Chapter 2150: Now I Have Devoured My Former Self

He Lingchuan immediately followed his words and asked:

"Where exactly is this?"

"This is the Land of Impermanence, and also the place to reverse fate." The original self answered casually, then laughed, "No wonder you came in. As long as I kill you, I can turn the heavens and earth, and take back everything you snatched from me!"

He Lingchuan patiently explained: "When I arrived, you were already gone."

When he transmigrated here, the original self's consciousness had already dissipated, allowing him to take over this body.

"Nonsense!" The original self screamed wildly, "I am the Son of Destiny! Those opportunities should have been mine—I am He Xiong, I should be the one to cause havoc in the Heavenly Palace, I should be the one to seize the Yangshan Islands, I should be the one to become the head of the Bailie family! You shamelessly usurped my identity!"

Seeing that most familiar face twisted into the most ferocious and grotesque expression, He Lingchuan was momentarily speechless:

"Can't you control your expression? You're making me lose face completely."

The original self roared and drew his sword to attack.

He Lingchuan drew the Floating Life Blade to block, and also let out a surprised sound.

The Floating Life Blade was gifted to He Lingchuan by Zhong Shengguang; from the beginning of the Sword-Seeking Mission in Songyang Prefecture, its form had undergone several changes. After he ascended the throne and became emperor, he directly embedded the shrunken Great Expansion Heavenly Pearl into the hilt of the Floating Life Blade.

But the Floating Life Blade in his hand now has a bare hilt, a shorter blade, and a smaller curve.

It seems to be an earlier version, as there is still a groove on the blade's spine at this time, in which a Ghost Cicada Slough is lodged.

After the Havoc in Heavenly Palace, he altered this groove.

He Lingchuan probed with his divine sense and found that the Floating Life Blade has only two traits: one is its extraordinary sharpness, with a very small chance to ignore the enemy's elemental force; the other is its unerring accuracy when thrown.

The worst part is that his once surging and unparalleled true strength now remains only a vestige, and his agility is far less than usual.

He Lingchuan tried to summon the Resonant Dragon Battle Armor.

This battle armor, ever since he subdued it, responds to every call, endures hardship willingly, and is as easy to use as a second layer of skin.

But this time, He Lingchuan's summoning was like a clay ox entering the sea—after waiting a long while, the armor simply did not appear.

He Lingchuan tried to summon elemental force again, but it was the same—no red light flashed on the Floating Life Blade.

This is missing, that is also missing.

If other cultivators suddenly encountered this, they would surely panic in disarray, just like the original self before him. But He Lingchuan became even calmer instead.

This is not the state he should be in, which means that everything in this heaven and earth has departed from reality.

What kind of existence could strip from him all the abilities he gained since transmigrating?

Especially elemental force.

This is one of the most mysterious forces between heaven and earth; He Lingchuan cannot even imagine what other force could surpass it.

With the elemental force supplied by Panlong City, even if separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, he should not be unable to use it.

Thinking of this, his heart stirred again.

Wait, since transmigrating...

Isn't his current state just like when he first transmigrated into this realm not long ago?

At that time, He Lingchuan had just begun practicing the Ziwu Technique, had just repaired the Floating Life Blade, and had just received one or two infusions of Emperor's Essence...

For both the original self and him, it was just after they had experienced a great turning point in fate.

In the span of a dozen breaths, they exchanged dozens of moves.

He Lingchuan basically confirmed that his level was only slightly higher than the original self's—indeed, like when he had just stepped onto the path of cultivation not long ago.

While fighting, he asked the opponent: "How long have you been here?"

The original self gritted his teeth and drew his sword: "Long enough! I have never stopped wanting to get out!"

His sword is not bad either—it was a fifteenth birthday gift from He Chunhua.

"How can one get out?"

The original self did not answer, only kept attacking.

He Lingchuan saw his eyes fierce, expression frantic, not like a sound mind, so he changed his approach to test:

"If you kill me, can you get out?"

"Yes, definitely!" The original self replied without hesitation.

"Who told you that?"

"As long as I get out of here, I can reverse my fate!"

Not answering the question. But this guy's mind is too rigid, so He Lingchuan could only ask again:

"If I hadn't come, how would you get out?"

"The Tower that Reaches Heaven!" The original self answered, "Coming from the tower, also leaving from the tower! I found the tower, and I can still get out the same way!"

He was referring to the Qingmu Tower?

He Lingchuan quickly turned his head, but found that the northern direction was completely empty.

When did that tower, which soars straight to the heavens, disappear?

Only a sparse woodland remains on the spot.

So the original self has been trapped here for a long time; after finally waiting for the Tower that Reaches Heaven to reappear, he rushed over in haste, only to meet He Lingchuan, and hatred welled up from the bottom of his heart—he swore he would not rest until he killed him?

Combining the original self's words, it seems both of them were sent here by the tower, and to leave, they can only do so through this tower.

That sounds quite reasonable.

He Lingchuan gave him a move: "You kill me, but if the tower does not appear, what will you do?"

The original self's sword speed was visibly half a beat slower, his eyes showed a few moments of confusion, obviously his mind had stalled from this sentence. But he immediately sped up, shouting loudly: "Impossible, it will definitely appear!"

The original self waved his sword with one hand, pinched the sword seal with the other, the necklace clutched in his palm, and that wooden carving of the coiling snake swayed with his movements.

When he was young, Puman Dala Saman also held this pendant, swaying it back and forth before his eyes more than once.

He Lingchuan's eyesight is not as good as it later became; he always felt it seemed to have moved, as if it were swallowing its own tail.

But the original self swung it with such a large amplitude that he really could not see it clearly.

During their fight, the two passed by the pool again, and the water surface clearly reflected two utterly different faces.

The words of the Great Shaman of Zhao Man Du echoed repeatedly in his mind.

He Lingchuan pressed his lips together and tried to speak to the original self: "Put down the knife, let's talk properly, and find a way out."

Little did he know that not saying this would have been better, for as soon as he said "let's talk properly," the original self's attack became even more frenzied, utterly ignoring the wounds on his body that were bleeding profusely: "I don't believe it, uh-hah, no matter what schemes you're trying to pull, I don't believe any of it!"

He Lingchuan had a rough idea in his heart, yet he still continued to probe: "Do you hate me more, or do you hate He Chunhua more for offering you to the heavens?"

After the fact that He Chunhua used his eldest son as an offering to the gods was exposed, He Lingchuan could clearly feel the original self's pain and sorrow. They were as one entity, and He Lingchuan could sense that, compared to having his body occupied by himself, what the original self still dwelled on most was his father's deception.

The original self's gaze flickered with confusion for a moment, and He Lingchuan added fuel to the fire: "Before I took your place, he had already used you as a bargaining chip and offering to negotiate with the Naluotian!"

"Kill you!" the original self gritted his teeth until they creaked, "Kill you, then I'll go settle the score with him!"

"Saying that, I feel relieved." He Lingchuan swung aside his long blade, "You don't even count as an obsession—you're merely a symbolic empty shell."