"Life and death, the cycle of reincarnation never ends."
If the soul was the foundation of the world, then the cycle of reincarnation would be the most basic rule of the world. The living would return to the living, and the dead would enter the cycle of reincarnation to nourish the world.
That was why creating a life that didn't enter the cycle of reincarnation was a taboo, not to mention personally breaking the cycle of reincarnation and turning the dead back into the living. That was why I had never heard of anything like resurrection, which wasn't magic, in all my years of living, not to mention seeing it.
Even Emperor Yongye back in the day was ambitious and arrogant, but he also knew that he had to be careful. In the end, he only broke the taboo with Lisa's matter, but Aillé still came knocking on his door.
After chatting casually, I found out that Aillé's main Divine Concept was to maintain the boundary between life and death, allowing the cycle of reincarnation to automatically operate. Pulling the souls of the dead who had just entered the cycle of reincarnation back to the mortal world doubtlessly crossed his bottom line, and the River Styx was one of his Divine Domains. What I did was the equivalent of robbing a police station, and he had to interfere.
Not to mention the River Styx, in the mortal plane, anyone who dared to step on the red line would basically die for no reason. But here, it was different. True Gods weren't omnipotent. There would always be places in this world that they couldn't see.
"Souls have reincarnation, and the material world also needs reincarnation. The world is composed of the four basic elements of earth, wind, water, and fire. The Elemental Planes are the source of all the planes, as well as the storehouse of materials that replenish the basic structure of the world. However, the laws of the world there are far too simple. Due to the excessive accumulation of a single element and the lack of basic laws, the Elemental Planes even rejected the True Gods' personal Divine Domains, becoming a forbidden zone for the True Gods. Even the True Gods are unable to see through it. Heh heh, back in the day, there were a few fellows who almost fooled me. "
I remembered Aillé saying this back then. He was just short of saying "If you want to do something illegal, go to the Elemental Planes." This was the equivalent of a police officer teaching a criminal how to take advantage of loopholes. How could I possibly miss this?
Of course, if Aillé wanted to interfere, he could. After all, he was no ordinary True God. In fact, he only learned of this loophole after someone discovered it and died at his hands.
But at this time, Aillé naturally didn't care about it. If I was the one who stepped on the red line, he could just pretend that he didn't see it.
What am I going to do? Just looking at the shivering silly cat in front of him was enough.
The little black cat curled up into a ball, its bright eyes filled with moisture, looking like a house cat that was about to be thrown into the tub for a bath, using its eyes to beg its owner to let it go.
"Well, do we really have to?"
"Nonsense, you said it? I've never seen you afraid for so many years. Isn't this your dream? Why are you cowering now? "
The silly cat sucked in a deep breath, and her pupils abruptly shrunk before expanding again. Her incessantly trembling cat ears finally stopped.
"Come, I'm not afraid!"
However, I was hesitating. Of course, I wasn't hesitating about whether or not I should start an experiment. No matter if Heloise agreed or not, this was already in my schedule. I was hesitating about whether or not I should tell her, "Your ears have indeed stopped moving, but your tail is currently cramping. She has already betrayed you."
"Ahem, tail."
"Ah."
Heloise exclaimed in shock and immediately used her cat claws to grab her tail. But unfortunately, even though she was tightly grabbed, she couldn't stop trembling as if she was cramping. After a short period of silence and embarrassment, she gritted her teeth and transformed into a blonde young girl.
"… My ears are exposed."
"Ah!" I continued to panic. This was the first time I had seen Heloise so flustered.
"… Humans won't grow a black cat's tail."
I continued to panic.
"… Humans won't grow a cat's mustache either."
"Can't you just say it all at once! Is it fun to tease me? "
"Teasing a cat requires doing it over and over again. Right, I recorded the scene just now with a memory crystal. It's quite cute, so I'll slowly appreciate it in the future … Hey, hey, what's the meaning of these claws? Are you planning on killing your master? "
"I'm cleaning out my family, unfilial disciple! Watch as I leave the mountain like a fierce tiger! "
"Fierce tiger? Haha, let the cute cat leave the mountain. "
Alright then, the rest was just the usual chaotic fight. At the very least, she was able to relax after such a commotion. It was no wonder that she was so afraid. If she made a single mistake, her soul would definitely be destroyed, and she would never be able to reincarnate again.
From a certain standpoint, it wasn't wrong to say that the older one was, the more afraid one would be of death. Both she and I had too many regrets that we hadn't resolved yet, and we really didn't want to die like this.
"Perhaps your current physical body's simulated sensory system isn't bad, but it's completely different from real feelings. Your greedy cells are indeed capable of multiplying and replicating, and they can also simulate the metabolism of a normal life form. However, it's only a simple repetitive replication. It can only change quantity, but not quality. It's impossible to recreate the growth and maturity of a normal life form on a microscopic level, which makes it difficult for you to become stronger."
"The endless vitality and potential of a life form's constantly growing and renewing cells is something that can never be replaced. You should have already forgotten the feeling of becoming stronger through cultivation. That feeling of awakening your body through breathing and letting magic flow through your blood vessels is something that can never be replaced. If you want to take another step forward … no, if we want to take another step forward, this is unavoidable. Besides, do you think I'd make a fool of you? "
Alright then, I instantly knew that I had said something wrong. The first part of my words had greatly moved her, and her expression also calmed down. However, my last sentence was obviously unnecessary.
"… You really dare to say that? How many times have you made a fool of me?"
"At the very least, we're on the same boat right now. You're my magical pet. If you become stronger, that's equivalent to me becoming stronger. If you die, my soul will also be greatly damaged. Do you really think I'd make a fool of myself? "
Alright then, I instantly realized that I had said something wrong again. The silly cat's tail and fur all jumped out, and even her waist-length blonde hair stood on end. The Banshee Queen, who was becoming more and more like a cat, was infuriated.
"… It seems that you've made a fool of yourself many times as well. Hey, is there anyone who comforts someone like you? That's all the more reason to worry. "
I shrugged and didn't explain anything.
She was no longer a rookie who had just started her career. She could grumble a little about some things, and it was enough for her to have an idea of what was going on. Soon, as Harloys stabilized her emotions, another participant of the experiment appeared, and everything entered the beginning phase of the experiment.
"Shadow!"
I felt many emotions as I looked at this distorted shadow of light.
From the very start, Frigid Maw's "shadow" wasn't a normal Frigid Maw. After it was hatched by an abnormal contract, its soul connection with its host was cut off. After being left here for more than three hundred years, it was like a fetus that was cut off from its mother's body. In the end, it became a "dead egg."
No wonder the Frigid Maw tribe was unable to hatch this egg. A dead egg was already dead, so how could it possibly be hatched through normal methods? However, I was an undead mage, and I was even a former existence at the peak of undead magic — a lich …
The process could be skipped, and the method of awakening the shadow wasn't exactly honorable. But in the end, I obtained an unexpected product: a half-living, half-dead Nightmare.
The shadow was alive. As an elemental lifeform, its physical body was its will and soul. It had just been born, so it was only natural that it was alive.
It was also dead. It had died long before it hatched. In the end, the only thing that was able to move about in the world was the remnants of its undead magic body.
"Frigid Maw was originally a hybrid of an elemental lifeform and a soul lifeform. With the addition of an undead lifeform and my soul shard, it's impossible to predict what the final product would be. If I really had to categorize it, I'd have to use the dead as the living."
The awakened shadow was incredibly dangerous. Its power level was impossible to calculate. It existed in this world, but also didn't exist in this world. Apart from AOE attacks that specifically targeted the soul, all other attacks would be ineffective against it. It was capable of feeding on souls, but I didn't know what the souls it fed to it turned into.
"… Its existence itself can't be explained by magical theory. 'Shadow' is actually a product that broke the Cycle of Reincarnation. I can now understand why it's taboo. Such an existence is far too dangerous. It instinctively desires to fill the hole in its soul and devour all life. If it wasn't for the fact that I hatched it and it listened to me based on its instincts, perhaps I would have been the first one to suffer. "
Originally, I had intended to use divine power to make up for it so that it could completely evolve. However, the result was that the situation became even worse. It was indeed nourished by divine power, but its mutation developed in the worst possible direction.
"A product of divine power that shouldn't exist and that I didn't foresee — a Divine Sin! Damn it, I should have known that Shadow was a Divine Sin that hadn't completely evolved to begin with! "
This was the worst possible change. Divine Sins, existences that the Gods were afraid of, hated the world to begin with. My hatred and anger from despair back then created its soul. Divine power and Frigid Maw's egg gave it a physical body. The moment it was born, it would definitely cause a great calamity for the entire world.
Fortunately, it still hadn't developed its own intelligence. It was only its instinctive desire to destroy everything. I was able to suppress it for a short period of time, but if I was careless for even a moment … it would probably be even worse than another God slaying battle.
It would be far too much of a pity to completely seal it away. That was why I thought of this experiment.
"If Shadow is a dead living person, then Heloise, the Banshee Queen's incarnation of Greed, is more or less a living dead person. If the two of them can fuse and evolve to make up for each other's insufficiencies, perhaps it'll be possible to reverse the cycle of reincarnation, allowing the dead to transform into the living without going through the cycle of reincarnation! "
In theory, this was believable. No matter how it mutated, Shadow was still a product of my soul. Heloise was once a magical pet that had formed a contract with my soul. One of them was a living person without a physical body or self, while the other was a dead person with a physical body and life. With me as the medium, the two of them harmonized their soul waves and completely used the principles of a God's Descent to fuse together.
That was how the scene before me came about.
"God's Descent! Shadow descend upon Heloise! "
The shadow of light entered the golden-haired girl's body. Soon, the distorted light disappeared without a trace. Then, Heloise's entire body transformed into a distorted shadow that kept flashing and changing shape.
Next, her entire physical body transformed into a gigantic cocoon of light. A gigantic pillar of light directly reached into the clouds. The tremendous divine might made it impossible for anyone to stay here.
"If everything goes smoothly, Heloise will obtain a new life and physical body, transforming into a divine lifeform. Perhaps she'll even have some of the Divine Sin's abilities. Then, she can fuse with me as my magical pet … It seems that I've triggered all sorts of taboos in one go. I hope that Boss Aillé won't mind."
Fusing with Shadow wouldn't be something that could be done in a short amount of time. I turned my attention to the other tasks at hand. In this alternate dimension, I would truly be surrounded by enemies. If I wasn't careful, I would likely fail miserably.
"Where's Beifeng? He still hasn't returned? "
As a hunter, scouting was basically his job. Ever since we set up camp, I had him patrol the surroundings, and he happily set off.
"He's back. He's squatting there, and he seems to be in low spirits." Renée pointed at the dracon who was hugging his leg and curling up into a ball. That bastard had even curled up his tail into a ball.
I paused in surprise at this scene, and then I laughed out loud.
"Hmm? Do you know what's going on? This is the first time I've ever seen Beifeng like this. "
"Heh heh, when I came here, I was afraid that he would refuse, so I told him that we were going to another dimension. There are all sorts of strange lifeforms there, even ones that you've never seen before. And then, he happily agreed and left those centaurs behind to come here. "
Renée paused in surprise for a moment before coming to a sudden realization.
"You tricked him into coming here? No wonder he's so depressed. "
"Hmph, I didn't lie at all. Isn't this an alternate dimension? Those earth elemental lifeforms are strange enough. It's his fault for not asking clearly. Recently, he's been getting closer and closer to those centaurs. It's better to drag him out here to calm down for a few days before any scandals happen. "
"Is this the 'true lie' that you mentioned before? Amazing. "
"Haha, of course."
I smiled proudly. Renée seemed to understand what I meant, and she took out a small notebook to jot down notes. Meanwhile, Adam, who was behind me, pouted.
"Yesterday, he was still complaining that he was tricked by his disciple, and now he's shooting himself in the foot. I think this time, it's going to be tough. Marguerite, why don't we make a bet? "
"He can't afford to bet. He's definitely shooting himself in the foot again. He's far too professional at digging his own grave. How can he bet without any suspense? "
I ignored the loud "discussions" behind me and walked up to Beifeng's side. I intended to talk some sense into our hunter since I still needed to rely on him.
But the moment I walked up to him, I heard him whispering softly.
"… Although his appearance is indeed attractive, there's no hole! What should I do if there's no hole … "
"Pfft!" I immediately spat. Beifeng was actually interested in an earth elemental lifeform? He didn't deserve any sympathy at all.
"Cough, cough." I coughed lightly twice as I prepared my lines in my mind. "Love knows no bounds. How can you do this? Beifeng, where's your true love? " I intended to tease him first.
But suddenly, he stood up, raised his arm, and pointed his middle finger at the gloomy sky.
"Despicable heavens! Do you think you can stop me like this? So what if there's no hole? There's no hole in the world to begin with. It's only because there are so many people that holes appear! Love knows no bounds, true love is invincible! Ahhhhh! "
Then, the dracon's dispirited expression completely disappeared. His eyes were filled with fighting spirit, and he charged out under my astonished gaze.
* Boom! *
But he didn't manage to take more than a few steps before a bolt of lightning struck him. His entire body was charred black as he collapsed to the ground.
I looked towards Marguerite and Adam, thinking that they couldn't take it anymore and struck him with lightning.
In the end, everyone was shaking their heads. Even Camdian's face was filled with astonishment.
"There's no lightning element gathering here at all. It's a pure natural lightning strike. Lightning actually appeared in the Earth Elemental Plane? Is this the legendary divine punishment? This is the first time I've seen it. "
The power of natural lightning strikes wasn't something that human mages could compare to. But the dracon, whose face was charred black, didn't surrender. He struggled to get up and continued pointing his middle finger at the sky.
"Despicable heavens! Don't even think of stopping my true love! "
* Boom! *
After angrily roaring, he excitedly rolled on the ground and actually dodged a new lightning strike. He then ran off into the distance.
* Boom! *
"Ah!"
* Boom! *
"Ah!"
That charred true love warrior emanated the fragrance of cooked meat, but he still stubbornly continued to run off into the distance …
"… True love is unstoppable!"
* Boom! *
"Ah!"
It seemed that this was going to be a long battle for true love. Perhaps we wouldn't need to look for lunch anymore …
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
