The Bell of Honor rang once more; the sound was grander this time; it was as though a climactic moment was about to occur. The Bloodline coin started to float by itself, seemingly awakening its powers. The coin then slowly shined as it crumbled apart into millions of pieces. The broken pieces slowly changed form, from a solid substance to blood. The blood slowly cut a wound open and seeped through it. The process wasn't quick nor was it painful. After all the blood had entered, the wound slowly healed on its own.
Seeing this, Aiko understood what had just occurred. She tried to process it, This must be the process of going through a Bloodline Promotion. It seems rather brutal in a way, but it might be for efficiency. It seems like her blood has changed to that of the Longevity Bloodline.
Seeing the Scholar get promoted Jinhua didn't waste this opportunity to mock Zixin. She appeared rather delightful with her smile, "This is truly spectacular, Shing Xue, you are the most befitting to be called a lucky one. Millions would wish to be you, after all, Zixin won't order you around. He has no use for the hierarchy within his Bloodline."
Zixin could see that Jinhua was mocking him, so he replied to her, appearing rather cold, "Can I not let others be free? Is freedom not sought after? Should I, a free person, not let others also have a taste of it?"
The smile on Jinhua's face widened further as she spoke, "What kind of pathetic excuse is that? You, you of all people should not even be allowed to speak such words. You, who doesn't care about freedom, dare to tell me such hypocritical words?" She continued her words, but as she spoke, her anger rose with each passing second, "You dare say that you have freedom when you haven't even tried and risked it all for your one goal, and when you don't even have the drive to do anything. Everyone knows your one true goal in life, Omniscience. Yet, you don't even work for it. Shouldn't you, who is free, walk the path towards your goal? Shouldn't you fulfill your promise…"
The anger in her seemed to have disappeared as tears fell down her lovely face. Zixin was expressionless, but deep inside, he felt pain. He sighed to himself, feeling rather down but he suppressed his emotions like he usually does.
Zixin then cast his gaze at her; he spoke, plainly explaining himself, "Omniscience is something I cannot achieve no matter how hard I try. My talent holds me back; my restrictions tie me up. My prospects are long gone; the possibility of Omniscience is all but a foolish dream of a long-gone child. What do you expect me to do? Throw my already dwindling life at the fire of possibility? Omniscience as a goal is my only meaning left in life. Can I not use it to cope? Do I have to accomplish it? This is my life, why should I do as you say?"
As Zixin spoke, his emotions started to increase; they eventually reached his limit, and he failed to suppress his emotions. He fell to the ground, coughing up blood. His lifespan dwindled before his very eyes, his heart crushed by pain, his eyes dying off.
Fortunately for him, Jinhua went to his side, crouching down as she held his hands. A golden light filled a one-meter radius and slowly healed Zixin. He felt the warmth from the golden light and turned his attention to Jinhua. She continued to cry as her grip on Zixin's hands increased in strength. Zixin was stunned. He tried to open his mouth, but no words could come out; it was as though his voice had completely disappeared. He felt his weakness, he felt his ignorance, he felt his stupidity. He bit his lips and went quiet, his mind tried to process it all, but his heart flooded him with his emotions.
Jinhua decided to stay quiet; her heart was heavy, and her gaze turned cold. She was currently trying to process it all. She glanced at Zixin, only to see that he was also trying to process it all. She internally sighed to herself as she tried to calm herself down.
Thoughts slowly flooded her mind as she slowly processed it all, I once again lost control of my emotions. I spoke those hurtful words without thinking about it, and it seems like Zixin is… I should… I still can't forgive him, that, I am sure of. I wonder what Min Yue would do in this situation…
Zixin was also thinking to himself, but the constant flood of emotions made it hard to form a coherent thought, Jinhua… why… Ah! I… I… hate… myself…
He then felt his heart being crushed once more as the hate for himself was born. If his past self were to see him now, he would cry uncontrollably until he died. And if his future self were to see him, he would sigh to himself, knowing that the worst has yet to come.
Zixin then heard a mocking voice enter his ears; the voice was soft, melancholic even, "You are truly pitiful; if you only knew more, I wonder what kind of person you would have become. I wonder how much pain you would endure until you die at her hands. I wonder if you will even find him. I wonder if you will fight. I wonder if you will ■■■."
Seeing all of this made Xiu Ying's smile widen; all of this was going according to her predictions. All, on the other hand, was bored to death; what kept her from doing anything absurd was Zixin. Zixin was a part of her plan, so she stayed, hoping to find a chance to use him. Aiko was quite shocked at the current events. It hadn't even been a day since she entered the Land, and now she was seeing all of this; it was simply too much. Alice, however, had a blank expression; she was thinking of ways to lighten the mood. As for the lucky one, Shing Xue, she was confused; after all, Jinhua started by mocking Zixin and she still healed him. She also tried to empathize with Zixin despite not knowing the full story. Not only that but also she felt a strange emotion within her; it was, after all, the day she was promoted; how could she not feel strange with such events occurring right after she was promoted?
…
Inside a room dimly lit with blue soul flames, a young lady was slowly awakened. She sat and observed her surroundings as she rubbed her pink eyes. The blue soul flames were inside several lanterns. She realized that she was sitting in a coffin, the interiors were dyed blue. She slowly stood up, walking towards a mirror that sat at a desk not far away from her.
As she slowly stood up, she felt the weakness in her knees, seemingly as though her body had lost most of its strength. She fell, her face hitting the floor. She coughed up blood; it seemed like her body was also weak. She learned from this lesson and decided to crawl instead. Each second felt like an eternity, and each second made her feel even more pain.
Luckily for her, the desk was not far away. Once she reached it, she used the chair near it to slowly stand up; she then sat at the chair and started to try and recover her strength. This made her think, I'm so weak, it's quite pathetic. I'm like a child trying to learn how to walk but failing. Ah! I hate this! I need to learn what the hell is going on.
She then took the mirror; once she saw her appearance, a smile appeared on her face. She had short pink hair which made her look like an innocent girl. Her pink eyes made her seem clueless, almost ignorant. And her snow-white skin made anyone feel like they must protect her at all costs. She laughed to herself, she fell in love with herself almost immediately.
She then noticed a book on the desk; she grabbed it and observed the cover. The cover was made with an odd material; it looked like it was iron, yet it was rather light despite it being rather thick. The cover also had several strange patterns, some were eyes, some were tongues, some were fingers, and some were teeth. She felt a chill enter her body the moment she saw the cover. She bit her lip and decided to open the book.