Chapter 785 - 733: Chess Game, Puppet? (2)
Six Paths.
The Independent Immortal, Six Paths. The very same Six Paths who had been on Earth for five hundred years!
In that instant, a chill crept up Qin Fan’s spine.
Why is it him! Why did it have to be him! Why such a coincidence! Why!
The fear that had just faded came crawling back onto his face. He wasn’t afraid of Six Paths. Rather, he was terrified of his own experiences over the past few centuries.
Once upon a time, he had thought that the cruel heavens, unable to bear his dark history of being oppressed, had arranged for the old man of the Heavenly Dao to appear out of the blue and take him from Earth to the Cangqiong Continent to start a new Chapter in his life. Even after being reborn under a heavenly tribulation and returning to this life, he hadn’t thought much of it, only feeling that it was destiny’s arrangement for him to avenge his past humiliations.
However, now, as Six Paths announced his own name, the word "scheme" surged into his mind.
Yes, a scheme! All of this was a scheme! Everything was a scheme laid out by someone else! Otherwise, there could not possibly be so many coincidences!
When he had first arrived on the Cangqiong Continent, news of the Independent Immortal Six Paths’s disappearance had spread across the entire continent. Though it was called a disappearance, most people believed that Six Paths had incurred divine punishment for his massacres. This disappearance had lasted for a full five hundred years. In those five hundred years, Qin Fan had heard the name countless times but had never once laid eyes on the man. It wasn’t just him; no one on the entire Cangqiong Continent had seen Six Paths in five hundred years. Rumor had it that he was on the verge of becoming an ascension legend in the Independent Immortal World, but then he had vanished without a trace.
Out of curiosity, Qin Fan had once inquired about Six Paths. Later, he discovered an answer that drove him mad: Six Paths was his master’s disciple. In other words, he was his own senior brother.
But the old man of the Heavenly Dao had never mentioned this, not until Qin Fan asked him directly. He had simply nodded and confirmed it but cautiously avoided discussing Six Paths any further. At the time, Qin Fan had assumed that this senior brother he had never met must have had some conflict with their master, so he tactfully refrained from asking more. As time passed, the matter gradually faded into oblivion. Even with the countless rumors about Six Paths that circulated over the next five hundred years, Qin Fan’s heart remained as still as water.
Now, he had been reborn. In this realm, a complete inversion of the Cangqiong Continent, Six Paths had appeared. He had appeared in Qin Fan’s world.
That year, when he was taken from Earth by his master, Six Paths disappeared from the Cangqiong Continent. It was as if their paths had merely brushed past each other. And that single moment of divergence spanned a full five hundred years.
A coincidence? No! Such a coincidence, where two people essentially swap planes of existence, is impossible! Even if it were possible, it could not be a coincidence of this magnitude!
Lost in thought, Qin Fan reflected on being taken away by the old man of the Heavenly Dao. He reflected on his rise on the Cangqiong Continent. He reflected on his fall during the Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. He reflected on his rebirth back into this life.
After failing his tribulation, he neither became an Independent Immortal nor perished into ashes. Instead, he was reborn into his past life, possessing a body of True Qi, retaining the Prison Suppressing Body, the Eyes of Golden Flame, and all the love and hate from his past life. Initially, Qin Fan had believed this was all a random favor from the heavens, as if destiny had decreed he should not die in such humiliation.
But now, after meeting the Six Paths he had never encountered before, connecting all these events was, upon deeper reflection, terrifying.
This wasn’t the benevolent grace of the cruel heavens! It was a chess game laid out by someone’s hand! In this game, I am a pawn. Six Paths is a pawn, too! Even the cultivators on the Cangqiong Continent who died by my hand were nothing more than captured pieces! But who is the player? Is it my master, the old man of the Heavenly Dao, or some other entity?
At this thought, Qin Fan’s mind fell into disarray, a complete and utter chaos. And amidst this mental turmoil, he felt a rising panic—a panic that seemed poised to swallow him whole. It was as if someone was monitoring his every move from the shadows, dictating his every step.
The feeling was horrifying.
In a flash, his back was drenched in cold sweat. His facial features began to distort uncontrollably, gradually becoming ferocious. If he were still the timid Qin Fan from his past life, he might not have reacted this way. But now, having experienced five hundred years of life-and-death slaughter on the Cangqiong Continent and the various killings since his rebirth, he had been fundamentally changed. His resigned nature was gone.
To be treated like a pawn, forced to follow a path set by others? No! I need to know the answer! I need to confirm if this is real! I will resist, I will break free from it all! I don’t care if it’s my master, the old man of the Heavenly Dao, or someone else. I will not accept the life of a puppet controlled by another!
His face grew more and more savage. His eyes began to emit a golden glow that seemed capable of dissolving all of creation. Ahead of him, under the assault of that golden light, the precious herbs and flowers instantly withered and crumbled to dust.
Qin Fan stood frozen in this stupor for a good ten minutes.
Six Paths was shocked by Qin Fan’s reaction but did not make a sound to disturb him. He understood that since Qin Fan had been on the Cangqiong Continent, it wasn’t strange for him to know his name. But was such an extreme reaction necessary? He couldn’t understand it, nor would he ask.
"If there’s a chance to return to the Cangqiong Continent, let me know. I’ll go back with you," a hoarse voice tore from Qin Fan’s throat.
After dropping that sentence, he took a step forward and walked away. What he wanted was peace, but if he couldn’t find the answers, he would never know peace in his lifetime. Not just him, but everyone around him would be restless as well. If he was a puppet being controlled by others, he was doomed to a terrible end. After all, a puppet is just a puppet. And a puppet will always be replaced.
SWISH!
Hearing Qin Fan’s icy voice and his sudden change in attitude, Six Paths’s eyes flew wide open. Had Qin Fan’s seemingly unshakeable conviction been shattered just because he had stated his name?
Impossible! I don’t believe my influence is that great! Besides, his tone was so chilling. There’s something wrong here, something very wrong!
He watched Qin Fan’s figure disappear through the stone wall that rose on its own. Only after Six Paths retracted his gaze did he notice that in front of him, a large patch of flowers and plants had completely withered away.
"Eyes of Golden Flame?"
The next second, he lost his composure and cried out in shock.
The Prison Suppressing Body. The Eyes of Golden Flame. Combined in one person.
Could it be... he’s the one from that legacy? Could it be... that legacy is real?
GULP. GULP. GULP!
His throat bobbed as his face turned deathly pale, a look of pure horror written across it.
After a long while, he took a deep breath, suppressing the shock on his face. He strode out of the garden, his steps much quicker than usual.
"Master!" Outside, Elder Ru Yi bowed respectfully. His expression, however, was tinged with worry, for he had caught a glimpse of Qin Fan’s face as he left.
"I’ve stayed for more than sixty years. It’s time to come out of seclusion," Six Paths said, his tone shifting from its previous calm to a deep gravity.
"Master, you’re leaving the pavilion?" Ru Yi’s eyes widened as he spoke with rushed excitement.
Unlike for Six Paths, the outside world was still a vibrant and colorful place for Ru Yi. Over the years, he had mostly remained by his master’s side. Even when his master had allowed him to roam the world, he had refused. He deeply remembered that he was a servant—his master’s servant. He never once forgot that his duty was to serve his master, not to marvel at the world. But that didn’t mean he didn’t yearn for it.
"Ru Yi, is your blade still sharp?" Six Paths asked with a nod.
"Master, wherever your sword points, I shall be invincible!"