The Supreme First Heaven.
A small dimension outside the sky.
The Supreme Primordial Heaven is a big soap bubble. These small dimensions are the countless small soap bubbles that were attracted by the heavenly generals of the border garrison after they were opened up outside the heaven and earth. The huge heaven and earth are swallowing the laws of the heavens and even the spiritual energy of the earth veins of these small heavens at every moment, using them as food to continuously replenish and strengthen themselves.
This is exactly what the pioneering group that Lu Yi joined did in Badayuan under the jurisdiction of Tiemenguan.
The ground was covered with black glass sand, and everywhere were black volcanoes that looked like pustules. Dark red magma was weakly gushing out from the crater. It was snowing heavily from the sky, and the cold wind was howling. The bone-breaking cold air quickly froze the gushing magma, causing it to cool rapidly and explode into countless tiny black sands that were scattered all over the ground.
Occasionally, gemstones of different colors and sizes would fall into the black sand, making a clanging sound and rolling all over the ground. These gemstones were the embodiment of the laws of the great Dao of this world. Each gemstone contained a certain profound meaning of the great Dao, with a timeless rhyme and a great inspiration.
This kind of gem, even if it is a small piece the size of a mung bean, is worth a lot of money if placed in the Supreme Taichu Heaven!
In such a primitive and desolate world, the Great Dao is particularly clear, and the gems condensed by the Great Dao Law are even more rare treasures of heaven and earth, and the supreme resources for cultivation. Therefore, the Heavenly Court has also set up a garrison in this small dimensional world with a radius of only 10 billion miles, with a permanent army of 100,000 people. Every few years, a group of unlucky prisoners who have committed various crimes are thrown here, and they are forced to brave the cold wind and splashing magma to collect these sparkling law crystals.
But these days, both the permanent army and the exiled prisoners who were running around in groups like hardworking ants every day, were all huddled in the simple camp and shivering. No one dared to go out, no one dared to speak, and no one dared to look up.
The speed of time in the small dimension is very different from that in the Supreme Primordial Heaven. A hundred years ago, a few inexplicable powerful beings suddenly broke into this world, causing the sky to collapse and the earth to crack, and the sea to change. The sky was full of blood and various strange phenomena appeared one after another.
Finally, that day, the chaotic battle in the sky came to an end.
The guardian of this small-dimensional world's garrison, a military commander at the peak of the Heavenly Sovereign level, wearing a full set of armor and accompanied by a group of trembling bodyguards, carefully walked out of the cave where he was hiding and looked towards the peaceful sky.
In the void, wisps of colorful rays of light mixed with rich and strange fragrances rolled all over the sky. In the boundless rays of light and auspicious air, a cloud bed made of flowers stood tall. White Lady, covered in wounds, with half of her left arm missing, and the right leg below the knee completely disappeared, had three transparent holes as thick as a baby's fist near her lower abdomen, and all seven orifices were spewing out white and bloody flames. At first glance, she looked like a dying person, rolling her eyes and groaning on the cloud bed.
In front of the cloud bed, Emperor Taiyu was lying there without a sound, his limbs all broken. He stared blankly at the thick black clouds in the sky, the black sand that kept falling like a rainstorm, and the various gems of different sizes that were full of Taoist charm.
Beside Emperor Taiyou was a ferocious giant snake about a thousand feet long, its body covered with white bones, wrapped in pale white demonic flames, and burning silently.
Through the hideous wounds on the snake's body, one could see that its spine had been broken into dozens of sections, as well as its internal organs. Especially inside its huge head, in its pure white brain that looked like glass, a snake bead the size of a water tank had been completely shattered. From time to time, wisps of milky white Dan Qi spurted out from the cracks. When the wisps of Dan Qi dissipated in the air, the airflow struggled and wailed, and occasionally condensed into small dragons several feet long.
This big guy, with the appearance of a snake, has turned into a different kind of dragon. At this moment, he has been killed, but his aura still fills the entire small dimension, making the Heavenly Lord guard sweat and tremble, which shows how powerful he was when he was alive.
However, no matter how strong a creature is, once it is killed, it is killed.
“Your Majesty… Your Majesty!” The Heavenly Guardian finally mustered up the courage to walk out of the cave where he was hiding, and tremblingly shouted to White Snake: “Your humble servant, this is…”
White Snake turned her head and glared at him from a distance.
The Heavenly Court Guard shut his mouth obediently and laughed dryly. He hunched his waist and greeted cautiously, "I have various secret Heavenly Court healing elixirs here. Would you like some, Senior?"
White Snake just stared at him without saying a word.
The Heavenly Guardian was sweating profusely, feeling that a catastrophe was imminent. He was so frightened that his whole body was weak and his heart was beating wildly. He almost wanted to gather a large army, form a battle formation, and drive a few assigned warships to flee his own station at full speed...
White Snake finally spoke.
She sighed, stood up, and her whole body was covered with rosy clouds, the rhythm of life and death flashed, and between black and white, the hideous wounds on her body healed in an instant. She stretched lazily, yawned tenderly, and sighed, "Forget it, he didn't fall for it? He really let his pet mount that he had carried with him for many years be killed by me, and he really left?"
Frowning, Lady Bai muttered in confusion, "How strange! This old fellow doesn't seem as strong as I imagined. He is indeed much stronger than he was back then, but he doesn't seem to be too difficult to deal with... Perhaps, I have improved my cultivation too much over the years?"
There was an extremely complicated expression on White Snake's face, one that seemed both happy and sad.
She pondered for a moment, then gently spread her hands. Amid the colorful clouds, a dark golden scroll slowly unfolded in front of her. In the ancient and rich scroll, the upper half was filled with golden clouds and auspicious mists. An ancient Buddha, holding a Zen stick, sat cross-legged on a lotus platform, looking down with a compassionate look on his face.
In the lower half of the scroll, the ancient Buddha overlooks a sea of ​​fire and mountains of swords, a forest of icy swords, countless cruel punishments, and the endless hell, with densely packed and incalculable groups of evil spirits with hideous faces and bloody limbs, who are howling, swearing, cursing, and roaring towards the sky.
This painting is alive.
The Buddha seemed to be chanting scriptures, and the Buddha's power transformed into wisps of Buddhist music that floated out from the scroll, as if explaining some wonderful principles between heaven and earth.
And those evil ghosts were more like living creatures. They climbed, moved, struggled, and twisted in the scroll... The various scenes on the scroll were constantly changing... If you listened carefully, you could even hear the roars of these evil ghosts coming from the scroll .
"You, practiced Buddhism?" Emperor Taiyu lay dying, muttering in a low voice: "No wonder, no wonder... your methods are even more unpredictable than before. Ahem, which ancient Buddha's legacy is this? Are you also the reincarnation of Thief Bald? The Infernal Hell just now almost killed me directly... With such magical powers, if you are not the reincarnation of Thief Bald, how can you be so powerful?"
White Snake glanced at Emperor Taiyu and said, "Is it not possible that I am gifted? I am incomparable in understanding? I am wise and intelligent, and I can learn any magical power or secret method at a glance and master it after practicing it... Is it not possible? I am the reincarnation of Thief Baldy? What are you thinking? I am a native of the Supreme Primordial Heaven, born and raised here!"
With a cold snort, Lady White sneered, "That's not the case. Why do you think we were able to do everything smoothly back then? Everything seemed to be helped by God. We were able to capture the Holy Land of Nalanda so smoothly?"
"Whether it's me, Taichu, or even Tailu, the guy who turned himself into a half-human, half-ghost, and the idiot who almost abandoned his physical body, we are all pure natives! Otherwise, how could we succeed?"
Sighing, Lady Bai shook the scroll in front of her and carefully put it away: "This is 'Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's Explanation of Hell'... Life and death, reincarnation, and all kinds of great terrors are hidden in it. It is one of the highest inheritances of the Nalanda Holy Land."
After hesitating for a moment, White Snake shook her head, then nodded: "Perhaps? Although the Buddhist rhythm in this scroll is slightly different from the mainstream Buddhism in the Holy Land of Nalanda, it is still a lineage of Buddhism... Who cares about its origin?"
"But now, this inheritance is mine. If I say that I am the new generation of Ksitigarbha, no one should object, right? Haha, back then, there was no orthodox disciple in the Nalanda Holy Land who could pass on this scroll, and the Nalanda Ancient Temple was burned down to ashes by Taimo. Even if there was a successor, it has completely disappeared!"
White Snake smiled happily.
She looked up at the sky, then down at the ground, then at the slain snake, and finally sighed, "It seems that they really didn't fall for it. After being beaten up, they really ran away! Oh, you tell me, why do these old guys come to trouble me for no reason?"
Emperor Taiyu was paralyzed in the air, smiling bitterly: "It's nothing more than a word 'profit'!"
White Snake looked at him intently, and said, "You, are you also doing this for 'profit'? No, I have given you all the authority of Taiyutian. Those children, those children conceived by you and those women, their upbringing, their education and management are all given to you."
"I'm just living a life of leisure in Taiyu Heaven! And the little resources I've had over the years are nothing compared to the huge Taiyu Heaven, not worth mentioning." Lady White asked Emperor Taiyu puzzledly: "Although I'm your original body, have I ever interfered with you over the years? Have I ever obstructed you? Have I ever destroyed any of your plans, decisions, plans, or policies? No? Then why do you want to rebel?"
Emperor Taiyu looked at Bai Niangzi with a complicated expression.
The corners of his mouth moved a few times, and he finally murmured, "Yes, why? You let go and don't care about anything. I enjoy the title of Emperor Taiyu, I enjoy supreme authority, those vassal nobles compete to flatter me, handsome men and beautiful women, I take whatever I want, billions of lives, life and death, honor and disgrace, all depend on my thoughts!"
"So, why should I rebel against you?"
Emperor Taiyu took a deep, deep breath. At the wounds of his disappeared limbs, countless delicate granulations were wriggling rapidly. Along with the surge of colorful starlight, new limbs continued to grow from his wounds.
After three or five breaths, Emperor Taiyu's injuries healed, and his energy and spirit returned to their peak state. He slowly stood up.
In return, the price of his recovery in such a short time was that thousands of nearby volcanoes dimmed. The magma that was originally full of heat and gushing out turned into dark rocks and froze in the craters. The howling cold air in the sky became much gentler, and the biting cold air also dissipated by a large part.
The general of heaven who was in charge of guarding this small dimension looked pale and was sweating profusely.
With just a few breaths of recovery, Emperor Taiyu had extracted one percent of the origin of heaven and earth in this small world... The final result of the feedback of this one percent of the origin of heaven and earth was that the number and quality of Daoyun crystals that he could collect this year would decrease a little bit.
This tiny decline in quality and quantity is enough to be recorded as a serious fault in the Heavenly Court, where the rules and regulations are extremely harsh and strict. Perhaps during a future evaluation, he will be sent to the Heavenly Punishment Platform because of this serious fault this year.
Who did I offend?
The guarding general wanted to cry but had no tears, while Emperor Taiyu slowly moved his arms and legs, with faint starlight flowing around him. He looked at Lady Bai and whispered, "Why? I think I already have the answer."
He pointed at his nose and said with a smile: "Emperor Taiyu!"
Shaking his head, Emperor Taiyu said in a deep voice: "I am not Emperor Taiyu."
"I am not one of the three supreme powers who established the Heavenly Palace."
"I am the superior who sits in the Taiyou Heaven, high above, and is admired, envied, jealous, and even resented by countless creatures? Am I?"
"who I am?"
"I can't answer that question..."
Emperor Taiyu frowned and muttered to himself: "As long as you are still alive, as long as your original body still exists, I will question the legitimacy of my existence again and again - who am I? This question is too complicated... In fact, the question should be, what am I!"
"My body was formed from a strand of your blood. I can explain the origin of my body clearly."
"But my soul, my consciousness, my true self, my understanding of myself... What is this thing in my brain, deep in my mind? Is it a soul? A ghost? An evil spirit? What am I?"
"A body, an artificial body. You didn't cut off a soul and placed it in this artificial body... Then, can you tell me, what is this 'I', this 'I in this concept', the 'I' that inexplicably appeared from this artificial body?"
"People?"
"A demon?"
"Is it strange?"
"A demon?"
"Or maybe it's not even a monster... It's not a thing!"
"What am I?"
"I'm not a toy!"
"I'm not even a toy... and you keep saying that the one in this body, or rather, the 'monster' that is a combination of this body and the thing inside it that is not a toy, is the Great Emperor Taiyu, one of the three supreme beings who established the Heavenly Court, and one of the most honorable rulers of heaven and earth in the Supreme Primordial Heaven!"
"You are joking!"
Emperor Taiyu waved his hand gently and said with a smile: "You guys, are you kidding me?"
White Snake's eyes widened, and she nodded gently: "I can understand your confusion...even...your words have made me fall into deep...deep thinking. Indeed, I didn't expect that my desire to save trouble and my slight obsession with cleanliness would cause you so much trouble!"
She looked at Emperor Taiyu very seriously: "In terms of blood connection, you are one of my clones."
"But your consciousness, your soul, and your understanding of your true self, fundamentally speaking, have nothing to do with me... In fact, your soul was born out of thin air from this artificial body!"
"It's not reincarnation, nor is it possession."
"So, what are you?" White Snake also fell into deep thought: "But you, over the years, you used the name of 'Emperor Taiyu' to marry so many good daughters, gave birth to children with them, and even used your own blood to create a Chinese race!"
White Snake shook her head vigorously: "So, what are you?"
"Do you want to betray me for this answer?" White Snake asked Emperor Taiyu seriously.
"If you die, then I will be the real Taiyu Emperor." Taiyu Emperor said word by word: "Of course, after killing you, I will suck your blood, eat up your flesh and blood, devour your soul, and let us truly and completely merge into one... Then, I will truly be myself!"
"We shouldn't be separated!" Emperor Taiyu smiled brightly.
"But don't you think this is ridiculous?" White Snake sighed, "There is nothing wrong in the world, why do you have to make so many messes? Can't you just give up those overly complicated and mysterious ideas and be an ordinary, peaceful person who eats, drinks, has fun, and raises children all day long, and is qualified and meets the predictions and expectations of all of us, the Taiyi Emperor?"
Emperor Taiyu looked at Bai Niangzi solemnly and said, "If I live like that, what is the meaning of my life?"
White Snake has a headache.
She rubbed her solar system vigorously and murmured, "So, you are determined to kill me, right?"
Emperor Taiyu answered her seriously: "Yes, I will try my best to kill you. If it doesn't work this time, then we can do it next time... Or, can you kill me right now?"
White Snake waved her hands and shook her head.
Emperor Taiyu smiled and said, "In that case, I'll leave. Well, be careful. When I'm ready next time, I'll attack you again!"
White Snake waved her hands weakly and sighed heavily... She wanted to say something, but finally closed her mouth.
Just as White Snake and her "clone" were tearing each other apart in this small dimension, in the ancestral land of the Dugu clan in the Shenyin territory, an elder who had been in seclusion for many years and whose body was almost covered with spider webs suddenly opened his eyes.
"Your Majesty, please greet this old minister. What do you want me to do?"