Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies-Chapter 323 Dao Heart 4

The concept of life and death existed in his body with impeccable balance. In this world, the surrounding laws were far weaker than normal, but it was still prevalent. Yan Zaizen had reached the Manifestation or Domain-level in essentially all of his known laws; thus, he could galvanize the energy of the laws with a single thought.

This was why the Manifestation-level was the requirement to establish a heavenly shrine, its ability to draw from the heavens and manifest a portion of its power. At the Domain-level, one could then convert a vast area into being dominated by that law, weakening all others or empowering their own essence energy.

"Huuuu….Haaaa…" Yan Zaizen inhaled and exhaled, the laws of the world cycling around him with life and death as its center. He stepped forth. Time itself seemed to have warped, reality itself seemingly to give itself under the control of Yan Zaizen.

This was his power.

The more laws he comprehended, the greater his ability to learn laws or develop concepts. As a Non-Entity, it was merely a thought on his part and he could easily manifest a specific concept. He was reaffirmed of the fact that a Non-Entity was someone blessed by the omniverse. The more laws he comprehended, the greater his control of the heavens or universe. With the law of mimicry, he could take the form of all things as well, and the laws of the Non-Verse made all his energy pure.

His body became like a ghost in the wind. He moved forward and it was as if his body was an afterimage who only took a step, but in truth, he had already traversed a thousand steps. "Domain of Temporal Acceleration."

Step.

Step.

Step.

It was as if each step was a thousand minutes, but only a second had passed in reality. With a step, travel a thousand miles! With his limited cultivation base, he could only use laws!

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En route to the Royal Capital, the Imperial Executioner, the Envoy, a bevy of soldiers, and Yan Linzen were flying upon a skyship. On board, Yan Linzen wasn't restrained as she stood on the side of the skyship with eyes filled with indifference. However, within those eyes filled with indifference, a glimmer of despair laid.

That glimmer, that emotion, was unsuited for a ten year old girl. All those who would see her apathetic eyes would feel lost, pity, and a desire to help.

"We're here." The Envoy arrived near Yan Linzen, his eyes bright and excited. To him, Yan Linzen's arrival was a sign of a job well done, and thus he would be rewarded accordingly. With that reward, he could gain more resources or more attention from the imperials, allowing his future to become brighter.

Yan Linzen acted as if she didn't hear, only continued staring at the direction where her clan once stood proud. Particularly, she was worrying about her brother. That stupid fool will likely have it much harder than the rest. That indifferent gaze turned, for a split second, of one displaying deep sadness.

"You...you must live a good life." Her words were so soft that only she could hear her words. However…

"I will, and so will you." A voice seemingly replied from nowhere. It startled all those on board, especially the Envoy and Immortal Executioner. Their qi-sense surged outwards almost instinctively to find the originator of that voice.

Yan Linzen's gaze lost focus in disbelief and then she, as if feeling something, turned around. What should've just been the Royal Capital in the background was blocked, and the figure that blocked it was sturdy with a warm smile. The figure was calmly standing on the deck.

The Imperial Executioner and the Envoy noticed her movements and looked at the direction of her gaze, but there was nothing there. Absolutely nothing.

"Brother...Zai…?" She was confused by the event before her. Was she hallucinating her brother? However, he was clearly in front of her, with those amber-gold eyes, and that extraordinarily foolish smile on his face. That smile wiped out her indifference, collapsed her despair, and the memories of her past washed over her.

When she was two, she had just started cultivation but had suffered an injury due to her overzealousness. It was this brother of hers that kissed her injury, cleaned it up, and told her to inform him whenever she wanted to do something dangerous, he'd always accompany her.

His exact words: "If you want to jump off a cliff, be sure to tell Big Brother Zai, I can use my body as a cushion."

Recalling those words, no matter how dumb, was sweet and so like her Big Brother.

Since then, he'd accompany her on the painful path of cultivation, and always protect her with his body even if he would be injured in the process.

When she failed once at the age of four, there were clansmen who were jealous of her and made fun of her and even physically pushed her. Yet, Yan Zaizen stood up for her, but he didn't use violence. Instead, insisting that clansmen shouldn't insult or hurt each other, and if they wanted to hurt someone, they could aim it all at him.

They did.

But Yan Zaizen only accepted it with a chuckle and smile, after all...they were only four to six year old kids. Yan Zaizen was ten at the time and could easily overpower them, but never did. He only asked them to let it all out and stop hurting his sister.

These were only two of many stories of the fool that was her big brother.

There were far, far too much to mention.

"You...are you?" Yan Linzen's voice broke and she was almost certain she was experiencing a hallucination after hearing the questioning voices of those surrounding here.

"Whoever's there, show yourself!" The Imperial Executioner shouted, his aura exploding outwards violently. This was not just a form of intimidation, but to alert the other experts of the Royal Capital.

"Sixteen years, I grew up here, I watched you grow, and I protected you. It's both miraculous and cruel." The voice continued to resound as if it existed in all time.

Yan Zaizen's words startled all those on board and they looked at Yan Linzen, all their gazes were confused.

"Cruel? What...what do you mean?"

"You aren't just my sister...it's like...you're my daughter. Your mother and father were created from my memories, but are only false copies, but you, you were created from my own DNA, my soul source, and was a new existence. You're my sister, my daughter, my clone…"

Yan Zaizen's words further confused everyone of them, but Yan Linzen's eyes were wider than ever. It was as if, deep down, she knew his words were the truth. She didn't know how to feel…

"But, even if this world collapses, I, Yan Zaizen, will not abandon you. I'll show you our true mother, father, my wife who is your sister, and your step-mother. Will you follow me?" Yan Zaizen asked, his voice tinged with indescribable complexities, but a distinct warmth.

Yan Linzen was startled by all this, but she knew that in this world, only her brother was her 'true' family. Her mother and father were 'warm' and 'caring' but it always felt false somehow. However, the connection she felt to this brother of hers was genuine.

She didn't have to think long.

"Brother Zai, yes. But you must keep your promise." She softly smiled, tears flowed down her eyes. These weren't tears of joy or sadness, but empty tears. They weren't fake, but it was brought about by the realization that the world around her might not be as she believed it to be.

Yan Zaizen smiled in reply, "Good. I should be arriving in...3...2...1." As he counted down, the hearts of all those who stood in confusion matched his rhythm.

A shadow flickered into existence in the direction Yan Linzen had been looking at. This shadow seemed to exist out of time for a single moment until all of it combined and time itself was corrected.

Yan Zaizen appeared, his mouth seemed to undergo the motions of his previous words in a flash, including the countdown, but it was inaudible and felt out of time. Then, it ended.

"A time remnant...truly fascinating. To exist ahead of time and outside of it. Spacetime is miraculously profound, especially chaotic spacetime." Yan Zaizen commented in wonder. There were far too many abilities he possessed, so he didn't have the ability or time to always utilize them.

What he did wasn't traveling to the future or past, instead, he imposed his time signature ahead and interacted with the present. He essentially created a clone outside of the past or future, and within the present. However, that 'present' was his future.

It was a path he would and will take. As for why Yan Linzen could see his 'Path' visibly was because she and he were 'one' and they had the same signature, like being on the same frequency. It was miraculous beyond belief. This also confirmed Yan Zaizen's theory of who she was.

As for his words, if his form was in his 'present's future' then his words were in the 'present'. All those in hearing range of his Time Remnant could hear it. There were limitations such as forcing a ''path' of one's present self, and it lacked the essence of teleportation, but it worked as a message or avatar.

"Let's go." Yan Zaizen smiled, but he turned towards the Royal Capital after he said that. He tapped his finger towards the capital.

Tap!

This tap seemed to touch the essence of souls. The Third and Fourth Prince died. Their souls snuffed out with a thought and tap.

His eyes narrowed. A figure appeared in his view of all space. A woman, a beautiful one who looked exactly like Ya Qinqan appeared, and she was laying on a bed with one of the prince's body on top of her, his eyes blank and his life ended.

"In my life, you were beneath my revenge. In this world, it remains the same." Saying those words, he tapped out towards the Imperial Executioner and Envoy's direction. A deathly aura swept towards them, siphoned their entire cultivation in a gust.

They became mortals with a thought.

This gust of deathly aura didn't cease. It swept the entirety of the Royal Capital, taking all of their cultivation and resources in a few seconds.

"In this falsely crafted real world, I'll leave the Yan Clan a way out. After all, they were designed from my memories." Recalling his mother, father, aunt, and uncle, he felt a tinge of pain. This was all he could do. With the collapse of the royal faction, this would remove the criminal status of the Yan Clan and enable their unrestrained future.

"Brother...Zai…?" Yan Linzen was the only one who was untouched, she was in disbelief at the events happening before her. Was her brother always this godly?

"I'll explain everything to you, but for now, rest. When you awaken, I'll let you see my wife and our true parents. I promise." He turned towards her and warmly spoke. He approached her and gave her a hug. This hug contained unfathomable feelings.

"Okay...Brother Zai." Yan Linzen, a ten year old girl, didn't reject or ask for more. She trusted her brother.

She lost consciousness in his arms.