Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game.

…………

"Heh, if I can become a Dou Di, I will definitely break through the void to go to that world to see you and see who that little guy really is."

Whenever he recalls this memory, Yao Chen always shakes his head slowly with a wry smile, muttering these words to himself.

"Master, you're bringing this up again. Who was the person who saved you back then?"

The voice of his beloved disciple Han Feng came from behind him, and Yao Chen smiled without saying a word.

The handsome but somewhat sinister-looking youth didn't care and said ingratiatingly, "Master, please teach me the Burning Technique. I will definitely be able to become a Dou Di and fulfill your wish."

Yao Chen sighed softly and replied, "The evolution of the Burning Technique requires a different kind of fire. Without finding multiple different kinds of fire, the Burning Technique is merely a low-grade Yellow Rank technique, completely inferior to other high-grade techniques. And different kinds of fire are creations of heaven and earth, something that can be desired but not attained. Feng'er, don't be so fixated on this."

After being persuaded by Yao Chen, Han Feng had no choice but to leave.

What he didn't realize was that his most trusted disciple, Han Feng, whom he had nurtured for thirteen years, had a sinister and vicious glint in his eyes before leaving.

Seven days later, in some unnamed forest.

After winning his duel against his nemesis Mu Gu, Yao Chen fell to Han Feng's sword.

The excruciating pain in his back was nothing compared to the immense heartache Yao Chen felt. Sensing the potent toxins flowing into his body from the sword piercing through him, Yao Chen, the strongest alchemist on the continent, knew that he was doomed this time.

How could he possibly harbor the slightest suspicion towards the person who raised him and whom he trusted most in his life?

"Master, I didn't want to do this either, but why won't you give me the Burning Technique?"

Although Han Feng's voice sounded helpless, his feigned kindness was extremely cold.

"Ha, all for this friendship of over ten years."

Betrayed by his closest loved ones, Yao Chen felt utterly hopeless.

"However, you won't get either the Burning Technique or the Bone Spirit Cold Flame!"

After Yao Chen's desolate and tragic laughter, he used the last bit of strength in his body to control the flow of energy and self-immolate with the Bone Spirit Cold Fire.

His consciousness gradually blurred, and scenes from the past flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

He seemed to have returned to that warm, cramped space.

This is your journey.

Long-forgotten memories buried deep within the soul gradually resurface.

Finally, the memory is frozen on the very beginning of the story, and that calm yet warm voice.

"Guleton, go save that little guy! Gardevoir and I will hold off these elf poachers!"

As if he were there, as the sound entered his ears, Yao Chen felt a sense of helplessness, as if he were tightly enveloped by quicksand and unable to breathe.

No. Judging from his physical sensations, he was no longer the Medicine Venerable who once dominated the Dou Qi Continent, but...

Mr. Tan!

Chapter 304 Tan Xiaoshi Returns from the Battle Through the Heavens

(This chapter has been revised)

(I didn't drink fake alcohol, nor was I confused during a holiday. I'm thinking of using the cheat code that got the most likes in the comments of the leave request chapter on February 2.19th, so why are so many people criticizing me? Sorry, I was just making assumptions again.)

My consciousness gradually blurred, as if I were sinking into a deep, dark sea, surrounded by an impenetrable darkness.

Yao Chen felt as if he were trapped in a bubble, slowly rising to the surface, with a faint light beneath his feet.

"No, I can't leave."

A strong desire suddenly rose in Yao Chen's heart, and he struggled toward that ray of light, the world he had lived in for more than sixty years.

In a daze, he realized that the faint light was actually a book.

The words "Battle Through the Heavens" were prominently displayed above.

Bang! Before he could see clearly, he crashed into a barrier, his soul violently trembled, and he completely lost consciousness.

The bubble splits in two, intertwines with each other, reaches the surface of the sea, and bursts.

The world of elves, a scorching desert.

Tan Xiaoshi slowly opened his eyes. The blinding sunlight made him dizzy, and the quicksand beneath him was still swallowing his body.

"Who am I?" Tan Xiaoshi asked, looking somewhat bewildered.

"By the way, elven poachers, I'm being chased by them!"

Tan Xiaoshi regained some of his senses and remembered something that seemed to have happened just now, yet also seemed to have happened a long time ago.

"Run! Run! Run! Get out of here quickly!"

He urged himself on, but fatigue, heavy as a leaden curtain, pressed him down on this despairing sand.

Exhausted and hungry, Tan Xiaoshi's CPU, which had not yet fully recovered, crashed again, plunging him into darkness once more.

A vibrant tapestry of black and white, a dazzling spectacle of non-Euclidean geometric shapes shifting and changing forms—this chaos is unobservable, indescribable, and can only be seen with the heart.

This is Tan Xiaoshi's spiritual world.

He remained oblivious to the bizarre and wondrous sights, subconsciously ignoring them.

But a clear and loud voice suddenly rang out, making it impossible for him to ignore it.

"Hahaha, it's all fake, it was all fake!"

The old man's manic laughter came from all directions, his voice mournful and hoarse.

"My life was just an absurd script, and my fate was already predetermined."

Tan Xiaoshi noticed that the voice was gradually getting younger and sounded somewhat familiar.

"Enough, enough, it's all just a pipe dream."

The voice grew younger and more familiar, and Tan Xiaoshi was horrified to discover that it was actually her own voice.

"Who are you?!" Tan Xiaoshi took a half step back.

"Me? Perhaps I am Yao Chen, perhaps I am Tan Xiao Shi, I am you, and you are me."

The voice came from ahead, followed by another Charcoal Servant. Behind him floated a book, a flame, and a medicine cauldron.

In this spiritual world, the two Charcoal Servant slowly approached each other and then merged into one.

…………

Is this a dream? Or an illusion?

If it's a dream, a dream that lasts a hundred years?

If it's an illusion, what's real and what's fake?

Yao Chen, or rather, Tan Xiaoshi, was in a deep daze. He didn't even feel a tremendous force pulling his body out of the quicksand.

That phrase still echoes in his soul.

This is your journey.

So what exactly is this memory?

Did it really happen? Or is it just a figment of my imagination?

Or is it really just a book? A play?

Even with the wisdom and experience gained over those sixty years, Tan Xiaoshi was plunged into deep doubt and frustration.

Anyone who knew that their life was as illusory as a dream would find it hard to accept. The fact that Tan Xiaoshi did not break down at this moment shows that his will was quite firm.

So am I Yao Chen or Tan Xiao Shi?

The constant overlap of the consciousness represented by the two memories plunged him into further doubt.

Humans, elves, all sentient beings live by memory.

You become what you experience.

Based on this logic, it seems more appropriate for him, with sixty years of experience in medicine, to identify himself as a medicine practitioner.

However, he suddenly discovered something: the memory that belonged to Yao Chen was fading away!

From the embryonic stage, he has been gradually forgetting his memories of being "Yaochen".

Tan Xiaoshi panicked and began to use every means he knew to try to salvage the situation. However, memories are not the soul, and this process could not be stopped or reversed.

At this rate of time, Tanjiro will inevitably lose all his memories of that world in less than two months.

He will no longer be "Medicine Dust," he will become the ordinary Charcoal Servant again, without any special characteristics!

No, I have to do something, I have to leave something behind in this world!

The consciousness of "Yao Chen" searched within his own soul.

Immediately, deep within his soul, the eerie, pale white and purplish flame that flickered and swayed instantly drew his attention.

This old companion, ranked eleventh on the list of strange flames, has been with him for many years, and Tan Xiaoshi is very familiar with it.

At this moment, the flickering flames are clearly proclaiming their authenticity.

What if I left my strange fire, my alchemy skills, everything to my original consciousness?

The consciousness of "Medicine Dust" thought so.

…………

Tan Xiaoshi's dream was but a fleeting moment in the eyes of the outside world.

After dealing with the elf poaching gang and rescuing Tan Xiaoshi, Xia Chen and Gu Leton found a safe place to rest and check on Tan Xiaoshi's condition.

With the combined treatment of fluctuating breathing and medication, Tan Xiaoshi's breathing quickly returned to normal.

Xia Chen didn't know much about medicine, so he asked the team's part-time doctor, "Gardedoll, how is this little guy?"

Although Gardevoir lacked any modern medical equipment, her psychic detection surpassed any instrument. After carefully examining Tanjiro's body, she replied:

"Sanai—(Her body is mostly recovered; she was just exhausted before, and then fainted due to lack of oxygen caused by the quicksand. But something is strange. Her mental strength is terrifyingly strong.)"

Xia Chen's expression was solemn. If a Gym Leader-level Gardevoir could describe something as terrifying, it couldn't be that bad.

But Gardevoir continued, "Sanae! (His strength is weak, only at the amateur level, but his mental strength is already close to the gym level!)"