Chapter 460: Change (4)

He wore a white outfit with plum flower symbol on the chest part. He had a scar on his neck that led up to his chin.

His fierce eyes and slightly frowning expression made him seem like he had a nasty personality.

I wasn’t anyone to judge, but he at the very least didn’t look like anyone from the Orthodox Faction, let alone a Taoist.

This person had the crankiest expression out of everyone I saw in my life.

It was technically the first time I’ve seen this man, but I knew exactly who he was.

I mean, how could I not?

He was none other than the old man who used to shout in my head all the time.

I stared at the old man looking at me with an annoyed expression and carefully asked him a question.

“Elder Shin?”

“Hmph.”

The old man scoffed out loud after hearing my call.

I continued to rub the back of my head as it still stung.

“Is it really you, Elder Shin?”

“Tsk, tsk… I cleaned up after your shit so many times. Do you really have to ask that?”

The old man took a step forward towards me.

He was way taller than I imagined. He was barely less than seven feet tall.

Was it really Elder Shin? But then why was he in here…?

Or why was I even meeting him in this place?

“You are getting distracted again aren’t you.”

“Huh?”

“Do I need to smack your head again? Wake up!”

My whole body flinched when I heard him shout.

I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. Why did he tell me to wake up?

I didn’t know what was happening, but my mind at least felt clearer than before.

It felt like something was changing.

As I continued to feel the strange sensation, Elder Shin continued to speak in an annoyed tone.

“Sigh. This idiot.”

“…Why are you so angry at me already? Could you at least give me an explanation?”

“Right. I always had to spoon feed you bastard.”

“…”

“Take a look at your chest.”

I tilted my head in confusion after hearing him, then I looked down at my chest.

Why was he suddenly telling me to-

“…!”

I opened my eyes wide and moved my hand after checking.

With panic, I started to rub my chest with my hand.

It was a natural reaction.

Where there should have been a heart, there was instead a small hole in my chest.

“What the hell?”

What was this? Why was there a hole in my chest?

I started to wonder after seeing my chest.

Chuckle.

“That’s a good look on you.”

But Elder Shin started to laugh out loud as if he found my reaction funny. It almost sounded as if he was mocking me.

“…What… is this?”

I asked him why my body was in this state, and Elder Shin used his finger to point behind me.

I turned around and I saw the giant egg I saw before.

It was now wrapped in plum flowers.

“What about that…?”

“That thing used to be inside that hole in your chest.”

“…Pardon?”

I became shocked after hearing Elder Shin.

That egg was inside my chest?

That’s…

“Isn’t that thing supposed to be my vessel…?”

It wasn’t a physical form of my vessel?

“Vessel and heart aren’t too different from each other. They are basically the same.”

“…A vessel is located where my Dantian is, so how could you say it’s the same thing?”

“A person dies if either one of them breaks, so what’s the difference?”

“…”

I mean, he wasn’t wrong…

I wasn’t able to say a word. After seeing me like this, Elder Shin let out a deep sigh.

“I was going through all that trouble to stop it, but you cause this mess anyway.”

“You’ve been doing what?”

I started to listen carefully after hearing him. He was stopping it? Stopping what?

When I asked him that question, Elder Shin suddenly started coming closer to me.

Slam-!

“Ugh!”

He then struck me hard on the head with his fist.

I lost balance and shook due to the impact.

The pain was so bad that I had to fall to the ground and rub my head.

“Ughhh…”

As I continued to groan in pain, Elder Shin started to speak.

“The amount of Qi in your body is increasing, but your vessel cannot handle it. That means something must be done to counter that problem.”

“…That means…”

I was reminded of when the Immortal Healer told me that my vessel was about to break.

Does that mean that Elder Shin has been preventing that from happening this whole time?

“S-Since when?”

“It seems like you already know the answer judging from your expression, so why bother asking?”

“…”

It started happening when Elder Shin stopped talking to me, which was when I finished my solitary training.

I assume it was around then?

It was when I truly started to become stronger. I expected he was only going to be gone for a few months, but it was a few years instead.

So that means…

“…You’ve been preventing it ever since then?”

“It became better when you reached Fusion Realm, but it still didn’t last too long.”

“But then what about you saving me in the secret vault?”

Elder Shin looked at me with a speechless expression after hearing my question.

“Should I have just let you die then?’

“…”

“Sigh. I helped you, yet I get asked why I did such a thing. What a crazy bastard you still are.”

I honestly had nothing to say to that.

When I started to avoid eye contact, Elder Shin let out a small sigh and spoke.

“Young brat. Your vessel is not small at all. It’s rather big actually.”

He spoke as he gazed at the egg behind me.

“Even so, the fact that your vessel ended up this way just shows how much you consumed.”

He wasn’t referring to Qi when he said that I consumed too much.

If absorbing too much Qi was a problem, my vessel would’ve shattered many times in my past life.

Because of that, it was safe to assume that he was referring to all the different types of Qi I had inside my body.

The Flame Qi from Destructive Flame Arts.

Mount Hua’s Taoist Qi.

Demonic Qi.

Blood Qi.

On top of all that, I also added Qi from Heaven Destruction Arts.

I had five different types of Qi in my body, and my vessel was reaching its limit because of that.

…It really is a lot now that I think about it.

It was impossible to have even two different types of Qi as an ordinary person, so it wasn’t strange at all for this to be happening.

“That isn’t the only problem either…”

“What?”

“But that’s not important right now, so I’ll tell you this first.”

Swish.

Elder Shin reached his hand out. It was aimed towards the egg wrapped in plum flowers. When his hand made contact,

Swooosh-!

The plum flowers started to change.

The petals wrapping around the egg started becoming transparent to show the egg.

“…”

The state of the egg looked rather poor, just like before.

There were cracks everywhere, making it look so fragile that it would break even with the slightest contact.

On the bottom, the strange liquid continued to flow out.

Thankfully, it seemed like it was barely managing to hold its shape thanks to the plum flowers wrapping around it.

It had been in this state this whole time, but I was unaware of it.

“Wrong.”

I turned towards Elder Shin in shock after hearing him.

“…Are you reading my mind or something?”

I didn’t say a word, so how did he know what I was thinking?

“As I have always said, you are way too easy to read because of your expression.”

Elder Shin spoke in a disappointed tone while staring at me.

“You’ve always been a good-for-nothing.”

Did a Taoist just say good-for-nothing…? I feel like a Taoist would never say such a thing.

“It’s correct to say that this incident has accelerated the process.”

“This incident?”

What did he mean by that?

Does he mean that something happened to me?

When I made a confused expression, Elder Shin, for some reason, looked at me with a pitiful expression.

“Try to remember it before it’s too late. You don’t have too much time left.”

“What do you… “

“Or perhaps, you want to forget it?”

“It’s been so long, yet you keep saying things I don’t understand…”

“I’m telling you to remember how you ended up in this place.”

Why I was in this place?

Huh.

Why was I in this place?

Why was my chest in this sorry state, and what did he mean by that this incident accelerated the process?

It sounded like he knew, judging from the way he spoke, but I didn’t.

I wasn’t able to remember a thing.

It felt like my cleared-up mind was becoming foggy again.

When Elder Shin saw me struggle, he added on.

“If losing it all and regretting it after you wasted your time thinking is your decision, then I’ll respect it.”

“Losing it all?’

Lose it.

That phrase struck a part of my chest for some reason.

What would I lose?

The reason why I came here…

“Ugh…”

I grabbed my head due to the sudden headache. It felt like I was going to remember something along with the pain.

Shortly after…

“Hah…!”

I let out a gasp and instantly rubbed my chest with my hand. I remembered the sensation of a sharp blade stabbing through my heart.

Only then, I started to remember one by one.

The Heavenly Venerable ambushed me, and I died without being able to do a single thing.

I also remembered the Heavenly Venerable walking up towards the Demonic Sword with killing intent.

It started to vibrate.

Woong-!

It came from the giant egg in front of me.

After seeing the sight, I asked Elder Shin.

“…Did… I die?”

“Not yet. However, you will soon enough.”

“…”

My heart was stabbed.

My vessel was in a poor state, and Elder Shin said that the breaking process had accelerated after that.

I didn’t have much time left before it fully crumbled to pieces.

With that in mind, I gazed at Elder Shin.

“What am I supposed to do?”

I asked him for help. Elder Shin showed a speechless expression after hearing my question.

“You are about to die any second, why are you asking me for anything?”

“Aren’t you here because you know what I should be doing?”

“Hah.”

I didn’t even know what this place was.

Whether I was currently inside my mind or somewhere completely different, it didn’t matter.

The important part was that Elder Shin appeared and was talking to me.

“Look at you, shameless bastard. Now you are straight up asking me to clean your shit up.”

“Yes, I am. You might as well clean up one more on the way. Please?”

“Sigh.”

I was being as shameless as I could. I knew that I had no time to waste.

Slam.

I felt harsher movements from the egg.

It really felt like it was about to break any moment, but Elder Shin was preventing that from happening with his Qi.

“What must I do?”

“…Why do you think I have the answer to that?”

“Isn’t that why you have that look on your face?”

“…”

Elder Shin’s expression worsened after he heard me.

“Judging from your expression, it seems like there is one thing I could do, though not very preferable.”

“…Now you are the one reading my mind.”

“Your expression makes you really easy to read.”

Chuckle…

Elder Shin chuckled in a bitter tone after hearing my words.

It was the first time I saw his face like this, but it felt familiar because we’ve always been together.

Putting that aside, I had to learn what I had to do.

“…Please tell me how I could overcome this situation, Elder Shin.”

If I were killed after being stabbed in the heart, then what could I do to survive?

After staring at my eyes, Elder Shin spoke with a smirk.

“You were spacing out up until now, but you are back to your senses because you are reminded of a girl. Tsk tsk.”

“…”

“A solution… yes, there is indeed something you could do.”

I listened carefully.

What was it? Was it to expand the vessel since it was about to break?

If that wasn’t it, perhaps he was giving me his own energy?

Though the thought of that is nerve-racking, considering I already had too much Qi inside my body…

“I’m not sure what you are thinking, but it’s impossible for you to expand your vessel.”

It seemed like he read me through my expression again as he started to answer.

“Even if you fix your unstable state of Fusion Realm, your vessel won’t be able to handle all that.”

“…Then what’s the solution?”

Elder Shin pointed at the egg again.

I wondered why he suddenly pointed to it.

“If it’s so full that it can’t contain it any longer, then just let it flow out.”

“Pardon…?”

Just let it all out? Was he telling me to leave it be when my vessel was about to break any moment?

“Won’t I die if my vessel breaks like that?”

“You will.”

“Then what’s the- “

“As a human, that is.”

“…!”

I opened my eyes wide after hearing Elder Shin.

I would die as a human? What did that mean…?

“You know yourself, don’t you? It’s hard to call you a human.”

“…”

“That egg is the last frame that’s keeping you human.”

The last frame.

“…My vessel is the last thing that’s keeping me human?”

“Moreover, it’s your desire that’s making you endure so stubbornly so that your vessel doesn’t break.”

“Desire…?”

“Yes, your last desire, wanting to live as a human.”

Squeeze.

My hand curled into a fist.

Desire?

Wanting to remain as a human was my desire?

The liquid that flowed out from the egg drenched the ground.

The egg holding that liquid is my last desire, huh.

“…I don’t understand.”

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t. The important part… is the decision you have to make right now.”

“…Elder Shin.”

“The only reason why I stopped your vessel from breaking was solely because of my greed.”

“Your greed?”

“You desired to remain as a human, and it was my greed that wanted to keep you as one.”

“…”

“I wanted you to remain a human.”

Elder Shin spoke in a bitter tone.

“But now, you must make a decision.”

What decision did I have to make? I stared at Elder Shin without hiding my shaky pupils.

“If you desire, you can die forever in this spot as a human.”

“…!”

Plum flower petals started to gather towards Elder Shin’s fingertip as he spoke.

They then formed into the shape of a sword.

A sword formed inside Elder Shin’s hand, then it was pointed at me.

“So choose. Either die in this spot as a human, or give up living as one.”

“…”

To live or die.

The answer to that was naturally going to lean on one side of the scale.

Wasn’t that obvious? Everyone wanted to live.

Despite knowing that, I wasn’t able to easily answer.

To not become a human.

The gravity of those words made me silent.

“…If not human… would I become something else?”

“I don’t know. The only thing I know is that you will certainly regret if you make that decision.”

“But if I choose this, then I would continue to live?”

“I’m not sure about that either.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Your body will continue to live on, but I don’t know if you will continue to live inside that shell.”

His answer couldn’t be any more horrifying.

I won’t become me anymore?

If it isn’t me, then does that mean something else will take over my body?

Moreover, I was also scared since Elder Shin said that I will certainly regret this decision.

I believed that I was able to give up anything in order to achieve peace, but it seemed like that wasn’t necessarily the case now that I look at it.

I see.

I thought to myself as I looked at the egg breaking down.

It seems like I wanted to live as a human after all.

I lived as a Demonic Human in my past life.

I guess I really wanted to live a life as an ordinary human in this timeline.

It was a desire I had without even knowing.

And I would regret if I gave up this desire of mine.

Yes, that would indeed be the case.

Yet.

I started to walk forward with an unchanged expression.

“…”
Elder Shin didn’t say anything as I walked up.

Instead, he watched me silently.

I was headed towards the egg.

When I got right up close, I was able to see that it was in a horrible state, ready to crumble to pieces any moment.

It almost seemed like my life.

A ruined life filled with many colors.

The look of this egg seemed to represent my life as a human being.

I slowly reached out to it.

Tap.

It felt rough, and it didn’t have a single soft spot.

It really resembled the owner.

I ignored the sensation and put my hand in deeper.

Crack-!

The shell broke, and my hand easily entered through it.

It strangely felt warm inside.

“…Child.”

Elder Shin called out towards me in a loose tone.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure you won’t regret this decision?”

I smiled after hearing his question.

Will I regret?”

“No, I would love to stop.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“I have many more important things than my pride.”

Rather than my desire to live proudly as a human, I found it more important to use my damned life to bring peace to those guys.

“It would’ve been a much easier choice if I had to choose between my life and the world.”

I valued my pride more than saving the world, so I would’ve instantly chosen my life over it.

Unfortunately, I had a much harder choice.

“…Hah.”

Elder Shin let out a laugh after hearing my response.

“You really are still the same huh.”

“The same goes for you, Elder Shin.”

“What about me?”

“You still have a nasty personality.”

“…What did you say, you bastard?”

Grrrk-

As Elder Shin started walking up towards me with an angry expression,

Craaack-!

Huge cracks started to spread out, starting from where my hand entered the shell.

Liquid started to flow out of the cracks that opened up the egg.

“…”

I expected something huge to happen soon.

While hiding my fear,

“Oh, right, Elder Shin.”

I spoke to Elder Shin.

“What is it.”

“If we ever get to see each other again,”

“Huh?”

The shell shattered into pieces as I spoke, and liquid started bursting out from it.

Kwaaaaa-!

Before my body was swept by the unbelievable amount of liquid, I spoke to Elder Shin with a small smile.

“Let’s talk about your relationship with Lady Tang Jaemoon.”

“…”

Elder Shin showed an amusing expression when I mentioned Tang Jaemoon.

That much was satisfying enough for me.

I won’t lose myself so that I can tease that old man again.

For now, this much was enough.