That night, Zhou Tiandi couldn't close his eyes- he felt restless. Even though this time, the matter ended easily and peacefully, guilt weighed upon his heart. 

Li Hua only had him in this village, yet he ignored her distress. If he had made an effort to mend her relationship with the village or even a small part of the village, this would not have happened. Yet, he did no such thing, perhaps on purpose. 

Maybe he wanted to have all her time to himself. After all, he was an immortal while she was a mortal with limited time. He was afraid of not being able to spend "enough" time with her, yet he grew afraid of not being able to stay together with her, who simply did not have as much time.

"This was truly foolish of me," Zhou Tiandi sighed, having done so multiple times in the past hour. He knew that relationships were a two-way street, requiring both sides to contribute equally. 

Yet, not only did he not contribute much, he even looked down on her for being a mortal. Zhou Tiandi felt distressed, uncertain, and afraid. 'A mortal and an immortal... can they ever be...?'

"Hmm..." Hearing a sound from his side, Tiandi turned to find the sleeping face of his wife, a trace of drool lingering at the side of her mouth. 

"...Hehe..." A foolish smile spread across her peaceful and carefree sleeping face. Looking at her filled Tiandi's heart with warmth, yet her sorrowful face from earlier shadowed his joys.

'Mortals and immortals...' Closing his eyes, he pondered his thoughts. 'Such an idiotic concept.' Opening his eyes, he moved closer to his wife, holding her hand, a foolish smile spreading upon his face. This was his happiness.

The next day, Li Hua woke up to find her husband preparing breakfast. While this was not exactly a rare sight, somehow her husband seemed a bit different that day.

It was as if he had matured and grown older overnight, but after what had happened yesterday she felt it to be hard to ask such a thing.

...

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

...

Amidst the snow-covered expanse, a solitary figure traversed the snowy terrain, a deer slung over his shoulder. His stride exuded a sense of calmness and strength, misrepresenting the slightly weathered features that hinted at a life approaching its middle years. 

This lone figure was none other than Zhou Tiandi, and as the years marched on, subtle signs of ageing had etched their marks upon him. Yet, far from feeling despair, Zhou Tiandi felt as if joy had returned to his bland and distressful life. This was what the word happiness meant to him.

As he entered his house, he felt a strange chill in the air—an ominous premonition alarmed his mind. Rushing in, he searched for his wife, only to find her with her head laid upon the table where they often had tea in their garden. 

Yet, Tiandi's face showed no joy... rather, it showed a lack of any expression, not a deliberate one but one that refused to accept reality.

"H-Hua'er?" His voice trembled as he shook her shoulder. "Hua'er! A twisted smile formed. "W-wake up or else you'll catch a cold!" A pained smile, "Please wake up..." Falling to his knees, his head lowered by her side.

Countless ethereal threads manifested throughout the heaven and earth near him. All beings from the trees to the sparrows, all had a multitude of such threads outlining their existence, yet his wife's soulless corpse held only one—an ethereal, otherworldly indescribable colour.

"Ah..." With tear-filled eyes and trembling hands, he reached out for it, only for his body to slump down even further. A scene played out in his mind, a shadowy figure stood in front of his wife's soulless body. In its hand was a crystal of mystical, incomprehensible light.

"Arhhh...!!" A violent poisonous rage began to develop within him. 

"HUANG ZIYI!" The roar that shook the heavens and earth brought dissonance to all. 

It was but an instant, yet all of the village ceased to exist, erased from existence as if it had never existed... All that was left was the place where she was and the dissipating threads of ethereal glow enveloping the skies.

...

Fallen were the last leaves, the tree now withered and bare,

Leaving behind a soul, draped in grief with only despair to bear.

In the twilight's sombre song, a dirge for winter's decree,

Unseen chains whispered in shadows, moving to shackle the free.

...

In the expanse of the Chaos Sea existed a roofless castle, simultaneously majestic and humble, surrounded by a mystical veil of stars.

"Oh? Disciple, why have you come to see me?"

Huang Ziyi asked, staring at his disciple with a smile. Unlike his clone that was stationed at the sect, his true body was one of a man in his late teens.

"...urn...er" With his gaze downcast and fists clenched, Zhou Tiandi spoke in a muted tone.

"..." Huang Ziyi just continued to stare at him with his unchanging smile, not acknowledging his disciple's words.

"RETURN HER!!" Zhou demanded, his voice radiating the authority of an immortal. However, the castle was just as unphased as its owner's smile.

"How rude..." Huang Ziyi's words were uncaring and playful, "To think you would raise your voice against your teacher for such a trivial matter."

"GIVE HER BACK!!" Two stars manifested above the roofless palace, one gold, the other silver. With Zhou Tiandi's will, the stars fell towards the palace while spiralling around each other.

However...

"Hmph," A nonchalant voice echoed as the stars were devoured by a small pitch-black sphere that upon devouring the stars, took the form of a taiji symbol, "You have grown dull in both body and mind..."

Callous.

That voice was callous and uncaring. It cared not for Tiandi's grief, nor did it mourn for his loss.

And the owner of the voice appeared in front of Tiandi. A single finger pushed away Tiandi with ease, simultaneously the spatial boundaries shifted behind Tiandi...

As he fell towards the darkness beyond, Tiandi saw the blurred figure of the man who was once his teacher.

"This is for your own good, my disciple."

And then he was engulfed in that darkness with a complete loss over his body and mind.

...

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

...

Inside the confined world that restrained all existence inside it, Zhou Tiandi continued to battle without rest.

Every waking moment was spent in combat, a struggle of life and death. His very existence strove to further his strength, marching forward no matter the cost. Death of one, nurtured the other's existence. 

Forbidden acts, demonic arts and abyssal secrets became nothing more than the means to further himself as Tiandi's Dao began to take form.

Centuries later, Half-step into the Dao realm, He faced Huang Ziyi in the Roofless palace yet again. 

His face was devoid of any emotion... Yet, his eyes appeared neither lost nor enraged.

He simply stared at Huang Ziyi in silence, as his lips parted, a sorrowful smile formed.

"This is pointless."

This caused Huang Ziyi to raise his eyebrows in surprise. 

"After all..." He bore a tired smile as he continued, "I am not Zhou Tiandi."

The dream had begun to crumble.

Teaserpent

Thanks for reading!