport the designated home inside the Death Core second realm.
Processing other data... Please wait...
That literally stupefied me. I knew I was no smartass, but I literally understood nothing. It had been some months since I reached the conclusion that the Death Core and the System were two different things, much to my annoyance, and now they fused? If I had to guess, I bet it was due to the System doing something while it was overloading.
I frowned while opening the logs. I would have to slowly digest this.
Nothing was clear on my mind after the time spent on checking the logs. The Death Core was still a mystery. The information it gave me was like random pointers that didn’t make any sense.
It didn’t take much time to familiarize with the Purgatory and the second realm because I was already on it except, this time, I had full control over it as much as I could since it only gave me two options: Release the Soul and Absorb the Soul. Both names already explained what they do, but with not much accuracy. I guessed Release the Soul would release the soul to the normal samsara process, while Absorb... I had no idea what would happen if I used it, but there was no option to use it on the Demon Timeless Sword. After I had control over this realm, I could see the beautiful Demon Timeless Sword, a copy of Shi Yin, so gorgeous, so beautiful, so developed, and so naked.
Truly a great sight.
I must say I was really tempted to fuck her. Since I was the ruler of this place, I literally could do anything I wanted with the souls here. But guess I was not that kind of guy to take advantage of women, even if tempted.
I explained to her where she was and what happened. I also knew why her soul was okay, so I also explained that to her. She thanked me for saving her life even though she had to remain here. Otherwise, if I w
ere to release her, she would dissipate. We agreed that even though Demon Timeless Sword was a cool name for a sword, it wasn’t for a woman that was as beautiful as her, especially now that she was no longer a physical sword. She decided to use the name the real Shi Yin gave her—Shi Shi.
The System was still processing whatever it was processing, so there were only two options left for me to do: wait or use the only available skill right now, which was Home. I hesitated a little bit as I wasn’t sure what would happen, but as the saying went, curiosity killed the cat.
For some reason, I was expecting a shining light or something, but nothing of that kind happened. I just teleported out without any fancy and appeared somewhere warm.
I didn’t open my eyes right away, enjoying this pleasant feeling as if Mother Creation was embracing me. The feeling was too strange since I was made of Death, and I knew that when I opened my eyes, I would be surrounded by Death.
Partially, I was right and wrong at the same time. What greeted me was a desolate land—more like a land of death—yet I was not alone. I was with the two most precious beings in my life, Shu Yi and Shu Er. Both women were holding each other’s hands. All my worries dissipated once I saw them. Who knew that the one that kept them away from me was myself? I didn’t know if it was the System or the Death Core, but I was glad to have them both this time around.
What surprised me the most was that both of them were completely healed and their cultivations were increased enormously. Both of them became Core Foundation cultivators and at the 3rd Rank.
That ancient tower was full of mysteries…
“Shu Yi, Shu Er, wake up,” I called out to them, yet they remained unresponsive.
I frowned. Was something preventing them from waking up? My connection to their souls was present again. Since I had now access to the System, I understood that it was normal to recover the control over both of them. If they didn’t wake up, I could force them to do so.
“Stop,” a voice sounded.
Weird, I was the only ruler of this place. Where was this voice coming from?
“Who are you? Show yourself!”
“You cannot disturb them, young boy. They are both still receiving my inheritance. If you interrupt the process now, it could bring harm to both of them.” The voice sounded like an elder, but it was not clear if it belonged to a woman or man.
“Why aren’t you showing yourself?” I frowned. Could it be that this new entity was bringing harm to both of them?
Once that thought crossed my mind, I could feel a tremendous power like I had never felt before. Before this strength, Shu Yi and Shu Er looked like tiny ants in comparison. Looking around, I felt Death everywhere, and it was part of me. I could control it. Surprisingly, I also detected a subtle fluctuation of life on this land, something that I, even if I used all the power I just got access to, wouldn’t be able to obliterate. I decided to look at it later. As soon as my power engulfed the whole space, the mysterious elderly voice talked again.
“I will show myself but please don’t overreact. Both girls are okay. We mean no harm.”
I stood there stupefied. In this era and age, this was possible? In front of me stood something I thought I would never see. Was it an ancient man or an ancient woman? I didn’t know what it was, floating in its soul form over Shu Yi and Shu Er. The soul looked like a hermaphrodite and its body was so old that it wasn’t pleasing to the eyes. But I could see an old developed bosom, and both genitals down there. Honestly, I didn’t want to pay attention to it. Overall, it looked like a mixture of a man and a woman, especially its voice.
For god’s sake, talk or something!
“What exactly are you?” I asked since he or she wasn’t saying anything.
“It’s a long story...” said the aged man-woman voice. It seemed ashamed of its appearance.
“Then, please make it short. I don’t want to know all the details.” I was trying to focus on the soul’s eyes. Why the fuck was the soul naked?
I could see it wasn’t happy, but it still decided to satisfy my curiosity.
“We were once separate—a man and a woman. Fate, or whoever created the stupid Yin Yang Dual Body Cultivation, played a bad joke on us.”
“What’s this got to do with Shu Er and Shu Yi? What inheritance are you talking about!?”
“It’s simple. Both are inheriting our Ying Yang Dual Body Cultivation,” it said, gesturing to Shu Yi and Shu Er on the floor.
“What?!” I exclaimed.
“I said you don’t have to worry too much. They will be fine.”
“Fine, my ass! How can you be sure they’ll be fine? Look at you.” I felt a sudden urge to kill this soul.
“Calm down,” said the weird being, trying to calm me. “Let us properly explain what’s happening...”
“Let me be clear with you. If something happens to both of them, I have the power to torment your soul and not let you die, are we clear?” I said, glaring at it.
Something trembled inside me. The next second, I was looking at the whole plane from above once again. Everything looked so tiny and weak like ants. The thought of killing that weird existence grew inside my mind, and I could see it screaming. The scream brought me back to where I was. The whole plane was mine, I had full control over it. Inside here I was a god—a Death God.
I smirked at him. “Now, you understand?”
“Yes, yes, it’s clear. Please don’t do that again,” it pleaded after gasping for air. “E-Everything started with this Yin Yang Dual Cultivation manual. We were once a couple. We couldn’t have kids, so we tried to look for solutions. That was when we came across this cursed manual, who turned us into this. The principle was clear at first—by dual cultivating, we could have sexual intercourse and strengthen our cultivations. This manual specifically focused on the sexual part, thus strengthening ourselves so we could have kids. At first, everything worked fine and there was no problem at all until we reached the final stage on the manual. We didn’t quite understand the text, but we were eager to have children so we tried anyway. That was when everything changed...”
I could feel the remorse on its voice. I waited for it so it could continue explaining what would happen to Shu Yi and Shu Er.
Perhaps, it will be something good...
“You already guessed what happened… During our intercourse, everything was perfect. We did exactly what the manual instructed. Our realms synced perfectly and reached the same cultivation realm where we awakened our Nascent Souls. What we didn’t notice was that both bodies were fusing with each other and so were our souls. The result is what you see right now. Over the years, we tried to undo what happened to no avail, and we passed away inside the Ancient Ruins while trying to get this curse undone.”
“And?” I prompted angrily, waiting for the explanation I wanted to hear. I didn’t care about their story and it was clear what happened.
“When a Nascent Soul dies inside the Ancient Ruins, the Ancients Ruins stores the soul and assigns it to a test. That was exactly what would have happened to us, but what we didn’t expect was that we would be passed down as an Inheritance. The Ancient Ruins sent us the exact methods and the purpose for the Yin Yang Dual Cultivation method. Traditionally, the Yang part should be cultivated by a man and the Yin part by a woman, yet this manual was different. It needed two women and not a man and a woman. One woman must be Yin and the other one must have an extreme Yang body. Shu Yi and Shu Er, as you call them, met those conditions. Shu Er, as a woman, has no issue cultivating Yin, and in Shu Yi’s case, something recently happened to her and she awakened an Extreme Yang Body. Awakening an Extreme Yang Body is wrong as females are not suited for it. The Yang element will destroy the woman’s body. The one who created this manual was a genuine genius who had that misfortune—a woman with an extreme Yang body who was fated to die. Through dual cultivation with another woman, she was able to balance herself and improve at an insane rate. Moreover, the other woman also received the benefits of cultivating at
the same speed as her. A win-win situation. When you guys reached the final test together, the Ruins sent us to Shu Yi and Shu Er to pass down our inheritance.”
That was unexpected. Dual Cultivation for women? Lesbians... Seriously? Wait...
“They are sisters!” I shouted, surprised.
“Well... it does not make much of a difference when you get both of them into the same bed... We have been on their minds and the picture is really not much different than what you have in mind right now.”
I blushed, ashamed. I really pictured both beauties dual-cultivating in bed. I mean, they were mine. Taking both of them on in the future was possible. Indeed, there was not much of a difference, especially if both of them agreed to this.
“One question. Did they agree to this?” I asked, a bit concerned.
“Yes, the Ruins doesn’t force anyone to accept an inheritance. Also, Shu Yi will die without dual cultivating with a woman sooner or later. Who would be better than her own sister to save her life? And since they are twins, they have high compatibility.”
“Fair enough. How long until the inheritance ends? And what is going to happen to you once the process ends?” I couldn’t help but feel there was something this old soul wasn’t telling.
“It would take a few more days at most. As for us... well, if both girls accept us, they can undo our soul fusion. In that case, we will be able to split and exist again as separated souls.”
We decided to wait for the twins to wake up. I couldn’t exit this place anyway. I wondered if You Ye was all right. Would a lot of time pass outside while I was stuck inside my own world? I didn’t know exactly how to call it, but I had a guess what this was.
I wasn’t feeling really comfortable with this oddly-fused old soul around, especially with how weird it looked. It was ugly as hell.
I asked for its name so I could refer to its existence in some way. It said that I should call it Shallow, which was something that confused me. I thought everybody in this world had Chinese names or nicknames unless it was a code name, so it piqued my curiosity.