Chapter 1312: Epoch Master
Xiao Chen felt helpless. He really could not hate this type of girl. Furthermore, she was just an Item Spirit. For her not to be able to hold her tongue, her heart was rather pure.
"Hehe! I just knew that you wouldn't blame Little Three. Tell me, what is your choice? The past or the future? If you choose the past, it will give you a chance to see the events of your past life. If you choose the future, it will allow you to see the future joys and sorrows of this life."
The pretty, little girl introduced, explaining it in great detail, putting her instinct for chattering on full display.
"What are you going to choose? The past or the future?" Little Three smiled attractively. "Remember, there is only one chance!"
Xiao Chen opened his mouth, but he still found it hard to make a choice. Should he see the past or the future?
"Have you not decided? Should Little Three help you with the thinking process?" the pretty, little Item Spirit girl asked while smiling happily.
Xiao Chen entered deep thought and then said, "I suddenly realize that both the past and the future cannot be changed. In that case, watching does not matter. What is the point of watching, then?"
"The past already happened. Of course, it cannot be changed. However, while the future has not happened yet, it indeed cannot be changed, either. Everything moves according to fate. It is already decided from the moment you say it."
Xiao Chen smiled and said, "You can make your answer simpler. Just nod and tell me that I'm right; that will do. There is no need to give me a long explanation."
The pretty, little girl smiled abashedly. "Do I? It's just that Little Three has not met any living person for too long. Inevitably, I cannot hold back my words, saying things that I did not mean to and rambling on—"
"Stop!"
Xiao Chen raised his hand and stopped the other party. This pretty, little girl spoke so much that he was getting a headache. He finally saw for himself how scary a chatterbox could be.
Little Three smiled and covered her mouth up, saying, "Alright, I'll stop dragging it out. If you are not able to make a decision, then how about letting heaven do it for you?"
Curious, Xiao Chen asked, "What do you mean?"
"Toss out an item, and the direction that it lands in makes the decision for you?"
This suggestion stunned Xiao Chen, making him hesitate. Let heaven decide?
Not say anything more, Little Three waited for Xiao Chen to reply.
After thinking for a while, Xiao Chen sighed softly. Since when has my courage fallen so low? To think that I actually even considered leaving a choice between past and future to heaven! Time has indeed worn down my sharpness.
If Xiao Chen had come up back then, he would have immediately chosen to see the future without saying anything. Now that he had withdrawn his sharpness and stood in a high position, he started worrying about everything.
"How about it? Do you need to do that?"
Xiao Chen shook his head and replied, "There's no need. I have decided. I do not believe in fate, only myself. Show me my past. I would like to see my past life."
No matter what the future was like, it was all the result of his choices. It had nothing to do with fate.
Xiao Chen wanted to see the past, feeling rather curious. He had transmigrated and occupied the body also known as Xiao Chen. After swallowing up the other party's soul, he had picked up and continued the original Xiao Chen's will, living in this world.
Would that so-called previous life be the previous life of the Xiao Chen on Earth or of the Sky Dome Realm's original Xiao Chen?
Little Three rubbed her chin and said, "Previous life…? Rarely do people choose to see their previous life. I do not understand what is so interesting about the previous life. However, Elder Brother White Robes, since you made this choice, Little Three will not reject it. Hold out your hand into the mirror."
Xiao Chen did as told and directly thrust a hand into the mirror.
"Hehe! What a fair hand! It is really pretty, well endowed, and talented with overwhelming spirituality. Furthermore, you are filled with Spiritual Energy. Little Three really likes it. So, you are called Xiao Chen but was once known as the White Robed Bladesman. Little Three addressed you correctly, then," the pretty, little girl said with a smile as she held Xiao Chen's hand and stared at him with her lovely, large eyes.
Xiao Chen said helplessly, "Can we begin now?"
"Right, let's begin. I'll now bring Elder Brother White Robes to see the various events of your past life. No matter what happens, do not let go of my hand. I'm going to pull you into this Three Life Mirror."
"Whoosh!"
Xiao Chen saw the pretty, little girl pull hard. He felt like she yanked out his soul. The world spun around, making him dizzy.
He turned back and looked. Indeed, his body still stood with his hand outstretched, looking like an immobile statue.
"Hehe! Don't look back. What you need to do now is look forward."
Turning his head, Xiao Chen looked to the front. A star turned into flames and fell from the sky, towards his very center. There was nowhere to run.
Heatwaves surged, carrying overwhelming might as they spread over. The startled Xiao Chen paled, wanting to flee immediately.
However, he discovered that Little Three grasped his hand tightly, preventing him from fleeing. Before he could let out a cry of surprise and close his eyes, the fireball went through him and crashed on the ground.
The fireball created a huge crater, and then it took on human form. This person's Life Essence turned into rainbow-colored lights and disappeared like smoke.
Little Three giggled continuously at Xiao Chen's reaction to this. Everything he looked at was all the past. It could not hurt him. This Little Three was scaring him on purpose.
Xiao Chen would settle this with her later. He currently did not have the time to care about her tricks. He focused himself and looked at what was happening before him.
The scene before him was like the end of the world. Unimaginably vast and majestic palaces crumbled. Flames blazed. Spirit Herbs burned. Glorious buildings turned to rubble.
However, these were not the scariest thing, which was the stars in the sky.
Xiao Chen only managed to see it clearly now. These stars were not truly stars but people. However, these people were too strong, unimaginably strong. Before they died, they gave off a light that was no weaker than the stars.
Stars fell from the sky and space shattered. The laws crumbled and order no longer existed. The heavens shook and the earth split.
This spectacle shook Xiao Chen's mind. This was the scene of the destruction of the Immortal Epoch. Why did his previous life have such a scene?
"Oh, how incredible! Elder Brother White Robes's previous incarnation was actually an Immortal," Little Three said with a smile as she pulled on Xiao Chen's hand, wandering through the space where many Immortals fell.
Xiao Chen found her demeanor strange, so he asked, "You do not seem surprised. You've met Immortals before?"
Little Three puffed up her chest and said, "Hehe! They are just Immortals. The person who forged Little Three could be considered a major character of heaven. Those are major characters who escaped the cycle of reincarnation, never to die. They are major characters who can twist time and space. In the past, there were also some people who were Immortals in their previous life as well. There is nothing much to it."
Keeping silent, Xiao Chen continued watching. He wanted to know whether this was the past life of Earth's Xiao Chen or the Sky Dome Realm's Xiao Chen.
"Hey, I found you!"
Little Three's eyes lit up as she led Xiao Chen over with one step. The scene suddenly changed, and Xiao Chen arrived in a black-and-white world.
The Nine Layers of Purgatory, the Yellow Springs Road, the gates of life and death!
Xiao Chen immediately thought, Where is this place? It looks very familiar. Isn't this the Yellow Springs Road in the Nine Layers of Purgatory that I went to before?
The last group of Immortals of the Immortal Epoch gathered together on the Yellow Springs Road, appearing fatigued. Their auras were weak.
Amid the Immortals, there was one who wore white and looked very clean. He stood at the side, listening to the discussions of others without saying a word.
Xiao Chen looked over and felt a familiar feeling that strangely evoked some fear. Was this what he looked like in his previous life?
"Damn it! When the Immortal Dao collapsed, this Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva actually took advantage of the situation and occupied the entire Hell."
"This baldy is really disgusting. With Hell in chaos, he took advantage of this to form a sea of bitterness to absorb the power of faith!"
"He blocked off the six paths of reincarnation, not letting us leave!"
The group of Immortals was extremely angry. Of all things, their strength had plummeted. They could not do anything to the tyrannical Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva. Now that the laws had changed, the Immortal Epoch was ending. This group of Immortals suffered from a blow that could lead to their destruction. The Buddhists might have suffered somewhat from this turn of events, but they quickly adapted, mitigating their losses.
"I'll go speak to him!" the white-clad Immortal, who had been silent, said indifferently as he showed a flash of murderous intent. Then, he walked to the front.
"Sky Dome Immortal Lord, don't be rash!" the other Immortals immediately exclaimed.
Although the Sky Dome Immortal Lord said that he was going to speak, everyone knew that the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva would not agree, so there would definitely be a huge battle.
Now that the Immortal Epoch had passed, these Immortals felt their strength weakening as time went by. They simply could not fight this Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva.
It felt like lightning struck Xiao Chen's mind, completely stunning him.
Xiao Chen heard it and saw it very clearly. These people were addressing the Sky Dome Immortal Lord, the Sky Dome Immortal Lord who was the leader of the three thousand Immortal Lords.
"He is my previous incarnation?" Xiao Chen muttered, still somewhat in disbelief, feeling like he was in a dream.
As of now, Xiao Chen had yet to verify whether the Sky Dome Immortal Lord was his previous incarnation or the original Xiao Chen's.
"I have to go and take a look."
Xiao Chen felt that the answer that he sought was getting nearer. He pulled on Little Three and quickly gave chase. He wanted to see how the Sky Dome Immortal Lord and the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva negotiated.
Within the sea of bitterness, the gigantic body of the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva radiated layers of Buddhist light.
There were also three thousand arhats around him chanting and holding Buddhist prayer beads, continuously purifying the various aggrieved spirits.
With Hell broken, there were countless lonely spirits and wild ghosts. The many aggrieved spirits turned into light and entered the Buddhist light behind him, appearing like a nation in there.
Xiao Chen thought to himself in surprise, Back then, when I saw the headless Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva's body, the might of its body was horrifying enough already.
However, when that is compared to right now, the disparity is so great that they cannot even be mentioned in the same breath. The sea of bitterness now is so vast, it appears boundless. Compared to the sea of bitterness so many years later, it is much larger by several magnitudes.
Although the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva noticed the Sky Dome Immortal Lord arriving, he did not even open his eyes. He said indifferently, "Sky Dome Immortal Lord, I already told your group of Immortals to leave quickly. This bodhisattva already swore not to become a Buddha before Hell is empty!"
Supported by Buddhist Might, the casual words spread everywhere, lingering for a long time.
The words "swore not to become a Buddha before Hell is empty" made the Buddhist light on the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva brighten even further. One look at it could prompt one to repent of their sins and kneel before Buddha.
Compared to the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva's gigantic body, the white-robed Sky Dome Immortal Lord looked pitifully small as he walked on the sea of bitterness.
However, that pure and outstanding aura of the Sky Dome Immortal Lord set him apart from the thousands upon thousands of aggrieved spirits and wild ghosts in the surroundings.
The Sky Dome Immortal Lord looked at the aggrieved spirits in the sea of bitterness, at the three thousand arhats by the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, and the vast Buddhist nation behind the bodhisattva.
During great chaos, there would always be people filled with ambition, taking advantage of the storm. Clearly, the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva was one such person. He swore not to become a Buddha before Hell was empty. However, once he became a Buddha, he would be the new Epoch Master.