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Heavenly Realm, Kunlun - Late morning

Second day since Fengjiu died.

Mo Yuan----------------------------------

Mo Yuan was measuring out more tea leaves as Dong Hua began explaining.

"Originally your parents and I were not bound to the laws of this universe, we existed simultaneously both inside and outside of reality. The reason the Pillars were destroyed, and all the consequences thereafter stemmed from this error."

The water had boiled, and so Mo Yuan placed the leaves into the pot and then slowly, almost meditatively, began adding the water.

"This simultaneous existence, existing within the universe we created, but not bound to it, created a pathway for another being to enter this reality and begin erasing the universe."

Placed the lid on the pot and waited for the tea to brew slightly.

"It destroyed the Pillars, and began unweaving reality. Your mother focused on upholding the pillars, your father, creation. Together, with great effort, they managed to preserve reality, and existence. While your parents kept the universe from collapsing back into formlessness, I and the thirteen elder generals fought."

"Three were lost before we realised it was erasing their very existence from reality. No one remembers them, the round tokens like the one you now possess were all that remained to let us know that they'd even existed at all." Dong Hua spoke pensively, a hint of wistful melancholy in his tone.

The fourth, ninth and thirteenth of the elder generals were completely unknown, not even their titles or names. Mo Yuan, like many, had assumed Dong Hua had banned their names from being spoken and struck from the history books on the chaotic era for them committing some grave crime, like treason. The truth it turns out was much more terrifying, and tragic.

Dong Hua enjoyed a lighter flavour than Mo Yuan, and so Mo Yuan poured him a cup of the delicately flavoured tea.

"Across wastes unmeasured and unknowable; we fought for eternities and single moments. Eventually I pushed it back beyond the boundary of reality, into the state of timeless nothing. There it remains."

Here Dong Hua paused to accept the tea, nodding at him in thanks and taking a sip before he continued speaking.

"Afterward we repaired the Pillars, but this time we bound ourselves fully into this existence. From that moment onward we were subject to the Laws we had created, Heaven Will, Fate, Destiny and other minor trivialities."

"By doing so the only way that thing can enter reality again is if one of us broke the Pillars. It never occurred to either your parents or I that one of us would ever do so. An oversight, clearly." Dong Hua noted with an amused lilt in his voice.

Mo Yuan poured himself a cup of the slightly longer brewed tea, the silence in the room was broken only by the sound of tea entering his cup. Mo Yuan warmed his fingers on the cup for a few seconds before he drank the light fragrant tea.

Eventually Dong Hua started elaborating on matters that had occurred just after Mo Yuan had been born.

"These efforts took their toll. As you know, your mother was extremely weak and mostly bed bound until her death. It was only through sheer will alone that she retained her existence in this reality for as long as she did."

"Of the three of us, she had the most formidable will." Dong Hua admitted.

Even in Mo Yuan's earliest memories, his mother had always been very weak, she'd never been strong enough to do more than walk around Kunlun, never mind going to war or fighting. So why had she clung to existence for so long, clearly in pain and weakened? This fact had always eluded him.

"Why did she do so?", Mo Yuan asked.

"She wished to see you grow up. She saw you ascend, so I suppose she succeeded in doing so, after a fashion.", Dong Hua mused.

Mo Yuan had been the mortal equivalent of nine years old when he'd ascended to High Immortal rank at 25,000 years of age. Heavenly tribulations did not normally occur before an immortal reached adulthood, for those of divine origins such as himself, the dragons, nine-tailed foxes, phoenixes and others, this would be at 70,000 years old, as Bai Qian's had been.

"You know your fathers story, but his fading and eventual death was also related to these efforts."

Mo Yuan knew that his father had used half of his remaining primordial energy and cultivation to form the Golden Lotus; a womb for his twin brothers' miscarried soul. With the remaining half his father had the Four Perils to protect the divine fungal grass. Mo Yuan had never understood the reasoning for his father doing so, why not simply destroy the Grass?

Mo Yuan had never been unfilial enough to question his fathers actions while he'd been alive, or ask him why he had made such a seemingly convoluted choice about the grass. He had assumed like everyone else it had been done for a specific, extremely important reason, or perhaps his father could not destroy the grass?

But then Mo Yuan's little brother Ye Hua had been able to do so using only half their fathers cultivation, and this brought Mo Yuan to wonder for what reason his father had taken the action

He'd not thought to ask before now. But Dong Hua was sitting before him, cloaked in the knowledge of practically everything it seemed. Dong Hua was likely only willing to share this knowledge with him because of all the burdens he was placing on Mo Yuans shoulders. And so Mo Yuan thought it fair to use this opportunity to ask. Considering the reason why Dong Hua was teaching him all these things, he might never get another chance to do so.

"Why did my father not simply destroy the divine fungal grass?" Mo Yuan asked.

Dong Hua did not answer immediately, instead he was quite content to finish drinking his tea. When Mo Yuan was about to change the subject, thinking Dong Hua was clearly not willing to answer this question, the master of the universe replied.

"The divine fungal grass formed while the Pillars were broken, a time when the laws of reality were absent. This is why it had the ability to go against the Will of Heaven, it was not bound by the Laws. It is for that same reason the three of us never directly interacted with any of the oddities that emerged in that lawless era. For fear that doing so would disturb or somehow create a pathway for that being to enter reality." Dong Hua answered.

Mo Yuan poured Dong Hua another cup, as the brew would not be to the man's liking shortly.

"How was my younger brother able to do so?", Mo Yuan asked.

"Ye Hua with half of your fathers cultivation was able to destroy the grass, him interacting with something born outside of the purview of the Pillars could have created a pathway for that beings return, resulting in the universe's destruction and realities end." Dong Hua informed him.

Dong Hua studied the floating tea leaves in his cup for a moment before he continued.

"For this not occurring, we have Ye Hua's birth parents Le Xu and Yang Cuo to thank, Ye Hua's true form, soul and essence is a dragon, a divine being but not primordial. If not for that fact, Ye Hua interacting with divine fungal grass would have been catastrophic." Dong Hua finished explaining.

Once his little twin brother had destroyed the grass, the island and the four perils, the cultivation their father used to make the perils had recognised the half remaining from the Golden Lotus inside Ye Hua and had rejoined within him. Unfortunately their fathers primordial energy and cultivation had been destroyed in the process of Ye Hua destroying the Donghuang Bell.

Combined with Ye Hua having used almost all of his own cultivation to allow him to return sooner, Ye Hua had spent the last 30,000 years cultivating so he would be strong enough to survive the process of becoming Tianjun of the Heavenly Tribe.

"Speaking of the Pillars, after I applied this seal I examined the Pillars, and found that they were damaged," Dong Hua began.

Mo Yuan felt alarm spike through his body at those words, he thought he'd let none of it show through his body, the cup in his hands remained steady.

Dong Hua had clearly noticed because he held up a hand to forestall his panic and questions, "An infinitesimal flaw. If you think of the Pillars as a physical mountain, the damage I found was a crack the size of a strand of hair on a mountain." Dong Hua reassured, "Still, considering the Pillars hold up the fundamental Laws of order, reality and existence in the universe; fate, destiny and such, this flaw, however minor, is a problem." He conceded.

"If this entity is such a threat, surely the risk of you repairing the Pillar immediately would have been worth it?" Mo Yuan queried.

"Outside of what is called the universe, the world, existence and reality, there is no such thing as time. From the very moment the Pillars were damaged, the being would either know and use the flaw, or not. The amount of time that passes between them being broken and repaired is irrelevant, that creature is not bound by the laws of this reality, this includes the concept of linear time.", Dong Hua explained.

Dong Hua paused as if trying to hear or sense something. After a few moments he continued, "It is impossible for me to know if this damage was there before Bai Fengjiu's death, or if I caused it with my actions thereafter. But judging by the fact that reality is still intact, we can safely conclude that the fracture was not used, and that being has not entered our reality.", Dong Hua finished.

"Then it is possible this damage might have been a reason for Bai Fengjiu dying in such an unlikely fashion?" Mo Yuan asked.

"It is possible, " Dong Hua spoke, tone dismissive, clearly not willing to waste time about such an 'inconsequential' and irrelevant matter. "Either way it needs to be repaired, currently I do not trust myself to do so alone. Once you have learned how to kill me, I will teach you how to repair them, either alongside me or alone after my death."

Then Dong Hua looked at, no, looked through him, analysing his soul stability, after a few heartbeats there was an approving 'mhm' from the man's throat, "You have recovered, let us continue."

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Heavenly Realm, Kunlun - Late afternoon

Second day since Fengjiu died.

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The level and depth of the techniques, understanding and methods Dong Hua was beginning to teach him the fundamentals of was so profound that it could not be learned by way of merely speaking. They were taking frequent breaks to ensure his soul did not become too distressed, and that left the hours in between to be filled with Dong Hua sharing knowledge of many things Mo Yuan had been ignorant of.

He'd just learned that Miao Luo had been a victim of the echoed memory of the corrupted primordial being obsessed with Dong Hua, the creature that had shattered the Pillars of Heaven.

"Reverence turned to admiration, admiration turned to love, and love finally turned into obsession. Only when those conditions are met, that someone is obsessively in love with me, does the echo of that creature's imprint on the world have a chance to infect a person and fester. Once this occurred, there was no cure. I learned swiftly enough that killing them offered little reprieve. In perhaps only 10,000 years, or 100,000 years it would happen again."

Mo Yuan finally understood the reason Dong Hua had been so diligent in avoiding those that fell in love and became obsessed with him. It was not purely due to the fact such things were a distraction and potential source of discord, but there was also this far weightier reason.

"Then this was also the reason you sealed Miao Luo rather than killing her all those years ago?", Mo Yuan theorised.

"Yes.", was Dong Huas confirmation, "You are now the eighth person that currently knows of the corrupted primordial, its origins, and continued existence."

If Xiang Xu, Liu Cai and Da Kai were those Dong Hua trusted enough with the matter of assisting Mo Yuan to kill him, then it stood to reason these were three of those seven. Dong Hua brought the number to four, but as for the others, he could only guess.

"Zhe Yan, Bai Zhi and Ning Shang would be the others?", he asked.

There were the only other three Elder Generals left in the world after all.

"Logical, but no," Dong Hua replied, "Yuanshi, Lingbao and Taiqing, are the remaining bearers of this knowledge."

"This knowledge can go no further than yourself. Aside from the possibility of my son being able to bear it, others will gain nothing but death from the attempt."

"For what reason have you not enlisted the aid of Bai Zhi, Ning Shang or Zhe Yan?" Mo Yuan asked.

He knew Dong Hua often preferred to solve world ending calamities himself, without burdening others by asking for assistance, but surely with something as serious as what he was describing, having the additional aid of those three would be immensely beneficial?

"After fighting through both the chaotic and prehistoric eras, Bai Zhi and Ning Shang requested my permission to forget, I granted it. Once the knowledge is erased, it cannot be relearned, an attempt to do so will result in insanity."

"Did you not think it odd that most of the elders from that time never married or had children? The knowledge of the void is a heavy burden."

Mo Yuan had never given such things any thought, but now that Dong Hua mentioned it, of the thirteen elder generals, only three had had children, Bai Zhi, Ning Shang, and Meng Hao.

"They drank the waters from the river of oblivion, this combined with other methods I will teach you if time permits, allowed both to erase the knowledge of the void from their souls and minds."

Of those that could alter or erase memories using medicine, only Dong Hua, Buddha, Zhe Yan and he had this ability. That there was even a way to erase or change memories from not just the mind, but the very soul itself? This news was made Mo Yuan feel perturbed.

"The waters from the river of oblivion were created by your mother, father and myself for this purpose, in hope that one day the knowledge could be erased from the world completely, and creation would be safe without others needing to carry this burden. I regret that by my own actions, this is now unlikely to occur." Dong Hua admitted.

Uncomfortable with receiving what almost sounded like an apology from Dong Hua for the burden he was going to place on his head, Mo Yuan continued the conversation by asking, "What of Zhe Yan?"

Dong Hua had explained that Bai Zhi and Ning Shang had made the request to forget, and he'd allowed it, but what had happened with Zhe Yan?

"Zhe Yan?", Dong Hua repeated the name, "I erased it without his knowledge," Dong Hua casually replied.

Erasing another person's memories from their very soul, without permission, he'd not thought Dong Hua capable of something so.. So utterly...

"Profane.", Mo Yuan spoke the word without thought.

Now more than ever the old question of whether Dong Hua was a deity or a demon was quite clearly shifted to the answer of demon.

Likely because he would soon be adding Mo Yuan to the list of those that would soon know about this heavy burden, the 'void legacy', Dong Hua was in an exceptionally forgiving mood.

Rather than striking him down for his egregious disrespect, Dong Hua merely asked,"Do you remember when the Phoenix Clan and its allied clans and tribes were annihilated, save for Zhe Yan?"

Mo Yuan nodded, "I remember.'', he answered. Though he had been fighting on a distant battlefield many star clusters away, that event and its aftermath had echoed throughout the remaining millenia of the prehistoric era.

"Zhe Yan's original fate was to die.", Dong Hua spoke this shocking information with utter impassivity.

"To never wake from the torment and tragedy of that event, eventually his soul would have lost cohesion and returned to nothing. The erasure of that knowledge eased the burden on Zhe Yan's mind and soul, just enough that he managed to wake a few years later."

"Even if he never set foot on the battlefield again, as I imagined would be the case, he was still a valuable asset.", Dong Hua said.

Dong Hua had his reasons in a matter-of-fact manner, there wasn't the slightest hint of regret or remorse at the actions he'd taken. The master of the universe had always had the ability to switch between having a buddha-like level of compassion, or the mercilessness of the greatest of tyrants. It was no surprise to Mo Yuan that Dong Hua's reasoning for saving Zhe Yan had been a completely logical, coldblooded, pragmatic, but utterly ruthless and pitiless decision.

"Those three cannot relearn it, and of the beings I am certain will be able to bear the knowledge only you remain." Dong Hua said, "Though it is possible my son will also be capable of bearing this burden without going insane." Dong Hua mused.

That Dong Hua was thinking of placing such a heavy burden on his own young son was also utterly lacking in mercy, pity or compassion.

"If he can, then he will only need to learn it if I continue existing with the seal unbroken. Another with the knowledge of the extent of what a corrupted primordial being is capable of, and the ability to use the Threads of Creation would be invaluable when the time comes for me to die."

"You would ask a son to kill his father?" Mo Yuan asked, aghast.

Of all the sins sentient beings could commit, murdering one's own parents was among the greatest of them.

"No," Dong Hua began, and he only had a split second to feel relief on behalf of the man's son before he finished his sentence, "I would command it." Dong Hua stated simply.

Mo Yuan silently cursed the seal Dong Hua had emotionally mutilated himself with. If not for that then Dong Hua would never consider ordering his own son to take part in killing him.

"If I go insane and you kill me before he is strong enough to learn, there will be no need to pass this burden on to him, or anyone; it will be safe to erase it from everyone's soul-memory.", Dong Hua elaborated.

For the children, the best outcome would be that the seal breaks within a year. Dong Hua would remain sane and his emotions would no longer be bound. Even in this outcome, Dong Hua would still burden his son with the task of aiding Mo Yuan with killing him. This was to ensure that if some future circumstance drove Dong Hua to destroy the world in future, it could be prevented. If Gungun possessed the ability to bear the void knowledge, and use the Threads of Creation as Mo Yuan was learning to, then this too would need to be passed on.

The next outcome would be that the seal breaks after a few short years, Dong Hua would go insane and Mo Yuan along with the three elder generals would utterly destroy Dong Hua's soul, ending that threat. But Mo Yuan would not have the knowledge and understanding necessary to use the Threads of Creation to repair the fracture in the Pillars of Heaven for many thousands of years after that.

In the meantime the manifest shade of that corrupted primoridal's echoing obsession with Dong Hua would continue to infect people and cause chaos, as it had done with Miao Luo and others before her. During this time it was possible the void creature that waited beyond space and time would use the fracture to enter this reality. Mo Yuan was not Dong Hua, and three elders was not equal to thirteen. It was likely this would spell the end of reality, This was the most dangerous outcome.

For the safety of the world, the best outcome would be that the seal does not break for many tens or hundreds of thousands of years. Dong Hua would continue to exist in this emotion-bound state, train Mo Yuan completely in all the knowledge he was missing now and together they would repair the Pillars. Dong Hua would also have the time to train Gungun in all these matters. But this was a cruel fate for Dong Hua's children, one discarded utterly, the other forged into a perfect weapon to kill his own father, a dutiful heir, one protects the world, but not a son. When Dong Hua's end arrived, this would ensure the end of the threat the void creature posed, this would result in the greatest amount of stability and safety for the universe.

For the children's sake he hoped the seal would break within a year, and Dong Hua remained sane.

Otherwise Mo Yuan would have to discard his thought that fate was heartless, and change it to fate being maliciously cruel to Dong Hua's children.