After waking up, Lou Cheng was in a momentary daze as he tried to regain clarity of his mind; the last thing he remembered was after he went to meet a buyer for a special herb he needed to help his breakthrough into the Supernatural Realm.
However, something seemed to have gone wrong.
While he was trying to think clearly, a large number of memories rushed into his mind, explaining to him what happened to him ever since that day he went to the Alchemy Association Branch.
Immediately afterward, Lou Cheng had a complicated look on his face. Forget the fact that more than 200 years had passed but the fact that someone else has been living his life for him and no one even noticed it made him feel sad.
On top of all this, said person actually lived his life better than him. Based on his memories, Lou Cheng knew all the things that 'he" has accomplished.
To be exact, Lou Cheng found out that all his goals and dreams were accomplished: he became a powerful and respected Alchemist, he garnered the respect of his master and fellow disciples, and finally, he managed to swoop his third senior sister up her feet.
Although the last one was due to complications and foreign aid, Lou Cheng knew that he succeeded.
Nevertheless, he was not happy.
Not only because he felt insulted that his life was stolen from him but because he kept wondering whether he could accomplish all these things on his own; whether he had the potential all along but never fully realized it.
So, he pondered deeply about the reason for Wang Wei's success, and he pinpointed it to one specific thing: the Innate Talent. It was just one basic talent with the ability to grow.
Yet, this person who took over his body developed it to the point of making him one of the youngest Saint Alchemists of this generation.
'Could I be able to develop my talent to such an extent?'
The answer he came up with was no, however, Lou Cheng quickly denied this. It was very possible to develop his Innate Talent to that level. Although it would probably take him his entire cultivation career to do so, he believed that he could have succeeded.
Then, came the Flame Emperor Trial. Lou Cheng admitted that with his talent, he could probably barely pass the first trial and probably not receive any rewards.
As for the Innate Pill Technique, he did not think that he had the imagination or ingenuity to create something like this, let alone find a way to make them come true.
After thinking deeply about these things, Lou Cheng lamented for a while about how fate was unfair; the difference between people is sometimes too outrageous.
He has long accepted the fact that he was not that talented, however, he still believed that he could make up for it with hard work and dedication. And to some extent, that is true, but what about the talented people that worked as hard as him?
How would he ever surpass them?
After sighing internally, he focused on a specific memory; it was this memory that made him most upset about himself. It was the memory of Wang Wei saving his third senior sister from the aphrodisiac released by the Infatuation Flower.
Lou Cheng knew that if it was him in that situation, he would never be able to resist that poison and harmed his third senior sister. And knowing her, after what he had done, she would decide to marry him to keep her traditional values.
Honestly, Lou Cheng felt very complicated thinking about this; he never thought that he had a real chance with Lan Ling, so he was satisfied with pinning over her from a long distance.
However, if he managed to get with her through this method, he did know whether he would be happy and sad over this.
Finally, Lou Cheng sighed out loud before looking at the stranger in his cave.
…
Wang Wei watched Lou Cheng's face change over and over again in just a few seconds. Obviously, the latter was undergoing a myriad of emotions. So, he just waited for him to process everything before he spoke.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Are you going to kill me?" responded Lou Cheng instead.
"If I was, you would never have woken up." Wang Wei never planned to kill him, however, he did plan to leave everything in a somewhat messy state after getting what he wanted.
Anyway, by then, he would have given Lou Cheng wealth, status, and even a possible Dao Companion. Whether he could retain these things was all up to his effort and abilities,
However, the appearance of the Flame Emperor made it so that he had to be more delicate when planning his exit. Additionally, he wanted to see if he could peep at the latter's plan through observing Lou Cheng.
"So, why did you wake up my consciousness?"
"Do you know who I am?" asked Wang Wei.
"You're the Sacred Son of the Dao Opening Sect." Lou Cheng was forced to watch the Academy Tournament by his master, including the final battle with Ji Song. So, he recognized the silver-grey hair and eyes.
After nodding his head, Wang Wei continued:
"I have a few things to explain to you. After I leave, you can go tell your master the truth about what happened–including me stealing, *slight cough*, borrowing the Emperor Scripture of your sect.
"Then, tell him that I owe him a great Karma. Once I become a Great Emperor, I will repay it to him."
"What if you don't become a Great Emperor?" suddenly asked Lou Cheng, and he immediately regretted his words. The person in front of him has the ability to kill him with a wave of a finger, so what would be his fate if his words antagonized him?
"In that case, the Dao Opening Sect would repay the Karma. In the future, if your sect ever needed help, they will step up to help."
Lou Cheng nodded his head without saying anything else. So, Wang Wei continued:
"Additionally, tell your master that I will not tell a second person about the Scripture; he can have my words." Wang Wei paused for a brief moment.
"Well, besides one other person, and she will also swear an oath not to reveal it to anyone else, even her descendants."
Since he already owed such a large Karma, he might as well add a little more.
Lou Cheng was confused as to whom he was referring to but since he could not think of anything, he did not dwell on the issue. As for Wang Wei's promise, he believed it.
He knew that Heaven Chosens on his level take their words and oath seriously as breaking them can affect their state of mind and negatively influenced their Emperor Path.
After explaining a few other things to him, Wang Wei spent the next few weeks teaching Lou Cheng so that he can use his Innate Talent and reach the level of Saint Alchemist as well.
That way, no one will notice any anomalies after leaving. Everything went smoothly during the process. In such a short time, Lou Cheng quickly adapted to his body and learned everything that he needed to.
Whether it was refining Saint Pill or using the Innate Pill Technique, he quickly mastered them. And this was not just because it was his body that contain muscle memories of countless years of practice.
It was because now his talent was very high because of what the Flame Emperor did to him. Lou Cheng's talent now was probably on par with Fu Caiyun, if not better.
During the entire teaching process, Wang Wei secretly observed Lou Cheng's body but he could not find anything. Even after secretly checking his Sea of Consciousness, he found out that the [Ten Thousand Flame Art] was still sealed.
So, Wang Wei realized that it was futile for him at his level to try to guess the scheme of a possible Paragon. So, he turned into Lou Cheng one last time and left the Origin Pill Dao Sect.
Once he arrived at the city where the Alchemy Association was located, he separated from the latter. During the process, the True Monarch that was secretly protecting him did not notice anything.
Finally, Wang Wei turned into some random Alchemist and left the territory of the Origin Pill Dao Sect.
Meanwhile, Lou Cheng rushed back to the sect. He knew that Fu Caiyun was most likely plotting to assassinate him. Although he was informed that a True Monarch was secretly protecting him, Lou Cheng only felt safe inside the sect.
After returning, he went straight to see his master. However, he received information that the latter would only exit his seclusion in another week. So, Lou Cheng returned to his cave.
As soon as he got there, he entered a deep state of meditation to check the ban on his Sea of Consciousness. Oddly though, as soon as he touched the ban, it was removed and he gained access to the [Ten Thousand Flame Art] along with a bunch of other information.
After digesting it, Lou Cheng opened his eyes with a look of horror.
"Dao Proving Pill? How is that possible?"
