Donghuang Ziji

Chapter 936 The Fruit of Sin

A barely audible sound rang out from an unknown place, and in the next instant, the sound grew louder and louder, with frantic tones rolling and echoing throughout the world.

The enormous sound and terrifying aura tugged at the hearts of everyone who heard it. Each syllable was like a giant hammer, breaking the spine of everyone's mind, distorting cognition, and obscuring perception. Then, emotions such as doubt, panic, and fear began to emerge, and then [separation] transformed into a deadly poison that eroded the soul.

Once someone's emotions are stirred up, they will be quickly divided, torn apart, and fall into a rhythm of destruction. Even if they successfully resist the erosion of malice, they will become increasingly numb due to long-term deliberate rejection, and then fall into a rhythm of depravity and destruction again.

So much so that they did not realize that some wills that did not belong to them were emerging on their bodies. These wills, with the help of their essence and blood, condensed into eggs and densely covered their bodies.

By the time they discovered it, countless tiny lives had already made their home on them.

Then, amidst fear, anger, and despair, it broke free and converged into a seemingly ethereal will, which appeared both immense and incredibly minute.

Sensing the countless insects emerging from the heavens and earth, Chu Tai couldn't help but say, "This union of heaven and demons is rather......"

Before the words were finished, the power of the heavens descended, and divine radiance began to emanate from the insects.

Then, countless lives, guided by [Change], began to transform, evolve, and sublimate. They became like dragons and snakes, like phoenixes and luan birds, like unicorns and deer, like turtles and frogs, and even life forms that were not insects or animals, but simply plants or minerals. They began to gather together and eventually created endless life force, which transformed into a vast sea of ​​blood that appeared before Chu Tai and the Heavenly Emperor.

Within that blood, countless consciousnesses were undergoing transformation. The wills of those beings were constantly changing, merging with each other, devouring each other, and even intertwining with each other, ultimately forming a terrifying demonic form.

That demonic form is a combination of divinity and demonic nature. One half is incomparably sacred, bright, and brilliant, containing the highest truth of heaven, while the other half gives people a sense of inexplicable fear. It is a collection of ugliness, deformity, incompleteness, decay, and rot, a twisted thing pieced together from fragmented existence. It is constantly being pieced together, falling apart, dissolving, and differentiating, yet it also gives people a sense of the origin of life. It is as if this demonic form is one, is all, is the beginning of life, and is also the end of life.

"It seems that this guy has also absorbed a portion of my Taiyi Dao."

Chu Tai was about to make a move with the Eastern Emperor Bell when the Heavenly Emperor stopped him. He pointed to the thick, filthy, multicolored blood that was constantly dripping from the demonic figure and said, "Look there."

Chu Tai stared intently, and among the sticky, disgusting flesh and blood were many broken fangs, wings, tentacles, branches, claws, fur, fins, and flowers...

But within the seemingly distorted interior, tiny grains of sand flow. Against the backdrop of the demonic image, these grains appear incredibly small, like dust particles. Their texture seems somewhat translucent, but once seen, one can feel an extreme emotion, and then discover that within each tiny grain of sand, there are hidden little worlds.

The sheer number of flowing grains of sand made it seem as if countless worlds were revolving around the demonic image.

At the same time, countless phantoms of living beings revolve within it, constantly cycling through life and death, experiencing all kinds of love, hate, and passion, and generating countless karmic causes and effects.

"What a vicious method."

Chu Tai saw through the Heavenly Demon's thoughts; he had hidden countless people's innate spiritual light or the memories of countless living beings within those grains of sand.

If Chu Tai had actually made a move, those creatures would have been instantly destroyed.

The reason he hadn't felt it before was probably due to the power of "separation," which temporarily severed the connection between Chu Tai and the "Taiyi" corresponding to those beings.

In response, the Heavenly Emperor said in a somewhat heavy tone, "You will understand after fighting him a few times. This guy likes to go crazy when he has the upper hand, but once he falls into a disadvantageous position, he will use all kinds of schemes and tricks. He doesn't want to harm us, but only to make us feel disgusted and uncomfortable."

The moment he spoke, countless bizarre and grotesque evil creatures, demons, ghosts, monsters, tentacles, and vines emerged from the void, accompanied by thick, scarlet blood, and appeared at the feet of the Heavenly Emperor. The faces of countless beings emerged from them, either in the blood or attached to the surface of the evil creatures, monsters, tentacles, and vines. They emitted ferocious and terrifying shrieks and howls, constantly tugging at the hem of the Heavenly Emperor's clothes.

Countless questions echoed all around, the accusations of all living beings against the Heavenly Emperor, the curse of the Heavenly Emperor's failure to redeem sentient beings in countless cycles.

At this moment, with the cooperation of the Heavenly Demon and Heaven, it was materialized, transforming into terrifying resentment, attempting to taint the Heavenly Emperor's radiance.

"As the creator god, not only them, but all the suffering that all living beings have endured since their birth is due to your creation..."

The voice of the Heavenly Demon came, as if it were the will of all living beings in the Three Pure Realms, and also the collection of all suffering in the Three Pure Realms.

Therefore, his voice contains the image and sound of all the suffering in the world.

Any living being that hears this will feel the pain as if it were their own, and their senses of sight, hearing, smell, and touch will also seem to be caught up in that suffering, with the pain scraping at their soul like a knife.

Then these beings couldn't help but complain and start cursing, even though they didn't know if the object of their curses really existed or if it had sacrificed a lot for them. But they were suffering, so they started cursing and swearing.

These emotions, under the control of the Heavenly Demon, are constantly amplified and transformed, attempting to influence the Heavenly Emperor and Chu Tai.

Chu Tai is alright. He doesn't have much connection with the Three Pure Ones and all living beings in the world. Besides, it's just a side thing. Even if he doesn't use the Eastern Emperor Bell, he can easily resist.

But the Heavenly Emperor is different. Countless worlds under the Three Pure Ones were created because of him, and countless living beings exist because of him.

According to the Heavenly Demon's theory, everything these beings suffered was caused by the Heavenly Emperor.

Although this theory is untenable, the Heavenly Demon itself contains the Dao Fruit of [Celestial Tribulation], which, under deliberate distortion, is enough to make it a reality.

Once the logical chain is complete, the Heavenly Emperor should bear these sins and curses.

This also resulted in the sins surrounding the Heavenly Emperor being incredibly terrifying.

Even a single glance from Chu Tai evoked a wave of fear, surging like a tidal wave and overwhelming all his senses. At that moment, his spirit felt incredibly heavy, overwhelmed by endless sympathy, fear, terror, and anger. Then, from witnessing so many similar situations, a sense of bewilderment, depression, grief, numbness, and anguish surfaced. These emotions were like a bottomless ocean, relentlessly pressing into Chu Tai's heart. Even if he managed to remain steadfast and unaffected, when he tried to see his surroundings clearly, all he saw was a torrent of sin and curses.

This was only from an outsider's perspective. Chu Tai looked at the Heavenly Emperor, somewhat worried, and asked, "Your Majesty?"

"It's alright. They just told me about their reluctance, pain, and grievances, and entrusted them to me."

"I suppose that after this, they will be able to move forward in a better way."

The Heavenly Emperor's voice was very gentle, as if he was worried about disturbing the frightened children. He squatted down, and the spiritual energy and radiance flowing around him slowly descended. Before the twisted evil creatures, demons, ghosts, monsters, tentacles, and vines could even touch him, they all disappeared, leaving only blood with countless mutilated faces.

The Heavenly Emperor gently picked up some of it and whispered, "Fellow Daoist, I would like to borrow the right to use the Eastern Emperor Bell for a moment with this item. Is that alright?"

The moment his voice fell, the Three Pure Ones, the Buddha, and the Bodhi Patriarch appeared behind him and merged into his body.

In an instant, the Heavenly Emperor's face became blurred, and his entire body emanated a faint, ethereal aura that was neither light nor darkness.

At the same time, his body gradually took on a semi-transparent crystalline form, as if it were made of crystal, with each part projecting outwards various colors of mysterious light, constructing a seventy-two-colored radiance outside his body, illuminating all directions.

As the image of the Heavenly Emperor changed, a series of imperial edicts echoed through the void.

"With sincere devotion, I take refuge in the Supreme God of the Great Heaven... the Golden Palace of the Vast Heaven, the Three Primal Elements, the Ten Directions, the Naturally Existing Wondrous Being, the Heavenly True Forgiving God of the Vast Heaven!"

Upon seeing the Heavenly Emperor in this form, the Heavenly Emperor glanced at the Taiyi Zhenjun blocking his way, then instantly vanished without a trace, leaving his power entirely to the Heavenly Demon.

But Taiyi Zhenjun remained motionless, firmly locking onto the will of Heaven, preventing it from escaping the constraints of the countless worlds under the Three Pure Ones.

The Heavenly Demon also wanted to leave, but his aura had already been locked onto by the Heavenly Emperor. At this moment, although Chu Tai did not know what had happened, he made a choice immediately. His form dissipated and transformed into the Dao of Taiyi, falling into the Eastern Emperor Bell and hovering in the Heavenly Emperor's hand.

The Heavenly Emperor clasped his hands together, and endless light of redemption, compassion, and salvation emerged. All the blood and mutilated faces gathered together, and countless memories flowed into the Heavenly Emperor's body. Under the radiance, the curses, resentments, and so-called sins condensed into a blood-red lotus seed.

The lotus seed, drawing blood, grows rapidly, and a solidified eighth-grade and illusory first-grade blood lotus appears in the Heavenly Emperor's palm.

The Heavenly Emperor looked at the dense, complex runes on the lotus flower, which Chu Tai couldn't fully comprehend at the moment, and a slight smile appeared on his lips. Then, as if sighing, he said with a hint of joy, "As expected, almost there?"

As he spoke, the petals of the blood lotus withered, and where the blood lotus had once stood, only a phantom Dao fruit remained.

At the moment the Dao Fruit took shape, many beings in the Three Pure Realms sensed that a brand new path had appeared between heaven and earth, which was called [Sin].

The Heavenly Emperor sent it into the Eastern Emperor Bell, and then looked at the Heavenly Demon.

Chu Tai, who had merged into the Eastern Emperor Bell, looked at the [Sinful] Dao Fruit, which was at the second-grade perfection and close to the first grade, that had suddenly appeared beside him. He sensed the Heavenly Emperor's unchanged aura and couldn't help but feel a little sympathy when he looked at the Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon could feel Chu Tai's gaze. While he was furious, he was unwilling to lose face in front of the Heavenly Emperor, so he said calmly, "It has truly been a long time since I've seen you like this. I remember last time..."

Before he could finish speaking, the Eastern Emperor Bell trembled in mid-air, and visible ripples echoed through countless spaces and times, directly shattering the terrifying demonic form formed by the intertwining of divinity and demonic nature.

When countless ripples come into contact with countless worlds, they also create new ripples, starting from one world and spreading to other worlds.

It can be said that this ripple instantly transformed into an endless offensive, crushing all of the Heavenly Demon's powers and causing countless demonic and divine elements to fly through the air.

The Heavenly Demon attempted to break into smaller pieces and leave, but under the Heavenly Emperor's will, these demonic and divine powders could only swirl around him.

"I said I only need this space for a moment, I don't have time to chat with you, could you please be quiet?"

Upon hearing the Heavenly Emperor's words, divinity and demonic nature intertwined, blood churned, mouths appeared, eyes sprouted, and it stared at the Heavenly Emperor, saying, "You think you can suppress me with a mere innate spiritual treasure? I am your tribulation, something you cannot rely on external forces for..."

Under the gaze of these eyes, the power of separation resurfaced, followed by the powers of Dao fruits such as depravity, distortion, error, destruction, and slaughter. Even a small portion of the sins surrounding Chu Tai was diverted and drawn upon by him.

But the Heavenly Demon still hadn't finished speaking, and his Dao Fruit hadn't been able to play any role either, as it was shattered again by the shaking of the Eastern Emperor Bell.

Even more subtle demonic and divine elements flowed in the void, and the Heavenly Emperor's voice was icy cold: "If I can't kill you, I can still cast you into reincarnation, divide your will, and make you suffer for countless lifetimes in the cycle of reincarnation. I will make these beings that you have twisted and tormented repay you for everything you have done to them, suppress your will, suppress your power, and completely and utterly suppress you in countless heavens and earths!"

The Eastern Emperor Bell resounded once more. This time, the Heavenly Demon didn't even have time to utter a word before he was blasted into even smaller rays of light. Then, the Three Pure Ones, the Buddha, and the Bodhi Patriarch appeared in the glow surrounding the Heavenly Emperor, reaching out to try and suppress the Heavenly Demon.

[Change] once again revealed its power, but the Eastern Emperor Bell shook, [Change] fell into [Unchanged], [Separation] stagnated, and [Chaos] could hardly move. Only [Calamity] seemed to be stimulated by the appearance of the Eastern Emperor Bell's power, and wanted to drive [Change] to change. Then, under the stimulation of [Change], more changes were born.

However, the Heavenly Emperor merely raised the Eastern Emperor Bell slightly, stimulating its innate essence, and the changes brought about by numerous tribulations fell silent once again.

The demon still tried to struggle, but this time the Three Pure Ones, Buddha Tathagata, and Bodhi Patriarch no longer held back. They all used their best skills, and under the various rays of light, Buddha light, and treasure light, the fragmented divine and demonic nature was further cut apart and suppressed.

Throughout the entire process, the Heavenly Emperor kept his eyes on the power of the Heavenly Demon, watching as his power gradually fell into the many realms of the Three Pure Ones, becoming a major driving force for the changes in the world. Then, looking at the silent heavens, he raised the Eastern Emperor Bell and hurled it out.

(End of this chapter)