Chapter 579 Justifiable Madness
"What in heaven's name is that?!" the old man questioned.
He was by no means weak, his whole body exuded a godly and powerful glow that made him extremely noticeable within my own Sea of Consciousness. However, compared to my darker and gigantic figure he looked like a firefly.
"Consider it me having a bad day, now look over there," I pointed.
The shadow was running away like a rabbit from incoming prey, leaping up and under hurdles trying to get as far away from us as possible.
Even with the gigantic distance between us, I could still feel its fear and panic as it realized that it had come to a very dangerous place.
"So now what?" he asked.
"Now, we hunt," I said.
The two of us hurried forward, me moving about in a casual stroll, while the old man was flying forward.
With a move of my hand, a gigantic fissure appeared right in front of the shadow, forcing it to stop and change location.
And just as he turned to the side and ran a bit, a mountain rose up in front of him to block him, then more trees sprouted creating a blockade.
The shadow noticed us coming and tried to dive through the trees, to breakthrough and run away, only to find barbed veins growing around the trees that changed its mind.
It ran and ran, but couldn't hide or escape and soon was trapped in a basin. Rising high on all sides and with only us three in it.
The shadow tried to fight back, only to no avail, as I grasped at it and locked it within my hand.
"There you go, now you can't run away anymore,"
The shadow struggled and wiggled and then screeched loud enough to burst a man's drums, however, it had no effects here.
"How come your soul power is this strong?" asked the old man.
"This isn't half of it," I said. And it was true, this was nothing but the damaged part of my main soul, the defective part that was moved over to Shen Mo's body.
"So, now that he's captured, what do we do?" he asked.
"simple, Soul Search!" I said and the fumes making my body entered through the shadow's mouth, nostrils, eye sockets and ears penetrating deep into his mind then began displaying its memories.
Years upon years of endless waiting were portrayed through the shadow's memories, its time spent in the palace thinking up a plan to kill the old man and take his body.
However, we didn't need any of that, so I skipped forward.
This caused the creature to scream in agonized misery. And I know how this feels, it's like having a hand inside one's brain scrambling, through it like one would do an egg.
Looking for a specific memory, and I found it.
The memories that the old man was lacking were within this thing.
"I guess I was right, it's your own heart demon, are you sure you want to see this?" I asked him.
"Yes, show me," he said.
"Then so be it," I said as I projected the memory of the shadow.
The vision and memory was from, the eyes of a person who we didn't know at first. The eyes looked down and we could see the exact same robes as the old man was wearing.
"That's our palace within the beyond, this is before the banishment… what's happening?" questioned the old man.
The vision continued and we saw what happened next.
The palace was set aflame, the city around it was burning and there were armies of enemies surrounding the whole area.
High above was a man atop a palanquin that was being driven by dragons. And around him were a dozen female cultivators that seemed to have a cultivation base that was so deep and steep that I don't think I could even recognize how strong and far they are from me.
Another person came forward and in his hand was a scroll made of golden paper that he pulled apart revealing its content.
"The benevolent Darkest Sun, in his wisdom, has issued a decree reprimanding the side branch of the Celestial Clan for their rebellious behavior. Their attempt to revolt against his majesty has not gone unnoticed. Consequently, all members of the subsidiary branch now face the severe consequence of exile. Stripped of their esteemed status as royalists, they are henceforth denied the very right to exist as humans. In the eyes of the celestial realm, they stand condemned and found guilty, reduced to a state considered lower than beasts. May their souls seek solace in the purgatorial flames, for only through such fiery tribulation can the Darkest Sun's ire be appeased."
The man wearing scholar clothing then nodded to the side.
And from that, the hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of soldiers surrounding the city let loose a volley of arrows upon the Celestial Clan's branch.
The eyes that were looking at the situation shook and then the owner flew forward in a rage toward the rider of the dragon palanquin.
He was then intercepted by the female cultivators around the palanquin, fighting for life and death as they used fabric as a weapon while he sliced and cut away at the incoming cultivators culling lives left and right.
"Do not interfere with his lordship's rule!" spoke the scholar.
"WHAT RULE?! WHAT PROOF DO YOU HAVE THAT OUR CLAN BETRAYED YOU? WE LIVED IN HARMONY AND ADHERED TO THE MAIN CLAN'S LAWS WITHOUT COMPLAINT! YET YOU FIND US IN INJUSTICE! I DENY IT! I DENY IT!" the old man shouted with all he had as spears and swords cut through him.
But he didn't back down and fought back, culling and killing the cultivators coming at him.
He looked down and noticed that the formation protecting the royal palace was about to break and all the people inside would soon die.
He was stuck between needing to force his way forward to get his revenge on the Darkest Sun or to go back and protect his fellow disciples and clan members.
Torn between two options, the man inside the palanquin appeared. His face was fully covered in darkness, and his body exuded… light?
It was all I could explain it as the light the man's body exuded was actually black. He didn't seem to have an ounce of energy within him as if he was not even part of this world. An ethereal being that seemed to have no feelings or an existential imprint. It was as if he existed and didn't at the same time.
The man then took a step forward and pressed his finger on the old man's forehead.
"What have you done to me?! I can't control my body?!"
It didn't take a second for the man's eyes to turn bloodshot red and then he turned and went right back into the formation.
The numerous wounds on his body instantly healed as the energy of the Darkest Sun was coursing through him. But that wasn't to help him but to cause even more sorrow.
"STOP!" the man shouted trying to stop himself as he realized what was going to happen soon.
"PLEASE STOP!"
He begged and begged but he couldn't do anything.
The sword that was used to defend the celestial city was then turned against his own fellow cultivators.
"NO!" the man howled and cried, "RUN AWAY FROM ME!" he shouted and begged as his sword cut left and right.
He cut right through the face of surprised cultivators who thought of him as an ally.
He bore through the hearts of children who couldn't even outrun him.
The man's tears flooded his face, and when he couldn't cry anymore, the tears were changed to tears of blood as his hand kept swinging, and his body kept healing whenever his brethren tried to stop him.
He couldn't stop killing and culling friends and ally, brother and sister, family members and even those unrelated.
The man who was tasked to protect the celestial city was the very person destroying it.
And at the same time, the man who caused him to do so only snorted, then clapped his hands, once, twice then thrice and with that, the entirety of the celestial city was surrounded in a magnificent sized formation.
Not a second later, the entirety of the formation was teleported out into a space between spaces. In a fold that seemed unknown and unnoticeable. To never be found or sought, banished to all eternity, leaving the old man hunting down any and every single person that lived still as the city was still floating through unknown space.
The old man continued his unbridled killing as the city tore and broke, as bits of it were separated from the main. As some were turned to dust and some were sent far into space.
The man killed and killed, until the streets of the city turned blood red. Until there was no one left but himself.
Only then
Was he abele to let go of the sword, only then was he able to regain control of his body. And only then was he to look upon the results of his own actions and the blood on his hands.
Only then was he allowed to actually weep.
'Damn…' I said inwardly as I turned to the old man.
His eyes were no longer focused… and I had a feeling that he was about to lose his sanity again.
'Well, I can't even blame him if he goes mad now…'
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