1 Dead Boy & Old Monk

"Correct me if I am wrong," Ri Fan started after recovering from his shock. "I died because the random blast wave from your fight which had slipped into my dimension. It struck when the bus where my classmates, teachers, and I were on passed by. That energy destroyed the bus and everyone inside. Not only that, but it also destroyed the mountain and the vicinity. Everyone else was destroyed in that accident. Not even souls remained behind. And I am "lucky" because my soul survived, albeit wounded and in an incomplete state. Did I get it right?"

The Old Monk nodded wordlessly. He was an old man wearing a red and yellow monastic robe. He had white thick brows and long beard falling down to his lap. His eyes with an iris that shone with ever-shifting rainbow color like a kaleidoscope were fixed on Ri Fan's translucent form. His bald head was smooth like the surface of porcelain, glinting like a gloss ceramic bowl. But his facial expression betrayed his deep guilt for Ri Fan's current state.

In the beginning, Ri Fan felt so small, so powerless, so insignificant before the Old Monk's presence. His instinct warned him about this old man, that this old man was beyond his scope of understanding. It was a humbling experience. However, his anxiety from the Old Monk's incomprehensible presence turned into anger after listening to the Old Monk's apology and explanation. Ri Fan was enraged when he found that he had died and this old man had the share of the blame for his death, though the Old Monk was not the main culprit behind his untimely end.

Ri Fan heaved a deep sigh and focused on other things. When he pondered about his current situation, Ri Fan found it very familiar. His current situation was like the beginning of a fantasy story with the protagonist who passed over to another world. That kind of story became a fad lately, but to tell you the truth, Ri Fan found it hard to believe.

However, Ri Fan could not deny the Old Monk's claim. He could feel from the Old Monk before him, that he was an existence beyond his puny mortal's comprehension. And Ri Fan believed his instinct, that told him the old man before him was an omniscient cultivator or something along that line of thinking despite how far fetched it seemed. He always believed his instinct because it never failed him before.

For example, when he wanted to confess to his crush in his ninth grade, his instinct warned him to stop his intention. His instinct was accurate when he saw his former crush walked together with a rotund middle-aged man into a hotel despite she already had a boyfriend at that time. That woman was a materialistic bitch and had no shame at all.

Since then, Ri Fan always followed his instinct without a second thought.

All that aside, back to the present. Ri Fan regarded the Old Monk silently. After a few seconds, he opened his mouth and said: "Anyway, you said that you will compensate me because you want to resolve the karmic ties that connect us, was it? And what's with this thing about being resurrected in the lower plane? Although I do not have any strong attachment to my world, I need to know where I am going to."

And, indeed. Ri Fan did not have any strong attachment to his original world. What about his parents? They were workaholics who focused on their works more than their own son. They were the textbook definition of someone who married to their job. Furthermore, he was their only child. He had become accustomed to being ignored when he needed their spiritual support the most.

The Old Monk nodded his head faintly before lecturing Ri Fan about the structure of Planes in Existence.

When he listened to the Old Monk's lecture, Ri Fan was amazed. He felt like his world had been turned upside down. He never thought that his world was in second place from the top with Plane of Gods and Buddha right above his. Meanwhile, the lower plane was created by the imagination of the people from a higher plane. The concept is similar to the 'Imaginary Dream World' in 'Grasping Evil' novel. The world where 'Ning Fan' originated was an 'Imaginary Dream World' created by Immortal Emperor Zhi Dou. Although that world was only an illusion, the residents of this 'Illusory Dream World' could become a real living being after reaching a certain cultivation level.

All that aside, it seemed that Ri Fan would not be able to ascend into Heaven upon his death and enjoy the blissful eternity in Heaven because his soul was incomplete due to the accident that killed him.

As an aside, for mere mortals like Ri Fan, they needed to accumulate karmic merits. When someone accumulated a massive amount of karmic merits, they will have the assurance to be reborn in the higher plane as a Deva and enjoy the eternal blissful life.

Karma is very important when you face Six Paths of Samsara upon your death. Accumulating karmic merits is the most important thing for someone to receive the high probability to be reincarnated as a human or better yet, a Deva. It is like a polishing stone to polish your soul. The bigger the accumulated karmic merits, the purer your soul will be. Thus you have a better chance to be reincarnated as humans or Devas.

Meanwhile, karmic demerits are like pollution that will pollute your soul. If your soul is dirty, you cannot enter the heavens. Your soul will be reincarnated as one of the four other paths: Animal, Hungry Ghost, Asura, or being dumped in Hell.

However, these rules only applied to the Plane of Gods and Buddhas and the Mortal Plane right below it, Ri Fan's plane. If Ri Fan went down to the lower plane, he would find it almost impossible to enter the True Heaven. The most probable outcome was getting reborn in his current plane.

(No wonder this Old Monk is desperate to receive my forgiveness. Although my death was accidental, he still shares the blame. He has the part in the cause that affects me and our karmic ties are the effect of this cause. We are tied by karma. If he does not fix this karmic ties between us, he will not be able to ascend to Heaven smoothly. Still, isn't he very paranoid? I do not think a simple taint of bad karma will affect his ascension into True Heaven that much.)

From Ri Fan's perspective, the Old Monk seemed very paranoid indeed. Maybe, the Old Monk wanted to enter the highest level Heaven, so he did not want any compromise with the result? Well, it was normal for a person to desire more after obtaining the means or tools to achieve his desire. Furthermore, this was related to one's eternal life in the heavens. Anyone would desire the best when he got only a single chance to choose the quality of heavens in his eternal life. This Old Monk was no different.

(Although this misfortune is due to a chance of rotten luck, I have lost my qualification to enter the Six Paths of Samsara, huh? If I cannot enter the Six Paths of Samsara, I want to be resurrected in xianxia based world, at least. I want to be a peerless immortal and have a blissful life for a very, very long time. That means also building harem!)

After that long contemplation, Ri Fan faced the Old Monk, who waited for him silently. He then spoke up his decision: "Since it already happened, it can't be helped, then. I will try to sincerely forgive your mistake…"

"Thank you, young one." The Old Monk's face formed a joyful expression as if a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders. However, my next words broke off his joy.

"...If you grant my wishes." I gave the Old Monk a sly smirk.

The Old Monk blinked his eyes before sinking deep in thought. After a few moments, he nodded his head uncertainly.

"Very well. Tell me what do you want. As long as it is within my ability, I will grant them," the Old Monk declared confidently.

"Okay… You said that the lower plane was born due to the belief of the residences of a higher plane, right? Does the dimension based on Against the Gods novel written by Mars Gravity really exist?"

The old Monk made a pondering face. After a few moments, he nodded shortly and said: "I have checked that place, Primal Chaos Dimension. That place exists in the lower plane, and I can resurrect you in that place."

After hearing the Old Monk's words, Ri Fan fell into a contemplative mood.

(Being reborn in Primal Chaos universe is my first wish. I still have six wishes left. I hope that he can grant it…)