The Legend of Min Hong

Min Hong began to narrate the story, which oblivious to Min Qing and Elder Yun, was the story of his own life, from his first life to the point where the Min Family was massacred.

Elder Yun listened attentively, whilst Min Qing used the story to distract her mind from its aroused state.

This silent environment, coupled with the serene atmosphere, the shinning stars and the brilliant auroras in the sky, melded together to form an extremely blissful atmosphere, causing Min Qing who was now, calm to smile so sweetly and coyly that, even the stars began to shin brighter in sheer envy.

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[Thoughts: Min Qing] – "… Not yet, If I tell him now, it might drive a wedge between us. He might not see me the same way anymore… if he changes his attitude towards me, I might not be able to live with it… But if he ends up knowing about it on his own, that might even be worse…" 

"Urgh… Secrets are truly costly to keep, I should have just told him at the first instance… (Sighs)… What am I to do now? I guess I would just have to wait for the perfect moment to tell him. But for now, I need to enjoy and savour this moment… it's truly a memory to behold…"

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They continued to listen to Min Hong's valiant and heroic story until Min Qing fell asleep.

Then when Min Hong noticed it, he paused the story and silence reigned everywhere.

They were over desert lands, so there weren't any frogs or many chirping insects, but there were fireflies. 

Min Hong simply looked at Min Qing's face which was currently adorned with a coy smile and a deep feeling of warmth surged through him.

He smiled dotingly at her as he shifted her bangs behind her ear to get a very clear look at her before turning to face the sky once more.

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[Thoughts: Min Hong] – "(Sighs Deeply) … Is this how parents feel about their children? Or have I just missed mum so much that, I can't even tell the difference between them anymore?"

"I can't seem to define my feelings towards her (Min Qing). It contains the caring and doting feeling one has towards a highly cherished treasure... Perhaps it's just because we are kin."

"But there is also this part of me that makes me want to hoard her all to myself. Aa part that doesn't want her to look up to any other person asides me…I want to be all she needs and wants… It's like, I selfishly don't want her to love anyone asides me…" 

"(Sighs Deeply) … I guess the least I can do right now is my duty as a brother. Protect her in all fronts and make sure she suffers no losses. Yes, that is it! Just being with her and protecting her is enough for me. As long as she's happy, then I'm happy…"

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After sorting his thoughts and emotions, Min Hong once again looked at her and smiled.

Then he kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly as Min Qing subconsciously responded by shrinking into his embrace as she dozed off. 

As they both cuddled in the somewhat romantic atmosphere, their souls both descended into a state of pure inner peace. Then;

Twish!

Something broke within Min Hong. It was like a balloon which had swollen to its elastic limits due to being filled up with water and then poked with a searing hot needle.

As this happened enormous amount of soul force swarmed over from the entire surroundings. 

Then they began to surge into Min Hong who didn't even bother to seat cross-legged and meditate.

Instead, he just laid there, cuddling with Min Qing whilst allowing these massive amounts of soul force to do as they wished.

Soul force continued to gather from the surrounding and poured into Min Hong who had his soul power begin to rapidly swell at an alarming rate.

Immediately, the two Dao flowers within him began to absorb and suck these soul force as they began to grow taller and longer. 

Just as they did that, their roots also dug deeper into the core of Min Hong's soul and began to spreads out.

The roots of these two Dao flowers (Oblivion and Chaos), continued to dig deeper, looking to establish a deeper and firmer foundation within Min Hong's soul.

This continued for about half an hour until another leaf sprouted to life.

The leaves on these two Dao flowers were radiating an archaic aura, as the runes etched on them began to glitter. 

The runes on their stems and roots were also glittering as they squirmed up and down the stems and branches of these two Dao flowers.

They seem to be the one absorbing soul force from Min Hong and then feeding it to these Dao flowers as their leaves keeps blooming. 

The moment the leaf on the Oblivion flower bloomed, Min Hong's soul force which was previously in the level of a Low-grade Black Tier level rose to the Mid-grade level.

When the leaf on the Chaos flower then bloomed, it surged once more into the High-grade level. 

After the soul force absorption continued for about half an hour, it then began to wane as it gradually came to a stop.

The moment this happened, Min Hong finally thought of going to nap, but the runes on the two Dao flowers were still lit, clearly things weren't finished yet. 

So, Min Hong sat cross-legged and entered his sea of consciousness to check what was happening within his soul.

He opened his eyes atop the hovering futon and saw the mindless demon soul of Yao Ming wandering around Min Rou's room, where his soul futon was situated. 

Immediately, Min Hong stood guard as he solemnly bellowed at it. "Oi! How did you get here? Are you looking to take control of my soul?" he aggressively asked. 

But contrary to his expectations, the demon soul just took a curious glance at him for a bit and then turned around to continue its wandering.

Min Hong was stunned, but after a brief period of contemplation, he contacted Little Wu. 

Ten breaths later, Little Wu appeared within the room and was also shocked at the sight of the wandering demon soul.

Then he and Min Hong exchanged bewildered gazes as they silently began to follow it. But after series of different probing, they didn't get any reaction of any sort.

"Little Wu, do you know what is going on?" Min Hong asked when he noticed the amusing and ridiculing smile plastered on Little Wu's face.

"You haven't noticed it yet?" Little Wu spoke without looking at Min Hong. "His memory has been wiped clean and there's only one thing that could have the capacity to do so…" He added.

Min Hong grew increasingly confused. He was wondering who or what could have the ability to wipe off the memory of someone who was currently as strong as Little Wu himself, but no matter how he racked his brain, he couldn't come to a conclusion.

"You still haven't figured it out?" Little Wu finally glanced at Min Hong whose confusion was heavily plastered across his face. "You remembered when the 'great creator' graced us with the presence of its thoughts?"

"You mean that time that we were pressured by the 'great creator's aura?" Min Hong replied.

"That wasn't its aura, it was just a fragment of its thoughts. But yeah, that time. I was only able to survive because I knew it was the 'great creator' and I could quickly beg for mercy. You were also able to survive, because of the protection of the Primus Dao."

"But for him who knew nothing about what went on in the dimension, he might have thought it was one of us that was trying to pressure him with our aura. So instead of begging for mercy, he might have resisted or retaliated, and there's only one outcome for anyone who does that."

"Absolute annihilation… But the reason why I was initially shocked was because only his memory got wiped…" Little Wu voiced his perspective of the situation.

"From what I can remember from the war I saw at that bridge of statues, the 'great creator' doesn't seem to be an entity who likes taking the life of any living being… Moreover, aren't memories the only proof that one is alive?" Min Hong added thoughtfully.

"That's right. So, in a way, Yao Ming still died since his consciousness doesn't exist anymore… Hm… I like this side of you, you should use your head more often." Little Wu blandly spoke as Min Hong rolled his eyes at him, seemingly uninterested in bickering with him.

"But anyways, this turned out to be extremely profitable for you…" Little Wu voiced out.

"What do you mean?" Min Hong asked, unapprehensive of the meaning within his statement.

"Once you get the Nihility flame, you would merge it into your flame nascent soul and create a new super-flame nascent soul. But this… this is a demon soul which is the embodiment of both the Darkness and Yin Law. You can absorb this demon soul to form a nascent soul."

"But the demonic nature of this soul might affect me. I would rather keep it sealed and use it as a last resort, should I need to transfer my consciousness into it." Min Hong suggested.

"That is a really good idea, but I pray that day never comes." Little Wu replied. "Since we are done here, I will be heading back to my ancestral statue to cultivate. I have noticed that cultivating my soul body there is extremely beneficial to me."

"Alright you can go ahead. Thanks for your quick response though…" Min Hong smiled lightly.

"My pleasure. Moreover, you still have a body to forge for me so till then your problems are also my problems." Little Wu yawned lazily as he replied.

"Speaking of problems, how do you think I can overcome that?" Min Hong pointed to the sky within his Mind Palace and the situation happening within the sky was displayed on a screen.

It depicted a tear in the heavens and a menacing and aggressive, massive, flood dragon was currently slithering out of the tear.

Little Wu also looked up and when he saw it, he was slightly stunned but he still recovered quickly and advised.

"You should only be in the Peak-grade Grey Tier mental force level, which means you will be able to step into the Black Tier level should you overcome this tribulation. But that is no ordinary tribulation. I guess something has affected your tribulation, for it to be this strong."

"Do you think it is because of the oath I swore?" Min Hong voiced out his guess.

"What do you take the heavens for? They aren't that petty…" Little Wu rolled his eyes at Min Hong as he spoke. "I guess the tribulation can sense the strength of your Daos, and using that as a basis to predict your power level, it responded with that much force." Little Wu explained.

"You will not survive that tribulation with just your mental and soul force alone. So, you should use the technique you obtained from the initial comprehension of your Dao to overcome it." Little Wu added as his frown deepened at the sight of the incoming flood dragon. 

"What do you mean? I haven't obtained any technique from my Dao comprehension yet…" Min Hong responded quickly.

He was also getting frantic by the sheer power of this tribulation.

"Urgh… You mutt!" Little Wu was somehow getting frustrated at Min Hong. He seemed to expect Min Hong to understand what he was talking about.

"It is the first fruit you get when your Dao seed matures into a flower. Just pluck it and absorb it into your soul…" He explained.

"Oh right, I seemed to have seen something like that on the Oblivion Dao-flower…" Min Hong quickly sat atop his futon as his consciousness sank deep within his soul. 

There he saw the two Dao flowers and shockingly there was a fruit on both Dao flowers.

The Oblivion first-fruit and the Chaos first-fruit were both pitch-black in colour.

So, Min Hong approached and after a brief contemplation, he plucked the oblivion first-fruit. 

The moment he touched the fruit, he was transported into a dimension. Within this dimension, Min Hong saw many galaxies and constellations.

Then he saw a specific black sphere deep within a corner of this universe.

This black sphere was vigorously and aggressively pulling all the stars, planets and galaxies around it inward and was sucking all their energies and matter as these stars and planets began to crumble and lose their brightness. 

It continued to suck in everything, and the more it devoured, the more its energy rose and its area of influence spread out.

It started from the corner of that universe and gradually devoured all planets, stars, moons, suns, asteroids and basically all the bodies in the void. 

Then, as it grew bigger and bigger, its energy and area of influence spread wider and wider until it eventually devoured everything in sight, leaving only itself hovering there within the void.

It was already full to the brim with energy. 

Then, Min Hong could sense that the black sphere had begun to grow unstable seemingly because it had absorbed much more energy than it can contain.

This instability grew in momentum as the ball began to vibrate, grow hot and glow in a bright black light.

When this vibration and glow reached its highest, a massive eruption occurred as the infinite amount of energy and matter erupted from the black sphere and spread into every corner of the void. 

These energies and matter then began to fuse with one another and just like that, new stars, planets, suns, moons began to form once again.

They continued to multiply until another set of galaxies, constellation and universe was born again. 

Then the black sphere which seemed listless from being overfed with matter and energy began to regain its momentum once more and then it began to gradually suck in energy and matter again.

Repeating the entire cycle once more. 

Min Hong stood within this dimension and kept looking at the scene, over and over and over and over and over again (Lol…) and over and over again.

Then after what seemed to be a very long time, his brows atop the futon trembled slightly.

Then he mumbled slightly to himself; "So, that's what it is unh? This is one heaven-defying technique. Oblivion, you didn't disappoint me at all. Fantastic!" He smiled lightly.

Little Wu noticed his mumblings and slight smile as he trembled and almost fell from his staff.

[Thoughts: Little Wu] – "(In deep shock) … Eh. That was fast… He had already comprehended the technique. One must know that the stronger the Dao, the harder the comprehension of its techniques. But he just comprehended the technique of one of the top five Daos in existence." 

"I guess he really has some ability after all. I initially thought he was just a random human that possessed abnormal luck. Looks like I was truly mistaken this time. Good, good! He has obtained his first 'Divine Ability'."

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[Thoughts: Author] - *Divine Abilities are techniques that are unique to only one particular person. This is because they stem out of one's comprehension of a specific Dao. Furthermore, Daos never give the exact same technique to two different people…*