400 A Passing Prophet

Yaan stared at the old man in the pale blue robe silently, showing no intention of moving.

The old man sighed. As he let out this sigh, his body rippled chaotically, as if it was being rejected by some unimaginable force.

In the end however, the old man didn't even react to the state of his body, he just continued to stare at Yaan with an emotion that Yaan couldn't understand…

This was unusual, too unusual! This old guy appeared out of nowhere, sneaking up on him, and now, Yaan couldn't understand the emotion in his heart?

The only other unreadable heart he had encountered was the Primordial Sage, whom appeared to have no emotions on the surface. There was also Shi, whose heart and mind were both a mess of lunacy. However, this old man's heart wasn't obscured from Yaan, he could see the emotion clearly…he just didn't know what it was!

How could this be? What sort of emotion existed in this world that he couldn't even recognise, and why did this old man feel such a thing...towards him?

"Have we met?" Yaan narrowed his eyes.

The old man sighed and glanced at the golden spatial tear.

"No, you have never met me before today. This is indeed our first meeting…" The old man replied quietly.

"And yet you clearly seem familiar with me." Yaan replied immediately. "Do we meet in another Era? And who are you, you're no divinity that's known to this Era."

The old man didn't respond, turning again to look at the giant gold spatial tear. Yaan furrowed his brows, not understanding the situation at all.

This old man's cultivation base was a chaotic mess, he couldn't discern a single thing! However, to sneak up on him like that, he must be an Empyrean, surely…?

"I told you before, I'm just a prophet."

"You-"

"I also told you to run." The old man suddenly looked back with a sharp gaze, sending Yaan's consciousness reeling in disarray. He hurriedly fought back against the strange power, but by the time he had gathered his mind enough to resist, he looked around in bewilderment, only to find that neither the old man nor the golden spatial tear were anywhere to be seen.

"He pushed me away…and without injuring me?" Yaan muttered. He looked around warily, but he was in the middle of nowhere…

In the end, he closed his eyes and sensed the connection between this dao body and his cultivation base body. A moment later, he opened his eyes in surprise, showing a strange expression.

He had been pushed out of the Chaotic Sector, all the way across the Four Divine Star System, into the Divine Dragon Sector! His dao body was now very close to Rainbow Mountain and his cultivation base body.

Yaan looked back towards the direction he had come from and hesitated. In the end though, he sighed and shook his head. He decided that for now, he would go to Rainbow Mountain.

The previous situation was too bizarre, and that old man possessed power so immense that he didn't even know what had happened to him. Returning to that place was a bad idea…

He didn't just think this, he felt a premonition slowly arising within his heart. The more he stared in the direction of the Chaotic Sector, the more Yaan felt like something dangerous was going to happen in that place at any moment.

He shook his head and flew through space until he reached Rainbow Mountain. His dao body glanced around, but with Conceal Truth activated, nobody could see him, neither those on the mountain nor those just outside.

His cultivation base body remained stood atop the peak of the mountain, standing behind the Sage. Land Deity was still in the lowest black layer, Volcanic Deity in the red layer, Forest Deity in the green layer, River Deity in the blue layer and Thunder Deity in the violet layer.

Outside of Rainbow Mountain, he noticed that the Sage was now watching on with several bodies. They were hidden well and far away from the mountain, so his cultivation base body - preoccupied with various things until now - hadn't noticed.

It didn't seem like the Sage had discovered the presence of his group - Love Empyrean, Shadow Deity and Typhoon Deity. Around three days ago, before entering the mountain, Yaan used Conceal Truth to hide them, and the trio continued to hide using their own methods without taking a single step from that same position, just as he had instructed.

Perhaps the Sage had seen them, perhaps not. Either way, it didn't matter since she couldn't see Yaan. Even if she knew he was here, what could she do?

He wasn't even sure if she would bother contesting against him if he attempted to take both the mountain and every Deity on the mountain for himself. Right now though, Yaan had bigger concerns…

He wanted information on that old man!

His dao body flew straight into Rainbow Mountain, entirely ignoring the layers and going straight to the white layer at the peak. He landed next to his cultivation base body and pondered for a moment…

'Fusing my two bodies together shouldn't be too difficult, but I'm unsure if I can do this without revealing myself to the Sage. Should I ask her about the old man first, and risk losing some of these Deities? Or should I risk damaging my relationship with the Sage, fuse my two bodies together, then suppress the entire mountain with greater power?'

In the end, the question of that old man kept nagging on Yaan's mind. He didn't want the Sage to misunderstand and feel less inclined to answer him truthfully, so his cultivation base body reduced the power of the Conceal Truth Divine Spell, allowing the Sage - but nobody else - to see him.

She turned around, seemingly calm and unperturbed by his sudden appearance. Whether she knew he was there all along, predicted that he might be there, or if she hadn't expected it at all, Yaan didn't know.

For now, his dao body remained hidden.

"You seem to have adapted well to Rainbow Mountain's laws of operation." The Sage spoke plainly. "You-"

"Sage, there's something dangerous arising in the Chaotic Sector. Do you know of a blue-eyed, blue-robed old man, with an unstable body, who refers to himself as 'a passing prophet'?"

The Sage fell silent for some time as she stared at Yaan with her emerald eyes.

"Is your dao body also here?"

Since she already suspected it, Yaan went ahead and revealed his dao body as a show of sincerity.

"Yes." His two bodies both nodded.

The Sage glanced at his dao body, nodded, and said:

"If you can fuse in less than an hour, do so."

Yaan didn't respond, his two bodies simply closed their eyes, then gradually, countless golden threads appeared connecting the two.

Time passed by quickly.

After half an hour, there were so many golden threads between the two that they almost seemed to form a third body, made from gold, between his two bodies.

Gradually, as the two bodies became increasingly illusory, the golden body started to gain their features. There were a few faults as the two struggled to overlap due to their recent developments, but after another half hour, Yaan exhaled and opened his eyes.

He first glanced towards the Chaotic Sector. 

He then glanced down the mountain.

He then looked into the space around the mountain.

Finally, he turned to the Sage and gave her a slight nod, acknowledging the fact that she didn't do anything whilst he was fusing his bodies.

The fusion process took a bit longer than expected, and actually, there was still a small portion of the fusion to go before it was truly complete. Regardless, he had returned to being a single entity and had access to every power that each of his two bodies had developed.

After perfecting the fusion, only then would the two sets of abilities start to fuse, transform and integrate.

Anyway, this was the strongest Yaan had ever been, it would take some more practise to perfect the fusion.

"Sage, what's happening?"

The Sage looked towards the Chaotic Sector as she spoke.

"The final sign of the 2nd Origin Era's end. The appearance of the Prophet…followed by the 2nd Origin Era's invasion."

"Invasion?" Yaan asked in bewilderment.

"Yes. An invasion of wills by the Paragons of the Chaos Era. It happened in the 1st Origin Era, but it happened late enough into the Era that very few were there to witness it. If the Prophet has appeared, then those from the 4th Era will soon descend."

Yaan's eyes widened, hardly able to believe what he was hearing.

"What? Why have I never heard of this before? Sage, why did you hide this from me?"

The Sage removed her gaze from the distant Chaotic Sector and looked at Yaan expressionlessly.

"I didn't know that the invasion would also happen in this Era. I only learned of the 1st Origin Era's invasion by chance, during an enlightenment wherein I saw the final memories of the Heavenly Dao from the 1st Origin Era."

Yaan didn't panic despite this being quite shocking, because honestly, he had no idea what to expect. Very little was known about the 4th Era, known as the Chaos Era, other than the fact that at the end of the 3rd Origin Era, the vast expanse of Chaos would begin to fuse into the Origin, creating an unprecedented Era that nobody in any of the Origin Eras had experienced…

"You said it's an invasion of wills? As in, some beings in the Chaos Era are sending their wills back through time, into this 2nd Origin Era?"

"Yes." The Sage nodded. "That is what happened in the 1st Origin Era, soon after the Prophet appeared. The beings who sent back their wills called themselves 'Paragons', and seemed to disdain the Origin Gods of the three Origin Eras. They should have two objectives - firstly, they wish to comprehend the mysteries of our 2nd Origin Era, and secondly, they wish to slaughter the Origin Gods, preventing them from entering the Chaos Era later on."

"I see…" Yaan muttered. "And do they know whom the Origin Gods are?"

"I am uncertain, but likely not, with the exception of Defiance. I only saw the final three days of the Heavenly Dao's memory in the 1st Origin Era; the God of Defiance was brazen in fighting back, as were many others, but only Defiance didn't bother hiding his identity."

Yaan's gaze flashed as he picked up on something there.

"Those who went on to become Origin Gods in the 1st Origin Era might have hid their identities from the Chaos Era Paragons, but what about from the Heavenly Dao…from you?"

The Sage was silent for a while, making Yaan frown.

"Sage-"

"Including Defiance, I witnessed nine Origin Ascensions in those three days. I have identified some of those individuals in this Era, but not all. Too many hide, even from themselves."

Yaan nodded, then bluntly asked:

"Will you tell me what you know? Any information could end up being key to my survival. If you truly wish for us to cooperate as you observe me, not just in this Era but also in the next, then tell me everything you know."

The Sage no longer hesitated, and directly told Yaan about the cultivators who had experienced this calamity in the 1st Origin Era, those whom were currently present in this Origin Era, to the best of her knowledge.

"The God of Defiance has always been brazen and never hid. When the Paragons attacked, he immediately fought back. The God of Creation, the God of Destruction, the God of Evil, the God of Fear, the God of Love and the World Demon were also involved back then, and are all present in this Era as individuals that I can identify."

Yaan nodded continually, but raised his eyebrow at a few names, especially…World Demon.

"Yaan, you concealed yourself even from the Heavenly Dao in the 1st Origin Era, but there are too many similarities between you and the World Demon. I am certain that you will go on to become the 1st Origin Era's World Demon; the one to blame for several signs of the 1st Origin Era's end."

The Sage paused, looking at Yaan deeply.

"By chance, were you approached by the Prophet after creating that golden spatial tear in the Chaotic Sector?"

Yaan nodded silently.

"The 1st Origin Era's World Demon was also approached by the Prophet shortly after damaging the world. This went on to be known as the final sign of the end, and it is through this sign that the Paragons will invade our world. However, we still have some time - the Paragons will not descend until the world is broken beyond repair, and this…will be caused by the God of Destruction."

Yaan sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Shi, huh? That manic woman is going to take my spatial tear and rip the world in half, inviting in the enemy? Fine. We need to capture and imprison her for as long as possible. Where is she now, and who will be willing to help?"

Yaan didn't intend to protect the 2nd Origin Era forever, just for as long as possible whilst he continued cultivating and pursuing his ascension. He couldn't let the world fall to destruction yet, or else he would perish too.

The Sage slowly turned towards the Chaotic Sector, causing Yaan to internally sigh.

"Destruction Empyrean has been struggling against Defiance Sovereign ever since she interrupted his battle against the Heavenly Dao. They just entered the Chaotic Sector."