Elysia was startled when she was 'brought' out. The last thing she could remember was the brief time she had with Shi Tian when she passed on Origin to him. Back then, he brought over the Bubble World Elysia with him. Her presence, coupled with the simulated Elysia who held Vill-V's letter/anchor, they managed to attract the Authority of Origin.
It could be said that she is the Elysia whom Shi Tian met inside the Bubble World. She is also the Elysia who lived inside the Elysian Realm. The two are one and same upon fusion.
That was why she knew… and felt a lot of new things.
It wasn't apparent back then, but her act of delving deep into Shi Tian's heart—bringing forth the illusion of his former world—brought them an unprecedented sense of connection. Elysia understood as much as Shi Tian understood her. The feeling of having someone capable of doing so left her with a strange, fuzzy feeling.
It was a time of crisis that left them no time to process things.
Now, it is different.
Elysia's eyes followed Shi Tian. He saw the two off as they returned to their respective 'rooms'. Silence returned to the warm-lighted lounge.
"Mobius and Vii never got along very well."
"Time changes a lot of things." He turned to face her, his face bearing a tinge of embarrassment. "I forgot to tell you. It has been 578 years since our fight with Kevin."
"Ah?"
Elysia's stupefied look was picture-worthy, and so he captured it well with his mind.
"Five hundred years…"
"It is late, but long time no see, Elysia."
Everything now made sense in her eyes.
She felt Shi Tian was somewhat different from before, though she cannot pinpoint it well.
Was it his maturity? Resolve? Determination?
…
No.
It is his path.
He is no longer as confused as before, as hesitant as before. A clear path is laid bare in his eyes—
To pen all tragedies into endings that he likes.
Just like her, Shi Tian holds a wish of his own. A wish he wanted to come true.
To that, she smiled brightly. It momentarily left him stunned, its brilliance catching him off guard.
'This is..?'
The Core of Origin was fully spent during his time with IX at the Theater of Domination. It remained a trace, however, in the form of the Dao of Miracles. Shi Tian neglected every other Daos that he possessed in favor of the four that involved All Creation.
This dormant power erupted like a volcano. A bright pink line emerged from his existence, shooting towards the Miss Pink Elf in front of him.
He was more than familiar with its significance.
'A karmic line that belongs to the Xiutian Art.'
His Void Refinement Realm mind acted extremely fast. It allowed him to regain his composure in an instant.
"You can call me using nicknames too, you know?"
"Then…"
*****
Vill-V held various personalities after her decision to fragment herself into pieces. They cannot exist at the same time, hence the necessity to leave messages in a 'message board' of sorts.
Things went normally for Vill-V over the past few centuries. Her personalities did not do anything strange as they kept their heads buried in the fields they chose.
The Magician pursued immortal cultivation's avenue for her performances.
The Seer used immortal cultivation's divination hexagrams to perform complex analysis of the possible futures.
The Mechanic enthusiastically opened the doors to cooperation with Welt Yang, to which they succeeded in building Qan[T], one of the Artifact Refining Peak's three major projects since their victory on the Moon.
Everything went as usual…or so they thought.
The "Magician's" smile was wiped off her face. Replacing it is a calm, reflective look. A hint of fanaticism remained hidden beneath her deep gaze.
'Reaffirmation… Tsk, tsk, you really are desperate for it.
Beneath all of Vill-V's eccentric, lively, and professional personalities lay her evil self—the version of herself whom Vill-V discarded before it could actualize. Her other personalities remain oblivious to her activities. To them, she is still tied down, never to surface.
What they underestimated was the centuries' worth of life experience. It brought them another chance. Another opportunity. Another hope. But it also brought them opportunities to reassess themselves. To think more thoroughly of themselves. To breed resentment. To reawaken past regrets.
The agglomeration of chaotic Vill-Vs produced a huge amount of resentment, to all of which were fed to the Evil Vill-V.
"Immortality…"
Vill-V touched the surface of the desk with her fingertips. Her workbench showcased their efforts over the past centuries.
Despite their focuses diverging, one thing remained the same.
All Vill-Vs long to undertake the path to immortality.
To the girl who was defeated by her insecurity—lack of heart, even—the path to immortality might as well hold answers for her. The existence of "Tao Heart" and its manifestation as the cultivator's mental state became the thing Vill-V valued the most.
The Previous Era never let her discover the right answer… on whether her decision to split her personality was right or wrong.
The "Tao Heart" is a heart that answers to the deepest sincerity of the cultivator. It is used as a mirror in self-reflection. A form of tempering to reach self-actualization. A door that leads to one's most genuine self.
Vill-V needs an answer.
"It might as well lay in the balance of fifty-fifty!"
A somewhat frenzied smile appeared on her face.
"Whether it is right or wrong… only one will remain."
She was treated as a garbage bin of Vill-V's supposed failures. Time and time, her existence's sole purpose was to gather these bits of garbage she threw away.
She grew resentful. Angry at this inequality. Frustrations over these garbage's existence.
It wasn't long before it turned into a frenzied pursuit to prove herself right. That everything Vill-V threw is not garbage, but her wasted potential brought by her own incompetence!
She is convinced. Everything would have been far better had she been the one in control.
Now, she is eager to prove it.
"Shi Tian… he is just like Kevin, but better."
Vill-V did not take his firm refusal to her heart. She had expected it. His absence over the past five hundred years did not hinder her attempts in knowing more about him. The people close to him told Vill-V everything she needed to know.
After all…
He is her key to the path of immortality.