Chapter 453: Do You Know You Are Dead?

"What is that!"

The little golden dragon watched the figures drawing closer and spoke in a daze.

"What else could it be? Dead people, of course."

"Of course, you could also consider them not dead."

The phantom shrugged and curled its lips as it replied.

"Hahaha, after ten thousand years, I thought there was no hope for this Emperor Road and no one could cross the Heavenly Abyss. But it seems we judged too soon; another heaven-gifted genius has crossed the Heavenly Abyss."

Those figures drew closer, and the leading figure spoke with a smile.

Subsequently, the clear images of these figures appeared within the sight of Li Heng and the others.

The leader was an old man with white hair and beard, followed by two men dressed as young attendants but carrying long swords with solemn expressions.

The old man leaned on a dragon-headed cane and kept moving forward, finally arriving before Li Heng, looking at the group and speaking slowly: "You heaven-gifted geniuses have crossed the Heavenly Abyss and are qualified to join our Central Great World, the Immortal God Heavenly Court."

"I am the one who receives you heaven-gifted geniuses to the Heavenly Court."

Once these words were spoken, Shaoyang Jun's expression became somewhat dazed.

Although he knew there was something wrong with this scene and knew that he had not relied on his own strength to cross the Heavenly Abyss, hearing such words now still left his heart unable to calm down for a long time.

There even appeared a faint sense that his obsession had been fulfilled.

The feeling of "now I can die"!

It is laughable, come to think of it.

When he originally decided to follow Li Heng to the Central Great World, he had intended to seek death. Whether he died on the road to the Central Great World or at the hands of the disasters within the Central Great World, he would have died without regrets and fulfilled his own obsession.

But now, all of this had come so easily.

There were no life-and-death battles, long treks, being trapped in encirclements, falling into traps, being infected by the Ominous, and so on; he had crossed the Heavenly Abyss very easily and was about to enter the Central Great World.

And if this trend continues.

As long as Li Heng is there, one cannot die even after entering the Central Great World.

This not only made him feel a sense of confusion.

What use am I?

And, what should I do in the future? What should I do?

When he set off, he never thought of returning alive; he only thought of fulfilling his obsession while dying completely, so as not to leave this broken, dead body to linger on in the world.

But this determination was born under the premise that the Central Great World was extremely dangerous and that someone with his cultivation would surely die if they went. Now that he discovered staying by Li Heng's side was not dangerous at all, and that he would very likely be able to continue lingering on, his determination wavered.

There is Great Terror between Life and Death; it is better to live a miserable life than to die a good death.

That is exactly how it is.

While Shaoyang Jun was sighing with such emotion, the little golden dragon was incomparably shocked, extending its little claw and trembling as it pointed at the white-haired old man before it.

"You, you, you, you are Bai Laotou!"

The white-haired old man was taken aback upon hearing this, then revealed a smile.

"I am but a mere Reception Envoy, my reputation is not prominent; I did not expect this Dragon Clan heaven-gifted genius to know my name? May I ask which tribe of the Dragon Clan this heaven-gifted genius comes from?"

The little golden dragon was stunned and spoke in astonishment.

"Bai Laotou, you don't recognize me?"

Bai Laotou frowned.

"Have I ever had any interaction with you?"

"No impression."

He stared at the little golden dragon, then slowly shook his head.

"Have you forgotten? I am Ao Xuan! Back then, my father, the Void Saint Ganhai, brought me to meet you; I even pulled out one of your whiskers at the time, you have no impression?"

The little golden dragon replied in astonishment.

"Ao Xuan? No impression. But the Ganhai you mentioned... could it be the one I know? But didn't that guy just break through to the Nine Tribulations Heaven and Earth, how could he have the title of Void Saint?"

"The title of Void Saint can only be possessed by a Half-step Divine."

Bai Laotou replied slowly.

The little golden dragon was suddenly stunned.

His father Ganhai had obtained the title of Void Saint a long time ago, which is to say, he was a Half-step Divine; it was just that for some reason, he had always been unable to advance to Sacred.

How could he only be at the Nine Tribulations Heaven and Earth in the words of this Bai Laotou?

Upon careful thought, he felt a deep, chilling terror.

He hurriedly told Li Heng his guess in secret.

"Exalted One, in the past, this Old Man Bai was a good friend of my father Ganhai, and at that time my father was already a Half-step Divine, but now this Old Man Bai says he is not."

"I suspect this Bai Laotou is the Bai Laotou from the past!"

Li Heng was thoughtful.

After finishing his guess.

The little golden dragon provided Li Heng with another piece of information.

"Exalted One, the reason I was surprised by Bai Laotou's appearance just now is because long ago, Bai Laotou had already fallen on the Outer Realm Battlefield; it should be impossible for him to appear here at all!"

"I find it somewhat incomprehensible that a person who had long since fallen in the Outer Realm would appear here now. Even if these Immortal Gods before us are dead people, obsessions after death, and have been invaded and polluted by the Calamity, this situation should not occur."

The little golden dragon was now extremely puzzled.

Li Heng nodded, signaling the little golden dragon to stay calm.

He looked at Bai Laotou and spoke slowly.

"My name is Li Heng, White Reception Envoy, may I ask what year it is today?"

"Fellow Daoist Li is too polite. Since you can cross the Heavenly Abyss, you are one of those destined for us Immortal Gods; we may address each other as fellow Daoists. However, your question is also strange: what year is it today?"

"You crossed the Heavenly Abyss; could it be that you encountered a space-time trap?"

Bai Laotou appeared somewhat surprised.

As the final barrier for screening the geniuses of the Emperor Road, the Heavenly Abyss is set with numerous forbidden laws and traps, among which are those related to space-time. Once, a genius encountered a space-time trap, dreamed through ten thousand ages, and in the end, their mind remained forever in the past, unable to return.

"Then let us just assume I encountered one."

Li Heng smiled slightly.

"So, White Reception Envoy, what year is it today?"

"This..."

Bai Laotou pondered for a moment, then looked at the two young attendants beside him and spoke, "I cannot recall it for a moment; do you two know?" However, those two young attendants also shook their heads in confusion.

Seeing this, he had no choice and looked at Li Heng apologetically.

"My apologies, Fellow Daoist Li; the three of us are a bit muddled and cannot remember for the time being. But rest assured, once we return to the Central Great World, to the lands of the Heavenly Court, there will naturally be specialists to answer for you."

The little golden dragon and Shaoyang Jun looked at each other in dismay.

Dignified Immortal Gods, unable to remember the year? Are they joking?

"I see."

Li Heng was lost in thought.

The reason he did not choose to go on a rampage and kill his way through immediately, but instead conversed with these "Immortal Gods," was mainly because he could not ascertain the current state of these Immortal Gods.

This Bai Laotou felt like a living person, yet also felt like a dead person.

And most crucially.

Although he sensed the aura of Calamity from Bai Laotou, this aura was not rooted within Bai Laotou, but merely lingered on the surface.

This situation did not look like being corrupted by Calamity, but rather like having once, or consistently, been in contact with Calamity and merely becoming tainted by the aura.

"Then I would like to ask one question."

Li Heng looked at Bai Laotou and spoke slowly.

"Do you know that you are already dead?"