Beastmaster of the Ages

The sound of heavy breathing could be heard in the xenomemory space. The colorful butterfly was still flapping its wings in the void, scattering countless sparkling dots with each flap. The butterfly didn’t remain in one fixed place; instead, it wandered around in the world where even the concept of distance didn’t exist. Sometimes it would even collide with another world of dreams. It was like a boat that had been left to float about without a fixed path.

There was a speck of dust on the butterfly’s wing. No, it was a pale-looking man who was taking labored breaths. His eyes were completely reddened, beneath which some odd things were circling about.

“No, no!” He grit his teeth hard in fear. This was a nightmarish world. Everyone had nightmares from time to time, but they would always wake up unhurt and barely remember them. However, Ye Lingfeng could recall every detail of this experience. They were filled with nothing but death, despair, and darkness. He could hear all kinds of voices—the voices of his kin’s spirits crying out to him.

“I can’t die…. Can’t die….” He yearned for the outside world far too much. Even the Infernal Soul Purgatory was a better place than this. Back there, he had no frame of reference. But now he had traveled and seen so much. He had formed unforgettable ties with others, and had promised his kin that he would see the world in their stead, letting them see it through his eyes. But reality was cruel!

There was no longer anywhere for his dagger to stab. One purple eye after another had opened on his skin. They grew more and more numerous, and now there were thirty, scattered all across his arms, thighs, and even the soles of his feet, not to mention his chest, back, and abdomen. Even his face, neck, and scalp were densely covered in eyes. When all of them opened, it felt like his whole body had become an eye. The sight was too terrifying.

If only he could wake up from this nightmare, all would be well. But waking was a luxury that wasn’t available to him. No, he was awake. This was a nightmare, but it was no dream. The eyes on his body mockingly looked at him. Their lives were plain and boring, but Ye Lingfeng had brought them utmost entertainment. He was now their playground. Perhaps that was why he was still alive in the first place. The xenofiends didn’t get many live wanderers in the xenomemory space, after all, making him too interesting and valuable as their toy. However, even the most headstrong person would long have expired under such torturous conditions.

“I… I!” He grabbed the butterfly with his eye-covered hand. The eyes freely moved about across his body like parasites crawling under his skin. Then they used his flesh as sustenance as they continued reproducing. His face had grown so pale that it looked like paper.

He intentionally breathed heavily. That was the only way he could know that he was still alive as his life force slipped away like flowing water. He felt like he would soon be reduced to a pile of rotting water and completely disappear in the xenomemory space.

“No, no! I don’t want to die here!” He had grown up in hellish conditions, but now he had found himself in an even worse hell. He longed for the world of beautiful sights and landscapes. That was where he had learned about love and made a true friend, as well as a girl he wanted to protect. That was what was real.

“I don’t want to! Don’t want to!” Tears of blood flowed from his eyes. Though his consciousness was diminishing, he was reminiscing more and more. He thought about the first time he had left purgatory and seen the rivers and green plains. He thought about the time he spent at the Divine Capital with Tianming as they overturned the theocracy and avenged his ancestors. He thought about going to the Divine Moon Realm and surviving with Qingyu, growing step by step as two empyrean saints. They were all precious memories embedded deep within his psyche.

“Tianming…. Qingyu….”

Those two were his spiritual pillars of support. Thinking about them always helped him feel safe. He used to think that life and death didn’t really matter, but at this moment, he yearned for the little things in life and the people he had met. Once he had formed ties and met people he wanted to protect, giving up was no longer as easy. Perhaps that was the reason Feiling had managed to endure eighteen Perpetual Nirvanas as well, something even Xuanyuan Xi hadn’t achieved.

“Feng, if you’re unwilling to let go, never close your eyes, even in death,” his mother said in his soul.

“Brother Feng, you’re my hero. Nobody can defeat you.”

“Feng, we’ll be with you, in life and in death.”

“Let’s endure it together, Feng.”

His soul was a unique one. Mainly, his vita was an amalgamation of eighty thousand others. They supported each other through life and death, and Ye Lingfeng was like the captain of the ship they were all sailing on.

“After we overcome this trial, nobody will be able to stop us. We’re the infernal soul race! We are one and only!”

Ye Lingfeng’s tears flowed. He wasn’t alone; it wasn’t ‘I’, but ‘we’!

“I’ve never been alone.”

The power of spirits and wills were formless and inexplicable. However, they seemed to blend well with order and the heavenly way, bringing forth unspeakable power from the depths of a person. Oftentimes, what differentiated people wasn’t talent, but rather their will and spirit. This formless power didn’t affect the xenofiends that were wreaking havoc in his body at all. However, it was so powerful that it might be the real ‘fiend’. The fiend was furiously roaring and struggling as he suffered.

“I don’t want to die!” He wanted to fulfill his promise to Tianming and go to Orderia and ask that girl whether she was doing well. He had too many ties that he wasn’t willing to give up. That explosive force of will and the desire to leave awakened the true legacy that hid deep within him.

“Fiends are nothing but stray thoughts,” said a cold voice. “Do what you want to do, love who you want to love. Once you set your mind on something, never regret, even if you have to destroy the universe or walk the path of death. Never forget that you’re called Ye Lingfeng. Become a true fiend and never turn back! Never turn back! Never turn back!”

The voice boomingly echoed in his ears. He would never turn back and would always do what he wanted to do, kill who he wanted to kill, destroy what he wanted to destroy, save who he wanted to save, and even love who he wanted to love.