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"You’re all truly useless. Since you’re not capable of entering, why are you still loitering here?"
Xu Zimo spoke calmly.
Hearing his words, some faces changed, but no one dared to lash out.
“We don’t have the ability to go in. Why doesn’t the Holy Son show us how it’s done?” someone retorted. “At least let us be convinced.”
“If I want to go in, I will. If I don’t want to, I won’t. I don’t need to prove anything to anyone, and I don’t need your approval,” Xu Zimo said blandly. “Everything I do is because I like it. Got it? Moron.”
Hearing such humiliation, the disciple looked extremely uncomfortable, gritting his teeth and avoiding eye contact with Xu Zimo.
“I asked you a question, trash,” Xu Zimo said again.
“…Heard you,” the disciple answered after a moment of silence, gritting his teeth.
Xu Zimo scanned the surroundings and said, “All of you, know your place. If anyone has a problem, I’m here in the sect. Challenge me anytime. Beat me, and I’ll give up my title of Holy Son. Don’t act like you’re not convinced.”
When none of the core disciples said anything, Xu Zimo sneered.
“Cowards.”
He walked to the entrance of the Abyss of Life and Death. One path said "Life," the other "Death."
After a moment’s thought, Xu Zimo stepped into the death cave.
Beautiful things never last.
As soon as he entered, his foot stepped into emptiness. It was as if he had fallen into a bottomless abyss.
All he could feel was his body suspended in air, endlessly falling.
It was pitch black inside. Xu Zimo had no idea how long he was falling.
Eventually, his body landed on a desolate plain.
Xu Zimo felt his body pinned down by some mysterious force. He couldn’t move.
In front of him, a child carrying a hoe slowly walked toward him.
The child didn’t seem to notice Xu Zimo. He casually stopped in front of him.
He took the hoe off his shoulder and dug a deep hole in the ground.
Then, he pulled a seed from his pocket and buried it in the pit.
Once the pit was filled, the child stood in front of it, motionless.
Xu Zimo felt as if time had suddenly accelerated. Scenes began to play rapidly before his eyes.
A violent storm arrived, the rain nourishing the earth.
After the storm passed, the seed sprouted and broke through the soil.
Because time was sped up, all of this played out in seconds before Xu Zimo’s eyes.
The child grew into a teenager at a visible pace.
Time kept speeding forward. The seedling grew under the sunlight, eventually becoming a sapling.
The teenager became a young man.
The sapling grew into a small tree, then into a towering one.
The young man became middle-aged.
The tall tree began to age. Branches decayed, leaves withered.
Many branches had rotted and could no longer grow.
The middle-aged man became elderly. Due to old age, he sat on the ground, quietly gazing at the ancient tree.
Wind and rain, scorching sun.
One day, the old man closed his eyes forever. The ancient tree also fully decayed.
When spring came again, no new leaves grew. Together with the old man, the tree passed into death’s embrace.
Some time later, another child came, also carrying a hoe.
He dug a hole and planted a seed.
This child was a descendant of the old man. The seed had fallen from the ancient tree.
"This is death, and rebirth," said an aged voice suddenly.
Xu Zimo felt his body gradually regaining mobility.
Turning his head, he saw the old man who had previously died now standing beside him, smiling.
"Since the beginning of the world, the continuation of life has always been like this. Death becomes rebirth, rebirth becomes death, a cycle that never ends," the old man said.
"But for those who die, death is the end. No matter how much rebirth follows, it belongs to others. Their life has ended. Don’t you agree?"
"What are you trying to say?" Xu Zimo asked.
"If you want to pass through the Abyss of Life and Death, it's simple. Debate me. Win, and I’ll show you the exit," the old man said as he sat cross-legged with a smile. "If you lose, you’ll go back."
"What do you want to debate?"
"The meaning of life and death," the old man replied.
"Though the world continues through rebirth, for you personally, death is the complete end of your world.
I want you to answer my confusion, if all things must die, why are they born at all?"
"I don’t really care about life or death. What I live is not life, nor death, but the journey in between. Isn’t it good to live that part to the fullest? Besides, once you're born into this world, you’re never truly alone, family, love, friendship. Sometimes, you live not just for yourself."
Xu Zimo shook his head and said, "And look at this world’s vast rivers and mountains, groups of beauties, power, wealth, the pleasures of life, there’s so much to pursue. Yet you act like a fool, stuck on why life exists. If you don’t understand life, just kill yourself here, I wouldn’t mind."
Hearing this, the old man burst out laughing.
His voice was hearty, shaking the sky, sending ripples through the surrounding space.
After a moment, he waved both hands, and a portal appeared before them.
Laughing, he said, "Though you didn’t directly answer my question, you’re interesting. I’ll let you pass."
"How should I address you, senior?" Xu Zimo asked.
"I’m the spirit of this Abyss of Life and Death. The rules here are mine to make. Kid, I like your style. You may pass," said the old man.
"That’s it?" Xu Zimo blinked, surprised by how easy it was.
"Your ancestor already gave advance notice. Just go on in," the abyss spirit waved his hand, smiling.
Xu Zimo shrugged and walked into the space portal.
After he left, the old man muttered to himself.
"Great rivers and mountains… hahaha. This world really does have great rivers and mountains. How could I keep myself trapped here?"
...
Passing through the portal, Xu Zimo arrived in a new, small world.
Imperial Valley, this was the legendary residence of the True Martial Sacred Ground’s battle generals.
Before him stretched a dense forest of towering trees, each hundreds of meters tall.
Thick branches and wide trunks, each tree had a trunk dozens of meters wide.
As Xu Zimo walked among them, he felt small and insignificant.
Green sprites fluttered through the forest.
They floated ahead of him, as if leading the way.
Xu Zimo followed the sprites and walked deeper into the forest.