Chapter 370: The Past Life Self

"Fine, fine, fine, so this is what you're throwing at me now..."

Ren Yidao looked at the "himself" opposite, his expression quite complex.

That was a secret hidden in the deepest part of his memory, one he had never revealed to anyone.

And now, it had appeared before him just like that, without any preamble.

His past self.

They were similar, yet different.

The temperament was already different.

Standing opposite Ren Yidao was a pure human who had never seen Immortal Gods, ghosts, or monsters, had never been contaminated, and contained not a single trace of impurity.

And him?

After stripping such a human from his body, what was left of him?

The answer was simple.

"Demon..."

Ren Yidao raised his hand, gently stroking the sixth tail that had newly grown, and said softly:

"A pure demon."

"Haha, how... how did this happen?"

Ren Yidao laughed, but the laughter was dry and hoarse.

He had clearly succeeded, with both his physical body and Dao Technique stepping into the Lianxu Realm, but why couldn't he feel happy at all?

Why was he so sad?

Why on earth was this?

The answer, he knew better than anyone.

Because his past self had told him a cruel reality.

"It's different now."

No matter how hard Ren Yidao tried to engrave the past in his mind, wanting to hold onto the version of himself in his memories, he had failed in the end.

He had changed.

Over a hundred years, he was no longer the self from the past; he had long since merged with this world.

"... Hahaha!"

Ren Yidao was stunned at first, then burst into loud laughter, laughing until tears streamed from the corners of his eyes.

He looked at his past self, and for some reason, his emotions suddenly spiraled out of control.

"Are you kidding me!"

Ren Yidao stumbled to his feet, raised his hand to grab the clone by the collar, flames of fury burning in his pupils.

He had once liked this piece of clothing very much, but until he saw it again, he hadn't been able to recall it at all.

It was as if it had been erased from his memory.

That watch was left behind by his father after he passed away.

That pair of glasses was personally chosen by his mother for his birthday.

That...

Upon seeing those items forgotten in the depths of his memory, Ren Yidao was nearly on the verge of a breakdown.

"Why?"

"Why!!?"

He spoke lines that no one in this world could understand, repeating cheesy jokes he once looked down upon.

Over and over, time and time again.

What was he doing it for?

It was to not forget.

He reminded himself again and again not to forget the past, not to forget who he truly was.

He struggled to maintain his sense of self, dealing with this cruel world from a detached and joyful perspective.

But now, his efforts had turned into a pile of bubbles.

"I... I!"

The flames of rage surged in his heart, nearly burning his sanity to ash, using his last bit of reason to suppress the urge to tear the clone to pieces.

"I have already tried so hard, I have clearly already tried so hard!"

"I wanted to remember the past, to remember everything that I can no longer return to!"

"But now, you tell me that I actually managed to keep nothing?"

"Nothing at all..."

Overwhelmed by a massive sense of powerlessness, Ren Yidao let go of the clone, stumbled backward, and sat down on the ground with a thud, muttering to himself:

"Why did I forget?"

"Why did I forget these things!!?"

Ren Yidao thought he had long since let go, but looking back, he couldn't let go at all.

Like an aggrieved child, he curled up, held his head, and pulled at his hair with force, crying and laughing at the same time.

"Since it has come to this..."

"Then let it just be this way."

"Forget the past, I don't want it anymore."

"The current me..."

"Just a demon!"

The youth transformed into a giant white fox, let out a long howl toward Heaven, his entire body surging with Demon Qi.

"No."

But just as the white fox prepared to crash through the wooden wall, he suddenly paused, shook his head in agony, knelt to the ground, and began slamming his head against the floor.

"No! It shouldn't be like this!"

It is unknown how much time passed before the white fox finally quieted down, yet he did not rise, remaining in his previous posture.

Rustle...

The white fox's ears twitched; he heard a faint sound and abruptly turned his head to look behind him.

In an instant, a fierce light was revealed, and Demon Qi surged.

His bloodshot eyes were a sea of scarlet, his vertical pupils harboring violent killing intent as he glared ferociously at the intruder.

Anyone who dared to step closer would be torn to shreds by him.

At this moment, not a shred of humanity could be seen on the white fox; all that remained was pure demon nature.

"Little Junior Brother, calm down."

But the person who arrived was not frightened by the white fox's fierce attitude; instead, she spoke gently:

"Do not panic, this is merely a trial of your true self."

"After stepping into the Lianxu Realm, every cultivator will encounter this situation."

"The Void Refining Realm, refining the real into the void; what you see is all but illusion."

Mei's words caused the white fox's eyes to flicker; the killing intent on his body dissipated significantly, and his mind cleared somewhat.

Illusion... is it an illusion?

Seeing the white fox begin to think, Mei did not continue to provoke him and took a step back.

"I do not know what you have seen, nor am I clear on how important the past you speak of is to you."

"However, I now wish to return a sentence you once said to me."

She said:

"Since you cannot let go, then do not let go; why must you pretend that you already have?"

!!!

The white fox climbed up from the ground, looking down from above at the tiny woman at his feet.

"You are right; since I am unwilling to let go, then no matter what happens, I will not let go."

Mei smiled lightly, her eyes filled with deep tenderness, and whispered:

"I have already decided; later, I will go see A Jian and ask him in person."

Even if it is impossible to ever return to the beginning.

After speaking, Mei looked at this youth who had successfully guided her and finally helped her make up her mind, her eyes filled with deep heartache.

He gave her direction, yet she had been lost.

They were not actually close, having only met once, and she did not know what had happened to him.

But she could feel the scent of despair radiating from Ren Yidao at this moment.

That kind of collapse, she had also experienced personally.

And she did not want him to walk the same path as her.

"Do not just think about what you have lost; think about what you still have left?"

White fox: "..."

"Perhaps, you need this right now."

"It can help you calm down."

She placed a withered grass on the ground, slowly retreated, and hid once more within the wooden wall.

It was a stalk of Soul Returning Grass.

This grass is highly toxic, suppresses the soul, is extremely cold, and tastes incredibly bitter; consuming it causes the Divine Soul to twist in pain.

"..."

A fair palm reached out, slowly grasped the Soul Returning Grass, then shoved it directly into his mouth and chewed hard.

Crunch.

Crunch!

"I say, let's all stop pretending! You're actually a Heart Demon, right?"

【"You're the Heart Demon! Your whole family is Heart Demons! With that cosplay outfit of yours, you're the hallucination, right?"】

"No, what kind of Heart Demon cosplays as a male fox? Is there something wrong with you?"

【"Oh, true, you have a point; Heart Demons are usually young ladies in revealing leather outfits with horns."】

"No, no, no, that's not a Heart Demon, that's a succubus!"

【"Also true... I want to read a succubus doujin now."】

"Plus one, if that doesn't work, a novel is fine too."

【"... No male succubi."】

"Mm, indeed."

【"But if he were the male lead, it actually wouldn't be impossible; feels like it would be quite easy to get racy."】

"You really know your stuff."

【"Indeed, you are not bad either."】

"Indeed."

Within the Mei Mu barrier, the young Ren Yidao held the Soul Returning Grass, sitting face-to-face with his "self" as a young man, and both fell into silence.

After a long while, the youth spoke, sighing:

"……This is also normal."

The young man nodded and continued:

【"After all…… you are me."】

"Yes, I am you."

Ren Yidao stared at his past self, nodded, then shook his head.

"But you, are not necessarily me."

The young man was silent, looked at the strange youth in the Feather Garment, thought for a moment, and nodded.

【"Indeed, very different."】

"You are the me of the past."

【"Then, are you the future?"】

The youth pondered and shook his head:

"Neither."

Of course, there was no second Ren Yidao here, and the true-self clone did not have an independent consciousness.

The conversation just now was entirely Ren Yidao talking to himself by using the true-self clone.

While perfecting the first level of the Body Fusion Technique, a realization dawned in Ren Yidao's heart.

The "Ten Thousand Daos Body Fusion Technique" was not, as the Imperial Preceptor and Huang Huang said, divided into upper, middle, and lower levels.

They thought wrong.

Completely and utterly wrong.

Although divided into three parts, they were not in an advanced relationship, but three parallel and different clone methods!

Past Method, Present Method, Future Method.

The "Ten Thousand Daos Body Fusion Technique" was only the Past Method among them!

These three parts of the clone method had no connection between them and were completely independent of each other; each part could be cultivated separately to manifest the corresponding life-self.

And only when all three parts were cultivated, having the past-life self, Present Self, and future-life self, could the final fusion be performed.

By that time, fusing the three life-selves into one, the power that would erupt would not be as simple as just adding the three together.

"Five times? Perhaps even…… ten times?"

"And the true power of the Body Fusion Technique might be far more than this; more subtleties still need my own exploration and research."

It can only be said that this technique truly lives up to its resounding reputation as the "head of the three great Secret Techniques of the Human Race."

"What great ambition, what a great stroke, what an astonishing concept."

Ren Yidao felt heartfelt admiration for the creator of this technique.

"However, such a grand concept also means that the possibility of merging the three parts is too small, far too small."

Although Ren Yidao seemed to be cultivating smoothly, in reality, the difficulty of cultivating any one of the three parts of the clone method had reached a perverted level.

The difficulty of entering the door for any single part of the clone method was equivalent to the most top-tier technique.

The Imperial Preceptor giving him this technique had the true purpose of making him obsessed with it, slowing down his other cultivation progress, and ensuring he would never exceed the scope of his control.

And the reason Ren Yidao could easily master the Past Method was because of his own special experience, which allowed him to naturally conceive of a past life.

One must know, this world has no reincarnation, and other people do not have the concept of being reborn.

They need to conceive and outline their own "past life" themselves, and finally deceive themselves bit by bit, treating it as a truly existing past life.

And the strength of the past-life self depends entirely on the level of detail they can outline themselves.

The more detailed and meticulous the past life is depicted, the stronger it can manifest.

Like Ren Yidao, who truly has a past life, one can only say he is cheating and using a hack.

I'm not pretending anymore.

I've activated the hack!

"It's a pity, I only have the Past Method given by the Imperial Preceptor, and I have no clue about the remaining two parts……"

"If the head of the three great Secret Techniques of the Human Race is the Past Method, then are the other two that share the same fame the Present and Future parts?"

Of course, when the time comes to find them, Ren Yidao would not be able to cultivate as smoothly as he did with the Past Method; he would only be able to start from scratch like everyone else.

But that would also be fine.

After experiencing the benefits of the past-life self, it was impossible for Ren Yidao to give up the remaining two parts.

And after sighing at the power of the Body Fusion Technique, Ren Yidao felt a wave of embarrassment.

"……Cough!"

"Thinking about it from another angle, I really didn't need to be that excited just now."

After Ren Yidao calmed down, he scratched his head in embarrassment, feeling uncomfortable all over.

How long had it been since he was so uncomposed?

How did he end up like Jing Yueqin……

Too improper!

"It was bound to happen; after experiencing so many things, if I were still exactly the same as in the past, that would be the strangest thing of all."

People change.

Whether changing for the better or the worse, it is still change.

Change is not necessarily a bad thing.

If Ren Yidao were still the same as in his past life, he would have long since been swallowed up completely by this cruel world of cultivation that eats people without spitting out the bones.

He lost control of his emotions mainly due to two points.

First, the Heart Demon trial of the Void Refining Realm magnified Ren Yidao's emotional vulnerabilities, making him sensitive and fragile.

Second, it was quite a blunder...

"It's not that I forgot the past."

"It's just that, damn it, that memory happened to be one I had just stripped away."

The memories of his past life were stored within his past self and did not belong to his current self; he could not recall them unless he thought about them carefully.

As luck would have it, these two points collided, producing a very subtle chemical reaction that dealt a massive blow to Ren Yidao's inner defenses.

His mindset simply exploded.

Just thinking about this point made Ren Yidao want to slap himself across the face.

Why were you in such a hurry? Couldn't you have thought it through properly?

After struggling with it for a while, Ren Yidao decided to treat everything that had just happened as if it never occurred.

Seal it away in the depths of his memory!

"I have to talk to Mei Jie about this later; this matter absolutely cannot be let known to anyone else."

He had to silence her!

With this, Ren Yidao had officially completed his breakthrough.

Although there were some minor twists and turns along the way, he had ultimately succeeded in breaking through to the Lianxu Realm.

Both his physical body and his Dao Technique had broken through, rarely reaching a level where they were neck and neck.

Having already spent quite a bit of time, Ren Yidao was in no rush to go out and carefully sensed the changes within his body.

After pondering for a moment, Ren Yidao reached his hand behind his back to grope around and gave a light tug.

Pop.

From the changes in his newly grown Fox Tail, Ren Yidao pulled out a crystal-clear, nearly invisible short sword.

Ren Yidao looked at this gorgeously styled weapon, blinked, and let out a soft sound of surprise:

"This is..."

Shadowless Sword?