Chapter 161: Pink Lotus, Purple Lotus

With my newly-obtained skill: Air Step. I began my ascension towards the Tower. Compared to my descent, going up proved to be so much faster, courtesy to White defeating the lot of the Spirit Beasts and Monsters that resided in this Void Tower. Honestly, even though he was already out of commission, he was still helping me by paving the path when we went down. And I also shouldn't forget the Platinum and Titanium Rank Spirit Beast Cores I got after he defeated all of them. I'm fairly certain that some of the Spirit Beast Cores I got would prove useful in the near future.

By the way, Spirit Beast Cores are just the Cores gotten from the Spirit Beast. If a Spirit Beast drops a core when killed, then there's a huge chance that the Spirit Beast Core contains the spirit of the spirit beast.

Well, that's a topic for later, right now I need to get to the top as soon as possible and clear this cursed tower before I get teleported into someplace unknown.

It didn't take long before I reach the entrance level of the Void Tower. Who would've thought that the most basic skill of the Gravity Element would be this useful. And also, compared to all the other skills I have, the skill Air Step doesn't expend a lot of Qi Energy. With my current level, I think I'm capable of using Air Step without rest.

Once I reached the first floor of the Void Tower, I looked up and I immediately saw the noticeable difference towards the top of the tower. Before we went down, there was only a slab of concrete from the ceiling upwards. But now, the slab of concrete turned into a flight of stairs that led from the ground up.

When I noticed the flight of steps, a smile spread across my face. I knew that with my Air Step Skill, I wouldn't have to climb the boring way. I could just use Air Step and start climbing through the center of the Void Tower. The flight of stairs was probably just there for cultivators who don't have any sort of Flight Skill.  As for me, I don't need it.

<Air Step Activated>

<Air Step Activated>

<Air Step Activated>

Now, this is real progress!

Just to make sure that I'm not missing anything, I decided to use spread my Qi Energy all over the Void Tower so that I can be aware of traps. To my relief, there weren't any traps so I made my way upwards even faster. The only thing that bothers me was the super-condensed Qi Energy that was on top of the tower. But then again, I remembered the System telling me about a Memory Fragment. If that's not a memory fragment then I don't know what is.

And now that I'm on the topic, what exactly is a memory fragment? Is it an important memory of Hui-ying? Or is it the knowledge that came straight from the original System that Hui-ying had? Or maybe it was the memory of both of them? Whatever it is, I hope it's not the first one. If it were the first one, then I'd just not open it and have the System scan it.

I mean, even though Hui-ying is literally inside my head, I think it wouldn't be ethical to just look into one of her special memories. What if it was about her loved one or her 'loved one'? That would be weird and awkward at the same time.

"Yongrui, what are you thinking?" Hui-ying half-hissed and half-squealed in my mind, probably reading my mind right at that moment. "What are you talking about?"

"What? I mean, am I wrong? Wouldn't it be weird if I looked into your special memory? You wouldn't want that, right?" I defended myself. Look here, even though Hui-ying constantly reads my mind, I don't hold that against her. As expected of a Sect Master. That's how respectable I should be when it comes to everyday living.

"I-I-I mean, it's fine. You don't have to think about my special memory or whatever. Just looked at it no matter how embarrassing it may be. It might very well help you in defeating this entire outbreak." Hui-ying continued.

"B-besides... it's not like I have a 'loved one' or anything. I've never had the luxury to have someone I cherish and everyone else was weaker than me so I couldn't really rely on anyone. Why do you think I was the only one left behind when the System showed you a part of my life?"

I didn't even need to answer that. Of course, everyone was already dead! Why would you be the only person in the whole wide world if there's another person still alive? Simple arithmetics.

"You sure about that?" I asked after a pause. "So you mean to tell me that you were always alone in the past? What on earth happened to you anyway? Why were you left alone at such a young age?"

"Fortunately, I still remember everything about it. Do you want to hear it? It's still a long way up the tower."Hui-ying offered as if coaxing me into doing something criminal.

"Sure, it's not like I got something better to do anyways."

Thus, while I was effortlessly making my way up, Hui-ying began her story.

"Long ago, there was war in the world where I lived in. It was a war between the Dark Army and the Humans. The Dark Army is what you call the rabid human hordes today. Their origins were unknown but from what I know based on your memories, they were caused by someone. If that was true, then that was probably what happened in my world as well."

"The Dark Army existed before I was even born and they rampaged across the globe, destroying everything they touched. Since they were riding what you call a Qi Current (By the way, this Qi Current is a hundred or so times stronger than what you've experienced), they were near invincible. It takes a whole army to just defeat a dozen or so of those Dark Monste— er I mean, Rabid Humans. And then, humanity was driven to a corner."

"While the Dark Army was approaching invincibility, the Humans were steadily being reduced to nothingness. But just before all hope was lost, a child was born from a couple with the purest Qi Energy. It was believed that a pink lotus was seen to descend from the heavens and settled down on the head of that newborn baby. It is believed that she will be the hope of humanity."

I can already tell where this story is happening but I didn't dare interrupt Hui-ying. Who knows, maybe my assumptions were wrong and the route of the story was still not established.

"At the same time, a baby was born from the lowest class of the Human Settlement. This baby was rumored to have a purplish power descend upon them. This baby was then rumored to be the hope of humanity but it was only on the assumption of the lowest class. Since the child was only born from a husband and wife who didn't even have Qi Energy, they didn't dwell too much on the subject."

"But the rumor of the baby with the purple lotus soon reached the higher classes of the Human Settlement. Since the pink lotus symbolizes purity, and the purple lotus symbolizes enlightenment and rebirth, the higher classes thought that the purple lotus is a threat to the existence of the baby with the pink lotus. After all, the purple lotus has a stronger symbol than the pink lotus... but that was probably just the thought of the higher classes."

'Now, I don't know what's going on. What is up with this story?!' I thought to myself as I continued climbing upwards.

"You might think that this situation is funny but it's the reality. Even though humanity was already driven into a corner, the powerful would always stay in power and those with power had a choice to oppress, repress, or respect. But we're talking about people with powers and without powers here so you know how it goes."

"So... if what I'm thinking is correct... then the higher-ups decided to get rid of the baby with the purple lotus? That's incredible to the point that I want to say that they deserved to die." I continued.

"That's pretty offensive but I agree with you, Yongrui. When I heard the story, I also thought the same thing. I mean, why not nurture both talents and make them the duo that will save the world? But then again, the higher classes must've thought that nurturing the purple lotus would increase the chances of an uprising from the lower class so they decided to cut its roots... to kill the baby with the purple lotus."

"From the tone of your voice... I can tell that that's not what happened, am I right?"

"That's right. For some unknown reason, the baby with the pink lotus died a day after she came out of her mother's womb." Hui-ying continued.

What on earth?! Now I don't want to hear what happens next!