The sky was dim and full of shifting colors, with golden clouds glowing softly. I drifted among the massive floating boulders, following Mother Goddess Nuwa. These were all fragments conjured from my broken memories.
According to Mother Goddess Nuwa, it’s virtually impossible to recover all these memories. Humans, driven by emotion, are doomed to vanish with time; if only the body is destroyed, there’s hope, but if even the soul is obliterated, then one ceases to exist anywhere.
Yet in my mind, there’s a peculiar place—the destination of wraiths after death, the shadow world. I once asked Mother Goddess Nuwa about it; she only gave me a glimpse. That place was originally an endless desert of sand, each grain born from the death of a wraith. Normally, souls cannot be restored there, but the change was caused by the three children of The Wraithlord.
"If it’s truly impossible to recover my memories, it doesn’t matter. Just let me return to the world of the living."
I muttered under my breath. Mother Goddess Nuwa slowly turned her head to look at me.
"Even if you do return to the world of the living, you’ll lose everything. Memories build up over time, layer upon layer, shaping a person’s life. The only reason you still exist in this dreamscape is because, at the moment of your death, I transferred your memories here. There’s still a trace of my power lingering in the Reincarnation Passage. This is the last thing I can do for you in the living world, Ethan Zhang."
"Thank you."
We drifted downward. Mother Goddess Nuwa had said that human memories are arranged from the bottom up, corresponding to the flow of time. No matter what, people always retain some memories of the past. Even if an injury erases much of the past, daily life and knowledge remain. If all of that disappeared, a person would truly lose themselves, wiped away from time entirely.
My situation was dire. Mother Goddess Nuwa wasn’t confident she could bring me into this dreamscape, but fortunately, I carried the Starshard Radiance, which preserved my memories of life and knowledge for now. Everything else from my past had been shredded by overwhelming power.
We reached the warm yellow clouds below. Upon a massive floating boulder stood what looked like a small city. I followed Mother Goddess Nuwa to this city nestled against the mountain and gently descended into its streets. Something about this place struck me as odd—the buildings were strangely mismatched, not from the same era, and none were modern.
Many of the buildings here alternate between old and new, which left me puzzled.
"This is the place where you were born."
I stared at the place in confusion, unable to recall anything. After Mother Goddess Nuwa led me around the city, she headed straight out and up the mountain. I looked up—the mountain was tall, and at the Ridgecrest was a large area with a lake inside.
During these days of wandering through places in my memory, I noticed that the locations atop these boulders were frozen, utterly motionless. The lake before me looked clear and pure, yet nothing stirred, and its surface showed no reflection.
"You were born right here."
I stared at the lake in shock, my heart tightening with unease.
"Wasn’t I human? At the beginning?"
Mother Goddess Nuwa nodded. She then explained that fortunately, I was not truly human; if I had been, I would have died instantly, becoming part of the force that shredded my body. She would have had no chance to move my shattered memories into this Illusory Realm.
Now, the problem is that my memories, like the towns atop these boulders, have become completely frozen. If not for this Illusory Realm, they would have turned to dust. To reclaim them, I must start from my birthplace, slowly feeling everything here, and find a way to revive these dead memories.
I didn’t quite understand what Mother Goddess Nuwa meant by reviving dead memories.
"So what am I supposed to do?"
"I don’t know either. If you want to recover your memories, you’ll have to find a way yourself."
I looked at Mother Goddess Nuwa in surprise, blinking at her.
"Isn’t that basically saying nothing?"
"That’s all I can tell you. The place where you were born is the starting point of your existence in this world. Even if I forcibly brought your memories into this Illusory Realm, the dead ones would still vanish. But now, those memories have manifested in this way, just as you said—existence is reason enough."
I smiled helplessly and sat down. Mother Goddess Nuwa slowly floated upward. Now I could only figure things out myself. I went to the edge of the lake, raised a hand, and a golden glow drifted toward the water. First, I tried using Buddhist power, but it was like hitting cold, hard stone—it couldn’t penetrate the water, and the surface didn’t ripple. I increased my strength a little.
There was a sharp crack. I quickly withdrew my hand and watched as cracks appeared on the lake’s surface like a mirror. Alarmed, I switched to Daoist power, but the result was the same—no reaction from the memory of my birthplace. It seemed my powers couldn’t affect this place, and if I pushed harder, the memory would shatter.
After a long time thinking with no answers, I got up, planning to ask Mother Goddess Nuwa again if anything unusual happened when she brought my memory fragments here.
I returned to the sky above. Mother Goddess Nuwa was still standing between two intersecting mountain peaks, hands raised as if in prayer.
I didn’t understand what she was doing. As I approached, she stopped and turned to glance at me.
"I can’t think of any way to bring these memories back to life."
Mother Goddess Nuwa nodded slightly, then beckoned me over. I followed, and once again felt the raging power of The Wraithlord surging up from beneath the clouds. Instinctively, I raised both hands to block the orange pillar of light, then pushed back, repelling the force.
The power kept growing stronger. I looked at my hands, now scorched and smoking. The Wraithlord was transforming the energy of this Illusory Realm, which shocked me—just a fragment of his soul could wield such force. If he were to revive, I’d stand no chance against him.
"It might be early, but it’s best to prepare ahead of time."
I stared at Mother Goddess Nuwa, confused. She raised a hand, and suddenly the sunlit sky above erupted in swirling winds and clouds. A massive vortex of colored energy roared, crashing with thunderous force. The sky looked terrifying. I swallowed hard, uncertain what she was doing. Gradually, a rainbow light descended—a gigantic multicolored stone, three or four meters wide.
With a thunderous crash, the glowing rainbow stone landed before us, startling me.
"This is the last trace of my power left in this world. You’ll need a weapon capable of wounding that monster."
I swallowed hard.
"The Heaven-Mending Stone?"
Mother Goddess Nuwa nodded. I floated closer, reaching out a hand. Instantly, I felt the immense, terrifying power within the rainbow stone. I knew from my memories about The Wraithlord that it could kill him—and grant Tan Tian immortality.
"I’ll forge the weapon in whatever form you desire, but it can only be a primitive weapon. Once you return, you’ll need someone to continue forging it and imbue it with a soul. Only then can you improve your coordination with the weapon."
"Imbue it with a soul?"
I asked in confusion.
"It means sealing part of your soul into the weapon, bringing it to life."
I nodded, studying the Heaven-Mending Stone carefully. I tapped it with my finger—it was extremely hard. Using a stone that exists only in myth to make a weapon should make me even stronger.
But what puzzled me was that the Heaven-Mending Stone was supposed to be almost destroyed—why was there still one here?
"After I arrived here, I kept using my power to create Heaven-Mending Stones. This is the last bit of my strength left in the Illusory Realm."
I stood up, thinking carefully about what kind of weapon would suit me. After much consideration, only a sword or a spear came to mind—these were the weapons I still remembered using.
Mother Goddess Nuwa stared into my eyes. Instantly, she knew what I was thinking. With a thunderous boom, a mass of astonishing flames descended from the sky, so intense that I instinctively stepped back.
The flames radiated warmth and vibrant life, like the morning sun, lifting my spirits.
"This flame is called Celestial Fire—you can think of it as the origin of all flames."
I swallowed hard. Mother Goddess Nuwa raised a finger, and suddenly the mountain peaks on either side began to crack and melt, forming a huge, translucent cauldron that held the Heaven-Mending Stone. With another gesture, she sent the Celestial Fire into the cauldron, igniting the Heaven-Mending Stone.
To my surprise, such powerful flames couldn’t harm the Heaven-Mending Stone at all—they only wrapped around it, burning and flickering.
"It’ll take a hundred days to completely melt the Heaven-Mending Stone and remove the impurities. Be patient, Ethan Zhang. You should also try to find a way to restore your memories."
I looked around in all directions.
"Can you let Blueflame Warden and Eugenia in? They must be isolated outside this space!"
Mother Goddess Nuwa nodded slightly.