All it took was a blink of an eye. Fu Hua’s bright blue eyes turned scarlet-red, replacing her playfulness with the usual sternness. Her ash-gray hair turned white-red. The temperament of someone who lived through vicissitudes erupted, sweeping inside the entire bar.
Her heart demon departed so silently, not saying another word after her last. I could not help but feel a pang of heartache. She is a part of the future Fu Hua. She is one of the people I failed—during that future, at least. Yet I knew I could not bring them back, nor could I make it up to them.
The best I can do is to ensure that the future will never happen.
“C-can you…”
Fu Hua stuttered several times as she looked at me teary-eyed. Her face slowly turned red, her fingers twitching. The ethereal, nigh-untouchable aura she gave off crumbled down.
Only then did I realize I am still hugging her. I swiftly let go of my hands, allowing her to stand up. I felt her weight on my lap, somewhat surprised by how ‘hard’ it was.
Standing up did not make much difference to her. She looked down, looking at her current outfit in a daze. I saw how she wanted to cover her body with her hands, but she could not. The bunny girl outfit exposed so much she could not hope to cover them all.
She took a deep breath before regaining her composure.
“...Thank you.”
“That’s what I should have done.” I shook my head. “That’s what friends are for.”
“...Hm.”
I saw her pause for a few seconds before nodding. I felt strange in my heart, but I pushed it aside. My eyes scanned her outfit, and then her unnatural looks.
“I will leave first. We can talk more about this later.”
*****
Fu Hua stared blankly at Shi Tian’s retreating back. Before long, she was the only one left inside her Bubble World. Her shoulders visibly relaxed as he left, no longer having to endure the embarrassment of wearing a bunny girl outfit in front of her “friend”.
It took her a brief moment to scan the general contents of the ‘memories’ left behind by her heart demon. It was the inheritance from her future projection.
‘I really did all of that…’
Fu Hua’s emotions were in turmoil. She had seen how she ended up with Shi Tian in that future. The Sea of Suffering incident did not occur as it was a world without the influence of future projections.
Everything went as they had planned, reaching the pinnacle of Void Refinement Realm before the imaginary barrier’s enhancement ran out of time. Everything was going well… until that event came. It led straight to his downfall, turning Shi Tian into a pillar of this world, thereby causing it to ascend to a new level.
The Sea of Suffering made Fu Hua feel utmost helplessness. Her memories, however, were filled with bitterness. Due to a series of events, she fell hard for him, becoming his ‘wife’. He helped Fu Hua just like now, shattering her dao tribulation at the Dao Integration Realm!
One has to know that the ‘Dao Tribulation’ was an advanced form of heart demon tribulation. One would live another life in another world, all the while their tribulation distorts reality to their disadvantage. Because of the flaw on Fu Hua’s heart, her eighth-level Tao Heart was unstable. She almost fell to that tribulation had it not been for Shi Tian risking his life, interfering in her tribulation.
Since then, she has discovered another side of hers. Love felt so sickly sweet, cloying to the bones. Being by his side, her mind felt at peace. Her heart felt warm, enough to melt down her solitude’s coldness.
‘No wonder…’
Fu Hua recalled the attitudes of Shi Tian’s other wives. Admittedly, she could not understand where they came from. Being so addicted to another’s presence was something she could not fathom… until now.
Fu Hua was brought out of her reverie when she came to the most crucial part of her memories.
Shi Tian died.
He succeeded at his Dao Integration Realm tribulation. He managed to attain a unique Dao containing nine other Daos at its pinnacle. The trouble came at his second tribulation. It did not emerge during his Dao Integration Realm tribulation for some reason. Instead, it erupted when he was at the pinnacle of the Dao Integration Realm.
The collision of three worlds occurred. He was forced to take action, ultimately resulting in him becoming the ‘pillar’ of the Imaginary Tree. It ascended to another level, becoming a world that surpassed most of the worlds within reality.
Because of his death, everyone broke apart. Their status as Shi Tian’s wives did not stop them from committing to their agenda—to bring him back.
Only, their methods differed. Kiana’s departure was one of the mildest ones. She sought other worlds in an attempt to reverse what had been done. After all, True Immortals existed before Shi Tian. She believed there must be a solution.
Theresa, on the other hand, went to the other extremes. Her hatred towards the world that took him away could not be stopped, becoming a raging tide that exterminated half of their universe’s lifeforms.
Fu Hua’s approach was different. She believed in immortal cultivation—on the thing Shi Tian brought over—hence she did nothing but that. She secluded herself, ignoring the outside world’s affairs.
It all paid off.
The first and second tribulations were surpassed by her. She reached the pinnacle of the Tribulation Transcendence Realm. Fu Hua discovered there was a ‘special state’ upon reaching that level—the so-called pseudo-realm.
Throughout the nine mortal realms of immortal cultivation, there rarely was a 'pseudo-realm'. It was a term used to call those who possessed an aspect of the higher realm in advance. That was the case with Void Refinement Realm Star Lords having a Venerated Dao.
That pseudo-realm allowed her to partially grasp the concept of ‘infinity’. Not ‘nigh-infinite’, but real infinity. It wasn’t an exaggeration that Fu Hua was a pseudo True Immortal!
As such, what she received wasn’t merely memories or hints to her Venerated Dao.
It was a trump card.
“Only the fall of the future warrants rebirth.”
The future Fu Hua’s words remained deeply etched in her mind.
She shattered the ‘bar’ with a thought, reconstructing it as the lakeside she visited with Fuxi and Nuwa. She undressed, putting on her ‘proper’ daoist clothes. Her white-red hair reverted to ash-gray, and her scarlet-red irises turned bright blue. She was back to the regular Fu Hua, but she knew she was no longer her past self.
Fu Hua stared at the neatly folded bunny girl outfit, a conflicted expression appearing on her face. In the end, she did not burn it, storing the clothes inside her storage ring.
‘I need to meet with them.’
The nature of future projections was built upon a ‘possibility’. No matter how strong they were, they could not wantonly cause great changes to the present. Hence, Fu Hua’s trump card wasn’t limited to hers alone, requiring the cooperation of the other pseudo True Immortals.
Zoom-!
Before long, the Bubble World returned to its former silence.