Neo opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was a blurry ceiling made of rough wood.

There were shadows on the walls, and soft voices echoed faintly.

He tried to move, but his body felt tiny and weak.

Then he realized something.

He wasn't an adult anymore.

Someone lifted him gently.

Warm hands.

A soft blanket.

A woman's voice saying comforting words he couldn't fully understand.

He looked around slowly.

'This place…'

'True Blessed Lands. I reincarnated here.'

Time passed.

He grew up in a small village.

His parents were simple people.

They were hard-working, and kind.

They treated him with genuine affection.

As a child, he smiled often.

He laughed when his father lifted him high.

He held his mother's hand when she took him to gather water from the stream.

They were not warriors or cultivators.

Just ordinary people living an ordinary life.

And Neo grew up quietly in that warmth.

Years passed.

When he turned sixteen, the sky felt heavier than usual.

The house was quiet.

The villagers gathered behind him.

Neo stood in front of a small pyre.

Two bodies had already turned to ash.

His parents.

He bowed his head slowly.

"Thank you for giving birth to me," he whispered in his mind.

The parents he had in this life were "NPCs" created inside the True Blessed Land.

That was what the Celestial Worthy had designed them to be.

But Neo no longer thought of them as that.

They laughed.

They loved.

They made choices on their own.

They lived as real people.

Even if they could never leave the True Blessed Land, it didn't matter.

Inside this place, they were human.

"Neo…"

Sarah hugged him from behind.

Her voice shook as she tried not to cry.

She was the village chieftain's daughter.

His closest friend.

They had grown up together, often running through the fields and getting scolded by elders.

"I-It's fine… don't cry," she said quietly.

She was the one crying.

Yet Neo didn't say anything.

He only stared at the ashes and let the silence settle.

Since this place was True Blessed Land, Neo couldn't affect their life or death unless he wanted to devour them, and then revive them.

But he didn't.

They had lived a full life.

They had died a natural death.

It felt wrong to disturb that.

However, knowing he could revive them, but was not doing that made his heart twist painfully.

His fists tightened.

His emotions spiraled in ways he hadn't felt in a long time.

For weeks, Neo barely moved.

He slept, stared at the ceiling, and drifted through each day without purpose.

Even though he had lived countless lives, the death of parents was hard on him. They had treated him kindly and loved him with all their heart.

The villagers checked on him often.

Sarah visited him the most.

She always tried to talk, even when he barely answered.

"I should stop moping around," Neo whispered one morning.

But even then, he stayed lying on the straw bed.

His body felt heavy.

His thoughts floated like dust.

"Heavenly Records," he murmured. "How much time is left?"

[Roughly ten years, master.]

When Neo was resurrected in this life, he still couldn't use his abilities.

However, he realized he had managed to devour the Cultivator Bai Zhen.

"I am Dao, and Dao is I," Neo said to himself.

The orb that had appeared inside Neo's consciousness back then was Cultivator Bai Zhen.

It was his Dao.

The sum of their life.

His identity.

His Path.

If Neo devoured another cultivator, another orb — their Dao — would appear inside his consciousness as well.

"Moraine's Darkness Authority is definitely stronger than Darkness Firmament. But I feel like she could not have devoured a Dao like Darkness Firmament."

The only reason Neo could do it was because Darkness Firmament had been created by a Heavenbreaker.

Because of that, it could devour the Dao of others.

Which led to his current situation.

He now had the complete memories of Cultivator Bai Zhen.

Not only memories, but knowledge.

History of the [True World].

Traditions.

Techniques.

Proper ways to use Qi (World Energy).

Concepts he had never fully understood before.

The more he learned, the more he realized how lacking he had been.

"I was like a swordsman fighting with a dull sword," he said softly.

Since Neo was strong, even a dull sword could slice through his opponents, but the fact remained that with a sharp sword everything would be much easier

At least, now Neo won't have this problem anymore.

Everything was good.

Except one thing.

The Path of Cultivator Bai Zhen.

It was…. problematic.

Since it was a completely different Path, it was taking time to integrate itself into Neo.

And unless Neo could integrate the new Path into himself, he wouldn't get the [Third Step] Cultivation of Cultivator Bai Zhen.

Until now, Neo had been devouring extensions of Paths—Elemental Gods and Awakeners.

These people were just following the Elemental Path, and Evolution Path, so integrating these people and their powers into himself was easy.

However, integrating an entire Path into himself turned out to be hard.

"Since it's taking so much time, I'm still a normal mortal."

Of course, this was no longer a problem.

As soon as Neo integrated Cultivator Bai Zhen's Path into himself, he would gain new abilities, powers and reach Third Step and gain a new Cosmos.

With energy of new Cosmos, Neo would be instantly able to repay the [Loan].

"I just need to wait for ten more years."

But that was easier said than done.

Even now, Neo was feeling the location of Elizabeth and Vivi.

They were either in far off distance, or busy, which had left them unable to approach him.

He anted to go meet them, but currently he was a mortal.

"Just ten more years."

And everything would end.

As a Third Step Cultivator (Heavenbreaker), Neo would be strong enough to fight on equal footing with Apollyon, if not defeat him outright.

At least, that was what Neo believed.

"Dammit, I can't sleep. I guess I will just mediate."

No matter how much neo tried, his thoughts kept returning to his current life's deceased parents. They had died a natural death.

But it still pained him.

He wanted to meet Hades and his mother.

He believed that would calm his emotions.

But meeting Hades….

Neo kept postponing that.

"I need to clear my thoughts. I should focus on Daos."

According to the memories of Cultivator Bai Zhen, there were thirty-two Daos.

Each Dao was like a "direction".

Every Path — of whether Cultivator or Heavenbreaker — would fall in one of these directions (Dao).

Neo currently had three Daos.

Dao of Absolute Transcendence.

Dao of Shadows Beyond the World.

Dao of Devouring.

His current Mastery in Dao of Absolute Transcendence was First Step.

He would reach Third Step in Dao of Shadows Beyond the World after he integrated the Path of Cultivator Bai Zhen.

Dao of Devouring was at zero Steps.

Neo had gained access to it.

However, he would have to build a Path on it, or steal a Path by devouring someone else, to increase the mastery of his Dao.

Daos had rank too.

Dao of Blood was what Ultris followed. This contained the Path of Evolution.

Dao of Blood was ranked twenty eighth.

According to memories of Cultivator Bai Zhen, long ago a man named Ultris had appeared in True World.

He had come to Heavenly Sect to train, claiming he wanted strength for his revenge.

But since he didn't had a [Spirit Root], he was denied entry.

After that, Ultris scammed a Cultivator who had left the sect for mission.

Ultris got the cultivation method through scamming, and then ran away. The Heavenly Sect launched search operations.

This was the first time a non-member of Heavenly Sect gained a cultivation method. Cultivation methods were always kept as a closely guarded secret.

However, they were unable to catch Ultris.

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