Chapter 533 – A Pawn's Ambition
The memory showed the point of view of Xie Tian, who had entered Miaomiao's current timeline through a crack in the void.
As Xie Tian had tampered with the timeline, his soul wasn't transmigrated into his counterpart's body. Instead, he came here with only his soul.
Secondly, Xie Tian came here after his counterpart was dead. He was instantly punished by the Law of Karma, Law of Time, and Heavenly Dao.
As a result, his soul was damaged, and he was on the verge of dying. Yet, Xie Tian's willpower and determination kept him going, allowing him to transcend the tribulations.
He managed to reanimate his physical body and disguise himself as one of the second-generation war droids. Then, he came here for Miaomiao.
And they got to meet in person.
...
After the memory ended, Miaomiao found himself in his sea of consciousness. In front of him, the remnant of Xie Tian's soul was there, levitating above the sea.
The middle-aged Xie Tian had a bitter smile on his face. He sighed, "I guess this is it."
"..."
"I hope you can thwart the Devil's evil plan, master. I did everything I could, but I messed up."
"..."
"Please win for me, for us, and everyone master. I'll be watching over you in the River of Reincarnation."
"Shut up."
"???"
Miaomiao's dark expression, his deep frown, and his rude demeanor surprised him. The former also made a hand incantation.
Suddenly, the sea of consciousness suddenly surged and wrapped around Xie Tian's soul fragment, trapping him inside.
"Master?! What are you doing?!"
"Shut up."
Even though it's Miaomiao's first time using this power, his guts told him that he could mimic Samael and 2nd Alter's skill.
The skill was called Soul Sanctuary, which was something Meng Xin in the other timeline mastered. Samael and Alter used to defeat Meng Xin's clone at 1,000% difficulty and learned this Dao.
Second Alter and Samael could use this skill to trap immortal and deity souls temporarily, and it was useful in battles. They could also use it to heal his ally's soul.
Using only his comprehension of the system skill, Miaomiao managed to mimic the power by using his chaotic sea of consciousness and his luck, transforming his consciousness sea into a container.
He captured Xie Tian's soul before he ran out of energy and disappear. Then, Miaomiao replenished Xie Tian's soul with his inexhaustible luck.
"M-Master..."
"SHUT UP!!"
"..."
The overflowing emotion of two dead counterparts influenced Miaomiao's mind. Anger, sadness, desperation, frustration, and regret were the only things in Miaomiao's mind.
Influenced by overflowing emotion, Miaomiao spoke his mind without holding back.
"Don't spout cliché bullshit or wave death flags around, you foolish disciple! What kind of protagonist are you?! Why are you giving up your life so early when you can still fight?!"
"I-I can still fight?"
"DAMN STRAIGHT, YOU CAN STILL FIGHT!!"
"But my soul-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!"
"..."
"Listen here, you pretentious little dipshit! You're smarter than me. Your talent is better than mine. You are blessed by Heaven and Earth, but I don't. You were even born with a Heavenly Fate Fragment in you, but I was born with Devil's shitty curse! You're a man of great destiny. Does a man of destiny easily give up his life and shove his responsibility to someone else, who's stupider than him, has less potential than him, and ultimately weaker than him?!"
"..."
Miaomiao extended his palm and transferred half of his Life Essence into Xie Tian's soul.
The soul stopped fading. On the contrary, the energy healed Xie Tian, allowing his soul to stabilize and continue to exist.
Moreover, Miaomiao injected a strand of karma into Xie Tian's soul.
It was not a negative karma string but a karma string of life, which was the most vulnerable karma string of Miaomiao.
In the previous timeline, Meng Xin was Samsara's successor candidate, and he could use many karma-related techniques. Moreover, Alter Miaomiao and Meng Xin always shared their insight regarding karma Dao, and Xie Tian learned a lot from them.
He knew what this karma strand represented.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtHad someone cut it, Miaomiao would have ceased to exist!
And if someone were to attach this karma threat to another person, they could share their lifespan!
Miaomiao was giving away his lifespan to save Xie Tian's soul!
"M-Master?!"
"Who allowed you to die?"
"..."
"I said, WHO ALLOW YOU TO DIE?!"
"I..."
"SHUT UP!!"
"..."
"Now, listen. There's a proverb in a modern world army. No one is left behind!"
"..."
"I don't want a tragedy in my story! I don't want to see a friend's death in my book that I'm the fucking protagonist! You're not permitted to die unless I tell you so!"
Realizing what Miaomiao had sacrificed to keep him alive, Xie Tian's eyes became teary.
A soul could not cry. However, if one was truly overwhelmed with emotion, they could shed a teardrop, which contained most of their luck.
This tear could be ingested by a weaker cultivator to boost their potential or talent. If it was a teardrop of a deity, it would be priceless as the effect would be immeasurable.
After Xie Tian's soul was stabilized, Miaomiao unattached the karma string of life and stopped sharing his lifespan with Xie Tian.
He didn't forget to collect the teardrop of Xie Tian's soul, who was the Time God. He secretly put it in his system inventory, planning to make a pill out of it later.
Then, he continued yelling at Xie Tian the way that Second Alter used to do.
"Do you want to live?!"
"..."
"I SAID, DO YOU WANT TO LIVE, XIE TIAN!?"
Xie Tian stood attention and shouted in reflex, "YES, SIR!!"
"DO YOU STILL WANT TO DIE?!"
"NO, SIR!!"
"DO YOU STILL WANT TO DISAPPEAR?!"
"NO, SIR!!"
"THEN, WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"
"KILL THE DEVIL, SIR!!"
While the time was frozen, Miaomiao dragged Xie Tian's soul from the sea of consciousness to the dantian space.
Currently, the dryad workers, dryad warriors, Meowmeow, Xu Chu, Diaochan, and Eurobeat stopped moving. They didn't even notice that the time had been stopped.
Miaomiao dragged Xie Tian here and looked at him.
"Let's fight Devil together again."
"But master, I don't have a body."
"You have one."
"... I do?"
Miaomiao pointed at himself, "Me."
"... Pardon?"
"You can fight Devil by using my body."
"But... what about you? I don't want to steal your body, master!"
"Idiot!" Miaomiao bonked Xie Tian's head with a hammer fist, "I didn't ask you to possess me! I want you to be my familiar spirit! Form a pact with me and be my familiar spirit, and then, you can become my Dao Spirit in the future when I create the Chrono Element Continent!"
"!!!"
Xie Tian had never thought of that. He smacked his forehead.
But then, he had worries.
"Can a soul of a deity become a familiar of a mortal?"
Miaomiao pointed at Xu Chu, "Do you know her?"
Xie Tian turned to Xu Chu. He hadn't paid attention to the surroundings, so he hadn't noticed her presence.
But when Xie Tian saw Xu Chu's face, he recognized her.
She was the foster daughter of Lilith, and her status was only below Lilith and Lilim! In the Second Alter's timeline, she lived inside a dantian space as his Dao Spirit.
It was the same in this world. Xu Chu had been serving Miaomiao as his Dao Spirit.
Indeed, if a succubus ancestor, who was one of the top deities in the Netherworld Realm, could become Miaomiao's Dao Spirit, Xie Tian could do the same.
Xie Tian's hope was rekindled, "Make me your Dao Spirit, master! I'll fight alongside you once again!"
"Finally, you talk like the main character! Let's form the pact before we resume the time flow! We have a lot of work to do!"
"YES, SIR!!"
...
Real World
Time resumed.
Miaomiao took a deep breath as he missed his body. He rotated his shoulders and waved his legs around, warming up his five senses.
Meanwhile, Lilith found a hole in her chest, and her providence was critically damaged. She held her chest in confusion.
"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!"
Miaomiao feigned ignorance and pretended to be shocked, "S-Senior? What's wrong?!"
"I DON'T KNOW!!"
Panicked, Lilith opened a portal to the Netherworld Realm and fled in a hurry. Her subordinates followed after their boss, leaving the murals and Miaomiao behind.
Miaomiao had the urge to sneer or laugh at Lilith, but he kept his cool. He collected all murals back into his system inventory.
He had so many things to do right now, and he couldn't be bothered with his wives, friends, disciples, or people of Siren City, who were currently hostages in Hell.
He was not strong enough to save them yet.
While Miaomiao was cleaning the room, Xu Chu panicked and yelled at Miaomiao in the dantian space.
...
Isolation Training Space
Xu Chu was glaring at the new member of this world, who had appeared out of nowhere.
Moreover, he looked similar to a clone that Miaomiao had failed to defeat. Xu Chu suspected that the father of the clone's original body had come here to take his revenge.
Diaochan and Meowmeow didn't voice their opinion, but they were wary of the new member. All combatants surrounded them and summoned their domain and Dao Avatars, preparing to battle.
But Miaomiao interrupted them.
"Hold your pussies, damn warmongers. He is your new friendly neighborhood."
Xu Chu squinted her eyes, "Who the fuck is he? How come he has the aura of a deity? Is he one of the clones that you always fought?"
Miaomiao turned to Xie Tian, who had just formed a pact and become Miaomiao's newest familiar.
Xie Tian tried his best to avert his eyes from the women's naked bodies. Even though Diaochan and Xu Chu put on their dresses, the dryads never wore anything in this world.
As such, Xie Tian had a hard time adapting to this environment.
Xie Tian awkwardly introduced himself, "Hello, fellow Daoist. I'm Master Mao Miaomiao's familiar spirit. My name is-"
Miaomiao suddenly closed Xie Tian's mouth with his hand and coughed, "Tian Xie! His name is Tian Xie from the Tian Clan of the Outer World."
Xie Tian frowned at Miaomiao's naming sense.
It was too obvious! Even a grade-schooler could figure who he was!
Xie Tian was also confused about why Miaomiao hid his identity.
"Oh, what an arrogant surname. Tian Clan, eh?" Diaochan mumbled and pursed her lips.
Diaochan found Miaomiao's reaction amusing and gestured the others to relax. However, Xu Chu was still on guard.
"I'm against it. Miaomiao, annul the pact."
Xu Chu didn't like Xie Tian since she didn't want another man in Miaomiao's dantian space. It ruined her kinky mood.
Miaomiao calmed them and introduced Xie Tian to the group, "Relax. He will spend most of his time hibernating to restore his lost providence. Once I complete the Chrono Element Continent, he will become my Dao Spirit. I plan to make a Chrono Element Power Plant Planet, and this guy will be the Dao Protector."
"Why does he look like Xie Tian's clones?"
Miaomiao coughed twice and broke a sweat, "There are at least three people with the same face on a planet. Since the universe is vast, uncanny coincidences can happen."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmShe raised her eyebrows, "Oh? Then, another question. Have I taught you about Power Plant Planets? Since when have you learned that term?"
Miaomiao coughed several times and sweated profusely, "You probably taught me a long time ago. I forgot when."
Xu Chu indeed used to teach him about cultivation methods of immortals, but she never went into the detail, such as how a Constellation Immortal managed their planets.
She never mentioned Power Plant Planets, which was the advanced trick of immortals. They created extra planets with a single element as an elemental essence or elemental providence generator, which was the reason for their nicknames.
"Also, Miaomiao. Chrono Element? Did you actually read those incomplete murals?"
Facing Xu Chu's barrage of questions, Miaomiao overclocked his brain and tried to come up with excuses.
Miaomiao decided not to reveal the memory that Xie Tian had shared with him since it was sensitive information. He wanted to avoid complications and troubles that could potentially come by spreading the Law of Time around.
"You didn't pay attention. Lilith gave me the seventh piece, and I just completed it just now."
"But I didn't sense anything."
"You just didn't come out to look at the murals."
"Okay. How about you place all of them here, so we can see."
"No need. I've remembered everything, and I'm going to use them to cultivate the Chrono Element now. Tell everyone to stay away from me... and my new partner."
Miaomiao flew away from the girls to the open sea of Life Essence.
Xie Tian slightly bowed to them and followed Miaomiao. He planned to help his mentor establish the Chrono Element Crystal.
...
The girls only gazed at Miaomiao in confusion. Then, they sized up Xie Tian.
Xie Tian's appearance was a handsome middle-aged man. His sharp look and toned body looked ideal for a male cultivator. If they compared Miaomiao's original height and Xie Tian's height, they would discover that the protagonist was a couple of inches taller than the former.
For a moment, Diaochan and Xu Chu thought that Miaomiao started to swing that way.
Xu Chu snickered, "What is that brat deliberately hiding from us? He's too corny that it hurts to watch."
Diaochan giggled, "Probably that new guy's identity or secret?"
"You mean, Xie Tian?"
"Yup!"
The two women knew, but they didn't say anything in front of Miaomiao.
"How the hell did he bring that clone's original body here? I thought he was dead. Oh well, that doesn't important. But how come I didn't sense that guy before this? He just appeared out of the blue."
"It probably relates to the murals that Miaomiao is hiding from us."
"You're probably right..."
Xu Chu gazed at Miaomiao, who had disappeared into the horizon.
"Chrono Element... Time Element? Were they playing with time earlier?"
...
Xie Tian and Miaomiao looked back and check if the girls followed after them.
Seeing that nobody chased after them, both men heaved a sigh of relief. Then, Xie Tian's expression turned ugly.
"Why did you hide it from them? I thought they were your companions."
"If they know that I have the memory of several gods in me, what do you think they'll do?"
"... Pester you to tell them your stories?"
"Exactly. I don't want to waste my time telling them a fairy tale."
"... Right. Time is an essence."
In the other timelines, they always ran out of time before they could do anything to Devil as the universe was destroyed first.
Miaomiao couldn't afford to waste his time on unnecessary matters again. He needed to get stronger ASAP.
"But master, how are we going to kill Devil? We lack cultivation resources in this timeline, and we're probably short on time. At this rate, you might need several hundred years to become a deity."
"Who said anything about killing Devil in this timeline?"
"W-What do you mean?"
"We'll treat this world as a dud. We're going to prioritize getting stronger and finding a way to transmigrate souls to the new timeline! Also, before we transmigrate there, we have to disable Devil's time abilities as well. I'll get myself killed on purpose when we're ready."
Xie Tian widened his eyes in astonishment. Then, he recalled the third timeline, where Alter Miaomiao had transmigrated with abundant cultivation resources from the second timeline.
If they could do the same, their chance of succeeding in killing the Devil would be higher.
Also, if they could transmigrate Miaomiao's allies to the other world, then...
Xie Tian began worshiping Miaomiao's insight. He didn't regret choosing him as his mentor.
Miaomiao was also determined. Because of multiple failures of his counterparts and the revelations of the Devil's ulterior motive, he changed his life goal.
Now, Miaomiao had an ambition.