Reverend Insanity - Verdant Heart Seed

"An artificial secluded domain of heaven and earth?" The will found it hard to believe.

Secluded domains of heaven and earth were renowned objects, mountains, valleys, rivers or lands. They were recorded in The Legends of Ren Zu. Each of them had dao marks totaling to a terrifying amount, rivaling rank nine immortal gu!

To create an artificial secluded domain of heaven and earth, just how difficult it was to replicate such a miracle?

Old Time Fisher Immortal's will stared intently at his main body in search of an explanation.

"It all began there." Old Time Fisher Immortal pointed at the center of water below them.

The will turned to follow his finger. A large whirlpool churned there.

"There lies a dream realm at the bottom." Old Time Fisher Immortal began to explain.

One day when he was exploring the River of Time, he chanced upon a dream realm in a segment of the River of Time.

Dream realms were extremely rare and not well understood in this era. Only records from The Legends of Ren Zu provided some insight into their nature.

Old Time Fisher Immortal cautiously approached to study his find.

But at the next moment a sudden spring burst out. The huge column of water pushed him into the dream realm!

Dream realms were dangerous phenomena. Once someone entered them, their senses would be trapped in a fake world. The stronger the emotions of the person, the deeper they sunk in, the harder it was to extricate themselves.

In the dream realm, Old Time Fisher Immortal experienced the same events of a day over and over until he eventually failed the dream's exploration and escaped.

He emerged with bloodshot eyes and rough breathing.

He was in a sorry state; something deep within him was injured.

"My soul!" A rank eight gu immortal like him almost lost his life just like that.

But there was a silver lining. This encounter had sparked his inspiration and set him on his current path.

* * * * *

Central Continent, Silver Wind Valley

One day a Central Continent gu master wandered into Silver Wind Valley and discovered a rare herb, the moonlight lotus. Unable to harvest the precious finding, he reported it to his sect.

It was a good thing he didn't harvest the moonlight lotus, it was yet to bloom and reach maturation.

Word had spread among the sects, drawing various gu masters to the region. The blooming of the moonlight lotus was a once in a fifty year event.

Some came seeking the herb for their own gain, others simply to witness the phenomenon.

Hong Ting arrived at the valley's edge in the early morning. He had heard the rumors while passing through a nearby town, though he wasn't interested in competing for it.

Several others had already set up temporary camps in the valley. Hong Ting recognized a few faces from previous sect gatherings, some friendly, others maintaining careful distance.

The atmosphere was tense but not hostile, everyone understood the unspoken rules of such encounters. Competition between the righteous sects were like so.

But their attitude mattered little to Hong Ting now, he was already a rank six gu immortal. The blooming of the moonlight lotus had only been a curiosity in his view.

"I've come to visit this place once again." His gaze scanned the green hills and a deep fondness rose in his heart.

Liu Shu Xian had also come to the valley, though not for the moonlight lotus. She had followed her dream that revealed to her the importance of this location.

She kept her distance from the main group and settled atop the green hill overlooking the valley.

This place had a clear view of the lotus bloom without the distraction of the gu masters' matters.

Down in the valley, Hong Ting noticed the various groups positioning themselves strategically around the area where the moonlight lotus was expected to appear. He counted at least a dozen people, but he wasn't here for the moonlight lotus, not this time.

As the sun began to set, the tension in the valley intensified. The moonlight lotus slowly began to reveal itself, its petals glowing with an ethereal silver light. The gathered gu masters watched in anticipation, each waiting for the opportune moment to act.

Hong Ting observed the event from the corner of his eye with tranquility. He naturally found himself drawn away from the main group. Something about the hill overlooking the valley drew him closer and further from the moonlight lotus. He continued walking up the slope, leaving the competition behind, this time he was already clear about the events of today.

The other gu masters were too absorbed to notice his departure.

Liu Shu Xian was observing the lotus bloom when she sensed someone approaching. She turned to see a man walking up the hill, his presence calm and unhurried despite the significant event occurring behind him in the valley.

The setting sun's golden light illuminated the lush green hill as their eyes met.

The sounds of the valley, the gentle murmur of wind through the grass, the distant fluctuations from the moonlight lotus all seemed to fade into the background.

In the valley below, the competition for the moonlight lotus erupted, but neither Hong Ting nor Liu Shu Xian paid it any attention.

A bright gleam shone in Hong Ting's eyes. Years of experience and growth had given him a mature, masculine presence.

Under the evening light, Hong Ting saw Liu Shu Xian for the first time, again.

Their eyes met, and both felt their hearts racing as a powerful feeling spread between them. It was love at first sight.

Liu Shu Xian looked puzzled and asked quietly: "Who are you?"

Hong Ting showed no surprise and answered with a smile: "I am your future husband. My name is Hong Ting."

"The same words." He thought bitterly. "Even knowing what comes next, I still say the exact same words."

Liu Shu Xian was shocked: "You are the future Immortal Venerable?"

"Don't be surprised, we were fated to meet here." Hong Ting said.

The overwhelming emotion of love flooded Hong Ting with a profound joy and contentment, but underneath the familiar warmth, despair crept through his heart like poison.

"Yes, we were meant to meet. And you were meant to die in my arms hundreds of years from now, your cultivation sacrificed to save mine. Even coming back to this moment, I cannot change a single word."

As they spoke through the evening, Hong Ting felt the damning weight of foreknowledge.

Every laugh from Liu Shu Xian's lips was exactly as he remembered. Every shy glance, every gentle word.

All of it unfolded precisely as it had the first time!

"Even now, loving you again, I am already losing you."

The moon rose as they talked, and Hong Ting felt both blessed and cursed.

Blessed to hold these precious moments once more, and cursed to know they were merely echoes of a tragedy he was powerless to prevent.

"No! I will find some way to change what cannot be changed. I need to go back even further!" Hong Ting mustered his willpower.

His eyes shed a single tear drop.

Liu Shu Xian noticed the change in Hong Ting.

But at the next moment Hong Thing self-detonated!

Boom!

He activated his immortal gu, Spring Autum Cicada.

When this immortal gu was used, the user self-detonates, using their essence, flesh, and all other Gu worms as sacrifices to become the driving force to propel the person back to the past.

* * * * *

Old Time Fisher Immortal stood in the River of Time, processing the events he just experienced.

"This is Red Lotus Demon Venerable's dream realm!"

"What I've just experienced was his use of Spring Autumn Cicada." His breathing was still heavy. "One of the top ten mysterious immortal gu! Truly astonishing!"

This encounter opened his eyes to new understanding. He realized that eternal life might be impossible, but eternal longevity was still within reach.

In the River of Time, after much trouble, he captured the dream realm and successfully put it inside his immortal aperture. He had no other methods to take this valuable dream realm than to make his immortal aperture's entrance pass over it.

It was a great risk to explore it once again, he wouldn't dare to do it unprepared.

He devised a plan to lure gu immortals into his aperture and trap them while he extracted their tributary.

He had to be careful no to let anyone discover the location of his grotto heaven while it was placed in the gu world. He wouldn't risk getting invaded.

He used a scheme similar to how Treasure Yellow Heaven kept hidden; only interacting with the world on its own terms and methods.

Nobody knew Treasure Yellow Heaven's location yet many gu immortals interacted with it every day without it getting compromised.

Old Time Fisher Immortal set up his own way for gu immortals to enter his grotto, letting him control the whole process from beginning to end.

Next he started to construct a formation around the dream realm.

The purpose of this formation was complex, it was the framework and container for the new time path secluded domain.

It also had to trap and suppress the gu immortals who entered it before the artificial secluded domain could do that by itself.

* * * * *

Silver Wind Valley

Zhou Yang crouched in his hidden spot near the base of the ancient tree where the moonlight lotus was beginning to bloom.

The silver petals caught the last rays of sunlight. Around him, a dozen other gu masters waited, each wanting to claim the precious herb.

The lotus opened fully, its light bathing the entire valley in soft silver glow. Several gu masters began to move at once activating various killer moves to capture the plant or hinder their competitors.

A red-robed woman launched herself forward with blazing speed, her fire technique created a streak of flames behind her preventing others from chasing.

At the same moment, an elderly man in gray summoned thick vines from the earth to block her path. The vines burst into fire as she crashed through them.

Zhou Yang activated his movement technique, his form blurring as he darted toward the lotus from the left side. But a young sword path gu master was already there, his blade cutting silver arcs through the air to ward off anyone approaching.

A massive gu master with stone-colored skin slammed his fists into the ground. The earth shook and jagged rocks shot out like projectiles around the lotus, creating a barrier. Someone else countered with a wind technique that sent the rocks flying in all directions, the dust storm obscured their vision.

The air filled with primeval energy as a dozen techniques collided. Ice spears met fire walls. Lightning bolts clashed with water shields. A cultivator in blue robes tried to use a binding technique to trap everyone else, but his glowing chains were shattered by a furious barrage of sword strikes.

Zhou Yang rolled under a stream of poison and reached for the lotus. His fingers were inches away when the elderly man's remaining vines wrapped around his ankle, yanking him back.

Then the world exploded!

A tremendous blast erupted from the green hill overlooking the valley. The sound was unlike anything Zhou Yang or anyone present had ever heard.

The earth beneath his feet bucked violently. Ancient trees that had stood for centuries swayed like grass in a hurricane. Zhou Yang tried to leap away, his movement killer move activating instinctively, but the ground gave way beneath him.

The entire hillside was collapsing.

Massive rocks tumbled down like an avalanche. The cultivators scattered, some managing to almost escape, but just as Zhou Yang, they found themselves trapped in the path of destruction.

A boulder the size of a house crushed his legs and lower body, pinning him as smaller rocks rained down.

"If I knew this, I never would have accepted the sect mission." He thought with fright as blood filled his mouth. "This is it! I'm going to die."

But then, as death approached, something strange happened in his mind.

"Am I dying again?"

The thought came naturally, but it made no sense. He was Zhou Yang, a struggling gu master who had barely reached rank four cultivation. He had never died before.

"Again? Why do I think I've died before?" A great confusion came over him in his last moments.

Images flooded his mind. But they weren't memories of cultivation or martial arts. Instead, he saw lecture halls filled with students taking notes. Late night study sessions with textbooks scattered across a desk. Walking across a campus with a heavy backpack. The smell of coffee from a campus cafe. Cramming for finals in a dorm room lit by harsh fluorescent lights.

The boulder pinning him did not stop, it was rolling onward, towards his head.

But in that final moment, when the house-sized boulder came crashing down, understanding finally hit him.

"I am Qinyang and not Zhou Yang!"

Zhou Yang's world faded to darkness.

Death.

* * * * *