This—this circle is ......!

Looking at the huge magic circle glowing with blue light below, an ominous premonition suddenly surged into Jiang Yao's head, and in the interweaving of powerlessness and severe pain, Jiang Yao heard Si You's voice sounding indifferently from in front of him.

"Hehe, do you think I won't notice those little moves of yours?"

Si You sneered, and the light of the magic circle reflected on his pale cheeks, looking strange and crazy.

"It's just a human being, and you're trying to forcibly drive forces that don't belong to you, but it's really cheap for you to cut off your qi veins...... But anyway, the Chiyou soul in your body will soon merge with me, and your broken flesh and blood body is the best sacrifice to complete this 'soul dementoring ritual'!"

As soon as the words fell, the light of the magic circle on the altar suddenly burst out, and I saw a series of skeleton hands and claws breaking out of the magic circle and suddenly inserting into Jiang Yao's body.

"Uh-huh!!"

The intense stinging pain made Jiang Yao's consciousness almost collapse, and the blood that spurted out suddenly flowed into the magic circle along the lines of the ground. In the increasingly surging ominous blue light, Jiang Yao felt a powerful invisible force rise from the ground, tearing his soul roughly, but it was this feeling of soul tearing that unexpectedly made Jiang Yao have a sense of déjà vu, and in the depths of the rippling memories, a fragment of memory that had been sealed for a long time began to surface in his mind.

The dancing winds, the swaying sycamores, and a dark shadow standing under the thousand-year-old sycamore tree in the midst of lightning and thunder, silently watching him.

This is ...... ...... of "that day"?!

The forbidden memory box silently opened a gap, and the uneasiness that floated out continued to erode Jiang Yao's nerves, and the mysterious voice that had appeared in his mind several times also appeared like a ghost again at this moment.

[Do you remember? You were in this situation at that time......]

Then...... of me?

[Hehehe...... It's time to get some of the memories you lost on that day ten years ago, and helping me recover the lost 'it' is your chance to regain your memories. 】

The mysterious voice chuckled softly, full of a certain anticipation and excitement.

[It's time, let's ...... Let's get started!]

"Whoaaa——!!a

The scorching red light loomed around Jiang Yao's body, and it suddenly merged with the blood color on his body, and in an instant, a treacherous demonic aura that was different from the power of the previous fierce beasts began to burn on him, and even the skeletal claws inserted in Jiang Yao's body were scorched into the earth in an instant.

"What!? is this ......"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Si You's face changed, he couldn't understand why Jiang Yao, who was supposed to be exhausted, could burst out with such power, and what he didn't expect was that he found that the "Soul Array" under his feet had also quietly changed color unconsciously, and the mana energy that was originally flowing to Jiang Yao actually turned in momentum and rushed towards the red light on his chest!

"Not good!" Si You instantly realized something, and hurriedly drove the mana to try to terminate the circle, but at this moment, a sharp pain suddenly came from his chest, and in the light of the circle that turned from blue to red, he saw that the red light seemed to be resonated in some way, and it jumped even more rapidly, almost bursting out of his chest.

"Damn...... Just at this time!" Si You clutched his chest, desperately suppressing the red light that was about to move, and the magic circles were devouring and the demon patterns slowly climbed up his pale cheeks, and in the state of unstable mana, even the 'giant eye' in the sky seemed to be implicated, and began to shrink.

"I ...... Never...... We must not fall short!"

Si You looked at the spatial crack in the sky with a hideous face, and in desperation, he bit his finger, and aimed his right hand, which was once again full of cold light under the stimulation of blood qi, at Jiang Yao, who was struggling in pain in front of him, and in the next moment, four sharp ice picks appeared in the air, stabbing Jiang Yao's limbs fiercely, nailing it into the formation eye.

"Huangquan Dragon, Si Wu's life, the soul of you, the soul of you......!

A violent storm of mana rose in response, and the light of the circle began to change again. Stimulated by the pain and peeling, Jiang Yao roared loudly, and under some strange resonance, he felt that some images seemed to flow into his mind that he had never seen before, and at the same time, he found that the world in front of him had begun to change quietly.

The confrontation of Si You, the strange magic circle, the "giant eye" in the sky...... Everything faded away at this moment, and what appeared in front of him at this moment was no longer the altar scene of sudden changes, but the "nightmare" that had been sealed in his memory for ten years.

"Wow...... Whoa......

The golden sycamore leaves fluttered in the sky with the wind, and under the mottled shadows of the trees, a black shadow whispered softly in the lightning and thunder, and slowly stretched out his hand to Jiang Yao.

"Finally...... I've seen you......

You are......?!

「…… Come back, come back to me......

Jiang Yao's eyes widened in surprise, but he could only see a hazy silhouette, and the body of the black shadow was as chaotic as a black mist.

『…… Don't go...... Don't go there!!'

His father's shout echoed behind him, looking ethereal in the wind and rain, but Jiang Yao's gaze seemed to be firmly locked on the black shadow in front of him, unable to respond, unable to stop, he only felt that his consciousness began to flutter with the wind, and his beating heart was about to be torn out of his body with his soul and flew to the black shadow in front of him.

No, you can't get past it...... I......

「…… The 'life' that was given to you at the beginning has been exhausted, and now ...... It's time to return......

'Lives'!?...... Who the hell are you!

Jiang Yao's breathing became more and more rapid, and his consciousness was crumbling on the verge of sinking, but at this time, he heard his father's eager cry and chased after him again.

"Little Lady...... Daddy is here to save you now!!'

Bang——!!

The piercing gunfire rolled up gusts of wind, plunging headlong into Jiang Yao's consciousness, and also instantly pulled Jiang Yao's consciousness back when he was about to fall.

No, it's not good!!

Jiang Yao suddenly came to his senses, stumbled and fell to the ground. He shuddered and turned around, and the scene of the nightmare was once again presented before him, and he saw the middle-aged man he loved so much, covered in blood and lying in a pool of blood.

…… Who the hell shot it!!

Jiang Yao didn't care about the pain of the soul being torn apart in his body, and cried and crawled forward, but saw that the blood had stained the middle-aged man's chest, and the bubbling blood gradually soaked the grass.

『…… Small...... ......

Dad, don't talk, I'll take you down the mountain to find a doctor......!!

『…… Ahem...... Already...... It's useless......

The man raised his eyes, and the brilliance of life gradually faded from his eyes, but the last trace of tenderness in his eyes was left to the adopted son who was crying with him in his arms.

"Little Lady...... Don't cry......

The man's hand brushed Jiang Yao's tears.

『…… ...... for me Live......

The middle-aged man's hand slipped weakly, and Jiang Yao's heart suddenly fell to the freezing point. He raised his head in despair, only to see that under the golden plane tree, the black shadow was still standing, watching Jiang Yao silently.

"Hey......

A gentle sigh fluttered in the wind, but it seemed extremely harsh to Jiang Yao's ears.

It's you...... You killed him, didn't you?!

Jiang Yao staggered to his feet, his reason almost collapsed under the invasion of great grief and self-blame.

Give it back to me, put Daddy...... Give it back to me——!!

Jiang Yao roared at the black shadow in front of him, but the other party didn't seem to intend to respond, just stretched out his finger at Jiang Yao again, and in an instant, the pain of the soul eater came one after another.

Not...... Uh!!

Jiang Yao stumbled and was torn forward again, and the fierce wind swept up the golden sycamore leaves in the sky, fluttering around Jiang Yao one after another, as if sighing at the despair of the moment. Jiang Yao gritted his teeth and raised his head, looking at the towering tree in front of him that was silently looking down on him, and in a trance, he seemed to hear what his father had told him:

"As the saying goes, everything has a spirit, and the tree of your wishes will hear it......

Aspiration...... Can you really hear me?

[Hehe...... Of course......]

The mysterious voice came to mind again, and the black shadow and the swaying ancient tree in front of me stopped for a moment, and rippled like a mirror with a violent upheaval.

[Pure desire brings strength, not only for you, but even more so for me......]

The voice drifted closer and closer from the darkness, and the originally chaotic sound quality quietly changed between words. Jiang Yao struggled to turn around, and turned his head to look behind him as if he had a feeling, but saw a familiar figure slowly appear in the fog-like shadow.

Puff ...... Puff ......

The violent heartbeat accompanied by the uneasiness welled up in his heart, Jiang Yao's eyes widened, and he saw a young man with red eyes and an indifferent expression appear behind him.

That person, that face, was himself ten years ago.

Who are you!?

Who am I?...... Since "that day" ten years ago, your life has been integrated with me, and you can say that you are me, and I am your ......]

The young man raised his head, looked at the huge thousand-year-old plane tree in front of him and the dangerous black shadow under the tree, and said calmly.

[That day, it was your wish that awakened me, so that you were able to pick up a life from that guy's hands, and later, the spirit recovered from the Yuanqiu Mountain awakened my chaotic consciousness from the rage, and also inspired your memory fragments of 'that day'. Now...... My 'new spirit' has also awakened, and the memories you lost back then will become clearer with the return of my soul. 】

The young man said, looking at Jiang Yao's eyes again, and stretched out his white finger to point at Jiang Yao's eyebrows.

[As I said earlier, 'Pure desire brings strength'...... Come back to it, the 'wish' you made to me at that time was the opportunity for me to save you back then, and the only hope you have to get out of your current predicament now......]

It's mine...... Aspiration?

Jiang Yao gasped heavily, and his mixed thoughts flashed through his mind like a marquee, with scenes of past memories, and finally fixed on his father's gentle eyes.

…… Yes...... I remember...... My wish...... It is also the only wish of the father...... That's ......

“…… Stay alive!!"

"Rumble——!!

The thunder shook the sky and the earth, Jiang Yao opened his eyes suddenly, and in an instant, the black shadow and the ancient tree scene in front of him fell apart, and the dark netherworld re-revealed its true face behind the shattered world of consciousness. I saw that the demonic red demonic qi surged up from Jiang Yao's body again, and in the explosion of the ice picks shattering, Jiang Yao's eyes instantly became as red as blood.

“…… I'm going to...... ...... alive!!"

Jiang Yao roared, slowly raised his head to look at Si You in front of him, his eyes glowing with an eerie red light made him look like Shura at this time.

"I'll let you know...... Who is the real 'sacrifice' of this ceremony!"