The Self II

"Do you know... once you take this step, there's no turning back?" Suddenly, the black-cloaked figure behind them spoke for the first time, his voice hoarse and low, yet his tone inexplicably carried a warning.

"Demon Emperor! You... you've imprisoned me for so many years, and now you actually dare to show up and threaten me!?" Fusheng was instantly enraged and turned to look at the black-cloaked figure.

"..." The Demon Emperor did not speak again, but simply stared at him silently.

Fusheng chuckled, and new flesh began to grow rapidly on the skeleton's body.

In the blink of an eye, he perfectly regained his normal body, transforming into a voluptuous beauty over two meters tall... with a prominent bust and buttocks!

"!!?" Fusheng looked down at himself. "What's going on?" He clearly remembered not being female!? How??

Looking back at Lin Hui, Lin Hui looked up at the sky, silent, as if nothing concerned him.

After evolving into a Proliferating Rank, his power still contained a portion of the Propagation Rank, something he hadn't anticipated.

To be precise, he simultaneously occupies two positions: "Propagation" and "Proliferation." However, the "Proliferation" position includes "Propagation," so there is no conflict.

"Wait, I made a mistake, I'll try again." Black flames quickly ignited on Fusheng's body, burning away all his flesh and blood in the blink of an eye, and reshaping his entire body once again.

but...

Just like before... the reshaped body is still female, and even better than before.

In a flash, a moon-white robe materialized, covering his entire body. Fusheng opened his mouth, but for a moment he couldn't say anything.

Gazing at the purple mist outside the Demon Palace, he finally stopped pausing and took a step forward.

"Wait, Fusheng! Are you sure you want to go out?" came the sudden question from behind, the voice solemn and serious.

Fusheng paused, his feet dangling in mid-air.

He grinned, as if he understood something, a look of relief flashing in his eyes.

"Why not? I am who I am, and only today do I realize who I am!!"

He laughed loudly and stepped out the door.

Boom!

At this moment, countless purple mists surged and billowed, and streaks of purple lightning streaked across the sky.

The moment Fusheng stepped out of the Demon Palace, his entire body...

It exploded.

It exploded into countless black dots, instantly falling to the ground, merging into the earth, and disappearing from sight.

Lin Hui's expression changed slightly; he activated his divine soul, reversing time. But...

He stopped instantly and turned to look into the main hall of the Demon Palace.

The instant Fusheng exploded, a new chair appeared, upon which once again lay a White Bone, Fusheng.

This time, however, was different from before. The White Bone Fusheng motionless and lifeless, as if it were truly just a complete skeleton.

"Fusheng... Senior?" Lin Hui called softly.

There was no response.

The skeleton sat there quietly, motionless. Although one could sense a trace of life within it, that life had completely lost the vibrancy it once Fusheng.

"No need to call him." The man in the black cloak slowly walked to Lin Hui's side, also gazing at Fusheng.

"From beginning to end, it was actually just a wisp of consciousness that naturally grew from the body I left in the Demon Palace... It took the fragments of memories I left in my body as itself, and believed that it was an outsider who was sealed here to suffer by me."

"Now, the dream is over."

"So, everything in this Fusheng is an illusion?" For some reason, Lin Hui felt a pang of sadness.

"Yes. He took my memories and my experiences as his own. He named himself ' Fusheng Fusheng,' which was also for the purpose of resurrection... Unfortunately... after I was revived by you, he will never have this opportunity again..." the black-cloaked man said softly.

Lin Hui remained silent. He suddenly understood why the previous generation's Heart Source Demon Emperor rarely appeared in public, seldom communicated with him, and even rarely left the Demon Palace.

The others who were resurrected were completely different; they were running around everywhere. Only this one...

It turned out that his body and soul had completely separated. His body had been in the Demon Palace, but he had not taken it back; he was just waiting quietly.

Is it to await this outcome, or to await one's eventual demise, thus fulfilling the purpose of this Fusheng?

Lin Hui didn't know.

He could indeed resurrect Fusheng now, but Fusheng's final choice and his final acceptance have already shown that this was his choice.

So even if he were to be resurrected Fusheng, without the Demon Emperor's body, would that resurrection truly still be Fusheng?

If one day, a person suddenly realizes that everything they had before—their pride, their arrogance, their anger, their sadness—everything belonged to someone else.

Everything I had before was worthless; even the self I thought I possessed wasn't truly mine—it was all just an illusory dream.

That kind of life...

Lin Hui remained silent.

As he was about to witness the truth, wasn't he also afraid, like his predecessor Fusheng...?

The Demon Emperor brushed past him lightly and returned to his Demon Palace. His figure quietly merged into the Fusheng skeleton.

Countless pieces of flesh grew rapidly, and the black cloak once again covered his body. The Demon Emperor shattered his chair, stood up, nodded to Lin Hui, and walked out of the Demon Palace again.

In a flash, he vanished without a trace.

Lin Hui was left standing alone, gazing at the spot where Fusheng had once stood; it was now empty...

The old man who used to nag seemed to still be sitting there, spouting nonsense as always, and caring for everyone in his own way.

Lin Hui reached out his hand, suddenly feeling an urge to resurrect Fusheng at all costs.

He can do it.

The price, however, is the complete annihilation of the current Demon Emperor. But...

Even if I were to use my extraordinary abilities to create a second Fusheng... would that version of him still be him?

He couldn't answer that question.

The hands that were clasped were slowly released again.

biu.

Suddenly, inside the Demon Palace, a large white ball of fluff pounced out and landed steadily on Lin Hui's shoulder.

It is Formless Heavenly Demon.

It seemed to have become listless, and without Fusheng's company, it was in a bad mood.

Lin Hui's mind raced.

In an instant, the entire Heart Source Demon Palace underwent a rapid transformation, changing from dilapidated and ancient to brand new and clean.

The plaque at the entrance was changed from the Heart Source Demon Palace to the Clear Jade Dao Palace.

"From now on, everything here will remain the same. You will guard this place for me." Lin Hui reached out and touched the head of the Formless Heavenly Demon.

In an instant, the Heavenly Demon's body trembled as it was forcibly transformed by countless Wind Energy. In the blink of an eye, its body lengthened, transforming into a beautiful human form, kneeling and kowtowing.

"Thank Dao Lord, for bestowing this method!"

It bowed respectfully in thanks.

This not only transformed him into human form, but also taught him about Wind Energy and the related martial arts and sword techniques of Clear Jade Mountain.

This transformed them from ignorant, Formless Heavenly Demon into a completely new race capable of cultivation and growth.

Lin Hui did not respond, but pointed at Fusheng's location again.

hiss...

In an instant, a high-backed chair exactly the same as before appeared, and a white skull re-condensed on it.

The skeleton remained motionless, as if asleep.

"Tell the rest of Clear Jade Mountain that Senior Fusheng is just asleep and resting; don't disturb him."

"... Yes." The Heavenly Demon paused slightly, then replied in a deep voice.

After doing all this, Lin Hui vanished into the purple mist in a flash.

*

*

*

Above the area most severely Wind Disaster.

Lin Hui gripped his sword in one hand, watching as his own Wind Energy and the Wind Disaster Energy fiercely fought and clashed.

The two blue pieces were locked in a duel, and to an outsider, it was impossible to tell which was which.

Meanwhile, Mu Cheng Jiang, standing at the forefront, resembled a massive, colossal reef, single-handedly blocking the fusion powerhouses that continuously surged forth from the depths of the Wind Disaster.

With a single, casual strike, he easily crushed the massive fusion monster horde led by the Thought Endures Eternally powerful being.

The Fusionist, fearing the loss of self-awareness, tried their best to control themselves from rushing to the front, which was actually manageable. But those Fusionist monsters of the same level who had long since lost their sense of self didn't care how many times they died.

They almost constantly cycle through these two steps: rushing up, dying and going back down, then resurrecting and rushing up again.

Watching all this unfold, Lin Hui didn't join in. So far, it was still a small-scale conflict; there was no rush.

What he needs to do now is get people out of trouble.

With a swift movement, his free hand instantly pulled a middle-aged man in a blue robe, Fusionist, from the Wind Disaster.

The man's eyes shone with blue light. Driven by calamity, he had long lost himself, whimpering wildly as he charged forward, killing.

Lin Hui controlled him, Wind Energy rapidly surged into him, beginning to transform and devour the Wind Disaster Energy.

Soon, the proportion of Disaster Energy in the man's body dropped rapidly from 100%.

When the Disaster Energy was reduced to 30%, Lin Hui suddenly stopped. Continuing would have meant venturing into the area where the explosion might have occurred earlier.

Back then, he couldn't, but now, having understood the essence of the soul, his Supreme Omniscience Seal is operating at lightning speed.

They quickly devised a semi-finished method for transforming Fusionist into Wind Energy Fusionist.

This method was then named the Fusion Conversion Method".

Finally, we attempted to extrapolate and simulate once more, trying to find a successful future transformation.

But as time went on, Lin Hui's forehead was covered in more and more sweat. Even now, no matter how he calculated and deduced, he couldn't wrest control of the Fusionist from the Wind Disaster.

As expected, so many Celestial Venerables have never heard of anyone being able to do this, and for someone as somewhat special as me... it's completely impossible..."

Lin Hui sighed, but ultimately opened the Blood Seal. The newly created Fusion Conversion Method began to evolve.

He had accumulated so much Existence Force, and this was the moment he used it.

Identification.

Fusion Conversion Method: Created by Lin Hui, the Celestial Venerable of Clear Jade Mountain, it can transform most of the body and soul of the Fusionist by the Wind Disaster Wind Disaster into Wind Energy, thereby greatly slowing down the erosion of the body and soul by Fusionist wind disaster and reducing the rate of cognitive loss.

The following evolutionary branch is 8.

At this point, Lin Hui suddenly stared at the number 8, his Supreme Omniscience Seal instinctively analyzing and deducing backwards.

A guess about the true nature of the Blood Seal suddenly flashed through his mind.

Coming to his senses, he clicked on the evolution branch.

The first five items are skipped, as they all focus on the speed of wind Wind Energy conversion, which is inconsistent with what Lin Hui wants.

Therefore, he only looked at the last three items.

6- Life-Transformation Method: This method can completely transform the body of the Fusionist into Wind Energy Fusionist, and the soul can be regenerated. The essence of memory is the record of the past, and the soul is also generated from the body. Therefore, after the body is separated, everything can start again.

Lin Hui frowned and shook his head slightly. This was just self-deception. Although the soul originated from the body, it didn't mean it was always part of the body. In the later stages, the soul could completely change bodies, and that was the fundamental reason.

This actually touches upon the fundamental question of "what exactly is the self?"