Chapter 915: Infernal Purgatory

This was a long tug-of-war.

This was a complete and utter destruction of will, one could even say it was not something a Fourth Grade should endure.

The Demonic Prince was trapped in an illusionary dream for tens of billions of years, constantly cycling between waking up and waking up again, each Reincarnation bringing him a new identity and new memories.

When you Reincarnate, if the first life is you, then what about the second life?

The third life, the fourth life.

In each life, you will have a completely new identity and memories, a completely new personality, family, and experiences. Will this new identity be willing to be devoured by the past?

Of course, the personality of one life could not possibly resist the main personality of the Demonic Prince.

So... just sink into it.

Sink into Reincarnation.

As long as the memories of Reincarnation surpass the Demonic Prince's previous memories, his personality will naturally change.

At the same time, his Physical Body had also been broken apart, constantly being torn apart, then restoring at the slow speed of geological movement, and then being torn apart again.

It was like the constant aggregation of the ancient Pangea supercontinent.

Tens of millions of layers superimposed, heavily compressed together.

But far grander and more spectacular than that.

The dual collapse of spirit and Physical Body—the Heavenly Demon showed no mercy. He... she, it... intended to kill the Demonic Prince.

Billions of years passed just like that.

The Demonic Prince's memories were constantly being cleansed and overwritten, his Physical Body constantly shattered and reassembled. One could even say that the elements that constituted the existence of 'Demonic Prince' were becoming increasingly scarce.

You are a male, but if you Reincarnate ten times as a female, can you still firmly believe you are a man?

The Demonic Prince experienced far more than ten times.

This is what Buddhism calls... the suffering of the six paths of Reincarnation.

Revolving with karma, life after life, circulating repeatedly within the six paths.

Birth, old age, sickness, death, separation from loved ones, meeting with those one resents, not attaining what one seeks, and the blazing of the five aggregates.

From now on, for hundreds of millions of immeasurable and countless eons, there will be no liberation.

Reincarnating through hundreds of millions of immeasurable, inconceivable, immeasurable, unspeakable, boundless Asamkhya Universes, all are filled with immeasurable bitter poison; next are thousands of hundreds, also with immeasurable suffering.

The five aggregates gather to form the body, blazing like fire.

When the form aggregate blazes, the Four Greats are out of harmony, leading to the suffering of illness.

When the sensation aggregate blazes, receiving and distinguishing, it makes all sufferings intensify.

When the perception aggregate blazes, pursuing perceptions, it leads to the sufferings of separation from loved ones, meeting with those one resents, and not attaining what one seeks.

When the volition aggregate blazes, creating various karmas, it becomes the cause for future retribution, and due to volition, there is constant movement, leading to the suffering of old age and decay.

When the consciousness aggregate blazes, arising delusions and creating karma, it leads to the cycle of Reincarnation and the suffering of birth and death.

Short life due to past karma, poverty and suffering. Being subjected to lust, family disputes. Mouth sores without a tongue, ugliness and disability.

Wishes unfulfilled, hunger, thirst, and throat ailments. Frightened to death, natural disasters. Madness leading to death, cruel parents.

Separation of flesh and blood, blindness, deafness, muteness, eternal residence in evil paths, hundreds of millions of eons of Reincarnation in Hell, endless cycles.

Each 'dream' required the Demonic Prince to wake up again.

The Demonic Prince repeatedly did this until this world collapsed.

However... it didn't end.

When this world breaks, it parasitizes other worlds.

When other worlds subsequently break, it transfers to other minds.

When other minds break, they transfer to each other.

Thus, endlessly, it returns and comes again; this is the so-called power of uninterrupted karma, and its nature is such.

From the beginning of entry until now, hundreds of billions of eons have passed, a day and a night, ten thousand deaths and ten thousand lives, seeking even a moment of respite and not finding it—

Hence it is called 'Uninterrupted Purgatory'.

The so-called uninterrupted means eternal, endless, suffering without respite.

Without any interval, that is uninterrupted.

The Demonic Prince needed longer and longer to wake up.

At first, he only needed an instant to realize he was in an illusionary dream.

But as all this deepened, the memories of dreams and sleep began to invade his personality, seeing all Heavenly Demons and various forms, with infinite emotions in his heart: sorrow, weeping, worry, sighing, fear, terror.

All these were everything experienced in one life, ten lives, a hundred lives, a thousand lives in the past; parents, siblings, spouses, relatives, close friends, flesh and blood children—all the loves, all the beauties, all the memories and experiences surrounded the Demonic Prince, endless beautiful and tormenting memories surrounded him, never to escape for eternity.

True suffering is not endless torment, but a tiny bit of beauty, coupled with that endless urging; in this way, the hope that arises in the heart is the greatest torment.

How long had it been?

The Demonic Prince couldn't remember clearly.

He only vaguely remembered that he seemed to have some identity?

His self-consciousness had almost dissipated; tens of billions of years were completely insufficient to describe it...

Actually, tens of billions of years and an instant were no different.

An eon is fifteen million nine hundred ninety thousand and eight years.

The Demonic Prince had already experienced hundreds of billions of eons.

Moreover, because he was very powerful, he woke up particularly quickly at the very beginning, able to achieve 'ten thousand deaths and ten thousand lives in a day and a night'.

So, how many times had he died and been reborn?

Countless times.

All evil deeds emerged, difficult to describe even with the sands of the Ganges, probably requiring Asamkhya numbers.

The five turbidities enveloped his mind, making him completely forget who the 'Demonic Prince Shang Fan' was.

The so-called five turbidities, also called five impurities, are methods that obscure the mind and make it turbid and impure. The so-called 'greed blinding the mind,' 'various evil views,' many of which are caused by the five turbidities. Due to the turbidity of sentient beings' views, their Dao Heart gradually wanes, their minds become dull, their bodies weak, their suffering increases and their blessings decrease. Furthermore, various ignorance from countless births and deaths causes afflictions, such as greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, doubt, etc., which are delusions arising from being迷 (lost) in worldly things.

With just one glance, the Demonic Prince suffered an Asamkhya number of deaths and rebirths.

Asamkhya is the ultimate number. With ten thousand times ten thousand as a hundred million, ten thousand hundred million as a trillion, one Asamkhya is ten thousand times ten thousand times ten thousand times ten thousand times ten thousand trillion.

Although this number is absurd, the invention of such numbers is precisely for the purpose of describing such things.

Uninterrupted entry into retribution, uninterrupted suffering, uninterrupted time, uninterrupted life, uninterrupted body and form, uninterrupted instruments of sin, uninterrupted categories, various uninterrupted states, ceaseless.

If this continues, even Asamkhya numbers might not be enough; one would need to use a Googolplex.

This level of torment was merely a glance from the Heavenly Demon.

The Demonic Prince's speed of waking up became slower and slower, gradually changing from ten thousand lives a day to one life a day.

Then, gradually, it became one life every ten years, one life every hundred years.

He began to gradually live a normal life, experiencing the joys, sorrows, pains, and happiness of a Mortal, never discovering throughout his life that he was actually the 'Demonic Prince'.

But... why bother with being the Demonic Prince?

Does it matter?

Demonic Prince is an identity.

A Mortal named Wang Er is also an identity.

Why must one insist on being the Demonic Prince? Both are clearly oneself, just different experiences in life. Why deny one and affirm the other?

Does denying the identity of Wang Er mean you are no longer Wang Er?

Clearly not. No matter how you deny it, Wang Er is a part of your life.

Just like Bai Lixi, he was both a prime minister and a slave. He couldn't deny the part of himself that was a slave just because he became a prime minister.

That would only cause confusion in his identity, because if there was no slave Bai Lixi, there would naturally be no prime minister Bai Lixi, right?

Life is a straight line, and every segment on the straight line is a component of the straight line; no part can be denied.

If one insists on believing oneself to be the Demonic Prince, is it perhaps only because... the identity of the Demonic Prince is more noble?

So, when enough identities gather together, who are you, after all?

Personality confusion, piled memories, the five turbidities clouding the mind, demonic thoughtss filling his surroundings—the Demonic Prince's substantiality had been almost completely shattered. It was merely a glance from the Heavenly Demon, less than half a second in the outside world, yet he experienced a terrifying amount of time enough to make the most resolute mind collapse.

However, the Heavenly Demon suddenly let out a surprised sound.

"Oh?"

She found it.

The Demonic Prince's personality was indeed confused.

He couldn't tell who he was, nor could he understand the difference between Wang Er and the Demonic Prince. Endless Reincarnation had destroyed his self-awareness.

But...

That didn't matter.

The Demonic Prince didn't care who he was.

Who 'I' am is not important. How could 'I am I' stop the Demonic Prince?

Of course, while that's how it's said, in reality, this isn't just a simple 'I am I', but a forceful distortion of cognition through a large number of memories and experiences, an operation akin to brainwashing.

No matter what, the subject of subjective will needs to be established on 'I'.

'I' is necessarily existent.

As long as I think, no matter what I think, 'I' is already present. As long as one continues to think, one will inevitably enter the Demonic Dao, because you cannot bypass your sensory System to reach external objects.

But it's enough for 'I' to simply exist.

This 'I', whether it's the Demonic Prince, or Wang Er, or Zhang San, doesn't matter.

As long as 'I' exists, it's fine.

Memories, personality, these things simply don't matter. The Demonic Prince doesn't care if his personality is pure, nor does he care if his memories have been tampered with.

None of that matters; he simply doesn't care.

As long as 'I' is still there, it's fine.

Because, as long as 'I' is there, then 'I' will not be lost.

Li Qi once evaluated the Demonic Prince thus—

"Even though there are tens of billions of paths before him, he will always only walk the one beneath his feet. All other so-called 'long paths' or 'shortcuts' are invisible to him." (See Chapter 884 for details)

That was indeed the case.

The Demonic Prince's goal had never changed.

Even after suffering a devastating blow from the Heavenly Demon, he still walked his own unique Dao.

As for how other personalities switched, how memories became confused, and the process of various sufferings, happiness, and hopes alternating, all of it was ignored. Those were merely processes.

He no longer remembered that he was the Demonic Prince, but he had never even glanced at other paths.

He still walked on the path he initially chose, unchanged. No matter how his personality was distorted, how his memories were tampered with, how his preferences were modified, he walked on that path as if he couldn't see anything else, minding his own business.

Walking forward, ignoring everything.

So, the Heavenly Demon's gaze moved away.

It was over.

The Demonic Prince's shattered body gradually recovered, but his spirit would not.

The Heavenly Demon had originally intended to kill him, so it had no intention of restoring him.

The Demonic Prince looked at the Heavenly Demon before him, but now he didn't know who he was. A large number of memories exploded in his mental faculties like a bowl of wonton soup, making everything sticky and muddled.

"Are you that concerned about Li Qi? So much so that you can ignore even me?" The Heavenly Demon stepped forward, lowering its head to ask.

At this moment, its form had become a complete sphere, like it was carved from black jade, smoother than any mirror. Anyone who looked directly at it seemed to be able to see their own heart from the surface of the black jade.

"You... are?" The Demonic Prince's eyes were somewhat dazed, but he surprisingly hadn't lost his ability to speak, indicating that basic thought still existed.

Ink Tiger immediately rushed in front of the Demonic Prince.

And the Heavenly Demon tilted its head.

"En, originally, I thought you weren't very capable, but now it seems you might be alright."

Then, he said: "Well then, let's put the retrocognition aside for now. I think a Shang Fan who doesn't know who he is is also very interesting, and perhaps has other potential."

"You, as his Spiritual Artifact, should always stay by his side, right? Then, the rest is up to you. Remember, if his potential isn't enough, I will make everything start over. Take good care of him; it's all on you," the Heavenly Demon said.

When the Heavenly Demon spoke to the Ink Tiger at this moment, its tone was cold and indifferent, completely lacking the terrifying quality it had when speaking to the Demonic Prince or the alluring quality it had when speaking to Li Qi.

Ink Tiger trembled but said nothing.

However, at this moment, the Demonic Prince suddenly spoke.

He looked dazed, but still spoke clearly: "That's not right... You should have wanted to directly retrocognize just now, but you gave up. A First Grade great battle reshaping the Universe definitely isn't without impact on you. Your appearance, instead of direct retrocognition, already indicates that you are 'settling for second best'."

The Heavenly Demon tilted its head: "Oh? Awake? No, your personality is still confused. Ho... interesting. Even though your mind and personality are very confused, your judgments are still accurate? Is this from absorbing the True Dragon's instincts?"

"Well done. There's one more reason to keep you as you are now. But... you guessed wrong. Although it does have some impact on me, it's not enough for me to need to use petty tricks on you." The Heavenly Demon chuckled, and then, as it chuckled, its body began to wither, collapse, turning into a puff of dust and dissipating without a trace.

Ink Tiger let out a long breath.

Thankfully, the Heavenly Demon's intentions were unfathomable; it always acted on impulse. At least for now... Master still seems to have value in continuing to exist.

But... is the current Master truly the former Master?

Ink Tiger looked at the Demonic Prince.

Dazed, personality shattered, memories almost unable to persist. Time that could only be described with a Googolplex had completely destroyed his mind.

What... to do? Memories from countless lives piled together, the Demonic Prince's identity probably amounted to nothing more than dust within it.