Chapter 240 Ceilia — The 8th Or 1st Daughter?
A breathtaking scene unfolded before Qin Yueling\'s eyes, leaving her utterly astonished and unable to comprehend the mystifying actions of Xia Tian.
As if an ancient spell had been cast, the very ground beneath her feet vanished in an instant, evoking an instinctive reaction as she tightly grasped Xia Tian\'s hand for security.
The canvas of the sky transformed before her, splashing vibrant hues of bright white that eventually melded into a captivating shade of pure white, like a celestial masterpiece in the making.
To her amazement, the once solid terrain turned into a velvety bed of soft, lush green grass, inviting her to take a step into this surreal landscape.
In this otherworldly place, the boundaries seemed to blur, and the expanse stretched endlessly into infinity, filling her with a sense of both awe and trepidation.
Yet, amidst this brilliance, stars and a resplendent moon adorned the vivid sky, shining their ethereal light upon this mystical realm.
Such a striking display of contrasting phenomena left Qin Yueling questioning the very fabric of reality itself, as if she had stepped into the realm of dreams woven into the fabric of time.
"Now, I shall assume your memories have returned?" A deep voice resonated, pulling Qin Yueling back to reality. She nodded instantly, acknowledging Xia Tian\'s words.
Her expression underwent an immediate transformation, contorting into a bitter look.
As Qin Yueling gazed at Xia Tian, the realization of being in deep trouble washed over her.
Xia Tian nodded seriously, commanding, "Revert back to your original form."
"Y-Yes," muttered Ceilia, her body undergoing a profound metamorphosis.
She blossomed into a woman of ethereal grace, akin to a fairy from ancient legends. Her age appeared to be around twenty, a time when youth and vitality merged harmoniously. Her mesmerizing pink eyes, like the soft petals of a peach blossom, held a hint of mystery, concealing depths that only the astute could fathom. They sparkled with an enigmatic charm, drawing others into their captivating allure.
Her silken hair cascaded like a waterfall of rosy hues, reflecting the first blush of dawn. The mesmerizing color complemented her delicate features, enhancing her celestial appearance.
Ceilia\'s aura exuded an air of grace and elegance, as if she were a celestial maiden descended from the heavens. With each movement, there was a captivating dance of elegance and refinement, leaving an indelible impression on all who beheld her.
In her transformed form, she embodied the essence of beauty and mystery, a living embodiment of ancient tales woven into the tapestry of time.
With an eerie intensity, Xia Tian\'s strong hand clamped onto Qin Yueling\'s soft cheeks, his gaze piercing into the depths of her soul.
"Uuu!" Her gasp of surprise was stifled by the gravity of his stare.
In the blink of an eye, his once silvery irises morphed into a mesmerizing shade of blue, radiating an otherworldly glow. Time seemed to lose its meaning as Qin Yueling found herself entranced, disconnected from the reality around her.
Slowly regaining her senses, she shook off the bewitching hold Xia Tian had over her mind. Confusion and fear gnawed at her, and she instinctively moved back, assuming a defensive stance.
"W-Who are you?" Her voice trembled, the question escaping her lips with a mix of uncertainty and apprehension. "You are not my dad, where is he?" she demanded, desperately seeking answers.
A chilling smile crept upon Xia Tian\'s lips as he spoke, his voice calm yet commanding. "You have three seconds to come here. For every second you hesitate, your punishment will be doubled."
Feeling a mix of trepidation and defiance, Qin Yueling observed as he calmly settled onto the lush grass, deliberately turning his back to her.
At the same time, the once bright and ethereal sky now transformed into a breathtaking shade of black.
Yet, it defied all logic by emanating a gentle moonlight-like glow, casting an enigmatic radiance upon the landscape.
The mysterious scene only deepened her unease, but something inexplicable drew her in.
With each passing moment, the veil between reality and the unknown seemed to thin, leaving her torn between fascination and trepidation.
Qin Yueling\'s heart raced, and she felt the weight of the ultimatum press upon her. Mustering her courage, she took hesitant steps towards him.
Qin Yueling\'s name was not Qin Yueling, rather Ceilia.
In the midst of the tumultuous third chaos cycle, amidst a hundred experimental subjects, there emerged one who defied the odds – a girl known as Ceilia.
She was the first among the batch to not only survive but thrive, much to the astonishment of her creator, Xia Tian. In a twist of fate, his long-standing curse was lifted right around the time of her birth.
As Ceilia grew, so did Xia Tian\'s uncertainty. Should he awaken the remaining seven sisters who lay dormant in their stasis chambers? The enigmatic Evelynn and the others were there, yet he hesitated. Eventually, he decided to focus solely on Ceilia, determined to train her to reach her full potential first.
But as with any pioneering experiment, mistakes were made, shaping her young mind in ways unintended. What could have been a normal upbringing turned into something rather peculiar and almost pathetic, at least in Xia Tian\'s eyes. She was indeed perfectly normal, but therein lay her fault.
Enveloped in a world where she could witness her sisters frozen in eerie containment tubes, an innate fear of abandonment and jealousy took root in Ceilia\'s heart. Though had these emotions come later in life, they might have been manageable, their early onset altered her psychology, and she grew up harboring a deep-seated resentment.
Time passed, and Ceilia ascended to the formidable void realm in terms of power. Xia Tian, recognizing her accomplishments, prepared to awaken the other girls one by one. However, fate had other plans. One day, the precious artifact that housed the experiment, the mysterious black cube, vanished without a trace. It was only natural to suspect Ceilia, and her trail of devastation seemed to confirm the suspicion.
It turned out that she had taken the cube, and in her fury, she had unleashed a deadly assault on her still-slumbering sisters. The once-promising hundred were reduced to a mere seven by the time Xia Tian managed to confront her.
Thus, it was not that only eight survived out of a hundred, as there might have been over ten, had Ceilia not turned against her kin. Their souls, still in a nascent state, were now animated, caught in a tragic existence.
Xia Tian had once believed that Ceilia had inherited none of his characteristics. Yet, he was wrong. She had indeed inherited something from him – a trait that burned like an unyielding flame – selfishness.
...
In the aftermath of Xia Tian\'s decision to destroy Ceilia\'s body and seal her soul, he found himself haunted by her memory.
Her disappointments, one after another, weighed heavily on his conscience.
Learning from the mistakes of the past, Xia Tian resolved to be more cautious in his future endeavors.
It wasn\'t until the fourth chaos cycle that he attempted another experiment with the remaining seven girls.
This time, he opted for a different approach. Rather than awakening them individually, he awakened all seven girls at once, hoping to foster a sense of sisterhood among them.
He allowed them to mature to the age of seven before awakening them, ensuring their young minds were developed enough to resist emotional manipulation.
Recognizing the need to give them purpose and direction, Xia Tian assigned roles to each girl, molding them according to his preferences. He understood that neglecting this crucial step had led to Ceilia\'s failure in the past.
As the other experiments proved successful, Xia Tian finally released Ceilia\'s soul during the sixth chaos cycle. He placed her soul into an abandoned child, intending to observe her choices and actions in this new life.
However, he soon forgot about her existence, moving on to other pursuits in his endless quest for knowledge and power. But fate had other plans in store for them both.
One fateful day, Xia Tian stumbled upon Ceilia once more, now living a new life with lingering traces of depression. She keenly felt the weight of her past disappointments, knowing she had truly let him down.
In this new life, she chose not to cultivate, forever bound to a mortal body, and sought solace in the prospect of motherhood. In the hopes of regaining Xia Tian\'s favor, she decided to have a daughter through an external fertilization method, akin to a test tube baby.
Through a forbidden process that Xia Tian was no longer allowed to employ, she mixed a part of her soul with that of another man. The baby was born, a beautiful child who caught the eyes of a rogue and powerful cultivator. Tragedy struck when the girl was kidnapped, devastating Ceilia.
Desperate to cultivate again and save her daughter, time was not on her side. As her lifespan neared its end, she faced the grim reality that her chance to reunite with Xia Tian and change her daughter\'s fate was slipping away.