Leylah was long gone. Spared from existential erasure, the world honoured her as the Supreme of Three Thousand Flowers for all of the years to come. Her disappearance did not immediately result in doubts, but rather, more speculations. Every Supreme at the Tribulation Transcendence Realm does not show their faces for extremely long periods of time. All they know is that they exist, nothing else.
Nobody thought of a Supreme’s fall.
Hence, when this possibility manifested into reality, nobody knew of its consequences.
Nobody.
…
…
..
‘Who..?’
Leylah’s consciousness was brought back from nothingness. Her sight converged into a single point of light. Waves of suppression pressed onto her. Leylah's instinctive defenses were propped up. The influence of her Dao whittled little-by-little until only a fraction remained.
What lay beyond that struggle was a new world…
The present world.
Leylah had nothing in mind. Her eyes examined the clusters of worlds isolated within every leaf. The fraction of her she held was enough to make them tremble, yet it was as if it never existed in the first place.
Reality's suppression over future projections was too severe. They are ultimately possibilities, something that hasn't come true. It was their weight as a Tribulation Transcendence Realm Supreme that gave them enough status to forcibly descend into this world.
‘I am… and this world…’
As soon as she formed her first thoughts, everything changed. The flickering Dao within her solidified. The power she exerted rose sharply, surpassing the Void Refinement Realm.
Buzz-!
The familiar heart-sinking sensation emerged from Leylah's heart. Her pupils narrowed as she recognized its origins—
It was the power that ended her life.
Her mind was disoriented. Her memories had blank spots. Leylah didn't know why she was even here. She only remembered one thing, and that was her insurmountable tribulation.
It clawed onto her heart, took her most precious memories, and left her to die!
Just as she was about to erupt into full force, everything turned to stillness. The world turned into pale gray. The most colorful concepts froze in plain sight, defying the foundation on which it was built.
Leylah soon took notice of a man. She saw his unfamiliar back. His face was blurry—vague, even. His lips parted, speaking of words she didn't understand. His existence itself was cloaked in a blur. Leylah could not recognize him.
Yet…
“I am sorry.”
His words turned different in Leylah's ears. It was supposed to be words of encouragement to others—to trust in their present selves not to actualize their futures. Leylah was different. She was the first to be affected by the tribulation energy to this extent. Others died; she forgot about Shi Tian. The nature of her tribulation was intricately tied onto him. Thus, the magnitude of her tribulation was the worst out of everyone.
His words paused Leylah’s world. It was a stone that sent ripples to her heart. Everything she had forgotten turned clear at that moment.
Leylah remembered everything.
She did not say anything. She merely watched the man disappear into specks of starlight. Her mind could not fathom her emotions—one formed after countless years of existence. No matter what she wanted to say, she felt like she couldn't express it properly.
These chaotic thoughts coalesced into a single idea:
“I want to come with you.”
She had forgotten about everyone else. All that remained in her mind was to follow that disappearing back.
Leylah desperately chased after him.
The concept of running revolved around her pair of legs propelling her body forward. It was limited by the body’s strength, explosive power, stamina, and so on.
Hum-!
Swoosh-!
With every step, she left behind a trail of blue and purple flowers. The forget-me-not flowers were supposed to be a symbol of her undying will, yet it became the thing that haunted her for eternity. Her heart turned lighter as she ran. The dark and cold void was filled with life. Countless flowers formed a pathway, floating amidst the void who has known nothing but solitude.
Leylah ran to her fullest. She didn’t stop. Even when her heart was on the verge of giving up, she never stopped running. The Dao that maintained her existence weakened as time passed. Still, she could never seem to chase that back.
The distance between them was infinity!
“No, no…”
Despair flooded her heart. The scenes from the past flashed in her eyes. It wasn’t the heart-wrenching pain nor the experience of being tortured in every hellish way possible that Leylah paid attention to. It was her memories of him… of the person she grew to love over time that she found the most terrifying.
“I won’t…”
…
…
…
She failed once again.
His words of apology faded in her mind. Then his name followed. Next was the dark purple hair which he never allowed to grow longer than his shoulders. Finally, his familiar back was now devoid with utmost unfamiliarity.
Leylah experienced how it was to die a second time.
Her heart grew cold. Her eyes became dim. Her thoughts ceased to exist. Her state bordered between existence and non-existence. Her Dao of Blossoming Heart… withered.
Everything around her crumbled. Be it space, time, or any other concept, they turned into dried brown husks. They fell onto the ground she knelt on, emitting a kind of authority that rivaled IX’s. Leylah lost autonomy of her being. It wasn’t until when the present Leylah encountered her heart demon did she sense something familiar. Attracted by her presence, the future Leylah descended on her place. It triggered a series of changes on the Sea of Data, turning its already chaotic nature into something even more chaotic.
As if it wasn’t enough, something seeped out of the future Leylah. It was the remains of a formidable enemy, one whom they bested after a shared effort…
…and Shi Tian’s death.
The Sea of Data, a Heart Demon, and Leylah’s future projection…
All of them turned Mars into her special place—a world that could be reshaped by her will. Spiritual qi followed her command, and so did the Sea of Data. The Bubble World anchored by the Supercomputer mutated under the three aspects’ influence. The memories of the future Leylah ran rampant in this world. It brought every single formidable foe she faced back to life.
Such was the case until the other future projections intervened. Their original plan was to create a ‘Trial Space’ to hone their present counterparts. A final gift of the future to reality, that is. They were forced to change this plan, forcibly claiming a part of Mars for themselves.
This act stabilized the chaotic Mars in a way. All of their combined powers held back the tribulation energy the future Leylah brought over. It allowed her to become lucid, regaining her sense of self. The only thing that remained was to deal with the future Leylah as well as her Heart Demon.
However…
‘What am I doing here?’
…two deaths bore heavy burden on her heart.