The older Alex started speaking first.
"This is the first time I have come here since the funeral, isn't it?" he asked. "I wish I could have come sooner. How have you been doing, master? Are you having fun in the afterlife? Or have you reincarnated already?"
"If you did, I hope you are born as the daughter of someone important like a king or an emperor so you never have to work a day in your life again," he said. "Although, I would love it if when I die, I can be your disciple once again in the next life."
"Do you want to hear how I've been living master? You would have probably worried that I was going to have a hard time, but I didn't," he said. "I have a beautiful wife and an even more beautiful daughter. I can only say that I've been blessed, master. I'm sure you would feel nothing but happiness seeing my life right now."
"And there would be nothing that would make me happier than to see you again," he said. Tears overflowed from his eyes, filling the cracks of his wrinkled skin as they flowed down his cheeks.
Alex patted the old man on his back, consoling him while letting him shed his tears. Unlike him, the old man had never had the chance to speak what he had in his heart for all these years.
The old man started talking about his life and how she had influenced it. He told her that he was a better person today because of her.
Alex nodded as well. He started talking about his own time away as well. It had been 3 decades since he had last come here and there were plenty of stories to tell her about those times.
He didn't have much in his heart that burdened him, unlike the old man, but talking to his master still made him feel relieved.
"It's not a lie when he says you've influenced our lives heavily, master," Alex spoke. "Did you know, every time I visit an auction house, I think about the time you took me to my first auction."
"When I practice Alchemy, I remember your teaching. When talking to strangers, it's your words that remind me to be wary of them, to not show my hands when I'm up against an enemy."
"Following your and master Wen Cheng's teaching has led me to a status far beyond either of you could've ever imagined," he said. "Do you believe it, master? I'm a king, now. King!"
"It's the greatest achievement anyone could have achieved," he said. "I only wished you were here to see that, master."
"Master!" the old man started screaming once more as he cried like he hadn't since his mother's funeral.
Alex couldn't help but tear up hearing the old man's screams as well. He looked up to not let the tears flow, but they fell down his face inevitably.
"Why aren't you here, master? Why did you have to die? Was it my fault?" the older Alex asked.
"I wish you were here, master," Alex said and silently cried as well.
Albeit the same person, the two of them were never similar to each other at all. However, for the first time in their life, they had cried together for the same reason.
They shed tears, one after another, and felt the same emotion at the same time. For the first time, they were closer to each other than they had ever been before.
For the first time since they existed as two, they were the same in mind and body. And thus, for the first time, their souls resonated as if the two Alex were truly just one.
Alex saw two visions at the same time, one clear, one blurry.
In the clear vision, he was looking at his clone who was knelt beside him with his master's grave in front of him.
In the blurry vision, he was looking directly at his master's grave in front of him. He was looking through his clone's eyes.
Then, he heard the man's thoughts, he felt the man's feelings, and soon, he started seeing his memories.
* * * * *
Alex looked around nervously while he stood next to a priest by himself. There was a space in front of him and beyond that were a few girls that stood wearing similar pink clothes.
He recognized one of the girls that stood on the other side. What was her name? Sarah, right? Why did he know that name?
Many people were staying in two groups. He saw his parents, uncle and aunt, and his cousin. Then he saw another older woman on the other side that he felt he was close with.
He heard cheers and turned in that direction to see a young Emily walk out in a white gown.
Was that a wedding dress? Of course, it was, what else could it be? It was his wedding after all.
'No, not mine,' Alex thought. He had been through such memories before where he nearly believe he was someone he wasn't. He hadn't died over 100 times in the volcano just to forget who he was seeing someone else's memories.
Still, that was not to say that it wasn't hard to dissociate himself from the memories. He decided to let it play out and soon he was sucked back into believing it was his memory.
Emily walked up to the altar and he smelled the sweet scent of rose from her clothes. Was that what he remembered from back then?
The next portion was a blur in his mind and all he remembered was the kiss and then the memory vanished.
'What's next?' Alex thought.
He saw a memory of his honeymoon where they had gone to the snow resort in the snowy mountains of Plumroot city.
He saw his father working hard in the fields.
He saw Hannah's wedding and who she was married to.
He saw a memory of a very sick Emily that he had to take care of over the night.
Another memory surfaced of a sick Emily, only this time she was slightly older and the memory was a happy one. That was the day they found out that after years of trying, Emily was finally pregnant.
Alex saw the Birth Omen that he had heard about. The sky churned and the winds roared.
He saw the memory of the first time he held his daughter in his hand.
The memories continued. He saw a memory of finding his father in the field. He remembered the first time his daughter walked on her own.
He remembered the first day of his daughter's school life. He remembered the last day his mother breathed in that hospital room.
More and more memories flashed through Alex until he had seen everything that the other him deemed important enough to remember.
* * * * * * *
Alex could probably still see more memories if he wanted to, but… that was not him, was it? This was his clone's life. Even though he had seen it and knew what happened in it, it was not one that he had experienced.
As such, unlike the times his clone had spent in his body, he knew for certain that whatever he saw was not his life.
They were different people and they should remain different.
Alex pulled his consciousness out of his clone's body and shook his head.
He realized that he had now gained the ability to peek into his clone's mind and look through his eyes. Controlling him was not a possibility unless he could suppress the soul itself somehow.
However, Alex couldn't think why he would need to do that. He decided to never do that again and let his clone keep his privacy.
The older Alex hadn't realized at all what had happened. He was still crying all the same in front of his master's grave.
Alex sighed and sat down with a solemn look on his face. His emotions were in slight disarray due to the memories, so he couldn't feel just sadness anymore.
So, he sat there and waited for his clone to pour out his grief onto their master's grave.
Alex looked at the tree that had grown so much since the time he had come back. The Yin Gathering tree's seed was something his master had bought and he had helped her plant it.
He wondered if the essence of his master's yin was absorbed by this plant. After all, she did have a great yin body.
He even guessed that it was a Celestial-grade body.
A Celestial grade Yin body, which had likely evolved from a Divine grade one when she entered the Forbidden Fields.
'How strong would master have been had she not gotten into Alchemy?' he wondered. 'Would she have become a strong fighter? Would she have still been alive if that was the case?'
Alex wondered if she had made a mistake in her life by joining an Alchemy sect. However, thinking about it, if she hadn't joined an alchemy sect, then she would have never been his master.
He smiled a bit when he realized that.
The older Alex had calmed down by now and only sniffled a bit here and there.
"Let us return," Alex said to the old man who nodded.
The older Alex turned toward the gave and bowed. "We will be leaving for now, master, but we'll be back later. I want to talk with you plenty more times," he said.
Alex bowed toward her grave and well and walked away.
The two walked down the alchemy mountain and went back to the Elder's Hall. By the time they got there, the sect master had talked with the elders, and together they had come to a decision.
Alex was to gain full authority of the sect until they decided otherwise.
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