Sitting on the bed, I digested the memories of the body I had just inhabited. Or rather, the memories of the soul I had merged with. Even after burning away most of my soul power – and with it, my cultivation – I still retained the spirit of a Second Frontier mage. The fragile soul of a newly awakened boy was hardly enough to influence me, especially given my mastery of Spirit Magic.
Peering into my spiritual world, I found six constellations. Five of them had belonged to me in my previous incarnation, while one was inherited from Mu Bai. I got up from the bed and walked over to the tall wall mirror. Looking back at me was a handsome sixteen-year-old youth, well-built, with deep blue hair and matching eyes.
— Well, hello there, old friend, — I murmured to the reflection.
The face staring back at me belonged to a man who, in another timeline, had been my brother-in-arms, almost a true brother. Time and again, we had covered each other's backs in the direst battles, hit on girls together, and run for our lives from emperors and commanders.
— I don't even feel guilty for merging with his soul and erasing his personality, — I admitted with a sigh, returning to the bed.
A deep loneliness washed over me. This surrounding reality was not my own. I wasn't some cool regressor from a Korean manhwa who turned back time right before his death to use future knowledge, grow strong at lightning speed, save fallen comrades, beat up the main villain, and live happily ever after with a harem. No. This was a parallel timeline. In my original world, I had died, and humanity was being devoured by beasts. The strongest terrestrial undead had been wiped out by Mo Fan before his death just to prevent the cycles from unraveling, leaving humanity to rebuild from scratch, only to repeat the endless loop again thousands of years later.
— This time, I won't let it happen, — I swore, clenching my fist until my knuckles turned white.
I began to ponder the tool that would make it possible – the crazy idea from my past life that had actually worked: traveling across parallel realities.
Using my Holy Gifts – special inherent laws granted to every Forbidden Curse mage upon breaking through to that level, essentially personal rules to manipulate reality – combined with Fusion and Spirit Magic, I had created my masterpiece.
My law in the element of Time was reversal. I could roll back time for a specific area or object as many times as I wished, even using it to replenish my reserve of magic power. However, it only worked as intended against opponents of equal law power. Mo Fan, for instance, had been a demigod of magic whose higher-tier laws simply suppressed mine; while I hadn't lost the ability to use my law against him, I had been severely restricted and unable to restore my reserve.
My law in the element of Space was penetration. I could pass through anything and anywhere – no filthy puns intended. I could slip right through an enemy's ultimate defense, bypass the spatial boundary separating dimensions to enter the Dark Plane, or simply phase through an attack or physical obstacle. Naturally, the incoming attack had to be equal to or lower than my own law power, or I would still take partial or full damage.
By fusing these two laws using Fusion Magic, adding Spirit Magic to protect my soul, and powering the whole engine with my own soul and cultivation to bypass the suppression of universal laws, I had forged it – the magic of traversing past parallel realities!
— Ahem… I definitely need to work on the name, — I coughed softly into my fist, trying to shake off the melancholy.
Since I had fused with the soul of this world's Mu Bai – though the choice had been random, with the desired magic potential as my only condition for reincarnation – I was now a permanent resident of this reality. The way back was closed to me; my past reality was now a future parallel reality to this one… Best not to overthink how absurd that sounded.
What I did need to think about was my current capability. My elements from the past-slash-future… right, my old elements, though regressed to the Primary Level's First Tier, already had their stars domesticated. I could harness them right now, seamlessly shifting spells on the fly just like High-Tier or Super-Tier mages do. After all, control is a hard-earned skill, and my mastery over my old elements was absolute. Something told me that when I broke through in those elements, the transition would be just as seamless.
I could also tap into my laws, as my soul was already etched with them, albeit in a strictly limited capacity due to my tiny mana reserve.
— Now, let's test the main event, — I muttered, focusing my mind.
I attempted to fuse the Light and Healing elements – the simplest combination I knew, if Fusion Magic could ever be called simple. Back then, I had only cast Fusion Magic without assisting gloves outside of combat. Those were chaotic times, and wasting a single extra second in battle meant taking a hit or losing innocent lives.
A couple of minutes passed. Watching a light-green sphere hover and swirl around my fingers, I realized one thing for certain: I would never suffer from a shortage of resources in this life. How could I, when I could simply stroll into a parallel past and harvest whatever I needed based on present-day knowledge?
A predatory smile spread across my face.