TIC Chapter 15: How Many Souls Were Also Reborn?

Under the night sky, the lights came to life.

Just as Fang Zhiyuan had said, after dusk, lights would be hung up on the streets to mark the start of the Golden Osmanthus Challenge, turning the landscape into a thing of beauty.

Still in disguise, they walked slowly among the crowd. Overhead, bright color lanterns illuminated the sides of the streets.

“I didn’t realize you were so rich in your previous life.”

Lin Fuqing shook his head. “Alas…Snow Bone City was so poor. If I had known, I would have borrowed 1.8 million taels from you and never pay you back.”

“As you said, that was all in the past life.”

Fang Zhiyuan responded casually and stopped by the roadside. He handed a few small spirit stones to an old cultivator with missing teeth and took a lotus lantern from his wrinkled hands.

When ordinary mortals imagined what the immortal realm looked like, they often thought that all cultivators were great immortals who could ride the wind, move mountains, and fill the sea.

But in fact, cultivators were also divided into different levels. Those lingering in the Qi Refining stage all their life accounted for nearly 60% of the population. They could only catch some ninth-grade fireflies, do some small handicrafts, and sell them to passing cultivators to make a living, just like this old cultivator selling lanterns.

Lin Fuqing knew that Fang Zhiyuan had no interest in such little things and would only buy them for himself. So he took it and held it against his chest.

The lantern was very delicately painted and contained a dozen fireflies, which were the lowest level ninth-grade spiritual beasts. They flickered with an orange-yellow bean-shaped light.

Lin Fuqing liked it, and his expression couldn’t help but soften. “It is indeed beautiful.”

A hand reached out from the side, and a pair of well-defined fingers lightly brushed against his. “Shige, do you like this Liuhua Continent’s Golden Osmanthus Palace?”

Fang Zhiyuan rubbed Lin Fuqing’s hand and said with a smile, “In this life, you will be the head of the immortals.”

The tip of his finger rubbed against the back of Lin Fuqing’s hand, and a slight tingling sensation crept up from where his skin was touched. Lin Fuqing asked, “Do you think I look like someone who can be the head of immortals?”

Fang Zhiyuan’s usually cold and handsome eyebrows softened under the lantern. He curled his lips. “If you don’t like it, then forget it.”

“How could I? I’m not worthy of it.”

Lin Fuqing smiled sadly. “You, all of you from Xuyun, have been led astray since childhood. You praise me, your shige, as so great, as if I were a real god…”

Fang Zhiyuan held his wrist tightly, “You should have been.”

“I am just a selfish and pleasure-seeking vulgar person.” Lin Fuqing’s smile did not fade away, and his eyes gradually became as deep as the night. “You’ve thought too highly of me since you were a child. I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed in the future.”

“……”

With a subtle expression, Fang Zhiyuan remained silent.

This person in front of him had just escaped his previous sick body and was reborn. Instead of taking a moment’s respite, he was already worried about the survival of the sect’s young disciples and about the life and death of a friend he’d met by chance. He ignored his advice and insisted on running to Liuhua Continent to become embroiled in the Golden Osmanthus Challenge.

Then, he had the audacity to tell him very seriously that he was a selfish and pleasure-seeking person, and that he should not think too highly of him…

Fang Zhiyuan thought with a headache that his shige’s concept and characterization of many things were really different from those of normal people.

As his shidi, he needs to…well, be more tolerant.

So Fang Zhiyuan patiently changed the subject. “You just said you had something to tell me?”

They continued walking along the street, with Lin Fuqing following Fang Zhiyuan. “Yeah. Is there any place around here where we can talk in peace?”

“Why can’t we go back to the inn?”

Lin Fuqing coughed and looked away guiltily. “No, I’m afraid you’ll get angry and turn the inn upside down.”

Fang Zhiyuan: “…..”

Liuhua Continent had recently become a bustling place, and it was difficult to find a quiet location anywhere. Finally, Fang Zhiyuan took Lin Fuqing to a deserted grassy area.

It was likely the same place where the old cultivator had caught fireflies for his lanterns. There were small spots of light twinkling among the grass.

“Say what you want to say.”

Lin Fuqing held the small lotus lantern in his hand and blinked. “About the forbidden rebirth technique…”

“What? Is there a problem?” Fang Zhiyuan instantly became nervous and grabbed Lin Fuqing’s arm. “Is there a backlash? Then you…”

“Tsk, listen to what you’re saying.” Lin Fuqing shook him off in exasperation. “Who said anything about backlash? I have no problem with it. The problem is the others.”

Fang Zhiyuan was half-believing and half-doubting. “Who? What’s the problem?”

Lin Fuqing was silent for a moment.

He coughed to cover up his nerves and said seriously, “Zhiyuan, you know that the power of the forbidden rebirth technique is extremely strong, and the spiritual power contained in the spiritual veins is also very rich.”

Fang Zhiyuan said, following, “I know.”

Lin Fuqing added, “You also know that the forbidden rebirth technique is against the will of heaven and it’s difficult to control accurately.”

Fang Zhiyuan said, “I do know.”

Lin Fuqing continued, “I saw your…um, corpse on Xuyun Peak. I was afraid that if I failed, you would die in vain, so I used all my strength when performing the spell, without reservation.”

Fang Zhiyuan began to frown. “…So?”

Lin Fuqing concluded guiltily, “So, the scope of the final spell may be a little too large. This is what I want to tell you.”

Fang Zhiyuan had a bad feeling. With a dark look in his eyes, he lowered his voice and asked, “Shige, what do you mean by ‘slightly’? I wonder how slight is this ‘slightly’?”

“That’s right,” Lin Fuqing said lightly. “I probably covered the entire Three Realms.”

“……”

This was really “slightly.”

Fang Zhiyuan no longer cared to argue with his senior brother about the correct meaning of “slightly.” He said in a dry voice, “What are the consequences?”

Lin Fuqing said cautiously, “Maybe, and I’m saying maybe, I also brought along the souls of some others from our previous life into this world. But the forbidden rebirth technique is profound, and I only have a vague understanding of it. Whether it’s true or not, and how many people there are… I don’t know either.”

Fang Zhiyuan’s eyes went dark, and he almost couldn’t breathe.

“You……”

He felt as if cold water had been poured over his head. His fingers shook as he pointed at Lin Fuqing, “You…you hid such an important thing from me?!”

“Zhiyuan, listen to me…” Before Lin Fuqing could even say a word in his defense, Fang Zhiyuan grabbed his collar and dragged him over!

Fang Zhiyuan’s eyes were red, and his voice was as cold as a ghost, “Lin Fuqing, do you want to die? Do you still remember who you are?!”

He was so angry that he was shaking. Who was Lin Fuqing? The Supreme Demon Lord of Red Lotus Abyss’ Snow Bone City. The Lord who had managed to convince thousands of demonic cultivators to follow him with absolute sincerity, and he was also the only demonic cultivator to advance to the Tribulation Crossing stage in the previous life!

Liuhua Continent was the largest continent in the Immortal Realm, and all the major forces were gathered for the Golden Osmanthus Challenge. If someone wanted to kill the threat in advance…

There was no need to talk about anything else. It was enough to just speak of Mu Hong, who had joined hands with the “True God” to force the two of them into a dead end in their previous life. He was the current head of the Mu family in Liuhua Continent. If this person was also reborn, wouldn’t Lin Fuqing be walking into a trap?!

Knowing he was in the wrong, Lin Fuqing said, “Okay, okay, I know, I know…I’ll be the first to say it…”

Furious, Fang Zhiyuan asked, “Why didn’t you say it earlier?!”

Lin Fuqing blinked innocently and said, “If I had told you earlier, would you still let me come to Liuhua Continue?”

Fang Zhiyuan exclaimed, “—You!!”

Without thinking, Fang Zhiyuan raised his hand.

In the dark night, the black-clad young man’s eyes and brows had a fiery and fierce look.

…Fang Zhiyuan was actually not a tyrannical and bloodthirsty person, but he did have a bad temper. Moreover, when he was a child in Xuyun, he was spoiled by Lin Fuqing and never knew how to control his temper.

All the previous immortal leaders knew how to pretend to be dignified and graceful. But he didn’t care. He would kick anyone who irritated him on the spot.

But…

Lin Fuqing was just a few steps away from him, his dark eyes were clear, his long hair was tied up, his skin was as white as porcelain jade, and he was holding the small lantern that glowed softly.

This clean and beautiful youth. In his previous life, as he was desperately holding onto the dying white-haired demon king, this was the image he had searched for thousands of times in his memories.

Damn it.

How could he bear to do it?

Not to mention a slap, even a push…

Fang Zhiyuan suddenly released him. He hurled himself two steps away and turned his back, gasping for breath.

Lin Fuqing watched his back, terrified that he would faint from anger. “Zhiyuan, A’Yuan…”

Fang Zhiyuan had been trying hard to restrain himself, but when he was called “A’Yuan”, he couldn’t help himself and whirled back to face Lin Fuqing. “Lord Lin, you should understand the principle of three times the limit, right?”

“The first time… you were possessed by yin qi after the calamity. Your golden core and meridians were all shattered, your soul was scattered, and you lost consciousness. If I hadn’t taken you away, you would have been killed right there on your Four Peaks of Xuyun!”

“The second time… Snow Bone City was destroyed, and you refused to run away. How did you get tortured by those things that claim to be true gods? You were barely alive when I arrived!!”

“Yes, yes,” Lin Fuqing could only go along to coax him. “It’s all my fault. I’m useless, I’ve implicated you, I’m really so bad…”

“Shut up! There’s no such thing as three times the limit, Shige…”

Fang Zhiyuan suddenly took a step forward. He leaned on Lin Fuqing’s shoulder, his eyes cold and icy, like frost on a winter night.

“Listen. Whether you want to save the Saint of Ziwei, or protect your former group of demonic cultivators, or even if you really want to become a compassionate immortal who saves the three realms…”

Fang Zhiyuan paused, “…I will do my best to help you. I don’t care about my life, you can take it at any time and use it as you like.”

There was a flash of pain between Lin Fuqing’s brows. “Don’t say such things to make me angry.”

“Do you think I’m joking?” Fang Zhiyuan was so angry that he laughed. His eyes were like a sharp knife drawn from its sheath. “The first two times, everyone thought I was just crazy, but what happened?!”

“But,” he added bitterly, “if you do it again, if you dare to do it a third time, I will… I will…”

Lin Fuqing knew he was in the wrong and was mentally prepared to bear the brunt of his harsh words.

Unexpectedly, the usually sharp eyes of the man in front of him suddenly turned red without any warning. Fang Zhiyuan glared at him with gritted teeth, but his voice was still trembling:

“I would really go crazy…!”

Lin Fuqing was stunned.

After a long while, he gently scolded, “Nonsense.”

The moonlight above his head was as cool as water. The dancing fireflies were flickering and glittering on the long grass at his feet.

—————————

The author has something to say:
Has Immortal Sovereign Fang’s anxiety about gains and losses in his previous life improved today? —No, it still hasn’t.

Has Demon Lord Lin’s self-perception bias improved today? —No, it also still hasn’t.

Stop being brothers and become fellow patients =w=

 

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