Death… and me

Chu Yang was confused. He felt pain in his heart. He had clutched his hair, and a painful expression could be seen on his face.

"Sword Lord, you can enter the Soul Quenching Spring now," the Sword Spirit's voice was passed over.

"How do I enter?" Chu Yang care-freely and unconsciously asked.

"I can take your Divine Spirit into the Soul Quenching Spring after you fall into deep sleep," Sword Spirit said, "However, it can be estimated by your present Divine Spirit that you can only soak every once in a three-day time period. And, you would have to continue this for a month. After that, you can achieve the former stability of your Divine Spirit. However, you would need to arrive at the cultivation of Monarch Level if you want to go a step further. And, you would be able to solidify further after that…"

"Oh… I see!"

Chu Yang complied and lay down in this space.

He wanted to bathe in the Soul Quenching Spring. And, he also wanted to ask the Sword Spirit a question he had lately been very concerned about. So, he lay down despite knowing that Meng Chao Ran and Tan Tan were waiting for him outside, and must be very worried…

His consciousness soon became blurred. Chu Yang felt that he had started to whirl. He felt as if his soul had been pulled out from his body. And, this left him to feel an inexplicable lightness.

Chu Yang suddenly realized that he had appeared in the Nine Tribulations Space. Moreover, he was still in human form. However, his body was very feebly visible. In fact, it was so weak that it seemed as if it might get blown off by one blow of breath.

His form looked god-know how many times weaker when compared with the Sword Spirit whose form looked nearly like a normal human's.

He saw the pool in which Sword Spirit was soaking his body. This pool was much bigger than an ordinary pool. Water vapours were rising from its surface in blurry colours. It seemed as if he had entered in his own dream.

Sword Spirit indicated Chu Yang to lie down to enter the pool.

Chu Yang merely thought to go forward, and he suddenly felt that he was floating in the air. He slowly floated towards this Soul Quenching Pool. Then, he stopped above this Soul Quenching Pool, and slowing floated downwards. He eventually touched that dense-fog-like spring water. And, it felt like a thick and viscous liquid had surrounded his Divine Spirit. Then, an acute pain piercing into the depths of his spirit!

This pain diffused into his entire body in a moment!

There was no part of his body that didn't hurt. Chu Yang nearly wanted to jump out because he couldn't endure it. But, he couldn't jump. His body was moving slowly, but it was firmly sunk into the Soul Quenching Pool until he touched the 'Mysterious Jade Ice Crystal' base of the pool. Then, he rose up a little, and started to float in the middle of the pool.

His entire body was hurting. Moreover, the pain was becoming more and more intense. This spring water seemed to induce immeasurable pain in him. In fact, it seemed that all the pain he had ever felt from his childhood to adulthood in both of his lives had come back to him at this moment!

Chu Yang felt this pain tumbling in this water. However, he didn't make a sound. He felt his body being disintegrating and reconstituting. In fact, it felt as if something was growing in his body, and something was vanishing from his spirit… repeatedly!

The only thing that Chu Yang could do was tightly hold his tongue and not let a sound come out of his mouth. Were these thousand kinds of pain in his body more excruciating than the helplessness of watching himself shatter into a million pieces? Was this pain worse than the one… when Mo Qing Wu had died in his previous life?

Chu Yang didn't say a word!

[Pain! Kill me if you have the ability to! But, I will endure this pain if you can't kill me!]

[I will pass through it!]

[I will endure it!]

…

This torment continued for half-an-hour before it weakened to some extent. And, Chu Yang continued to bear it as if he was enduring the pain of a death from a thousand cuts! Moreover, he was fully awake when he experienced this death from thousand cuts… hundreds of times over!

However, he firmly willed through it!

In fact, Chu Yang took this pain as a challenge for himself! [How would I ever be able to defeat anyone if I can't even beat my own pain? I must win this!]

"This is the suffering of Divine Spirit. Your willpower is astonishing. This kind of pain is even intolerable for the Divine Spirit of an immortal! I didn't expect that you would be able to endure it without uttering a sound," the voice of the Sword Spirit sounded in his ears.

Chu Yang wanted to smile. But, he then found that his face had become stiff because of the present state of his Divine Spirit and the pain that he endured. He couldn't smile or talk because his tongue has also become stiff…

He was slowly recovering now.

So, he could only listen to Sword Spirit say, "A person is always born with his innate energy. And, his Divine Spirit is perfectly complete at the time of his birth."

Sword Spirit understood Chu Yang's present state. So, he didn't wait for his reply, and further said, "A person's Divine Spirit begins to wear out when they come in contact with this mortal world. The Divine Spirit wears down little by little until it is reduced to a typical soul that can adapt in the mortal world. And thus, the transformation ends.

"This transformation occurs so that it can adapt to the mortal world. But, it also causes brutal injuries to the Divine Spirit! But, whatever the person loses during this process is far more than the gains they will ever receive later in their life! A person's Divine Spirit almost exhausts by the time their body dies! Only his soul's shell remains, and there's no 'divinity' within!"

Sword Spirit slowly continued, "Therefore, the soul gradually dissipates in the world and changes into pure spirit energy after the death of the body. Legends state that a person reincarnates after the death of their body. But, this isn't true. Or, perhaps you can say that it isn't that common because there are only some who are qualified enough. However, most of the people aren't qualified for reincarnation.

"A person may be a powerhouse, or may have a formidable Divine Spirit… or may have a grasp on the method of quenching his Divine Spirit… But, his Divine Spirit will remain incomplete forever! It is because he loses too much of Divine Spirit in the process of forming it! This is a major weakness. However, you will be invincible by the time you would've attained a certain level of strength if you can get hold on this weakness…

"But, you have the Soul Quenching Spring now. So, things will be different for you. You are feeling this pain now… because you have been obsessed with this mortal world. So, you're feeling the spiritual sacrifices you've incurred. The Soul Quenching Spring's function is to replenish your Divine Spirit! And, restore it to its original state — your inborn Divine Spirit!

"One can only start the true cultivation of Divine Spirit after their Divine Spirit returns to its original state!

"You are the most fortunate because your Divine Spirit hasn't worn down in its entirety yet. It may perhaps be because of your dedication after your rebirth. After all, your dedication makes you keep everything under your control. Other people come to you and fit in accordingly. But, you don't go to other people and try to adapt in their world. Therefore, your Divine Spirit is closer to completion than that of an average person! And, you've also obtained the Soul Quenching Spring now…

"So, it will help you become a matchless powerhouse with a formidable foundation!"

The Sword Spirit's tone was heavy. But, it seemed to have a strange charm and went directly into the depth of Chu Yang's soul.

"However, you've lost a lot of your Divine Spirit even after these many things. Therefore… you would have to go through such painful processes once in three days every month to make up for the deficiency at your present level. However, you can reclaim your complete Divine Spirit after this ends…"

Sword Spirit sighed in his heart while saying all this.

[When did the previous Nine Tribulations Sword Masters have such luck to mend their Divine Spirits? In fact, some of them couldn't even obtain the incomplete Sword Soul!]

[However, Chu Yang's luck…]

Sword Spirit somewhat sobbed. [All men genuinely aren't created equal.]

This torment continued for an entire hour. Chu Yang's stiff body also gradually loosened up. He eventually came up to the water's surface. And, he felt as if his whole body was filled with vitality; it felt a lot different than how he had felt when he had first come in…

Finally, he could open his mouth now and speak.

"I fully understand this whole 'Divine Spirit' deal now. But, I have a question for you, Sword Spirit. And, I need you to explain that to me that now…" Chu Yang spoke-up in a serious tone. However, he hadn't realized that his voice had somewhat trembled while he had spoken this.

"Please ask."

"You said that I've lived two lives! And, both my lives have been superimposed on each other. What does this mean?" Chu Yang slowly asked.

"Do you need an explanation for… this?" Sword Spirit became somewhat confused. "Don't you know this already? You've taken rebirth."

"I mean… how's this life different from my previous life?" Chu Yang asked in a worried tone, "In other words… does the timeline of my previous life still exist?"

Sword Spirit stared blankly for a long while. However, he eventually understood that this was a question with a profound meaning to it…

"This is very difficult to explain," Sword Spirit thought for a long time, but he still didn't know how to answer this question.

"That timeline? Does it still exist…?" Chu Yang felt cold in his heart.

"Yes. That timeline still exists," Sword Spirit replied affirmatively, "It's because your origin is from that timeline. Where did you come from if it doesn't exist? How could you even have existed?"

"It exists?!" Chu Yang suddenly felt that he didn't have any strength in his body. He muttered, "So, doesn't it mean that Qing Wu has still died regardless of all the hard work that I've done? She is already dead in that timeline, right? And, the present Qing Wu is a different person no matter how I make up to her… or how dearly I love her…? She isn't the Qing Wu that I loved from my previous life?"

"Wrong!" Sword Spirit seriously replied, "This conclusion of yours is a blunder and gravely mistaken!"

"Wrong?" Chu Yang asked.

"Yes." The Sword Spirit remained silent for a long while this time. He then said, "Let's take an example… Let's suppose that this life of yours originates this way — you had a dream one evening when you were sixteen years old. And, this dream makes you experience everything that would eventually happen in your life… all the sorrow, all the happiness, all the anger, all the regret, all the love, and all the hatred…

"And, you see your conclusion in this dream. And, that's how your dream ends. Then, you wake from this dream and discover you're still alive in this reality…" Sword Spirit cautiously said, "You understood what I said, right?"

"Yes." Chu Yang nodded. Then, he continued to listen in a serious and attentive manner.

"You wake up, and you experience a few things. However, you realize that they are the same as you saw in that dream," the Sword Spirit continued, "Therefore, you find that whatever you saw in that dream is real! And, those tragedies will sooner or later happen in your life for real.

"But, you still have enough time to change them! So, would you change them?" Sword Spirit asked.

"Of course, I will!" Chu Yang responded without taking the time to think.

"Therefore, you can take advantage of the foresight you had in your dream, and change all the harms and regrets that you are going to experience in your life. You will be more cautious throughout this life of yours since you had such a distinct dream to guide you. You won't repeat the mistakes that you had made in this dream. Also, you will think again and again before you make other mistakes too. You won't act blindly…" Sword Spirit said.

"That's right." Chu Yang acknowledged.

"Therefore, you will become a perfect man in this life after having such a dream! You will be perfect to a certain extent at least. You won't make mistakes, and you will progressively become stronger!"

Sword Spirit solemnly concluded, "This is the difference!"

…