"You have died, child." The speaker's voice was deep and smooth, speaking to the figure that stood in front of him.
That figure was the boy Yuxuan.
Yuxuan had been looking around this endless white space as if his mind tried to resist, to deny the reality that his mind had realised, but after hearing the man, that resistance started to crumble quickly after.
Yuxuan looked at the being that spoke. The man's appearance was young and yet dignified; he looked like a 35-year-old man with raven-black hair that flowed long below his shoulders; his hazel-brown eyes reflected Yuxuan's own widened eyes.
"W...what did you say!?"
The man let out a sigh and held his hands behind his back.
"It is as I've said, you are dead."
Yuxuan fell to the ground on his knees, and hunching over, his hands punched the ground as he fought back the tears.
That did not last long – "What did I do to deserve such a pathetic life!?"
He let out another punch – "Why?!"
The figure simply stood there and watched, letting him release all the emotions; it took almost 10 minutes for him to reel himself in.
If Yuxuan was not so logic-orientated, his emotions may have raged for a much longer time; he had been through a lot after all.
His mother died, and his father had believed the lies of his brother and sister, choosing them as heirs and leaving him for the street.
The moment passed after a while, and eventually he stopped crying, and the sniffles faded. The man spoke again.
"Your life has been wrongfully unfair, hasn't it... 18 years of agony and betrayal."
Yuxuan got into a sitting position and raised his head, looking at the man.
"...it has."
The man seemed taken aback – "Ho? You've collected yourself rather quickly."
"If I'm dead, that means I don't have to worry about my past, does it not?"
"I suppose, but have you no regrets?"
"...No, if anything, I... I know I did my best."
"Hmm, you have."
There was an odd silence that appeared, broken by Yuxuan.
"Are you God?"
The being's eyes sparkled - "I am one of the gods."sparkled – "I
"Ah, so there really were many of you..."
"Yes..."
"...Can I ask why I am here speaking to a god? Should I not be in heaven or hell? or is the cycle of reincarnation real?"
"HuHu" – The God chuckled – "Reincarnation."
"I see... so is it true I will be given new life based on the sins of my last?"
"You ask many questions."
Yuxuan suddenly felt a cold sweat form on his forehead, he had not registered the consequences of speaking to a Divine being.
"Do not worry I am here to explain everything..." - He stopped and allowed his lip to curve into a smile. - "And yes, I can read your mind, so do not speak until I am done with my explanation."
Yuxuan, with widened eyes, nodded slowly.
"The Gods, invluding myself, have decided to grant you another chance..." - He raised his hand in a gesture to stop Yuxuan from speaking again in shock.
"We are aware that you are quite fond of the world of Reverend Insanity, yes?"
Yuxuan nodded despite knowing his thoughts had already answered and gave forward a question too.
"Hmm, mortals do not realise that truth do they... Yes, the world of Reverent Insanity is a reality, a reality amongst many. The people you call 'Authors' by miracle get a glimpse of the other worlds to form your stories."
Yuxuan's eyes widened – 'What?!'
"Well, anyway... Your life has been very cruel, which we gods have seen, and despite that hardship, you tried to persevere through it all, so we have made the decision to send you to your favourite world."
He watched as Yuxuan's eyes widened and glistened.
"You will be given 3 wishes; these wishes can be anything within a range."
He smiled - "You must know that your life is also a source of entertainment for us Gods so you can stop thanking me in your mind, this is for us as well... anyway, you can become a Venerable if you want or even have everybeing in a region be subserviant to you..."
"Tell me your questions."
"... Can I choose anything?"
"You can, the range of your wishes are practivally infinite provided it gives us some entertainment. Maybe you can become rank 9, who knows maybe you have a rank 9 Gu? Perhaps a beautiful women? or even many"
"So... At what part of the story will I be transported?" - Yuxuan spoke, still with a bit of disbelief.
"Qing Mao Mountain, the same day as the original protagonist returns to"
There was a smile that spread onto his face.
'That means that I don't have to waste a wish on setting a specific time.'
The God laughed - "Yes that does not count as a wish but I suggest you start to think of what you want"
Yuxuan started to think, his mind trying to determine the ideal wishes to make.
"Is it possible to change my constitution in the Gu world?"
"Hmm, can you be more specific?"
"I want to have the Rank 10 Sovereign Immortal Foetus Gu with the Immortal Aperture, but I also want to start off with a regular mortal aperture too. Also, is it possible to make it completely unaffected by heaven's will?"
"Well, that was very specific indeed."
Before Yuxuan could speak, the god raised a finger and shot out a bright light that hit him.
"Having Sovereign Immortal Foetus Gu at rank 10 from the start already means that you will be free from heaven's will – as for your request with regard to having a mortal aperture too, it has been done as well, but it will only form after the ceremony, and you are not truly an immortal yet; you just have the immortal body and aperture. This means dao marks can only be received through annexing other apertures. Being free from heaven's will means you will be free from heavenly tribulations."
Yuxuan felt the reality of the situation set in fully; his body and his mind felt like they were overflowing – he could also feel something in his chest.
That was greater than what he originally wanted.
"Hmm, the sovereign aperture has been placed in your chest to accommodate your other aperture in your dantian."
"Your next wish?"
Yuxuan felt the power flowing and got a little greedy – "Can I have every Immortal Gu?"
The God paused for a second – "... No."
"Why not?" - Yuxuan seemed to deflate
"There must still be something interesting for us to watch; if you have every Gu, then what do we watch when you destroy an enemy that can't even fight back?"
"Fair enough, I guess ... So, what's the limit on the Gu?"
"3 immortal gu of any rank; you can design them if you wish."
Yuxuan stepped up from the ground like a rocket.
"What?!"
"Yes, even if it's 3 completely overpowered Gu, it should provide us some interesting thoughts and actions to watch."
Yuxuan started to pace.
'Any 3 Gu...'
He walked like that for 5 minutes; the god followed him with eyes that widened and narrowed with each thought that formed in Yuxuan's head. This human's mind was quite impressive.
But soon the conclusion had been reached.
"So do I just read out the specifications to you and you make it?"
"Yes" – The God smiled after seeing what Yuxuan had settled on, and seeing his excitement, he allowed Yuxuan to say it regardless of already knowing.
"Okay so, the first Gu is a self-reliant rank 10 Gu called Divine Copy Gu. It allows me to completely make 1 identical copy of something that I have seen, and the copy works the exact same – regardless if it's an immortal Gu or a secluded domain of heaven and earth or even a person."
"HuHuHu, how intriguing! Here."
He pointed the finger once more, and a small hand-held mirror flew into Yuxuan's body.
"The next one?"
"Essence Stone Gu, another self-reliant Rank 10 Gu. It produced 1000 essence stones of each rank giving each rank of essence - mortal primeval stones, immortal essence stones that give 1000 rank 6 essence stones, 1000 rank seven, 1000 rank eight and a 1000 rank nine"
"That's stepping very close to the realm of what is not allowed... but honestly, I personally want to see how your enemies deal with this."
The finger was pointed again, and a rainbow-coloured stone appeared and flew into Yuxuan's body."
"Your last Gu?"
"...Endless Servitude Gu, a Rank 10 Gu that when used on someone makes them your servant completely. They can have their own goals and opinions, but I will always come above that. They will do anything I want and will trust me completely, and also, this Endless Servitude Gu is a constant; no method that has existed, currently exists or will exist can undo this."
"Haha, what a cruel plan you have for this one."
Yuxuan smiled – "Thank you for your kind words."
"Hmm, now choose your last wish."
Yuxuan started to think again.
This was his last wish; he would need something that the God before him deemed not too insane but also something that would help him in his story.
A spark went off in Yuxuan's head.
"I take it that I can't have supreme grandmaster attainment in all paths?"
"No, it would be boring if you possessed all the knowledge at once. Like the Gu, I will allow 3 Supreme Grandmaster attainment levels."
Yuxuan started to think again.
"Is it possible to lower the attainment level for more lower levels?"
"Yes, it is possible. You can trade 1 supreme grandmaster for 2 quasi-supreme or 4 grandmasters. I take it you get the idea."
"Hmm... but what to choose..."
He already was an immortal, essentially at least.
"Can I have a Supreme Grandmaster in the Refinement Path?"
The god shot a beam at his head, and Yuxuan felt all the attainments of the refinement path flow into him.
It was empowering.
"Can I have a quasi-supreme grandmaster in Dream Path and Heaven Path?"
"Ho ho... To choose such a unique path for those two... I will allow it."
Yuxuan was thinking ahead; Heaven Path had far too much potential, and so did Dream Path.
"So for this last attainment level, can I divide it into multiple lower levels?"
"As I said earlier, yes, you can."
Yuxuan heard that and started to count.
"1 supreme grandmaster can become 2 quasi-supreme grandmasters, which can become 4 great grandmasters, and that can become 8 quasi-great grandmasters, and that can become 16 master-level attainments."
"You could have just asked, but yes, that is possible. So what 16 do you choose?"
"Okay, so I want a master-level attainment in wisdom, theft, transformation, qi, space, time, blood, luck, soul, wood, food, enslavement, human, rule, pill and..."
The Gods eyes widened
'This boy chose all the rarest paths in the Gu world, and all the Venerables' paths are there too... Is giving him this not too much? No, it would be quite interesting.'
"...Formation Path"
This time the god did not raise a finger; rather, 16 rays of attainment flowed from his body into Yuxuan's, filling his body with the attainment of what several Rank 6 Gu immortals would covet if possible.
"Well... your wishes have been made. You will be sent to Gu Yue Village as one of the orphans of the clan."
Yuxuan fell to his knees and kowtowed towards the god.
"Thank you, Sir."
"HuHu, what a respectful young man... you know what, here's a little gift from me personally."
Just as Yuxuan was dissipating and moving to the new world, another beam had shot its way into his aperture.
Just then, he was no longer in the white space between life and death.
He was in the Gu world!
Opening his eyes in a shaggy-looking shack, Yuxuan opened the door and stepped out.
Yuxuan saw in the middle of the village; he heard it too.
"Ancestors, please bless us! We pray that this ceremony will bring many young men of outstanding talent and intelligence, bringing their families new blood and hopes!"
It was the head of the Gu Yue clan performing the ceremony.
Yuxuan's eyes shifted, looking further away from the shack.
'Fang Yuan... You will no longer be the protagonist!'