Aspect Ability Description: [You can absorb other warrior's memories, however while plundering they receive pleasure and you receive pain. You can plunder properties of every being]
"How amazing, my abilities will give me a deep foundation!" Fang Yuan chuckled as the spell's soft voice resounded in the black void.
[All power has a price.]
[You have received a Flaw.]
Flaw: [True mortal].
Flaw Description: [You cannot achieve eternal life. You will lose ten years of your potential lifespan every time you use your aspect and will gain hundred years every time you ascend]
Fang Yuan's eyes widened in amusement, His flaw went against his very ambition.
"The world has always opposed eternal life. It is against the heavens and breaks very fate of the world. The spell is seemingly connected to fate, thus it too opposes me!"
"If my flaw stops me, I will become perfect! If fate opposes me again I will destroy it again! If the heavens hinder my path I shall end the heavens!"
Fang Yuan raised his hands slightly, reciting
For the question that hangs with every soul
Whose Immorality, Ren ( human), is the original sin.
Eternal longevity and Immortality is the goal
A journey from the yang to the yin
From the earthly (Di) to the Heavenly (Tian)
A wholesome realm of immortality (Xian)
Beware of the ghosts — they are (Gui's) galore
Full of yang, and they stay that way;
The perfect balance of yin and yang
Humans (Shen) have to choose their realm
Yet, serving their body's needs
Of shelter, thirst, hunger, and covering
Vulnerable to earthly elements.
[Wake up, Heaven refining demon!]
The black void spun and disappeared.
***
Fang Yuan opened his eyes.
The armored ceiling of the police station's vault hangs above him. His broken arm was fixed, he felt incredible. His troubled body was healed, as if he had not been ever attacked. Even his soul was not anguished, as if he was really sleeping.
He slowly looked down, the rough police officers were nowhere to be seen; instead a scarily strong woman was sitting on a plastic chair. Her eyes were of a seasoned warrior, an aura of death permeated around her.
Fang Yuan instantly put his guard up, and studied the woman. She had short, raven-black hair and icy blue eyes. Her flawless skin was smooth, supple and as white as snow. The woman seemed to be in her late twenties. She was wearing a dark blue uniform with silver epaulets and black leather boots. The jacket of her uniform was casually unbuttoned, revealing a black tank top beneath.
there was a shoulder insignia on the woman's left sleeve. There were three stars on it.
"Three stars… she is a master" Fang Yuan thought before calmly looking at his side where a pale boy was also strapped to a chair.
The boy was awake, gazing at the murderous woman, who was stretching her arms above her head, clearly bored and sleepy. The gesture forced the thin fabric to tighten, provocatively accentuating her full breasts.
Fang Yuan was not affected by her beauty however, he had seen many beautiful women and had become impervious to lust in his past life.
The pale boy however was staring at her chest, Fang Yuan noticed that the woman was also staring at the young boy.
"What are you looking at?" she said, not a gram of humor in her voice.
Fang Yuan was busy checking his runes, "I will be heavily dependent on memories, my aspect allows me to take properties of things and people, I can also plunder someone of all their abilities. I should find another person with a divine aspect." He thought in his heart
The pale boy blinked a couple of times, visibly embarrassed, he opened his mouth and answered:
"Your breasts."
A second later, his eyes widened in absolute horror.
"Interesting, the boy did not seem to say that… A flaw forcing to say thoughts aloud?" Fang yuan pondered before speaking
"Where do we trade memories?"
The woman ignored his question, rather she slowly smiled with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. Then, without any warning, she moved her hand and slapped the pale boy across the face.
If it wasn't for the restraints holding the pale boy in place, he would have probably flown off the bed.
"I asked something." Fang Yuan said with an even expression
The woman cleared her throat and crossed her arms.
"Are you awake now?"
The boy rubbed his cheeks and nodded.
"And you…"
She pointed at Fang Yuan, "You will be informed about that later."
Then she turned to the pale boy "Good. Let me give you a piece of advice: don't just say anything that comes to your mind. Especially to girls. It's not like you haven't seen a girl before, right?"
"I've seen plenty... but no one as beautiful as you."
Then the pale boy flinched back, his face as red as a lobster.
The woman stared at him for a few seconds and then burst into laughter.
"I see you haven't met a lot of Awakened then. By Awakened standards, I'm below average."
Fang Yuan did not continue to ponder about the boy's flaw, rather he was considering getting proper memories until he could find someone to plunder. He also has to conduct experiments to form soul guts and gather information on the dream realm.
The pale boy glanced at her with doubt.
The woman shook her head.
"As your soul core develops, the body gets rid of all its imperfections. So it's hard to find an unattractive Awakened, especially among the stronger ones. Live long enough, and you might just become a flower boy yourself."
Then she gave him a thorough look and added:
"Well… maybe. In any case, since you both are awake — welcome back to the land of the living. Congratulations on surviving your First Nightmare, Sleeper Sunless and Sleeper Fang yuan"
The beautiful woman stood up and approached the reinforced medical bed. With practiced moves, she began to undo the restraint holding the pale boy in place. She then did the same with Fang Yuan and said "I am Ascended Jet. You can call me Master Jet. These past three days, I was on watch duty due to your Nightmare."
"The time in my trials also moved normally it seems" Fang Yuan observed before asking
"Why is a master on watch duty?"
The woman gave Fang Yuan a glance and then said "Recently, there have been a lot of Gates opening in this sector. Most of the local Awakened are either wounded or occupied with the clean-up. Or dead. It's always like that close to the winter solstice."
"Plus, there's not a lot of Awakened who, like me, directly work for the government. It's by far the least lucrative or glorious career one of us can choose. Would you abandon wealth and fame to work abysmal hours and risk your life, fuelled only by altruism and sense of duty?"
"The government must have a hold on her" Fang Yuan made another observation.
The pale boy looked at her for a moment and said "Of course not. I'm not an idiot!"
"Hey sunless… what was your first nightmare like"
The poor boy had made a demon intrigued, sunless, glanced at Fang Yuan with contempt and asked "It was hard… What about your nightmare, pretty boy?"