"Wait, this place is..." Chen Yi mumbled as he subconsciously stretched his hand out after the old man.
Then the scenery changed once again.
*Cough* *Cough* *Cough* "Where am I? Wait... I'm still alive, I actually survived that?"
"... What is this place... An underwater cave? How am I breathing"
The old man inspected his surrounding and waited for a while before deciding to explore the place. He found a stone tablet standing strong at the end of the cave after walking for some time, it read:
"Lies behind this path is the key to power. You will be able to move water and sea with your mortal body, living eternally as an Immortal..."
"Is this... A water path inheritance?... Left behind by a rank seven Immortal too!!?"
"So the Immortals really exist! If... if there's a chance... If there is even just a glimmer of hope, then I will not stop living, I will chase it till my last breath!"
"No, this is not right... this is my... " Chen Yi looked around with bewilderment on his face. This place look strange and new, yet familiar to him.
*Rumble*
"What..."
Before Chen Yi could do anything, water engulfed his vision, it swirled into a giant dome.
When water dispersed and the dome disappeared, Chen Yi found himself standing on a small piece of land akin to a small boat.
"Hahaha, success! I finally got out!"
"The stone tablet said that only by cultivating to rank six will I be able to move mountain and sea, I didn't think it would literally mean to move mountain and sea. Hahaha!"
Chen Yi noticed the person beside him and instantly recognized him as the old man he was with a few moments ago. However, this person now look young and energetic, his body full of life and vitality. He has the face of a youth in his mid to late twenties. Not only was he young, their face also look nearly identical too. They are like a pair of long lost twins who has lived in a completely different places and different lifestyle, resulting in the change or their body shape and facial features.
"It took me fifty whole years to cultivate to rank five, but thankfully I used that five hundred and eighty years Lifespan Meng or else I would have been dead long ago. That Immortal is really far-sighted, I expect no less from such a powerful being! Haha."
The 'youth' spoke loudly with joy and laughing for a long time even though he was alone on a piece of land in the middle of the sea. It was as if he has gone crazy from the long years of cultivation.
"Great, with this, my future is limitless. There's still room for improvement and I'm one step closer to immortality."
"Great, great, hahaha! I've never felt this great in my entire life! No wait, is it two lives now, three? Hm... Whatever, it doesn't matter much anyway. What matters is where should I go now? Hmmm... Alright, since I'm a water path cultivator, then west it is."
"Just wait for me, Western Sea!"
The 'youth' shouted then jumped high up using the current as his foothold like a spring, and continued doing so until he disappeared in the distance.
Chen Yi watched all of this unfolded while not moving from the spot. he watched as the 'youth' slowly disappeared without so much as blinking, but when he did, he found himself in different place.
Chen Yi: "Again..."
"Aurgh... My head, where am I? What is this place? Wait... Who am I?"
"You awake, mister?"
"W-who are you? Where am I? Who... Am I?"
"My name is Xing Yun, I saw you collapsed in the forest when I went out to gather mushrooms, so I brought you here! Welcome to my home! As for who you are... I'm sorry mister, I also don't know the answer to that question."
"Oh..."
"... Are you hungry? I can make dinner for both of us and you can stay the night if you have nowhere to go."
"Is that ... So? ... Alright."
"No... This isn't right. I clearly remembered that girl, but how come I don't remember any of these?" Chen Yi spoke to himself while watching the confused man got up and moved around.
When the food was ready and the table has been set up, the middle age man sat down and ate the food, albeit reluctantly. The food was surprisingly delicious with many side dishes yet strangely enough, the only ones eating at the dinner table are only two people. The two people ate their foods, silent without any words or questions as if they were forbidden.
The man himself was confused why he was not asking any questions when he knows next to nothing about his situation, yet something inside him told him that now is not the time. So he swallowed his food, and kept his silence.
"Xing Yun... And is that... Me? But how... I've been one and always a Sword path cultivator all my life... If the 'me' lost my memory and ended up here, then why do I not remember any of this? Did I lost my memory a second time?... That should not be the case. If I really had lost my memory a second time, then how come I can remember Xing Yun and all these Water path killer moves?"
"Wait a minute... Did I just say Water path killer moves? What is goin- AUGHHH!"
Suddenly, Chen Yi felt indescribable pain all over his body. This pain seep into his core, his very being, new memories buried themselves within. Chen Yi himself has been through great many tortures, some of them are so inhumanly cruel that most people would have gone insane. Perhaps Chen Yi has really gone insane since long ago. The pain was so great that Chen Yi has fallen on his knees, holding his head like a madman, yet his heart was calm and thinking of ways to resolve it. Throughout his thousand years of life, Chen Yi has only experienced this kind of extreme, seeping and intolerable pain once.
"ARGHHHHHHH!"
Chen Yi felt the pain risen to the extreme, he screamed at the top of his lungs and opened his eyes wide.
What he saw after opening his eyes were only eternal darkness, yet there existed a small ray of light not far away from him. He raised his hands and touched his cheeks, cold sweat soaked his two hands. He felt a slight gust of wind touched his face, he heard sounds of insects flying near the ray of light, he smelled the scent of wind and rain.
Before he realized it, the pain has already gone away like a dream. His senses were sharp, his body without any soreness, like the pain from before didn't exist. It was like he has woken up from a dream and forget about it, whether it truly existed is hard to say.
This discoveries brought nothing but joy to Chen Yi as he got up and run to the ray of light which was nothing but a small hole from a window. Chen Yi pushed them open without any hesitation, midnight rain fell upon him with the breezy fresh air, as he declared himself to the world.
Shen Tian stood still for a long while a daze, admiring the scenery, when a voice from behind interrupted him.
"Mhm~ Tian Tian, why are you laughing so loud in the middle of the night? Quickly close the door, it's raining outside, you might catch a cold."
*Yawn* " Let's get back to bed." *Yawn*
Chen Yi was startled awake from his joyful excitement. He slowly turned around while closing the window, wearing an innocent and confused expression as he looked back to the the person talking to him as if asking what they were talking about.
"What's wrong Tian Tian? Is there anything on your mind?"
"... No, it's nothing. Just nightmares... That's all."
"Aww~ It must be pretty scary huh? Come here, I'll get rid of them for you."
Chen Yi walked back to the bed while examine the person that talked to him. The person in front of him seems to be a girl in her sixteen. Her skin reflect the moonlight, showing it's white and tenderness of youth. She has cute and beautiful face and eyes that seems to draw people into them. She used one hand to rub her right eye to get rid of the sleepiness while her left eye remain closed, revealing a unique charm that made people unable to take their eyes off her.
'This face is true without fault, she's...'
Chen Yi soon reached the bed as he climbed back up and sit directly opposite to her. Upon closer inspection, Chen Yi found that the girl in front of him wore nothing but a set of pajama made up of short sleeves shirt and pants, he could even see her smooth belly. The way this girl acted so carefree and defenseless in front of him as if it's a normal thing only confirmed Chen Yi's suspicious about her and his own identity.
'Shen Ai...'
"Omh~ Nightmares go away~ Pew~"
The girl blew his forehead softly with a big smile.
"That should do it, let's get back to bed now, shall we?"
"Yeah... Let's go."
They both layed down together, under the same blanket as they sleep. This was true for one of them, at least.