The Cardinal Sins Goddess smiled at Xi Shen’s question before she said.
“I’m just an echoed. A small piece of fragmented life essence inside of the Six Sins plum blossom that was able to gain sentence because of that peculiar technique.”
Xi Shen cursed in his heart upon hearing that, but he guess fortunes come with unfavorable circumstances.
“So, what do you want with me? Why did you bring my consciousness in here?”
“It’s obvious you aren’t planning to kill me, so what are your intentions?”
The Cardinal Sins Goddess kept the smile on her lips as she replied.
“First let’s talk about the things I saw in your memories, is that really the current era?”
Xi Shen nodded his head in response.
The Cardinal Sins Goddess lowered her head at that and a thoughtful look come over her face.
She then raise her head after a moment and asked.
“How is that possible?"
"The God Domain couldn’t have just changed so drastically as it did, and it’s not just the coming of a different era. It's like everything before the current one is almost wiped away as if this era was disconnected from the previous one.”
Xi Shen could see the confusion in her eyes as she spoke.
‘I guess this was how disbelieving I reacted when I first discover this reality. Suddenly waking up in a completely different era than before, the shock would be huge for anyone.’
Xi Shen wanted to shrug his shoulders but he was still frozen. He responded to her by saying.
“It is what it is.”
The Cardinal Sins Goddess looked at him and asked.
“Aren’t you going to figure out what happened? Why are you just staying cooped up in this place?”
Xi Shen frowned at this and said.
“The dangers outside is-”
“Isn’t that just an excuse you created? Don’t you have those God Beasts? They would be able to get you out of most dangers you face. You’re just too scared to act. I’m disappointed Avarice, this indulgence in your fake family is too pitiful.”
Xi Shen’s face turned cold and become void expression, but he didn’t respond to her.
“Avarice are you happy here? I read your memories and your deepest desires, you want a normal life don’t you?”
“…”
“Oh, Avarice, no wonder you didn’t participate in that introduction exercise with those supposed friends of yours, you’re unwilling to face your desires.”
“Good of you to point that out, now release me, I’ve asked my questions so I have no more reason to talk to you.”
“Oh, but I haven’t asked my questions.”
The Carnal Sins Goddess gave a smile that was different from before, she was smiling but it was filled with mockery.
“My dear Avarice…”
She raised a hand and caressed Xi Shen’s cheek.
“...Those emotions are nothing but trouble for you, how about you abandon them? They're holding you back.”
Xi Shen snorted and said.
“You want me to return to how I used to be? An emotionless puppet? Do you think I would be foolish enough to go right back to it after I escaped?”
Xi Shen saw the Carnal Sins Goddess shook her head and say.
“That young boy, Yang Su was his name.”
Xi Shen’s face stiffened.
“Shut up.”
“I saw that your original intention was to use him to cultivate the Six Elemental Laws before extracting that seed you call a Dao Foundation.”
“I SAID SHUT UP!!!”
Xi Shen roared out and his eyes turned red with anger. If looks could kill Xi Shen would have killed the Goddess a million times over.
However, the Cardinal Sins Goddess continued to speak not minding him.
“If you were void of emotions like before you wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but now that you gain back your emotions, using him for your selfish desires started to wain on your conscience. Even that speech about you being siblings, that poor boy didn’t know that he was being tricked.”
Xi Shen’s angry eyes gained a bit of self-loathing and he lowered his head.
“When he called you Master and you take him on as your disciple, was when your emotions got in the way and you decided not to go through with your plan, the guilt became too overwhelming to handle. That was unfortunate, down the line, if he had reached a sufficient comprehension level of the six elements you could have taken that seed and boosted your own.”
“I said it before Avarice, you are an extraordinary innovator. Coming up with something like this to bypass the arduous time of comprehending the six elements is just marvelous. However…”
The Goddess had on a face full of admiration as she spoke, but her voice suddenly went low into a whisper as she moved her lips next to Xi Shen’s ears.
“...YoU'rE a hyPoCriTe.”
Xi Shen’s heart shook.
“You condemn me for my methods when you're here doing the same thing, DISGUSTING.”
“You even manipulated that other young man’s memories so he would be indebted to you. It’s eating at your conscience Avarice, I can tell. Just look at the blowout you had just moments ago, you don’t need those bothersome emotions, there only getting in the way and causing you immense pain.”
“…”
“That girl, do you wish she was Maivilin?”
Xi Shen clenched his jaw and his eyes tighten as he tried to block out her words.
It felt like he was getting stabbed in his heart by a knife, stirring up the things he tried hard to bury in its deepest depths.
The mention of Lu Yue resembling Maivilin felt like she had begun twisting that knife slowly and methodically, trying to carve her mocking words in the depths of his heart.
“Of all the Laws in this world, why chose Time?”
“Oh, are you perhaps thinking off-”
The Goddess paused there and her face showed surprise.
“No no no Avarice, the 1st Empyrean Rule states no being can tamper with the River of Time. It’s the oldest and most enforced Empyrean Rule of Heaven and it’s never been broken. You are no exception to that rule Avarice.”
Xi Shen felt weak.
He felt battered and bruised.
However, the Goddess wasn’t finished.
“Avarice, you're living in constant pain, these annoying emotions you aren't used to are in the way."
"But I can fix that.”
“I can remove your emotions for good so you won’t have to live like this, it would be such a relief once you let go.”
“So Avarice, think carefully as you balance on this crossroad, do you agree?”
The Goddess lifted Xi Shen’s chin and their eyes met.
The Goddess saw hesitation and reluctance in his eyes.
“This is for the best Avarice.”
Her voice seemed almost hypnotic as she spoke.
She then raised her hand towards Xi Shen’s forehead where the seven petal sins plum blossom appeared.
Xi Shen closed his eyes and the Goddess upon seeing this smiled.
Her fingers dug into Xi Shen’s forehead and began ripping out the seven sins plum blossom.
Xi Shen groaned in pain, but other than that he didn’t react to her actions.
He could feel his emotions slipping away, if they left he would no longer be himself, just a hollow husk of a human.
‘This is fine, maybe having emotions was just a mistake. Now I no longer have to struggle to try and control them. I no longer have to be tormented by those memories and having these scars give me immense pain. If that’s the outcome of losing my emotions, then it’s a good choice at this crossroad.’
After thinking that Xi Shen suddenly laughed mockingly in his heart.
‘How ironic, this was no different from what I did to Fei Yin. I guess this is what I deserve.’
Xi Shen’s soul body faded in and out as the Carnal Sins Goddess continue to pull out his seven sins plum blossom.
Seeing that it was halfway out, her eyes gleamed with greed and a hint of orange appeared on her own forehead signaling a seventh petal appearing on her six sins plum blossom.
Suddenly, in Xi Shen’s consciousness, a voice roared out.
“YOU STUPID FOOL!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING MAKING THIS DEMONESS SUCCEED?!!”
Xi Shen suddenly appeared in an orange-colored world.
Having his consciousness suddenly being transported here he began looking around confused.
The Goddess in the outside world sensed this, and a murderous aura erupted from her body. Her hair turned blood-red signally the rise of her Wrathful nature.
She immediately plunged her other hand inside of Xi Shen’s soul body’s stomach and twist it.
In the orange world, cracks appeared as it slowly began to collapse.
“Who was that?”
Xi Shen asked.
“You brat.”
Xi Shen spun around upon hearing the voice behind him.
Upon turning around, he came face to face with an old man with gray hair, bare feet, and tattered robes.
His eyes immediately bulge out of his head when he saw that this person looked exactly like himself in his past life.
“You-who are you?”
The old man look at the collapsing world and hurriedly said.
“Look Li Shen, we don’t have enough time. This demoness is currently trapping you inside her plum blossom, she plans to steal your emotions and the sliver of Chaos Qi to amplify her own. If she gets her hand on the Sin of Greed as well as the Chaos Qi, despite being an echo of her former self she will be able to connect with the Heavens and regain her title as Heir of the Six Carnal Sins. If that happens it’s all over, can you imagine a cultivator of the past appearing in this Era?!”
Li Shen was seated and he was staring at Avarice with a complicated expression.
“You are Avarice.”
Avarice heard those words and despite Li Shen not being clear by what he meant, Avarice knew what he was trying to say.
Avarice let out a sigh and said.
“I’m sorry kid. When I appeared inside your body our souls became like this.”
“You-are we the same and I’m just a reincarnation of you, or did your soul transmigrate into my body and took over?”
“It’s reincarnation.”
“However, because of the mysterious properties of Chaos Qi, it came with us somehow and disrupted the reincarnation process. So now two souls were being developed inside one body, and both were being influenced by the other causing our emotions to become irregular. Your conclusion of it being puberty is just not valid, puberty doesn’t mess with your emotions like how you’ve been acting.”
Hearing all of this, Li Shen felt defeated.
“So, are you planning to take over me and complete the reincarnation process? Will me, the soul being developed be erased?”
Avarice shook his head.
“No, it doesn’t work like that, you’re the result of those two souls colliding, your the only one in charge. I’m just a remnant of the past, I gain sentience because of the Chaos Qi and the Greed plum blossom petal. I’m the one who will be erased when everything is over.”
*Crack*
*Crack*
The orange world was halfway to being destroyed.
In a hurry, Avarice said.
“Come on no time to chit chat, take my hand.”
Li Shen looked up at Avarice’s hand in front of him. If he took it he suppose the reincarnation process would be complete.
But he hesitated as he said.
“Are you sure?”
“Am I sure? Yeah, I’m sure. I was going to fuse with our Qi Sea so I could live on but who would think I had to watch you absorb that Demoness without being able to do anything. But enough of that, I can’t hold this world together for much longer, I’m tapping into the Chaos Qi to amplify the petal’s power but her control reigns supreme in here.”
“Just take my hand Li Shen, there’s nothing to it. Giving up your emotions isn’t the right choice, I know it comes with heartache having to experience them, but they’re necessary for you to be human and for you to maintain the bonds you form in this life. With me gone, take this as a new slate. You don’t have to worry about the past anymore, and if you want to find out what happened in the God Domain do it at your own pace. Just let everything go and live this new life without any burdens. Blame what you did to Yang Su and Fei Yin on me, I’m the embodiment of our Greed so I caused it, I take full responsibility.”
“So take my hand, Li Shen. Take up your responsibility for living on for the both of us.”
Li Shen looked at his past life and felt rather emotional, but a sort of fire had been ignited in his heart due to his words.
“Okay, I won’t run from it, I'll take responsibility.”
“Good!”
As the world fully collapse around them, Li Shen took Avarice’s hand and he turned into a fine thread of Chaos Qi and entered his chest.
The orange color in the world exploded and the Goddess outside was knocked back by a shockwave of power.
Her expression looked gloomy as she saw a dark hue forming around the seven-petal plum blossom on Li Shen’s forehead.
His eyes opened and a brilliant glow of multicolored light shone from them as the plum blossom become visible inside of them.
“NOOO!!! THAT'S MINE!!! IT’S MINE IT’S MINE IT’S MINE IT’S MINE!!!!”
The Cardinal Sins Goddess screamed hysterically like a scratch recorder on steroids.
Li Shen coldly looked at her and said.
“Fuck you.”
He then pointed his index finger in her direction and several multicolored threads appeared around her. Like hot knives slicing through soft butter, they cut through her body in an instant leaving nothing of her.
A clean and simple death.
The control Li Shen had lost over the plum blossom had once again returned.
He let out an exhausted sigh ready to relax, but his face suddenly twisted in pain.
“UGH!!!”
The intense pain rampaged through his consciousness making it feel as if it was going to break completely.
Confused, Li Shen sent his perception to observe his physical body and his heart shook at what he saw.
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