Chapter 549: Secrets of Samsara and Shando (Thanks to 'Shadow Immortal Equal to Heaven')

Chapter 549: The Secrets of Reincarnation and the Divine Path (Thanks to 'Yingxian Qitian' for the alliance leader donation)

Amidst a violent vertigo, Li Xiao felt an boundless darkness engulf his consciousness, dragging him into a descent that seemed to lead toward an endless abyss.

Only when he awoke from the void did he find himself standing upon a vast, white expanse that stretched beyond the horizon.

White sand and stone carpeted the earth, merging seamlessly with the sky in an infinite, desolate landscape.

Just as bewilderment clouded his eyes, the cheers of a crowd erupted nearby.

Li Xiao turned to see a group of people shouting and gesticulating wildly: "The Underworld! This is the Underworld! The legendary eighteenth level beneath the Kunxu ruins!"

"The Sect Leader was right; reincarnation after death is real!"

"We can be reborn! We can finally be reborn!"

Listening to the frantic cries of his fellow cultists, Li Xiao slowly began to grasp his reality.

"I am dead."

He recalled the scenes at the Wanfa University City, the desperate battle of Zhang Yu and the others against the Golden Core masters of the Demon Sect, and the final moment when Shi Huaiyu crushed him into nothingness.

Yet, the anger and pain in his heart flickered and vanished, replaced instantly by a surge of excitement and anticipation.

"What joy is there in life? What bitterness in death? To toil for a lifetime is not as good as shedding this broken shell and being reborn."

He recited the slogan of the Yuhua Sect aloud, then joined the others in their boisterous laughter.

"Death is not the end."

"No wonder, no wonder they never let us truly die."

"They were just afraid we wouldn't continue to live like beasts of burden, afraid we would seek rebirth!"

In that moment, infinite hope flashed in Li Xiao's eyes; he could already envision a future where he was reborn into the fifth level of Kunxu, the tenth, or perhaps even into the body of an immortal.

If one life failed, there would be the next, and the next after that.

"In some lifetime, I will surely have a better lineage, superior talent, and reach the pinnacle of the Immortal Path."

Thinking of Zhang Yu, whose talent surpassed his own, and of Ji Yuanxu, Gongshu Jin, and Ying Xin, who were born into far greater circumstances, a desperate yearning for the future burned in Li Xiao's eyes.

Simultaneously, lines of text began to shimmer before him.

"The Immortal Emperor of Reincarnation laments the suffering of all sentient beings, seeing no hope in this life, and has made a great vow to reconstruct the Underworld, seeking only to secure a sliver of immortal destiny for the world."

"According to your contract, you may now begin your 15th reincarnation."

Caught in his excitement, Li Xiao stared at the text, momentarily stunned.

Then, lines of text and data began to manifest before him.

It was a ledger of his assets, calculated after deducting debts, taxes, rebirth processing fees, and other necessary costs, revealing his disposable property after death.

"-2.566 Spirit Coins."

Beyond the tally of Spirit Coins, there were various other currencies he had heard of—and some he hadn't—along with divine abilities, immortal artifacts, Dao veins, and merit, all things that sounded immensely valuable. Yet, for all of these, Li Xiao’s balance remained at zero.

As for the currency of the first level, it was not even included in the calculation.

Seeing these numbers, a sense of profound dread welled up in Li Xiao’s heart.

At the same time, a new option popped up before him.

"Do you have additional post-mortem assets to register? Uncounted property, hidden wealth, techniques or knowledge not recorded in the Dao Treasury... anything you deem valuable may be submitted for registration."

"Warning: The upcoming rebirth process involves numerous expenses. To ensure you are reborn into a favorable life, we hope you will register your assets carefully."

Seeing this, Li Xiao felt his heart turn cold.

He attempted to register his assets, but neither the techniques he knew nor the knowledge he possessed could be converted into any value. Clearly, Li Xiao had nothing of worth to offer; even his attempts to disclose intelligence regarding Zhang Yu or the Demon Sect yielded nothing.

"Do they look down on these? Does the Immortal Emperor of Reincarnation find these secrets worthless? Or is there a compromise happening above? Can the secrets held by the dead not interfere with reality?"

Li Xiao had no chance to verify his suspicions. After several failed attempts, the registration process was skipped, and he was moved to the formal reincarnation procedure.

A multitude of options immediately appeared before him.

Which level of Kunxu would he be reborn into? The first or the thirty-sixth?

Li Xiao wanted to choose a higher level, but he found that every level except the first required payment. With his negative balance, he was forced to select the first.

Once the first level was chosen, where exactly would he be reborn? Which city? The city center or the outskirts?

Male or female?

Beautiful or ugly?

And then there was immortal aptitude, physical endowment... talent for artifact refining? Martial arts? A photographic memory? Exceptional intelligence?

Or perhaps a divine root from birth? An immortal root? Even an innate sacred body? A predestined immortal fetus?

Each choice would allow Li Xiao to possess these traits legally and legitimately in his next life, but every adjustment came with an exorbitant fee.

What about his family background? A commoner's home? The descendants of corporate employees? What industry did his parents work in? What was their cultivation level? How much wealth did they possess?

Even his personality could be fine-tuned.

For instance, one of Li Xiao's traits for his next life was a devotion to the Immortal Path; to delete this, or to add and adjust other traits, would also require payment.

Below that was a category Li Xiao did not understand: Merit. It seemed that because his disposable assets were negative, his merit was also displayed as -326.

Li Xiao did not know what it meant to be born with negative merit, but he felt certain it was no good omen.

Gazing at the endless settings for his rebirth and the costs associated with every minor adjustment, Li Xiao grew increasingly desperate.

He could already see himself, life after life, trapped in the lowest depths of poverty, forever and ever... just continuing on like this.

Li Xiao couldn't help but let his mind wander: "If it goes on like this, won't people just get poorer and poorer? Always flowing toward the first level of Kunxu? Where do the people above come from? What about the growing number of demon clans from the Heavenly Demon University? Are they all reborn from even higher levels?"

"Or is natural reproduction possible, and not everyone is a reincarnated soul?"

"Or perhaps, besides this cycle of reincarnation, other forces are involved in population adjustment... Is this rebirth process just one corner of a vast system? Perhaps the reincarnation process differs across levels and identities..."

But the next moment, he shook his head: "What use is thinking about this now?"

The greatest problem facing Li Xiao was the rebirth itself.

Suddenly, someone nearby roared: "We have to be managed even in rebirth?"

Another replied, laughing and crying at once: "In heaven and on earth, in cause and effect, there is nothing the Immortals cannot control! There is nothing they cannot manage."

"They are just playing with us. The Immortals are playing with us, and the Yuhua Sect is deceiving us, making us work for them for eternity, making money for them, and even stripping us clean every time we are reborn..."

Laughing, he slumped to the ground and muttered: "I won't be reborn. I won't reincarnate. I don't want to be a poor man anymore..."

But soon, because he failed to initiate the process, the system began to run automatically. The man was transformed into a beam of rainbow light, shooting toward the sky to begin a new life.

Others tried to commit suicide, hoping to truly scatter their souls, only to find that as mere ghosts in this pure white Underworld, they couldn't even end their own existence. In the end, they could only depart in despair as beams of light.

Li Xiao watched this scene, then turned his gaze back to the options before him, his heart turning into a stagnant pool.

"In my next life, I will be even poorer. I won't even be a citizen of the first level..."

"And in the life after that, I will be poorer still. Each life worse than the last."

Thinking of his future as a pauper on the first level, thinking of having to live in poverty for eternity... a terror unlike any he had ever known surged within him.

He could see no glimmer of hope for the future; he saw only darkness, and an endless, bottomless well of suffering.

At this moment, he longed only for death—a true, absolute, and final rest.

Amidst the cacophony of agony, fury, and desperate cries, Li Xiao transformed into a streak of iridescent light, soaring into the heavens to begin a life anew.

...

Kunxu, Level 2.

Wanfa University, University City.

Within Ye Xingli’s laboratory.

Hearing the question posed by Zhang Yu, Fu Ji fell into a profound silence of contemplation.

"As expected... the lad finally asked."

Though Zhang Yu had poured his heart and soul into completing the final steps of the prototype’s refinement after temporarily resolving the trouble with Feng Yuhan,

Fu Ji knew that the conversation with the Evil Gods in the Dark Spirit Realm had surely weighed heavily on his mind.

Yet, by that time, Fu Ji had no intention of keeping secrets from him any longer.

Perhaps it was because Fu Ji had been influenced by Zhang Yu.

Or perhaps, in Fu Ji’s eyes, Zhang Yu had finally attained a necessary maturity.

This time, Fu Ji did not withhold the truth about the Divine Path, but spoke plainly: "The so-called Divine Path is, in essence, a form of cultivation."

"The most fundamental Divine Path is the path of ascending step by step to become a legitimate deity, an official employee of the Heavenly Court."

"A more advanced Divine Path involves hosting the will of deities transmitted from the Spirit Realm, serving as a vessel for them in the material world, a tool for them to interfere with reality."

"And the most ruthless path—the one Zhang Pianpian is most likely treading now..."

Hearing these words, Zhang Yu’s expression turned grave, and he listened intently to what Fu Ji had to say next.

"It is to become the reincarnation of a god, gradually seizing the authority, resources, and even the memories of that deity."

"An ordinary deity could never achieve this; only the high-ranking deities of the Heavenly Court could orchestrate such a reincarnation."

"Such a deity often possesses many incarnations; these incarnations compete and devour one another until only the survivor remains to become the new god."

Fu Ji sighed with emotion: "The path Zhang Pianpian is walking... is in all likelihood this very one."

"In this process, the stronger Zhang Pianpian becomes, the more memories of the deity she will inherit, until she defeats all rivals, ascends as the true deity, and fully integrates that vast ocean of memory into her own being."

"Of course, it is equally likely that she could be defeated by another incarnation during this process, becoming mere sustenance for them."

"And even if she succeeds, compared to the meager memories of Zhang Pianpian herself, the memories of a deity are as vast and overwhelming as the sea..."

(End of chapter)