Starting as a stray dog, I embarked on a journey of cultivation.

The island had fallen silent. Gou An, a demon and a sword, searched the island alone, trying to understand every aspect of it.

After searching for a long time, there was nothing strange about the island, nor did I find any new versions of myself.

The only strange thing was that underground cave, which was filled with black bear statues.

So Gou An sneaked back into the underground cave and counted all the stone statues.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine seats!

Furthermore, Gou An discovered that even touching these stone statues with his hands would not activate them at all.

Where did the bear that tried to ambush him when he first arrived on the island come from?

I've just searched the entire island, but I haven't seen a single bear.

"That's strange!"

Gou An shook his head, trying not to dwell on the issue too much.

I am currently undergoing trials in the ancient tower, and many things may be illusions.

Including so many versions of myself appearing at the same time!

Perhaps it was all just a trick of the ancient tower trial.

They deliberately created this environment for themselves, trapping themselves in an endless cycle from which they could never escape.

And he specifically showed himself a possible future ending, which was to die of old age on a deserted island reef!

I absolutely cannot let them succeed like this!

So Gou An left the cave and blasted the entrance to ensure that the stone statues inside would not be activated or escape.

Back on the island's surface, Gou An walked around the island's coastline again, but did not see a single wooden boat.

So they had no choice but to return to the vicinity of the mountaintop lighthouse and continue waiting.

At this moment, Gou An recalled the first time he encountered the red-eyed dog demon, and one sentence he said left a deep impression on Gou An.

The beginning of every cycle is when you lit this lighthouse.

Is it possible to change everything simply by stopping the next version of myself from lighting the lighthouse?

With this in mind, Gou An waited on the mountaintop and sat cross-legged.

Time slowly passed!

In this world, there is no changing of the sun and moon, so Gou An cannot feel the passage of time.

So I can only keep track of the time in my mind!

Seven days have passed in this manner, and still no one has come ashore on the island.

Everything fell into a deathly silence!

Gou An initially maintained ample patience, but later became increasingly irritable, feeling like he was about to vent at any moment.

Sensing the changes within his body, Gou An knew he couldn't wait any longer.

If this continues, I might end up with red eyes and fall into the cycle again.

So Gou An walked to the fallen stone pillar, preparing to light the lighthouse.

Strange things happen whenever the lighthouse is lit.

It's better than just waiting on the island forever, right?

So Gou An slowly lifted the lighthouse, poured in demonic power, and relit it.

One minute!

Ten minutes!

An hour has passed!

Gou An waited by the stone pillar, but nothing happened.

"Why is this happening?" Gou An waited for a full ten hours, but found that nothing had changed.

The island remained deathly silent; no one landed, no one appeared, and there was no sound.

"Hey!" Gou An couldn't help but stand up and shout.

But there was nothing but an echo.

"Are you kidding me?!" Gou An continued shouting at the sky, "Can you give me a different trial? I can't take it anymore!"

Gou An tried to call out to the remnant soul to answer him, but no matter how much he called, no one responded.

After trying for a long time, Gou An even used the most offensive words he could think of to curse, but it was still no use.

Finally, exhausted, Gou An could only sit back down on the ground, his eyes lifeless.

Do I have to drive myself crazy on this island, turn myself into a bloodthirsty madman, before I can move on to the next step?

Thinking of this, Gou An was left with only a deep sense of helplessness.

But at that moment, a sudden roar from a bear broke the silence.

Gou An was startled by the sound and turned to look. Sure enough, the huge, muddy black bear broke through the black mist and pounced on him.

Without time to react, Gou An could only reflexively unleash a fiery slash.

The fire knife struck the black bear in the face again!

The black bear, injured, slipped and tumbled down the cliff, finally crashing to the bottom with a thud.

Change comes quickly, and it ends quickly too!

It's all done in the blink of an eye.

Seemingly sensing something, Gou An suddenly looked towards the path leading up the mountain.

Although his vision was obscured by thick gray fog, Gou An sensed that someone had come ashore, so he took off running down the mountain.

really!

Just as Gou An guessed!

I had just reached the foot of the mountain when I saw a version of myself that looked exactly like me!

Before Gou An could speak, the dog demon opposite him drew a weapon from its mouth as if facing a formidable enemy and held it horizontally in front of it.

"What are you?" the dog demon on the other side asked directly.

His voice sounded exactly like Gou An's.

"I am you, and you are me!" Gou An quickly explained, "To break this cycle, we must cooperate!"

But the dog demon opposite him looked completely bewildered: "What loop? What loop?"

"There are many versions of yourself!" Gou An frowned upon seeing the reaction from the other person and immediately explained, "After arriving on the island, you'll find someone spying on you; that's actually yourself. The bear roaring at the mountaintop and the heavy object falling to the ground is also your doing. Even the disappearing wooden boat later is something you stole from yourself!"

Gou An explained a lot in one breath, but he couldn't understand why the person opposite him was looking at him like he was a monster.

"Oh!" After carefully analyzing Gou An's answer, the dog demon opposite concluded, "I know, you want to steal my ship, right?"

"No!" Gou An took a few steps forward due to his emotional outburst, but the dog demon opposite him cautiously took a few steps back, not giving Gou An a chance to get closer.

So Gou An had no choice but to stop, then tried to breathe to calm himself down, and then said, "Tell me, what stage have you reached right now?"

"What did you go through?" the dog demon opposite asked, puzzled. It then replied, "I just reached the eighth level, took a nap, and then I was on shore!"

"I ran into you as soon as I arrived on the island!"

"You just mentioned a cycle? What exactly do you mean?"

Upon receiving this answer, Gou An's eyes widened in surprise.

"So, you rowed frantically, realized you couldn't reach the lighthouse, got tired, lay down in the boat and fell asleep, only to wake up when you felt the boat hit something?"

"Yes!" The dog demon opposite nodded, then asked, "So I answered your question, shouldn't you answer mine now?"

Gou An nodded: "Go ahead and ask!"

If what the person opposite him said is true, then he is the same person he was when he first arrived on the island.

But the person who just arrived on the island didn't have this experience, which means that he has already broken the cycle?

This greatly excited Gou An.

The dog demon opposite him followed up with a question: "What exactly are you? Are you an illusion or a master of transformation?"

Gou An immediately explained, "I am nothing, nor am I skilled in transformation. As I just said, I am you, and you are me!"

But the dog demon on the other side still looked suspicious, so Gou An could only continue to explain and describe his experience from beginning to end.

After hearing the explanation, the dog demon opposite him just smiled coldly: "Keep making things up, and see if I believe you or not, then you're finished."