Beyond The Primordials - Chapter 3 Yin Tou

When Yin Hui regained his senses, he found himself in a space that resembled an endless void. Aside from him and the vast nothingness, there was also a gray statue of an old man a few feet away.

“Am I dead?” Yin Hui wondered. The last thing he remembered was Tao Shou firing the Wind Bullet towards him, as well as a golden light from one of the runes on the ancestral tablet shooting into his eyes. Two possible outcomes immediately popped into Yin Hui’s mind. Either he was dead and this was the afterlife, or he was transported to a hidden space inside the tablet! Yin Hui’s eyes locked onto the statue a few feet away and began to move towards it, if there was an answer, the statue was the key.

Despite having no floor to walk on, Yin Hui felt solid contact with each step. The texture of the floor was smooth and stable, but when he bent down to touch it, his hand passed right through. Considering his experience with cultivators he did not bother to question the oddity of this phenomena, and continued walking forward until he reached the statue.

The statue was of an old man with long hair wearing an extremely extravagant robe. A fierce expression was carved onto his face, and he was pointing towards the sky as if he were commanding the heavens.
for visiting.

“Are you god? Or are you my ancestor?.” Yin Hui asked the statue.

“Hehe God? Ancestor? How about both!” The voice came from the statue, but did not possess the authority and majesty befitting of a god. Instead, it sounded very sly and mischievous like a trickster.

A ball of light emerged from the statue and stopped in front of Yin Hui. It materialized into a spectral elderly man whose features were identical to the statue. The old man had a crooked smile on his face, which coupled with a pair of shifty narrow eyes made him look like a swindler. However, a deep ferocity could be seen within those narrow slits for eyes, a ferocity that was exactly like Yin Hui’s!

“Congratulations kid! You’re the first of my descendants to be worthy enough to enter my domain and awaken me! What is your name?” The ghost cheerily asked.

“…”

Seeing Yin Hui’s silence, the ghost sighed and shook his head, but still retained a large wide smile on his face.

“Kid. Don’t you think that it’s a bit rude to not introduce yourself to your ancestor?”

Yin Hui was not a very sociable person. Being raised a slave for most of his life caused him to develop a cautious personality. This meant choosing his words carefully and to always think twice before acting. He had never really met or talked to a family member before, especially an ancestor, and momentarily forgot how to respond.

“My name is Yin Hui.”

“Yin Hui. Good good, I feel like this is a name I will never forget. As for me, I am your ancestor, the great Yin Tou!” Yin Tou pointed to the statue behind him as he introduced himself, posing in the same manner as the statue.

Yin Hui stared at the posing ghost who called himself Yin Tou with a puzzled expression. He found it hard to believe that this cheery eccentric old man was really the all-powerful ancestor Tang Li told him about.

“Anyways, your not dead. In fact, you could say that you’ve received a great fortune instead! Now, enlighten this old man on your current cultivation level.”

“I’m a cripple, I don’t have any.” Yin Hui lowered his head in disappointment.

Yin Tou laughed loudly.

“Ah kid, you tell very good jokes. How could a descendant of mine who has been chosen by the formation I put on that tablet not have an extraordinary cultivation base?”

Yin Hui contemplated the thought. If he truly did have no capability to cultivate, why would the ancestral tablet let him through? According to Tang Li, his ancestor was an apex cultivator, with the strength to accomplish anything. If this was the case, perhaps he also had the ability to restore his ability to cultivate as well.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter. Now that you’re here, I will bestow upon you my inheritance. You should be grateful boy, for you shall have the honor of becoming the new vessel of the great Yin Tou!”

Before Yin Hui could react, Yin Tou’s spirit charged into his body. Yin Hui’s eyes immediately clouded and his body began to emit a white aura. He collapsed onto the ground, twisting in pain as he slowly loss consciousness.

After a few moments the aura began to die down. When it finally dissipated Yin Hui slowly stood up, clenching his palms and examining his body.

“Haha! Finally! After countless years, I, Yin Tou, have finally regained flesh!”

Yin Tou was ecstatic. Using Yin Hui’s body, he began to jog around the empty void, striking poses and throwing punches in the air. While he could still do all of these things in his spirit form, possessing actual flesh added a new feeling to his actions.

To the average person, it would seem that Yin Tou was just fooling around like a child who received a new toy. While this was true, if one looked carefully they would also be able to tell that he was also testing the strengths and weaknesses of his new body.

“Heh, I knew there was something unique about you boy. While you indeed have no cultivation your body is completely devoid of mortal toxins that new cultivators need to cleanse before they can fully utilize spirit qi. Even a cultivator who has dedicated their whole life to the first step of cultivation, the Impurity Cleansing realm, would not be able to achieve this. This body is simply something that only a true chosen could be born with!” Yin Tou was very pleased with his new vessel. With such a great foundation and the rich spiritual qi that surrounded his domain, it would take no time at all to reach the peak of the Spirit Waking realm, not even the Spirit Manifestation realm would be too difficult.

“Since this body is essentially already equal to a peak Impurity Cleansing cultivator, all I need to do is absorb a strand of spiritual energy to break into the Spirit Waking realm. Don’t worry boy, I’ll be sure to get revenge on that Tao Shou brat for you once I get out of this place. Haha, perhaps I’ll even use his own technique to do it!”

Despite Yin Tou possessing Yin Hui’s body, he had not fully integrated with it yet. Therefore, Yin Hui’s soul still resided within his body, but in a suppressed state. This allowed Yin Tou to access a bit of Yin Hui’s memories and understand what was currently going on in the outside world. However, it also meant that Yin Hui could see and hear everything that Yin Tou was doing with his body as well.

Yin Tou sat down in a cross-legged position and closed his eyes. As he meditated, the dense spiritual qi that was present in the void began to converge towards him. The qi entered Yin Hui’s body and began to circulate. However, at the critical point of integration the qi scattered and shot out of his body. Shocked, Yin Tou tried once more to integrate the qi with Yin Hui’s body, but the spiritual energy rejected him again.

“Argh! Your really a cripple! What kind of joke is this? A perfect foundation, but spiritual energy completely rejects it!” Yin Tou was exasperated. While he did hear Tang Jiao retelling the story of the Yin Clan through Yin Hui’s memories he did not believe it. Even if it was true, Yin Tou believed that the tribulation only affected the soul and not the body, in which case he would still be able to utilize Yin Hui’s perfect foundation.

Infuriated, Yin Tou threw a huge tantrum. With nothing else around, he kicked the leg of his own statue to alleviate his anger. When he did, he instantly recoiled in pain.

“Gah, I forgot that this statue is still partly tied to my spirit so if it gets hurt so do I. Forget this, rather have no body at all then be in the body of some useless cripple.” Yin Tou closed his eyes and Yin Hui’s body began to emit the same white aura as before. Yin Tou’s spirit exited Yin Hui’s body and materialized once more with a displeased expression on his face.

When Yin Hui recovered he was incredibly angry. He stared at Yin Tou with fierce hate filled eyes that would’ve scared off a pack of hungry tigers.

“Don’t give me that look brat. Turns out your useless to me so go run along and enjoy your boring life as a slave. I’m sure there are other more worthy descendants still lingering around that will find this place eventually, but you won’t do.” Yin Tou snorted. He pointed his finger towards the void and a portal opened up, revealing the destroyed shrine with Tang Li, Tang Jiao, and Tao Shou looking around for Yin Hui.

“What about my inheritance!” Yin Hui objected, gritting his teeth.

“There is no inheritance! Even if there was, it would be for me not you! The whole point was simply to get another body compatible with mine so I could be revived. I could tell while in your body that you inherited my eyes and that was probably why the formation accepted you, but there’s nothing I can do with the body of a crippled brat!”

Yin Hui reached out and attempted to punch Yin Tou straight in the face, but his fist simply passed right through his ghostly head.

“I thought you were just a cripple, but it looks like your also an idiot. Hurry up and leave already boy.” Yin Tou took a few steps away from Yin Hui and sat down, entering a state of meditation.

However, Yin Hui was not leaving without some kind of revenge. His entire life was filled with grudges. He wanted revenge against the heavens for crippling him and his clan. He wanted revenge against the Tang Clan for making him a slave and mistreating him. The heavens and the Tang Clan were currently beyond reach, but he was definitely not letting Yin Tou off the hook. Yin Hui recalled all the things Yin Tou did while possessing his body and an idea lit up in his head. He turned towards Yin Tou’s statue and an evil grin appeared on his face.