Chapter 2154: A Person From the Past With No Memory
Progenitor Smoke stared at Lu Yin with a rare expression of doubt. "Her name is still Zhao Ran?"
"Do you know her, Senior?" Lu Yin asked again.
Progenitor Smoke looked back at where Zhao Ran had left. The woman looked very confused, and she muttered to herself, "It shouldn't be… After so long, even if she’s still alive, how could she have not changed at all? Could she have been kept in cryostasis? No, she’s just an ordinary human, so that wouldn’t work. There’s no way for her to have lived for so long, but it’s too strange. The looks and name are completely identical, not to mention the tea that she just brewed…"
"Senior?" Lu Yin called out.
Progenitor Smoke looked back at Lu Yin. "Why is that woman here with you? Do you know who she is?"
Lu Yin shook his head. "No. She told me that she’s lost her memories, and I’ve suffered from the same thing, so I took her in out of pity. Why? Have you seen her before, Senior?"
Progenitor Smoke nodded. "You might not believe this, but I saw her on Ku Jie’s Mountain and Sea before."
How could Lu Yin not believe Progenitor Smoke? He had also seen the same scene, and it was precisely because Lu Yin had seen Progenitor Ku with Zhao Ran that he had brought Progenitor Smoke to see Zhao Ran. Lu Yin was just hoping to get some confirmation that the two people separated by untold years were indeed the same person, and he was right.
"What do you know about her?" Progenitor Smoke quickly asked.
Lu Yin shook his head. "Almost nothing. All I know is that her name is Zhao Ran and that she frequently loses her memories. She can even forget everything after just a single day and wake up knowing nothing at all. What about you, Senior? What do you know about her?"
Progenitor Smoke shook her head as well. "I don't know anything, but the last time I saw her, she brewed tea for Ku Jie, and she left a distinct impression on me."
Lu Yin smiled. "I’m guessing that it was her tea that left an impression on you."
"Don’t be ridiculous. The teas she makes would leave an impression on anyone. They look like poison. I drank them every day I visited Ku Jie. I wonder if she lost her memories because of that poison." It became clear that Progenitor Smoke’s train of thought was drifting.
"It looks like you’ve got the opportunity to reminisce a bit today, Senior," Lu Yin said with a smile. Zhao Ran walked back towards the two of them, this time holding two cups of tea. It was clear to see that the steam wafting off of them formed the image of a skull above each cup.
Progenitor Smoke stared at the girl, as though trying to peer through her. It was pointless, because no matter how one looked at Zhao Ran, she was an ordinary human with nothing special about her at all. However, if that were actually true, then how could a normal person have lived so long without aging so much as a day? I really should have asked about this girl back then, but with the tea that she brought us, who paid any attention to her?
Remembering the tea that Zhao Ran had prepared all those years ago, Progenitor Smoke looked down at her own teacup, and her eye twitched at the sight. Only an idiot would drink such a thing.
Lu Yin took a sip. "It’s delicious."
Zhao Ran was thrilled to hear the compliment. "Thank you, Your Highness."
Progenitor Smoke stared at Lu Yin. "You’re exactly the same as Ku Jie. How can you drink this stuff?"
"Senior, just have some. You shouldn’t hurt the child’s feelings," Lu Yin said with a smile.
Progenitor Smoke rolled her eyes. Child? Not even a god could guess this girl’s age, and Progenitor Smoke finally realized that Zhao Ran might have possibly been an ancient existence even back when she had spent time with Ku Jie.
"Zhao Ran, do you remember me?" Progenitor Smoke asked as she stared at Zhao Ran.
Zhao Ran and Progenitor Smoke both stared at each other. After a moment, Zhao Ran blinked ,and a confused look appeared on her face before she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I’m rotten trash, so I forget a lot of things. Have we met before?"
Progenitor Smoke gave the girl an odd look. Trash? Who had insulted her?
"If we did meet before, could you please tell me what happened? Who am I?"
Zhao Ran looked at Progenitor Smoke with anticipation covering her face, but the other woman just shook her head. "I don't know. I just feel that you look very familiar."
Zhao Ran practically started begging. "If we really did ever meet and you happen to remember, please tell me. I really want to find out who I am, where I come from, and if I have any family. Thank you."
Progenitor Smoke nodded. "I understand. I’ll tell you if I remember anything."
"Thank you!" Zhao Ran answered with an earnest smile.
She suddenly blinked as she noticed something. "Your tea is getting cold."
Progenitor Smoke looked down at her tea. There was still steam forming a skull above the cup. It was clearly poison, and there was zero possibility of it being anything else. She glanced over at Lu Yin, realizing that the man had to be insane if he drank such things.
In an instant, Progenitor Smoke had disappeared, returning to the pocket dimension within the mirror.
Zhao Ran was horribly confused. "Your Highness, where did your guest go?"
"She left. Zhao Ran, you can have this tea yourself. She doesn’t know how to appreciate such things," Lu Yin said.
Zhao Ran responded gently. "It’s a waste to not drink it. I worked hard brewing it."
A short time later, Zhao Ran left with the empty teacups, and Progenitor Smoke reappeared. "So she really doesn't remember me."
"Senior, this junior has decided what I would like to trade for your Roots of Intelligence," Lu Yin announced.
Progenitor Smoke was intrigued. "Tell me, because I really don’t need anything."
Lu Yin thought for a bit. "I remember you explaining that you are able to create cultivators with a bit of your power, right?"
"I can create Envoys. There’s no need to bother trying to create weaklings," Progenitor Smoke corrected.
Lu Yin grew serious. "Then, this junior believes that there’s a battle technique that would suit you perfectly. It’s called Blood Alchemy."
"Blood Alchemy?" The name caught Progenitor Smoke off guard. "An odd name. It sounds like something that came from the Impious Sutra."
Lu Yin had no idea where Blood Alchemy had originally come from, but it was possible that it had come from the Impious Sutra.
He shared what Blood Alchemy was capable of with Progenitor Smoke, and the woman fell deep into thought.
Her wei was able to replace the meridians within a human body, replace a stellular energy vortex, and if she regained her full strength, even a Semi-Progenitor’s inner world. However, her power could not replace a person’s blood, as it was just a form of energy. It was impossible to create something from nothing like the Rune Progenitor’s Truesight that could create a person from nothing at all.
Regardless of how much Progenitor Smoke might brag about her self-created power, there were certain limits to it. Blood Alchemy was able to almost perfectly compensate for the deficiencies of Progenitor Smoke’s unique power, and the fusion of the two might even provide her with the means of replacing a person’s blood to allow for a permanent creation.
Progenitor Smoke continued to think about the possibilities, and as she fell deeper and deeper into thought, a strange power appeared around her and started to spread out. It wrapped around Lu Yin, and he saw countless illusions that showed him different scenes. The most common sight that he noticed was fog. Were these glimpses into Progenitor Smoke’s thoughts?
Lu Yin quickly moved back, and his pupils transformed into runes as he stared at Progenitor Smoke. He could see that there were not too many runes around her, and he realized that this should be the inherited battle technique that she had received from her Mountain and Sea. When concentrating and focused on thinking about one thing, this technique would allow a person to forget about themselves and even time.
In some ways, this technique could create a moment of enlightenment.
Lu Yin expected Progenitor Smoke to remain in this state for a long time, so he prepared to leave her mirror and go deal with other matters.
Unexpectedly, she abruptly snapped out of her focused state.
"That trade’s acceptable," Progenitor Smoke stated the moment she emerged from her contemplative state.
Her response caused Lu Yin’s eyes to light up, but he also felt rather curious. "Is Blood Alchemy that useful to you?"
Progenitor Smoke nodded. "Very useful. I think that this Blood Alchemy can help compensate for some of the minor flaws in my wei, but I’ll need to spend a long time going over it. I intend to return to my mirror to do just that. I just realized that since this Blood Alchemy is able to extract an innate gift, it should also allow an innate gift to be transplanted. In other words, it should be possible to create a permanent Envoy with an innate gift, which would be very powerful."
Lu Yin's eyes grew wide. "Are you saying that if you can thoroughly comprehend this, you’ll be able to produce Envoys with innate gifts from nothing?"
Progenitor Smoke nodded. "That’s right."
"What are your chances of success?" Lu Yin asked excitedly.
"The fact that I was able to consider the possibility so quickly is enough for now, so let’s make this exchange. I only have three Roots of Intelligence, so I’ll trade all three of them with you for your Blood Alchemy."
"You only have three? Didn’t you say you had a whole bunch of Roots of Intelligence?" Lu Yin grew suspicious.
Progenitor Smoke rolled her eyes. "I just said that I have more than two. I never said that I had a whole bunch."
"I heard you say that." Lu Yin was quite certain.
"Go back in time and check for yourself. I never said that.” Progenitor Smoke bluntly denied Lu Yin’s suspicions.
Lu Yin considered threatening to not trade Blood Alchemy away, but while it might work to threaten Progenitor Smoke, the long term consequences were not worth it. Besides, Lu Yin was hoping that the woman would figure out how to create permanent Envoys, as that would greatly increase the combat power of the entire Fifth Mainland.
No, it was best to consider this exchange an investment.
Lu Yin shared Blood Alchemy with Progenitor Smoke, and she gave him three Roots of Intelligence, completing their transaction.
As soon as Progenitor Smoke finished the exchange, she retreated into the pocket dimension to do some research. Most likely, she would remain in seclusion for a long time.
Lu Yin also left the Heavens Sect and went to visit the Great Yu Empire to see Wendy Yushan.
After Aeternus had been driven out of the Fifth Mainland, many people had returned to their original homes. Even the Sword Sect had managed to return to the shattered Sword Mountain. The only place that was not returned to its original inhabitants was Progenitor Chen’s Mausoleum. The region that had once belonged to the Seven Courts had already become the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate’s headquarters, which meant there was no room for the ancient families to return to. Instead, they stayed just outside of Earth’s solar system, close to the Heavens Sect.
Zenyu Star had not changed very much over the course of twenty years, and even the war against the Aeternals had not had much of an impact on the planet.
Lu Yin remained the Great Yu Empire’s Royal Regent. Not even his twenty year absence had changed that fact. However, Wendy Yushan had taken over the management of the Great Yu Empire.
Over the course of these twenty years, she had transformed from a battle maniac who only thought about training and cultivation, to a competent administrator. Given her status, she was well qualified to take the throne as empress.
However, she had still not done so. She still hoped to roam the universe with nothing but her sword, rather than be bound to the Great Yu Empire.
She still lived in the princess’s palace. Lu Yin arrived, and when he saw the various officials waiting outside the residence, he deliberately did not make a fuss with his appearance.
"Sir, will the princess pursue the matter from back then?" Outside the princess's palace, a young man in brocade clothes nervously asked an old man standing before him.
The old man calmly looked at the young man. "Are you scared?"
The young man paled, but did not speak.
The old man continued in an indifferent tone, "You knew exactly what you were doing back then with your father. If Lord Garope was alive, he’d be so angry he’d resurrect from the dead."
The young man's face grew even paler. "We know that we were wrong. That’s why Father resigned, and it’s also why I came here to offer my own resignation."
A smattering of voices spoke up nearby.
"After Lord Garope passed away, the princess thought to honor a man who had devoted his life to this empire, and so she made a special concession and promoted the man’s son, Pierre. Over these last twenty years, Pierre secretly put together a large force of cultivators. Then, after people like En Ya and Huan Sha stayed at the Lu Heavenly Gate and no longer had any time to spend paying attention to the Great Eastern Alliance, Pierre started trying to pressure the princess into marrying his son, Pierce."
"Everything’s fine now. The royal regent’s returned, and he’s taken control of the entire Heavens Sect. He’s the most important person in the entire Fifth Mainland! They’re all so scared that Pierre resigned, and his son came here to offer restitution. If you ask me, I’d say that the father and son should just be arrested."
"Poor Lord Garope was always an honorable man throughout his entire life. He even dared to reprimand the royal regent himself when he first took control of the empire. That attitude was what earned the old man the regent’s respect, and he maintained a seat on the imperial cabinet his entire life. How sad that his descendants are these worthless two."
"True. If Lord Garope were still alive, he’d probably beat both of them to death."
…
Lu Yin listened to the chatter for a bit, then looked at the young man again before he started walking toward the gate to the princess’s mansion.
The guard at the gates was Kayze. After Lu Yin had disappeared, his former doorman had been transferred to Wendy’s palace. This was actually a post that was beneath someone with Kayze’s strength, but he had remained loyal to his job.
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