In the Green Bamboo Forest of Hundred Flowers Valley, the atmosphere of joy that should have been there had vanished completely.
The sudden discovery left Cihang with no time to rejoice over his breakthrough in cultivation. Instead, he became filled with uncertainty and suspicion.
Back at Jade Void Palace, Cihang had already concluded that he had been reborn.
After all, those memories of the future were far too vivid. Without having experienced them personally, it would have been impossible to feel such intense emotions.
Even now, Cihang could clearly remember the helplessness and disbelief he had felt when he had been forced to offer himself as a sacrifice.
However, he had been in Jade Void Palace then, with the Sanqing right before his eyes, so Cihang had not allowed himself to dwell too deeply on those memories.
Later, to avoid being noticed, he had completely sealed away those intense and complicated emotions.
Yet refining the Three Lights Divine Water this time had revealed something different.
This was indeed his first time refining it in this life, but in his previous life, he had brought the effects of the Three Lights Divine Water to their fullest potential. There was no way he should not have understood its uses.
Yet in truth, he did not understand them now.
Cihang immediately began recalling the inheritances and various profound divine abilities and techniques he had once possessed.
Memories that should have been crystal clear now became extremely blurry when he tried to recall them.
Apart from his memories of cultivation, his past experiences remained exceptionally clear, so much so that Cihang nearly immersed himself in them again.
"Why? Without those inheritances and divine abilities, the advantage of my rebirth has been reduced by more than half."
"Did someone use a great divine ability to conceal my cultivation insights and inheritances? Or was I not reborn at all, merely catching a glimpse of a fragment of the future?"
At this moment, Cihang's heart was full of doubts.
If he had truly been reborn, then who had acted, what was their purpose, and why had they concealed his cultivation insights? Did they want him to start over?
Yet according to his understanding, no one in the Primordial World possessed such power.
To reverse time, one had to completely master the Law of Time and possess boundless great power.
This was not merely changing the trajectory and fate of his own life. It meant reversing the flow of time throughout the entire Primordial World.
If it had only been a minor world, then Saints truly could reverse time and space with their strength. A single thought from them could determine the birth and destruction of a world.
But this was the Primordial World. Forget Saints—even Dao Ancestor Hongjun might not possess such ability.
"Could it be that I truly was not reborn, but merely glimpsed the trajectory and fate of my future?"
Cihang could not help murmuring to himself.
But even so, it was not something easily accomplished.
Moreover, he did not recall having any dealings with such a cultivator. The strongest people he had ever encountered were only the Sanqing.
Even with Cihang's knowledge as a quasi-Saint, he could not fathom just how powerful the other party was.
The doubts in Cihang's heart grew heavier and heavier, but he could never pierce through the fog.
However, there was one thing Cihang could be certain of: whether it was rebirth or a glimpse into the future, those memories were real.
Some divine abilities might alter memories, but they could hardly impose emotions so intense.
Furthermore, he had been in Jade Void Palace at the time, standing before the Sanqing. No one could have acted against him then.
Although the Sanqing had not yet attained the Dao, they were still powerful figures surpassed only by Hongjun.
Hongjun might possess such ability, since he had Merged with the Heavenly Dao.
But Hongjun had no reason to act. He would not even care about a minor figure like Cihang.
"I am still too weak. A level like that is beyond my imagination!"
In the end, Cihang stopped tormenting himself.
No matter what the other party's purpose was, whether it was benevolent or malicious, he had no choice but to accept it.
But this only made his heart toward the Dao firmer. No matter where he was, without absolute strength, he would still be unable to control his own fate.
"Still, it seems this matter has done me no harm.
Whether those memories came from rebirth or the future, they can help me avoid certain calamities and seize opportunities to improve myself."
The confusion in Cihang's eyes faded, replaced by unshakable determination.
One day, he would completely control his own fate and no longer be manipulated by others.
Cihang silently swore this oath in his heart.
"And yet, you are the only one who has always stayed by my side!"
Cihang's gaze fell upon the Glazed Pure Vase. It was the Companion Spiritual Treasure he had been born with as an Innate Deity.
In the Primordial World, certain top-tier Innate experts were born alongside spiritual treasures.
Those spiritual treasures might not be the strongest, but they were undoubtedly the most compatible with their owners.
The reason Cihang had been born alongside a High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure was that he possessed part of the origin of the World-Purifying White Lotus.
In his memories of the future, this Glazed Pure Vase had accumulated immeasurable merit for him. It was precisely through that merit that he had broken through into the quasi-Saint realm.
Looking at the Glazed Pure Vase, Cihang could not help falling into his memories of the future again.
In the future, he would also possess a Sheep Fat Jade Pure Vase.
It was a Houtian Spiritual Treasure that Yuanshi had refined in imitation of the Glazed Pure Vase, and it had ultimately been bestowed upon him as a gift upon completing his studies.
But to him, who already possessed the Glazed Pure Vase, the Sheep Fat Jade Pure Vase was completely useless.
"Yuanshi truly never misses a chance to prove how little he cares about me, Cihang."
Recalling the memories within his sea of consciousness, Cihang once again failed to suppress the hostility in his heart.
The Willow Branch inside the vase suddenly bloomed with light, soothing Cihang's turbulent state of mind.
"Fortunately, I still have you!"
Startled awake by the Glazed Pure Vase, Cihang quickly recovered. He truly should not remain immersed in the past.
"No, the Willow Branch!"
Cihang's gaze suddenly fixed on the Willow Branch.
If there was some mysterious existence on him that even he did not know about, then it could only be this Willow Branch.
He had not casually placed a Willow Branch inside the Glazed Pure Vase to nurture it.
The truth was that he could not see through this Willow Branch at all.
This Willow Branch had come from an Acquired Spiritual Root on Mount Luojia.
That acquired willow had originally been nothing extraordinary, yet it had produced this Willow Branch containing Innate Qi.
Moreover, this Willow Branch contained vast Life Essence.
He had once tried nurturing this Willow Branch, hoping that perhaps he could obtain an Innate Spiritual Root.
But even with the Three Lights Divine Water in hand, the Willow Branch had not changed in the slightest. It neither took root upon touching the ground nor withered away.
Only later had he kept the Willow Branch within the Glazed Pure Vase, turning it into an existence somewhere between a spiritual treasure and a spiritual root.
This Willow Branch had always given Cihang an extraordinary feeling, and he had never been able to see through its true origin.
"I did not notice it before, but now it seems everything is suspicious!"
The way Cihang looked at the Willow Branch changed as well.
"What exactly are you, and who left this hidden move behind?"
He had returned once more to his earlier question, but naturally, the Willow Branch could not give him an answer.
"So be it. I do not understand the Karma involved only because I am not strong enough. One day, I will learn everything!"
Cihang waved a hand and put away the Glazed Pure Vase, no longer clinging to meaningless worries.
Nor did he become wary of the Willow Branch because of this. Given the other party's strength and methods, if they truly intended to scheme against him, it was not something he could avoid at his current level.
Rather than struggle with suspicion, he might as well face it calmly and use his present advantage to improve his strength.
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