Chapter 1554: Heavenly Emperor Tests the Law, World Reborn

“This person never existed?!”

Was that figure merely the embodiment of people's deepest wishes, the collective hope of all races, the final aspiration in the face of the Great Rupture, amidst endless despair and decay? All beings yearned for such a person to appear, to rewrite ancient history, to overturn the past, and to restore order to the universe!

How profound was this despair? To what extent had darkness prevailed, to what depth had despair sunk, to evoke such a resonant yearning among all beings?! Was that figure merely a powerful image in people's minds, conjured into existence by their collective thoughts?

Nine Daoyi stood like a statue, frozen from head to toe, his spirit feeling as if it had plunged into the darkest, most desolate underworld. A boundless, bone-chilling cold gnawed at him, eroding his very soul.

"No, that's not true!" He shook his head, unable to accept such a possibility.

"Old man, reality is often cruel, and the truth is frequently brutal. Though it's difficult, we must accept it," the Dog Emperor said, his heart heavy. "There was never such a person." It looked at Chu Feng, Yaoyao, the Monstrous Dragon, Zhou Xi, and the others. "This is the evidence, this is reality," it continued. "They are flesh and blood, full of vibrant life, not mere corpses or malevolent spirits. If they were merely figments of imagination, or figures in a painting, how could they be so alive?"

Nine Daoyi was stunned, a look of bewilderment on his face. If what the Dog Emperor said was true, it would completely shatter his long-held beliefs, causing his entire worldview to crumble. But in that instant, Nine Daoyi suddenly looked up, as if something had just dawned on him. Immortal light gleamed from his hollow eyes as he stared at the Dog Emperor. "That can't be right," he exclaimed, "you've met that figure too!" He emphasized, "You met that figure, but you don't remember it. That only further proves you died and lost your past memories."

"What are you saying? I met that figure? We lived in the same era?" The Dog Emperor was stunned. Even according to legend, it was separated from that figure by more than one epoch. Not only it, but normally, even the Three Heavenly Emperors could not have coexisted with that figure in the same era.

"Back then, you were just a puppy, your previous incarnation, and you met that figure. Your later selves also gazed upon that figure across time and space. Even though you dared to bite heaven and earth, to such an extent that even immortal gods dared not release... their immortal qi, you never dared to be presumptuous in front of that figure, let alone speak ill of them," Nine Daoyi explained truthfully.

"Hell no, I'd be crazy to believe an old geezer like you!" The Dog Emperor scoffed, utterly unconvinced.

"This proves that you truly died, and all your past has dissipated, swept away by the winds of time," Nine Daoyi said, shaking his head.

The Dog Emperor felt a chill run down its spine. Being repeatedly told it had long been dead today genuinely unsettled it, filling its heart with panic and a sense of suffocation. Its old eyes clouded over as it looked at the Rotten Corpse beside it, wondering if the corpse's true form could fully enter the cycle of reincarnation to test this theory.

The Rotten Corpse ignored him, its silence implying: *Why don't you try going in yourself?*

Nine Daoyi then addressed the Rotten Corpse directly. "You, too, have forgotten your past, which proves you are completely dead. You and I are now mere figures in a painting, and the long river of history is nothing more than a real yet cruel ink-wash scroll."

"What have I forgotten?" the Rotten Corpse asked, feeling a prick of unease under Nine Daoyi's gaze.

"Your original self, your physical body, was once as close as brothers with that figure," Nine Daoyi said, his expression complex. Such words, reverberating in the present, were more shocking than even a thunderclap from the primordial chaos, causing the ears of all cultivators to buzz. They simply couldn't believe it! Someone as close as a sibling to that figure? The Rotten Corpse's previous incarnation had an origin far too terrifying, enough to send shivers down the spines of all the heavens.

The Rotten Corpse had vaguely heard whispers about these matters, old stories passed around by others. Did this truly mean he himself had long since forgotten them?

"As epochs changed, in later generations, you and that dog once sought a certain great medicine. You saw that figure across the long river of time, crying out to warn him, and you yourself nearly perished!" Nine Daoyi revealed once more. Once these old secrets were revealed, they truly shocked both past and present, causing the true immortals present to feel their scalps tingle and a shiver run down their spines.

In the distance, Old Gu, whose lips were red and teeth white, now bared his teeth in a grimace. He desperately wanted to exclaim, "Damn, is this real? You're scaring this old man to death!" Long Dayu, also known as Ouyang Feng the Toad, was so terrified his face turned ashen and he clamped his mouth shut, not daring to utter another word or even spit.

Nine Daoyi spoke in a low, grave voice: "It's simple. I ask you: Do you still remember that silver-haired girl? She is someone you should never forget, not even in death!"

"Who?" the Rotten Corpse asked blankly, not recalling such a person.

"Who hasn't had a youth?" Nine Daoyi briefly and concisely alluded to some past events. Even that figure had a youth, and the Rotten Corpse, along with a maiden from the Lunar Jade Rabbit Clan, were close friends during that time, sharing many memorable experiences.

This left the Dog Emperor wide-eyed and dumbfounded. The Rotten Corpse had once been fond of a woman from the Lunar Jade Rabbit Clan?!

As Nine Daoyi provided a brief account, the Rotten Corpse began to tremble. He truly couldn't recall those events or that woman. Yet, for reasons he couldn't grasp, his physical body and the deepest recesses of his heart welled up with an inexplicable emotion, an urge to weep. Who was he? An old monster, having lived for countless years! How could he possibly still harbor such emotions? How could a single woman make him lose control? It was impossible! Such feelings, such naive sentiments, belonged only to the young. How could he experience such a ridiculous impulse? Yet, for some unknown reason, his innermost heart felt raw, as if something vital had been torn away. He constantly felt as though he had forgotten something profound.

Nine Daoyi looked at him and said, "A soulmate from your youth, who shared life and death with you. When the world was plunged into bloody chaos, you were separated forever. After countless ages, you revived from the burial grounds and struggled to recall everything. But now, you've forgotten. If you're not one of the dead, then who is?" To prevent himself from forgetting, the Rotten Corpse had once meticulously inscribed all memories of that woman into his soul essence, imprinting them upon his very flesh and true form. Yet now, all of it was gone.

The Rotten Corpse remained silent and motionless. Yet, in the deepest core of his physical body, in an unknown corner of his heart, it felt as though a rift had torn open. He vaguely glimpsed blurry images: he himself, resurrected from the burial grounds, frantically digging through ancient lands and unearthing the underworld, weeping uncontrollably as he desperately searched for that woman. However, the vision ended there. It was a complete blank; he truly couldn't remember anything more.

"This can't be my memory," the Rotten Corpse insisted, shaking his head. "What kind of person am I? I've been resurrected countless times after complete annihilation. Look at my age! How could I possibly have such emotional impulses?" Yet, deep within his heart, there was genuinely an unspeakable pain, as if an endless sorrow was welling up.

After some of the Rotten Corpse's past was laid bare, the Dog Emperor initially wanted to laugh and ridicule him. But upon seeing the expression on the Corpse's face, it fell silent, saying nothing. Who among us hasn't been young? That woman and the Rotten Corpse, who had once walked alongside that figure and shared an unshakeable bond, ultimately met a desolate fate. If the Rotten Corpse truly harbored such emotions and a past like that — if he had indeed frantically searched for that woman, even digging for her remains — then no one had the right to mock him. Even the Dog Emperor fell silent. That woman and the Rotten Corpse had walked through a glorious era with that figure, witnessing unimaginable brilliance, followed by bloodshed and chaos, until their eventual decline, leaving behind only boundless sorrow.

"I'll go see for myself!" Though the Rotten Corpse couldn't recall the woman from his past, he resolutely charged forward, intending to personally delve into the depths of the reincarnation path. He wanted to ascertain the truth: was he truly dead?

"Stop!" The Dog Emperor instantly grabbed him, a pang of reluctance in its heart. It feared that its old companion might stir up buried emotions, exposing the deep-seated grief within him. It was resolute and unyielding, firmly holding the Rotten Corpse back, refusing to let him pass.

The Rotten Corpse, however, was equally resolute. "It doesn't matter," he declared. "I'm neither human nor ghost anymore; I barely know how much longer I can even hold on. What is there left to accept or let go of? Let my true form go and see for itself!"

The Dog Emperor said gravely, "Since you insist on going, then let us witness this completely. Take the Emperor Corpse with you. I believe the truth will be revealed; no one can deceive a Heavenly Emperor, not even one who has become a corpse!" It was determined to escalate the matter, harboring a suspicion that certain forces deep within the cycle of reincarnation might have been deceiving mortals. It intended for the Rotten Corpse to carry the Emperor Corpse and use it to verify the truth.

Behind the Dog Emperor, a broken bell lay beside the blood-stained Emperor Corpse — the remains of one of the Three Heavenly Emperors! The Dog Emperor had once carried this very corpse, traversing countless heavens in search of a grand medicine to revive him. Not long ago, it even bore the Emperor Corpse into battle at the Soul River!

The Rotten Corpse transcended time and space, following a nebulous path far beyond mortal comprehension. He plummeted directly into the Yang World, vanishing into the deepest reaches of the reincarnation path. He truly had come, bearing the Emperor Corpse! Both he and the black dog had long been imbued with the aura of this Heavenly Emperor; otherwise, any other individual attempting to carry it would surely explode. He plunged directly into the cycle of reincarnation, intending to use the Heavenly Emperor's remains to test its rules and verify everything within.

Two possibilities would now be revealed. First, that all heavens had been annihilated, all cultivators across all races had perished, and the eternal expanse of time and space was merely a painting—everyone was just an ink-splashed figure, or perhaps, a figment of that figure's imagination. The second possibility was that that figure had never existed at all, a mere void, a person who had never truly been!

The Rotten Corpse was resolute. Carrying the Emperor Corpse, he strode directly into the shimmering golden energy. In that instant, a certain emotion resurfaced deep within his being. He vaguely saw himself once more, desperately digging through ancient lands, carving through historical records, searching for something. Was there truly such a woman? Yet, he had forgotten her.

"Where are that era and those people now!?" the Rotten Corpse cried out. For some inexplicable reason, a profound sadness once again welled up in his heart, making him want to scream.

Whether it was due to his desperate cry or the Heavenly Emperor's test, the very fabric of this place began to undergo astonishing changes. The entire world seemed to spin, roaring and thrumming continuously. Golden ripples flowed forth from the depths of the reincarnation path, causing many outside to cry out in alarm and gasp.

"How is this possible?!"

Many people screamed in panic. Wherever the golden ripples passed, the world seemed to rotate, and heaven and earth inverted once more, undergoing unpredictable shifts that threatened to overturn everything.

"Is the world undergoing reincarnation, rebirth?!" Nine Daoyi trembled.

At the same time, far removed from this location, on a stretch of the reincarnation path within a special zone, an ancient, long-motionless clay effigy, which had been perpetually seated in silence, now began to tremble! If Chu Feng were to see it, he would surely be stunned: it was the very clay effigy that required offerings of reincarnation talismans!