Chapter 444: A Fellow Traveler's Mark

"Master," Azure's voice carried a note of grim confirmation, "I've been analyzing the energy patterns since we arrived, and I have to agree with your conclusion. The similarities between Xuan Yi and blue sun energy aren't superficial, they're fundamental. At the deepest level, Xuan Yi really is a derivative of blue sun energy."

I stayed silent for a long moment, letting this revelation settle into my understanding of the situation.

In a xianxia world where the impossible became routine, I'd always known it was likely that I wasn't the only world walker. Whether that was because someone else had cultivated the World Tree Sutra, or they had developed a completely different method to traverse realities, I'd always accepted there was a possibility that during my cultivation journey I would encounter another.

But what I hadn't expected was to come across one, or at least the influence of one, without having even left my sect.

The Realm of the Chosen belonged to the Azure Peak Sect, whether because it had originally belonged to a former Civilization Realm member or through some kind of acquisition. Which meant either the world walker was an Azure Peak member, past or present, or was someone closely associated with the sect.

I frowned, considering the implications.

From what I'd observed, I felt it was unlikely that the creator of this Realm of the Chosen was actually a world walker themselves. This inner world didn't have the telltale signs I would expect, no variety of energy systems from different worlds, no obvious influence of multiple civilizations' cultures blended together.

It was more probable that the creator of this realm had been associated with a world walker, and had possibly been given blue sun energy to experiment with. From those experimentations, Xuan Yi had been born.

I already knew that Life Realm and Civilization Realm experts would go through extraordinary lengths to experiment with foreign energy types. It was one of the reasons I'd hidden the two suns energies for so long.

While all inner worlds started with qi as their foundation, once a cultivator entered the Civilization Realm, the cultivation methods used by their inhabitants became a huge factor in progressing their own advancement. Having a more unique energy type could contribute significantly to that progression, especially if it complemented the cultivator's primary cultivation method.

So, the scenario I was imagining went something like this: a cultivator had developed an inner world based on the Dao of Belief, probably someone with genuine conviction and noble intentions. Then they encountered a world walker who had visited the Two Suns world and somehow obtained blue sun energy samples.

Seeing that blue sun energy specialized in creation and consciousness manipulation, the cultivator had probably thought it was perfectly suited for their people, much better than pure qi for a realm focused on belief and conviction.

Unfortunately, as I'd learned through painful experience, blue sun energy was fundamentally corrupted. It only made sense that anything derived from it would also carry that corruption, like a spiritual virus that transformed whatever it touched.

This would explain why the realm had shifted from being based on the pure Dao of Belief into what I was witnessing now, a reality following the Dao of Delusion, where every single thing was convinced of its own importance to an absurd degree.

The corruption had likely driven the original cultivator insane as well, which would explain why this inner world had eventually been absorbed by the sect and was now being used for tournaments rather than being actively maintained by its creator.

"Master," Azure said quietly, "this is exactly why you've been so cautious about sharing the two suns energies with Wei Lin and the others, isn't it?"

"Yes," I replied internally. "Until I have a permanent method to purify them, something more reliable than the Genesis Seed's protection that I can extend to others, I won't put anyone else at risk."

But what concerned me most was a more fundamental question: had the world walker knowingly or unknowingly spread this poisonous energy? The answer to that would tell me what kind of person I might eventually encounter.

If they'd known blue sun energy was corrupted and had shared it anyway, that painted a picture of someone either malicious or recklessly irresponsible. If they'd been ignorant of the corruption, it suggested someone who might be a potential ally, someone I could warn about the dangers they'd unknowingly spread.

It would also give me some idea of when the world walker had visited the Two Suns world, and whether they might still be making trips there.

I'd traveled to the Two Suns world multiple times, yet I'd never come across anything that suggested others from the Cultivation World had also visited.

No traces of qi-based cultivation, no rumors among the locals of strange foreigners with impossible abilities, no signs of advanced techniques being introduced from outside their reality.

This suggested several possibilities. Either the world walker had kept an extremely low profile during their visits, not leaving any lasting imprint on that world. Or they'd visited years, possibly centuries or millennia, ago, and their actions had been lost to time.

There was also the possibility that the time loop the Two Suns world was locked in had erased their mark once each cycle concluded, though that seemed less likely.

Kal would remember previous loops, and given his personality, he would definitely have been interested in a world walker and how that could help the Two Suns World’s situation. But from my experience with him, Kal hadn't shown any signs of knowing such a thing was even possible.

I shook my head, there just wasn’t enough concrete information.

Without knowing the time differences between the Realm of the Chosen and the Cultivation World, it would be difficult to determine when the creator of this world had first introduced Xuan Yi to their inhabitants. Which meant it would be nearly impossible to figure out when the world walker had originally shown them blue sun energy.

And when you factored in the Two Suns world being locked in a time loop for who knows how long, the timeline became completely impossible to untangle.

For all I knew, this world walker could have done all of this thousands of years ago and was long dead by now. Or I could just be wrong about the entire thing.

Regardless, when I return to the sect, it’d be best to keep an eye out for any information about world walkers. If anyone would have answers about such things, it would be Sect Master Yuan. While he wasn't obligated to tell me anything, Yuan had seemed like a reasonable person during our brief encounter, and I might be able to learn something from him.

But what I needed to do right now was prepare for my battle with Yuan Zhen. After that concluded, I could spend time learning more about this world and its creator before leaving the realm.

Just as I was about to start working on a proper battle strategy, I felt a familiar stirring in the back of my mind.

Du Yanze was coming back online.

This was always the trickiest part of using someone as a vessel.

Unlike my experiences in the Realm of Living Lyrics, where I'd worked as a true partner with Mo Yuhang from the beginning, Du Yanze had been knocked out immediately upon entry, and now that some time had passed, his natural consciousness was reasserting itself.

I felt the moment his awareness fully returned, like a second stream of thought suddenly joining the river of my own consciousness.

“Where... where am I?”

“You're in your body,” I replied carefully. “But you're sharing it with me. I'm the divine being who chose you as a vessel, remember?”

"A divine being?"

There was wonder in his voice, but also something else. A wariness that surprised me.

"I remember... I called out to you. I was desperate. Everything was falling apart, and I thought..." He trailed off, and I could sense him examining our shared consciousness more carefully. "This is real, isn't it? You're actually here, in my body."

I'd expected the hot-headed protagonist type - someone who would immediately start talking about how he was chosen by destiny, how this proved his grandfather right about his special nature. But this Du Yanze seemed almost... normal? There was intelligence behind his voice, a thoughtfulness that didn't match the delusional young master I'd been prepared for.

“Are you alright?” I asked, genuinely curious about his mental state.

“I think so? Everything feels different, though. Clearer. Like I was looking at the world through dirty glass and someone finally cleaned it.”

Interesting.

Du Yanze had been on the verge of becoming a Disbeliever when I'd chosen him, his faith in his own destiny completely shattered. But this wasn't the bitter emptiness I'd expect from someone who'd lost all hope, or the manic energy I’d expect from someone clinging onto the last scraps of hope.

Instead, he seemed oddly at peace.

Then it hit me.

When I'd channeled qi earlier, it had evolved not just the ambient Xuan Yi, but also the energy flowing through Du Yanze's spiritual channels. The same purification effect that had freed the trees from blue sun programming had worked on my vessel's own cultivation base. But since the corrupted Xuan Yi didn’t affect my mental state, I didn’t even realise, I had just assumed the experiment had failed.

“Du Yanze,” I said slowly, “how do you feel about your destiny? About being chosen?”

“Honestly? I'm not sure I care anymore.” His voice carried a rueful chuckle. “For years, I built my entire identity around being special, being destined for greatness. But looking back on it now, that obsession made me miserable. I was so focused on proving I was the hero of my own story that I forgot to actually live.”

Fascinating. The qi had indeed purified his Xuan Yi, but instead of making him doubt everything like a Disbeliever, it had given him perspective. He could still believe in things; he just wasn't compelled to believe in grandiose delusions about himself.

“Wait,” Du Yanze's voice suddenly sharpened with alarm. “What is that enormous tree doing? And why is there a boulder looking at me?”

I glanced up at the ancient oak, whose massive form was indeed rather intimidating when you weren't expecting it. The Stone Emperor had positioned itself so it could observe everything, and its craggy surface did have an unmistakably watchful quality.

“Those are my friends,” I explained internally. “The tree is called... well, he never mentioned a name. And the boulder calls himself the Stone Emperor. They're both cultivators, actually.”

There was a moment of stunned silence before Du Yanze spoke again.

"You have Witnesses of Fate who are trees and rocks…”

“Something like that, though it's more complicated. Is that unusual?" I asked, genuinely curious about local customs.

"Most cultivators have human followers," Du Yanze replied, still sounding stunned. "Maybe spirit beasts if they're particularly accomplished. But I've never heard of someone whose Witnesses of Fate included geological formations and ancient trees."

As he said this, an interesting thought occurred to me.

I looked around the small forest clearing, noting the various plants and rocks scattered throughout.

The ancient oak had been freed from my compulsion and chosen to respect me anyway.

Little Bloom had been given awareness and decided I was "nice" entirely on her own.

The Stone Emperor remained terrified, but that was due to my accidental intimidation rather than programmed subservience.

What if I could awaken more of them? Not as servants or worshippers, but as truly independent beings who happened to think I was worth supporting? In a realm where belief literally shaped reality, having genuine believers, rather than manufactured ones, could be incredibly powerful.

And unlike the corrupted blue sun approach, adding qi to the equation when granting consciousness would likely preserve free will. The awakened beings would retain their ability to think critically and make their own choices.

The idea was intriguing, but I'd need to be careful. Even positive consciousness creation was a serious responsibility. Every being I awakened would be a real person with real needs and desires, not just a tool for my advancement.

Still, the potential was fascinating.

In a world where everyone believed they were the protagonist, maybe the real power came from being the one who helped others write their own stories.

A/N

As you can see, Ke Yin will not enslave the locals, he would rather have genuine Witnesses of Fate.