I saw my life flash right before my eyes.
Kiana is normal. Her image as a lively girl when we first met never changed. That included her clumsiness when it comes to many things.
Seele's situation is different. The circumstances she faced made us helpless. Spending time in an eternal time loop is detrimental to her mental health, hence her mental afflictions.
Sirin…
She had it the worst.
She was just a young girl when she faced the world's malice. Despite being wronged by Otto, she could not exact her revenge. People even prevented her from doing so. In the end, she was pushed as the common enemy of humanity, going down as one of the most destructive Herrschers of the Current Era.
I…
I underestimated her problems.
A single person who understands her well is enough. With the sets of circumstances we came through, I happened to be the right person to be in that position.
Sirin's face is an inch away from mine. Her long purple hair brushed my hands placed atop my lap. A special kind of fragrance is emitted from her supple skin.
Her breaths touched my nose as it turned more hurried.
"I… want you."
…
I am moved.
I swallowed the words I am about to say. Sirin did not have a shred of hesitation in speaking her thoughts. She made no effort in concealing her emotions.
She means it.
I have to make one thing clear.
"Even if I have Kiana..?"
"She is me. What's the problem with that?"
"How about Seele?"
"I don't care."
The verification process was completed instantly. Sirin did not hesitate any further as she closed the distance between our lips.
I expected for her to be as proactive as Seele, but she did not turn out to be so. She is satisfied with the light kiss.
Playfully, she let our lips come in contact with each other for short periods of time. It made me realize of one thing:
She knows what Kiana did.
I could not help but see her shadow on Sirin. She wanted to emulate Kiana.
As proof, her hands began to wander inside my garb. She skillfully took off my robe, and then my inner robe.
Her petite figure became more pronounced in my eyes. She grew up as much as others, considering she reached the Golden Core Realm. Her height grew to 165 centimeters.
If there was one thing that remained constant, it would be her other features. She is barely above Fu Hua. The flesh above my thigh isn't plump, but rather, firm.
…
I halted these wicked thoughts.
"You don't need to mimic Kiana."
Sirin's body froze.
"You are not a replacement… nor a carbon copy. I want to see you."
"..."
A few seconds later…
Sirin began crying.
*****
Immortal cultivators have an extremely keen sense. Kiana knew well not to peek with spiritual consciousness. Hence, she chose the most primitive way of stalking—to look with her eyes.
After shielding herself from the external world's perception—both with immortal cultivation and the Cocoon's never-ending power—Kiana pulled it off.
The moment she passed through the door, Shi Tian noticed her. Her entire body jolted, like a cat whose tail was stepped on.
Fortunately for Kiana, he did not blow her cover.
She watched as Sirin cried herself to sleep. Only then did Kiana show herself properly.
"You really are a pervert."
"I am just curious!" She retorted.
"So you'll watch our dual cultivation session?"
Kiana saw the speechlessness in his eyes.
"That's not it. I have a feeling… she won't do it. She's too tired."
Seeing her concern over Sirin, Shi Tian dropped his playfulness.
"It's fine now. Her emotional outburst helped a lot."
"She didn't want to talk to anyone else. It's good you are here… just like when you were there for me."
Kiana's situation wasn't far off from Sirin's. Just when she found herself a family, Siegfried abandoned her without a word. She was forced to wander the streets on her own, barely making a living with her street smarts. Though Ryoma anonymously gave her funds a few months later, what came next was the feeling of being lost.
She wandered the world alone. Kiana showed off her liveliness outwardly, but she knew well how lonely she felt.
It wasn't until she met a travelling buddy, Shi Tian, did her life turn for the better. In a sense, Sirin was a version of herself had she not met Shi Tian.
"So she's like a sibling."
"Now that you put it that way…"
A strange thought entered the Tuna's mind.
"I know what you are thinking."
"What? Am I not right? You did it with those two, too…"
"..."
Shi Tian could not find the words to retort back. He did it, after all. While nobody expected the occurrence of quantum entanglement, Shi Tian was the one who took action in the end.
"Let's talk about it later."
"You are agreeing..?"
"Yes."
Like that, their banter came to an end. They went back to talking about serious things.
"I am planning to break through soon."
He said as he patted the head of the sleeping Sirin. Her body sat on his lap, using it as a human-sized sofa. Her relaxed exhalations spoke volumes of its comfort.
"Do you need anything?"
"I need to isolate my tribulations."
"Um. Other than that?"
"I want the world to see it."
Earth has been progressing as an immortal cultivator civilization for twelve years. That short span of time was enough to give birth to hundreds of Purple Mansion Realm cultivators. Earth's high-end cultivators are at the Golden Core and Nascent Soul Realms.
For them, seeing a Divine Transformation Realm tribulation is a great opportunity. It also bolsters Earth's drive towards immortality. Be it for his Dao of Enlightenment or Earth's overall strength, they are both beneficial.
"We have two thousand years at most. We need to make the most out of it."
"Two thousand years? It can last longer."
Kiana pointed at the distant stars. An invisible, "non-existent" barrier suddenly made ripples. It was the imaginary barrier she set up in the aftermath of the Nihility fight. It was designed to hide, reject, and speed up Earth's time compared to the outside universe.
The forecasted time was originally ten thousand years. That corresponds to ten years of the outside world.
"The futures I saw indicated something else. There are several high-level powers causing disruptions. They must have set their eyes on Earth already."
Nascent Soul Realm cultivators have the privilege to dig deep into the "Present" frame within the temporal dimensions. Using it, they can deduce the past and the future. It has three levels in total. It is different from the "Past" and "Future" themselves.
Consider a case: You are living with Elysia. One day, you found out that the pudding you stored was gone.
In terms of "Present", you deduced it was Elysia who ate it by since you know about her tendency to eat desserts.
In terms of "Past", however, you will see a vision of Elysia eating the pudding. It is more direct than in the "Present". Nonetheless, comprehending the "Present" is still helpful at his current level.
Shi Tian maxed it out a long time ago, thus gaining an insane capability to 'see' the general outline of the future accurately.
Although the Aeons' nature far exceeded that of the Nascent Soul Realm, they inherited this world's flaw within the temporal dimension. The "Past" and "Future" held by the Imaginary Tree are "flawed". The "fog" consisted of something else, not the "Past" and "Future" spoken of by the immortal cultivation texts.
The Aeons lacked the "completeness" of a Void Refinement Realm cultivator. Although their "status" as high-dimensional beings blocked any means of Xianzhou's deduction, their defenses on the temporal dimension remains a huge flaw.
Shi Tian exploited this weak point and was able to divine the events directly connected to the Aeons themselves. That was despite him being leagues below the Aeons THEMSELVES.
'Aeons replaced the Herrschers as the fake cultivators…'
"Two thousand years. That's the safe range we have. It might be less."
"That means we need to practice more."
"Yeah."
"Let's start."
"..."
Kiana's dual cultivation addiction flared up.