Cultivated patience or not, Ye Feng cried to release the air trapped within.

 

Ye Feng's cries were long, but they soon stopped as he came to accept his current self. He sniffled and calmed down as he found himself rocking side to side with gentleness and care.

 

His emotions had been all over the place as it had been eons since he last felt something in his heart other than blind devotion, but now that he regained himself when he finally paused his hunt for answers, and the sensation, to him, felt foreign.

 

But not unwelcomed.

 

= "There, there, everything's all right, just a little bit more, and you'll be in your mother's embrace." =

 

Ye Feng failed to understand their words, but the comforting tone behind it managed to pierce his rigid heart. His void soul was filled with a little bit of warmth.

 

'Is this your doing, Origin of All?'

 

He asked but got no answer. But as silence returned to him, he heard the loud cries of a woman giving birth. He turned to the side with great difficulty and saw blur...

 

It took him some time before he got used to the light, but after he did and regained his eyesight, he saw an old bed where a beautiful young woman was going through labor.

 

His twin was born moments later, the screams ended, and his twin was born.

 

Ye Feng watched with bated.

 

He was being held by a middle-aged woman. She was smiling, and her worn-out clothes suggested that she was not of high birth.

 

Ye Feng had just been born, yet the process was yet to be over. He was the first child, and the second had yet to be delivered.

 

His twin was born moments later, the screams ended, and his twin was born, crying as he did.

 

= "It's a girl…hmmm?" = the woman announced happily with a smile. She celebrated as she wrapped the second child in a blanket.

 

All the commotion was something Ye Feng failed to comprehend. Despite knowing everything in the previous Universe, he was now left with a deep sense of loss as he could not even understand the words of these people.

 

He was in the same plane of existence yet a different one at the same time.

 

Pained and hurried breathing filled the room, but something felt weird as the second child did not let out a cry.

 

The midwives found this ominous, and so did Ye Feng. From what he knows, it was an innate reaction for a child to cry out when they were born; that was why he didn't mind crying earlier.

 

'If they do not cry, then their lungs would not expand, and the liquids inside would not come out….'

 

Pak! Pak! Pak!

 

= "You should cry, little one." =

 

He watched as his twin's behind received was spank. His twin cried aloud, and Ye Feng let out a sigh of relief, and as he did, he realized that he managed to show another form of emotion, anxiety, and care.

 

It made him feel weird once more, but rediscovering them was not unpleasant. He was not aware of what form of influence Aether had with his rebirth, but he had no complaint.

 

= "Ava, are you all right?" =

 

When everything calmed down, Ye Feng was handed over to a woman as he was finished cleaning.

 

= "My children…" =

 

Ye Feng got a good look at his mother. She was youthful and beautiful, not perfect, yet in his eyes unmatched. When she got a hold of Ye Feng, and she held onto him with great gentleness.

 

A man then burst into the room. It was a muscular man wearing ragged clothing. Seeing Ava with their children, and his tears fell.

 

= "Noah, come, see our children." =

 

Ye Feng did not understand what was happening, but he should be Ye Feng's father, considering how he reacted. He did not know his name, but this man was smiling from ear to ear.

 

The man received Ye Feng and was then raised up. He was told off by the Midwives and had to return the child to Ava's embrace.

 

= "What should we name them?" = Ava asked Noah.

 

Noah thought long and hard before giving an answer.

 

= "The older brother should be named Kiel, and the little sister is Ame… what do you think?" =

 

= "I think it is wonderful." = Ava smiled as she looked at her children.

 

Ye Fend did not know what kind of conversation they had, nor did he know that he now had a different name. He was still trying to cope with the unfamiliar emotions resurging inside him.

 

A foreign kind of warmth that had been missing all throughout Ye Feng's long life had appeared. He, who had nothing but his own thoughts of survival, felt something opening in his heart.

 

Was it the doing of Aether again? It didn't matter for Ye Feng accepted them. He had been enlightened with the ways of the world, and he had seen the peak of everything.

 

He who couldn't feel anything felt the greatest warmth one could experience. Ye Feng thought it far more eye-opening than any kind of enlightenment he had; it was better than surviving a Tribulation and much better than seeing the Truth.

 

Finally, the voice of Aether rang out inside his head, "Experts of all ages focus on one goal and forget everything else, yet one way or the other connections must be created. Understanding emotions is not a weakness but a strength. Even a scheming devil must first know how envy feels to trick a Mortal. If one abandons all emotion, then one cannot form a true path to enlightenment — they are no better than a doll."

 

Ye Feng understood this reality. He was once someone who tried filling his soul with something by walking two opposite paths. He did all that he thought was the prerequisite of becoming Righteous and saved everyone.

 

He then did what was considered evil and killed without batting an eye. He had no morals and only directed himself to achieve what needed to be done, and in both paths, he ended up without direction and left them.

 

He thought he sought out an answer because he had a passion for seeking knowledge.

 

He lacked passion and drive, and the only semblance of these came in the form of his incessant pursuit of salvation. The moment he realized that he, "Ye Feng," was the answer to the Truth he was seeking, it was all too late.

 

He abandoned everything, and the moment he killed his emotion was when he became the corpse that everyone feared and loved.

 

Ye Feng had no tears to shed at the embrace of a loving mother, but the emotion that surfaced with it did not go unnoticed.

 

With his emotions opening up and Aether experiencing them, their intents and desires became one and the same — to live.

 

All the while Ye Feng was preoccupied with letting out his emotions by crying his heart out, Ava seemed to have taken note of his reaction as she disrobed herself.

 

She had both breasts out as she fed Ye Feng and the newborn Ame.

 

Ye Feng may have found a sense of emotion, but he never had any form of dignity nor pride; thus, he didn't feel anything as he fed on Ava's breastmilk.

 

However, he did find something odd because as he opened his eyes, he saw the other twin staring at him as if it was assessing him.

 

He disregarded any thought forming inside his mind, 'Ridiculous, it is impossible.'

 

However, as he thought of that, he heard something echo inside his mind, [= "Is this my new brother? He seems off." =]

 

It was sent directly inside Ye Feng's mind, and because Aether also didn't know the new words of this place, Ye Feng formed a theory. 

 

Concentrating, Ye Feng tried his best to trace what he just felt, [Child, can you hear me?]

 

[="Huh?" =] Ame looked at Ye Feng and vice versa.

 

Such reactions were enough proof. Ye Feng looked at Ame as his eyes widened.

 

Ame's mouth was slightly ajar as she came to the realization of what was happening.

 

Ye Feng was not the only reincarnated person in that room.

 

= "Ame, Kiel, goodnight, my babies." = Noah, the father of the two reincarnated beings, said his goodnight as the two calmed down.

 

He placed the two of them in the same bassinet as he exited the room and left Ava to sleep on the bed.

 

Ame and Ye Feng secretly watched Ava intake some healing powder before going to rest for the night.

 

She sounded happy and content. She seemed strong for a woman who had just given birth.

 

It was deep into the night when most adults were already asleep. Yet two newborns were both wide away. 

 

Two newborns turned their bodies and began staring at each other.

 

Ye Feng tried his best to initiate the conversation.

 

[What kind of Soul are you? How did you reincarnate?] Ye Feng had no qualms about letting this young girl know of his situation as their speech alone explained their situation. 

 

Though it would be much preferred if the two of them could actually understand each other's words.

 

[= "What?" =] Ame failed to understand Ye Feng.

 

Hearing Ame speak to him mentally confirmed that they spoke different languages. This also confirmed reality had been overwritten with another.

 

It was a different world with different laws of being.

 

Ame was the same; hearing Ye Feng speak of such foreign language failed any form of communication. She, who had been around for hundreds of years, was unable to recognize his words.

 

= 'This is going to be a problem.' = She thought to herself.

 

Realizing their lack of ability to comprehend each other's words, Ye Feng had an idea and scrambled around his mind to find something.

 

Pushing his tiny and frail body to sit up, Ye Feng succeeded after some trial and error.

 

'Okay, if talking is not going to work, let us try something else….' Ye Feng began using body movement to communicate.

 

He was not speaking like how deaf people did in his time, but how a child tries to communicate…

 

He pointed at his mouth, close and opened it, and then crossed his arms. 

 

Ame tried her best to comprehend Ye Feng and what she got was, = [= "Speak, cross…oh, he cannot speak… but he spoke earlier... oh you mean you cannot speak the language!?" =] Ame managed to decrypt the words of the old fogey baby.

 

Seeing Ame's face show a face or realization, he made a sigh of relief as he tried motioning that he wanted to sleep.

 

'I can't learn a language in one day, but I'll go about talking to her once I pick it up.'

 

Speaking to Ame was nothing but short of empty work. They would fail to understand each other, and with Ye Feng not knowing what the other was talking about, he knew he'd only be lost, and it would be an unproductive experience for both.

 

Emotions may surface, and change may be inevitable, but the core of his being would not change so quickly.

 

'This universe is different, yet it is still the same.'

 

Aether and Ye Feng did not know how many eons since this new Universe was created. This plane of existence may have been completed the same instant the shell formed for all their knowledge and awareness.

 

But, thankfully, Ye Feng knew the very basis of what kind of Universe this was.

 

'A Universe built from the ground up using the logic of the previous one. A culmination of a thousand realms, scattered about creating the amalgamation of power… a world where it reign supreme.'

 

Aether was no more in this world, and the sea of aureate light had scattered to become the new laws.

 

And this was a world that even Ye Feng failed to comprehend.

 

As the Origin of All who ruled over the trail of life and death scattered to become a single entity, what kind of fate would it have as it gets to live among mortals?

 

It who controlled Eternity, Reality, and Time, what kind of power would it show to its creation?

 

Ye Feng closed his eyes and tried sensing the energy of the world. He had no idea what it was, but he should still be able to deconstruct its touch, tracing the past to the present.

 

He tried sensing it… he failed.

 

'That's odd… I can't seem to feel the energy of the world… no, I am doing this incorrectly. What if there is another process here? Like I said, there is such a new rule surrounding the world. Thus, I am sure that this world's cultivation method is also different. It is too different from using the past as a blueprint.'

 

The methods of the Universes were not the same; on the previous one, there were two ways of cultivating, and that was through forming a connection with the Spirit World and either bonding with a Spirit or just pure cultivation.

 

Ye Feng failed to create any kind of bond with any Spirit and cultivated alone. That should not have been a problem as the Spirit World was already gone. He needed not another creature to funnel spirit energy in his body.

 

The Spirit World was the first to be destroyed when Aether rose from the sea of light. Ye Feng thought so too; however, such a fact didn't matter, and when he tried again, instant failure was all he found.

 

He could already feel and ascertain its existence, but the problem was that his body, or rather his soul, failed to make a connection for the third time.

 

He turned to the side and saw his twin doing the same, trying to cultivate as early as possible. He did not know why she wanted to grow so early in life, but considering he was doing the same for survival's sake, he had no right to question her.

 

He watched her silently intake the energy of the world, and it was entering her without a problem. There was no rejection or anything like that. And seeing this made Ye Feng ask himself a lot of things.

 

'Why is that? What is the difference between her and me…? We came from different Universes… and what's the different previous world and this…? Connection with the Spirit World… yes, that's it!' He made the correct conjecture.

 

With his soul being a remnant of the previous Universe, he was still bound to the rest of its rules. He who was born in that world was blessed with the prerequisite to forming a connection with the Spirit World to cultivate; that was the way to weed out the Mortals from the Immortals.

 

This brand still remained, but without a Spirit World, Ye Feng did not know what it was he needed to do… but, then, he remembered something.

 

'Form a connection with me….' Ye Feng uttered in silence to the legendary serpent of beginning and end.

 

Aether did not fight with him and synched with him. They were one and the same yet, this was still necessary for them to cultivate.

 

Ye Feng felt a connection… a deep bond that could not be explained by words.

 

One of Ye Feng's eyes revolved. Circling his iris was a serpent biting its own tail.

 

And as Ye Feng opened his eyes, his right eye had already been marked. This was his brand, and as he connected with Aether, he received another name.

 

Aether was the name corresponding with everything… however, now that it was free, its already abandoned its name.

 

Now that it had become a genuine Spirit — Ouroboros was its true name.