(AN: Thank you to Black_Jesus_1999 for the Super Gifts, I’m very thankful for your support. I forgot to write this note a few days ago, so sorry about that.
(As a reward, I can allow you to design a character that will appear and be killed in the Heaven Will Battle. If you are interested, join the discord or leave a comment, and we will discuss it.)
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Wang Wei continued his journey on the [Asking Heart Road], further tempering his Dao Heart and state of mind. The following core memory he experienced was during the Qi Luck Trial in the Warring Kingdom World.
The memory was when he watched how millions of innocent people died by poisoning in Bless Wings City. He learned of the cruelty of the world from this experience and how little cultivators valued mortals’ lives.
That event also taught him never to be careless and treat things like a game; he learned unexpected things often occur, and he should be prepared for them.
Wang Wei watched these events from a different perspective. And with each memory, he has a better understanding of his mind and self. So, he continued forward.
Next, he relived the day he met Wu Hong at the Academy. Although it was the first time he saw her, she was breathtaking, captivating, mesmerizing, and enchanting. In an instant, he was enamored with her and felt they were destined to be together.
How he felt about her was odd by all accounts. He was a person from Earth and knew love at first sight was superficial. He was a person who wanted to transcend fate and achieve ultimate freedom. So, how could he allow fate to determine his Dao Companion?
However, he did not care. For a man of his intelligence and rationality, he should have been instantly weary of her. But he made the illogical choice and decided to believe her despite how often his mind told him he was wrong.
‘I took a leap of faith, and it paid up,’ he pondered with a smile as he reviewed the memory of when the two first met. ‘Our love story has just begun. As you said, our bond will transcend fate and last until eternity.’
With a reassured mind, he continued forward. The next memory was brief but also vivid–the first time he met Di Tian. Although he only looked at the latter from a distance through a door, he knew this person was extraordinary and might become his greatest obstacle to proving the Dao and achieving eternity.
Wang Wei glanced at Di Tian standing at the entrance door to Xu Shi’s Heaven Chosen Poetry Meeting before continuing forward.
Subsequently, Wang Wei saw the scene when he killed Ji Song. He was overwhelmed by anger because someone like Ji Song actually tricked him, which deeply hurt his pride; he was always the one who schemed over others, so he could not control himself once someone did it to him.
“How immature I was back then,” he muttered, shaking his head. Then, he continued his journey.
The next memory involved Di Tian again; it was the battle at the Heavenly Abode World. In that fight, Wang Wei experienced his greatest failure since his cultivation journey; that event was a turning point in his life.
He experienced humiliation, pain, and despair; he had never come so close to death in his life. In that fight, he felt Di Tian was an insurmountable mountain, crushing him physically and spiritually. Many times, he felt despair not only because he was close to death but because he could not see the hope of overcoming this monster.
‘Without his pressure, I would never reach my current height,’ he commented. ‘There is a saying back on Earth that a hero is only as good as his villain. Batman would not be as great as he is without the Joker, and the same for Superman and Lex Luther.’
Wang Wei agreed with this saying. Of course, in the case of Di Tian and him, they were two villains.
Wang Wei continued watching the battle.
‘This is the second time someone successfully schemed against me. And this, I completely lost and suffered immensely.’
Wang Wei had hundreds of ways to justify his loss. However, a defeat was a defeat; no matter his justification, it did not change the fact Di Tian bested him.
‘This event is also the time I killed the most lives–innocent lives.’ Although most of these deaths resulted from Di Tian’s control, he also had no time to consider the lives of the countless mortals in the Heavenly Abode World, thus actively killing trillions in the process.
‘In the cultivation, human life is truly one of the most worthless things,’ he muttered with a sigh. Over the years, he had long overcome the guilt of his actions.
‘It can be argued that I’ve become more ruthless and unfeeling’ people have the right to call me a [Mass Murderer], and they would be justified. However, the way I see it, I’ve come closer to achieving my goal of being unfettered by things like human morality.’
Wang Wei was calm and peaceful; the only thing that mattered was not people’s perception of him or how the world viewed him.
‘The only important thing is my heart: I am at peace with who I am and my actions and that’s all that matters.’
Wang Wei felt his Dao Heart strengthened, so he continued forward. The next memory was his mental breakdown after learning about his grandmother’s upcoming passing.
Due to Heart Devil and inexperience regarding losing his loved ones, his mental state collapsed, and he went on a rampage.
“Well, I may have overreacted,” he muttered with some embarrassment; he could not help despite how thick skin or shameless he was.
‘During that mental breakdown, I learned about the antithesis of my Fate Dao and pursuit of freedom–Free Will or Choice,’ he analyzed the memory.
‘It’s also because of this event I realize the weight of the burden placed on my shoulder: my parents, Li Jun, Yan Liling, and countless people were counting on me to prove the Dao.’
He continued walking, and the following core memories were all about the Supreme Outlaw Trial. The entire event was highly stressful for him. Death loomed over him at all times, and this time, it was for real.
During many of his near-death experiences, a small part deep in his mind always reassured him since he knew he could rely on his luck, his background, and Wu Hong to survive. However, none of these were helpful in the trial, and he had to rely on himself.
‘I cannot believe how closed I came to death; one wrong step and I would become one of the countless souls fallen while walking the Emperor Path.’
Wang Wei shivered as he remembered the pressure he faced when Empyrean Black Heart showed up. If he were one second late and missed the opportunity, the latter would have eradicated him from the mortal world.
And since it was a Supreme Outlaw Trial, Wang Wei knew Wu Hong would not be able to revive him with [Existence Reconstruction]–unless she had the power beyond Grand Dao.
“Really closed,” he muttered before focusing on the next core memory: Zhen Chao.
“Karma, the idea that actions have consequences,’ muttered Wang Wei as he looked at the young man full of hatred. In this situation, he was undoubtedly the villain since he ordered Zhen Chao’s death.
“Could all of this be prevented?” he asked himself. If he did not order the killing of Patriarch Zhen Yong and the death of the entire Zhen Clan, Zhen Chao would not have any reason to hate and desire to kill me.
‘This question is meaningless,’ concluded Wang Wei. With his power, maybe he only needed to control the Zhen Clan and not kill them. However, it would become more difficult to have absolute control of the Great Xia Dynasty.
‘Human greed is endless. Even if spared Zhen Yong and the other noble clans, there is the possibility that they would take my kindness for weakness and secretly try to intervene in the dynasty’s power.
‘Without killing the noble clans, I would never have established such a prosperous dynasty and achieved Rainbow Luck in the trial. So, I don’t regret my decision.
‘Furthermore, even if I did not create Zhen Chao, Heavenly Dao would have created another [Avenger] to destroy because of the trial. This person could have been from all the lives destroyed in the Heavenly Abode World or the devil cultivators I killed after losing control.’
Wang Wei did not regret his decisions; all actions have consequences–that’s karma.
“And since I have not transcended Karma and become free and unfettered, I must obey this law.”
He had long accepted that he must play the game before winning it. And one of the rules of the game is being restricted by karma.
Wang Wei’s Dao Heart once again sublimated as he continued his journey. The next memory he saw was when the mysterious masked man attacked him along with numerous Emperors.
‘For the second time, I lost someone dear to me,’ he pondered as he watched Ancestor Wucheng’s death. ‘And this time, it was my fault. I realized how weak and insignificant I was in the grand scheme of things.’
Then, he watched how he died.
‘Death–the end of life. I never thought it would be such a quiet and peaceful thing,’ commented Wang Wei.
Another important aspect of this memory was the conversation he overheard while in a state of Limbo. Unfortunately, he did not know the meaning of that conversation despite having thousands of theories. So, he did not let this event affect him too much. Anyway, he will one day find the answer.
The memory moved forward and stopped to a recent event: Wu Hong’s parting. Wang Wei relived that moment, and his heart still ached. A small part of him wanted to relive that memory over and over so he could still be with her in some shape or form.
Sadly, he knew he could not live forever in his memory. So, process his pain and loss before moving on.
‘The tempering is finished, but I have not found my answer.’ During his Mortal Dust, he wanted to know whether there was a reason he was so obsessed with attaining freedom and hoped to find an answer.
‘In that case, let’s go back even further to Earth.’