Chapter 3228: Innocence
Su Zimo seemed to have had a long dream.
In his dream, he saw many people.
These people were all extremely unfamiliar faces. In fact, their attire was abnormally ancient.
There were monks, demon beasts, Rakshasas and G.o.d race beings…
These people came from different races and worlds.
Su Zimo had never seen them before.
However, everyone looked at him with kindness and encouragement.
There were even some mortals who looked at him with curiosity. Their gazes were pure and their smiles were filled with innocence.
Just like that, Su Zimo walked forward. There were people standing on both sides of the road, cl.u.s.tered together as though they were waiting for something.
“Is this the Yellow Springs Road?”
Su Zimo looked at the people on both sides of the road in confusion.
That’s not right!
He had once been to the Netherworld and walked through the Yellow Springs Road.
The Netherworld was not like this!
A strand of white hair flashed past his eyes.
This was not a dream!
Su Zimo was jolted awake.
Instinctively, he reached out and lowered his head.
His flesh and blood were intact!
His body was not in the state of a dead soul!
Su Zimo sensed his surroundings slightly and his heart skipped a beat.
He was not dead!
Although his hair was already white, he still had nearly five million years of lifespan!
Combating the Nine Heavens did not exhaust his lifespan completely.
How could this be?
Logically speaking, after releasing Combating the Nine Heavens, his lifespan would be exhausted in an instant, unless…
The secret skill of Combating the Nine Heavens was interrupted during its process?!
Where was this place?
Where did the surrounding crowd come from?
The group of people looked at him without any hostility. Furthermore, they were filled with kindness and respect.
However, he clearly did not know these people.
Suddenly, Su Zimo realized that there was an extremely obvious difference between him and these people!
These people were all in the form of souls and did not have physical bodies of flesh and blood!
Su Zimo’s gaze extended along the crowd. At the end of the crowd, he saw a large group of monks and a few familiar faces.
Before he could react, he saw eight figures standing at the end of the road.
Their expressions were either cold, arrogant, fierce, or gentle…
“Ah!”
Su Zimo looked at the eight figures and was shocked. Disbelief appeared on his face, causing him to exclaim involuntarily!
The first woman on the left was dressed in black and had an ethereal appearance. She had a cold expression and her black hair flowed down like a waterfall.
The second woman had a graceful figure and fair skin. Her brows were sharp and her eyes seemed to s.h.i.+mmer. As the light circulated, she was captivating.
The third was an old ape with white fur. His arms were extremely long and his body was 30 feet tall. His eyes surged with a sanguine light and he had an arrogant expression.
The fourth man was dressed in snow-white clothes and stood with his hands behind his back, looking like an unsheathed sword with a sharp aura.
The fifth person had blond hair and blue eyes. He was tall and his entire body surged with golden light.
The sixth person’s facial features could not be seen clearly. He was enveloped in darkness and his figure was indistinct.
The seventh man’s entire body shone with starlight and his eyes were like stars.
The eighth was a monk in an ancient kasaya. He had a warm gaze and a kind expression as he nodded and smiled at Su Zimo.
The eight of them were the eight phantoms that appeared when he pa.s.sed the Tenth Tribulation!
Great Empress Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden, Great Empress Nine Nether, Great Emperor Combat, Great Emperor Zenith Heaven, Great Emperor Light, Great Emperor Darkness, Great Emperor Astral and Great Emperor Infinite.
Those eight were the ancient Great Emperors who had shone through the ages and established eras!
Words could no longer describe Su Zimo’s current mental state.
In fact, he suspected that he was in a magical dream at that moment.
Everything seemed so dreamy and unreal.
How could it be?
The eight Great Emperors of ancient times had long died. How could they still be alive?
Even if they did not die back then, their lifespans would have been exhausted long ago and they could not have survived until now.
“Is this a dream?”
Su Zimo murmured instinctively.
“Yes and no.”
Great Emperor Infinite smiled and replied.
Su Zimo was even more confused.
“Young Friend, when you released Combating the Nine Heavens earlier on, the few of us cast a Dharmic art to pull you into the Dream Badge.”
Great Emperor Infinite said, “That’s the world you’re in now.”
Su Zimo was enlightened.
There was a pocket dimension in the Dream Badge.
He was pulled here and Combating the Nine Heavens was forcefully interrupted, preventing him from exhausting his lifespan.
However, Su Zimo still had countless questions.
As though he could read his mind, Great Emperor Infinite continued to explain, “This is a dream world created by Empress Evil with the Dream Badge as the foundation. It’s independent from the Three Realms and separate from the cycle of reincarnation.”
“In this dream world, all living beings are equal. There are no hards.h.i.+ps or worries, no killing and fighting. In the soul state, one’s lifespan is endless and they achieve eternal life in another form.”
Su Zimo was dumbfounded and shocked.
Creating a dream world that was independent of the Three Realms and was separate from the cycle of reincarnation was already shocking enough.
In this dream world, one could even achieve another form of eternal life!
Great Emperor Infinite said, “Empress Evil believes that good and evil shall both be paid in kind. However, things in the world often went against her wishes. As such, she used her own methods to complete the cycle of good and evil.”
“The evildoers will be dragged into the Beast Dao by her. As for the kind people she encounters, after they die, their souls will be drawn here by her and they will be far away from killing and fighting. They won’t have to suffer the pain of the Six Paths of Reincarnation.”
Su Zimo’s vision blurred for a moment.
The intermittent memories of that lifetime he spent in the dream of the white pheasant surged into his mind and gradually became clear.
He recalled all his experiences with that skinny little girl.
“Brother Su, I believe that good people will be rewarded in this world.” The little girl said firmly with clear eyes.
“Perhaps.”
“Brother Su, do you think there’s a place where the people are brave, kind, upright and adorable? Everyone is equal and there’s no bullying or suffering…”
The little girl had a pure smile and an innocent heart.
“How could there be?”
Su Zimo smiled in exasperation and rubbed the little girl’s forehead gently.
“If there isn’t, I want to build a world like that in the future so that kind people can avoid suffering.” The little girl said seriously.
Great Emperor Infinite’s voice sounded once more, interrupting Su Zimo’s memories.
“Apart from some souls who were guided here by Empress Evil, many of the people living here are cultivators who died in battle in the Heaven Conquest Battles back then…”
Su Zimo’s heart seemed to have been struck by something!
Empress Evil had never changed.
She had always persevered in her beliefs that good and evil shall both be paid in kind.
In fact, this persistence seemed a little naive and incompatible with the world.
After the experts who partic.i.p.ated in the Heaven Conquest Battles died in battle, their souls should have returned to the Netherworld and endured the pain of reincarnation.
Empress Evil did not want these experts to suffer such hards.h.i.+ps, which was why she guided them to the Dream Badge.
Even if these people could not ascend to the major chiliocosm, Empress Evil wanted to help them achieve eternal life!
Those unyielding and indomitable experts deserved such repayment!
Suddenly, Su Zimo recalled that during the Heaven Conquest Battle back then, the Dream Badge had gradually heated up in his embrace.
At that time, the battle was intense and he did not have the time to think too much about it. Now that he thought about it, the Dream Badge must have been guiding the souls of the cultivators who died in the Heaven Conquest Battle.
Once a cultivator died, their soul would enter the Netherworld.
However, the Netherworld was under the control of Feng Du.
There might be another meaning behind Empress Evil’s actions.