16. Rebirth Realm, Judgement, and Some Gifts

Emerald Gem Sect, Infinite Legacy Pagoda

Inside the pagoda, Orval who was originally in the Nascent Soul Grotto had broken through, was now transported to the Rebirth Grotto. He was once again in a space that was pitch black, he was unable to even see his own hands when he looked down.

Not even a second later, the environment around began to blur, he was now back at the hellish realm that he had seen the Evil Mage at last time. As he looked around nothing seemed to have changed here, there are countless mountains of piled up corpses. The same youth from before was still sitting on his throne, seemingly staring off into nothingness while mumbling to himself.

Orval, just like last time, was unable to read his lips or hear what he was saying to himself. Not even a moment later, the evil youth looked in his direction as if he could see him and said "I guess its finally time to end this."

After saying that, he got up and stretched his limbs, before vanishing from the mountain of corpses his throne sat upon. Orval, who was in his soul form, vanished along with him as if his soul was attached to him.

The scene changed to another room that was completely different from the realm he was just in. To say the scene of this room was phenomenal was a vast understatement. It was as if he was now in a room of pure divine power. The walls were made of pure gold and platinum, they shined with a divine light that could suppress the abyss and control chaos. As Orval looked around the magnificent room, in the center he noticed the Evil Mage in the center, but his current state confused Orval.

The youth was kneeling on the floor inside what looked like a huge and complex array formation. There were chains coming up from this array, chaining up the evil youth. As he looked at the chains, he could feel an extremely profound power in them. He followed the eyes of the mage forward which was gazing at a towering group of people.

There were eleven seats, with the center one being empty and five beings on each side of the empty seat being filled with hooded figures. The way they sat above the youth looking down at him, was like a god looking down at mortal.

After a moment one of the figures spoke "Origin "Regency Venerate Absolutus" Lionheart. You have strayed from the path of righteousness and became an evil mage, responsible for the murder and slaughter of an impossible number of mages." The voice that spoke was full of power and authority, it was deep and carried a profound tone. Yet, despite the authority and power, behind the tone Orval could still feel some sense of sympathy and caring.

The voice continued "You have come here yourself in front of the Council of Immortal Sages. This leads me to believe you are here to turn yourself over for you punishment for your countless evil deeds. Can I assume this is correct?"

Origin looked at the figure that was speaking on the right and then spoke "I have indeed come here with the intention of receiving punishment for my actions." He spoke in a sincere voice, yet Orval felt he was not fully sorry about his evil deeds, as if there was a reason behind his madness.

Another hooded figure spoke with a graceful and melodic voice "Hmmm, what I think everyone present would like to know is, why would the most powerful being in this plane, who not only created the Council of Immortal Sages but was the leader. Decided to betray and follow the evil path?" The voice was so fascinating that it even had a hint of seduction, that seemed irresistible.

The entire council seem to nod in agreement. It was a question that had been on their minds for so long, it confused them that such a powerful man would just turn evil for no reason. The godly figures seemed to all lean forward waiting for the response.

The youthful looking Origin looked up at the council for a moment before speaking "Yes, it may seem unreasonable that I betrayed you all and suddenly became evil. But, there is a method to the my madness. As you know I had spent so many billions of years doing what I believed to be correct. Most of you have known me most of that time and some were even at one point my students." As he spoke, there was a trace of sadness in his voice.

He continued "As, my most trusted friends and companions, you were all here when I created the council and its laws of justice. But alas, sometimes too much good is not always good."

Suddenly, a figure on the left spoke with an irritated voice "Get on with it Origin! Just because we were once the best of friends doesn't mean you will get out of your punishment with a few sweet words being thrown around!" His voice was deep and rude, with a vile ton that sent chills down Orval's spine.

Origin continued "Haha. That was not my intention. I have no problem accepting responsibility for my actions. I simply wish for you to understand my reasoning. After spending so long trying to understand and unravel the truths of the universe, I suddenly noticed I had reached a bottleneck. It did not matter what I tried, I was unable to surpass stage at that time. It was as if I had reached my limit. But at the same time I felt that there was still more to learn and understand." As he spoke the council seemed to be all in agreement, since they had all at some point his a bottleneck in their training that sometimes caused them millions of years to get through.

"Then, one day, as I was traveling through the various planes, I noticed a particular world. It was a land I had never seen or even could have believed would exist. The world was filled with violence and destruction. As I observed it, there was nothing special about its inhabitants. They had no mana or special powers. As mortals, they just continued to fight massive wars with little to gain over petty squabbles. I watched them for several millenniums. You would not think mortals are capable of killing on such a massive scale, when they had no powers at all, but that was not the case. They had weapons that could probably kill several higher level mages at the same time. After watching in the end the planet was destroyed and only a few were able to leave the planet alive." He paused before sighing and then continuing.

"After that I had a period of enlightenment. I realized that only seeing from one perspective, was a narrow view and would impede what was true knowledge. It was at that time I decided to follow the complete opposite path and gain a knowledge that I had completely disregarded and tossed to the side as an irrelevant evil. While sinister as it was, it was all for the pursuit of the truth and understanding."

Orval could feel a very profound and deep meaning behind his words. He felt he could relate to the feelings of the man. His path was blocked for so long and he found a clue to get through it in a path he had never believed in. He was sure that even if he had done all those evil deeds, that he never fully betrayed his morals and only followed through to comprehend a higher path.

The council above was silent for a moment, clearly taking in the information that was just revealed to them.

The rude and vile voice from before began to speak "So, just because you say you did it in order to gain more knowledge, we should forgive you? And just like that? You not only took countless lives, you also destroyed and slaughtered thousands of worlds!" The figure was clearly angry and was not planning on budging from his original stance.

The first figure that had spoke originally spoke again in a calm voice "Now, now, we all know just how hard it is to gain enlightenment once you reach a certain level. Especially at his level which is clearly still higher than all of ours. Honestly, if he had not turned himself in, we would still be able to do nothing but send others to there deaths in hopes of getting close to capturing him. So, with that being said, Origin my old master, what would you do if you were in our position?" The words spoke just now made Orval feel that this person was wise and held considerable authority, that was able to shut up the other party easily.

The chained up Origin without hesitation spoke in a calm manner "I would give two options. The first would be to destroy the mana circuit and have them live as a mortal for the remainder of there existence. The second option would be to use karma and calamity to remove all mana from them and reset there ability to before they ever sensed mana. The second option is the best since they would be given a second chance to do things right." The options seemed reasonable to Orval, since one would be a cruel punishment and the other was another chance to correct their past choices.

"I see. Well, we will now hold a silent vote with a raising of hands on the two options." spoke Origin's previous disciple.

He continued "All in favor of the first option to destroy the mana circuit?" The only one to raise there hand was the vile figure that was being obstinate. When he noticed he was the only one with his hand up, he clearly had an aura of irritation about him.

The council leader then asked "All in favor of using the karma and calamity to reset his abilities?" Everyone else raised their hands, although the female had hesitated for a moment before raising her hand. The rude figure, who voted opposite to everyone else, looked at her before clicking his tongue.

"Then it is settled. I, Interim Council Head Immortal Flame Sage, hereby sentence you, Origin "Regency Venerate Absolutus" Lionheart, to be given a second chance by undergoing the karma and calamities. I wish you a successful and righteous second chance." From the tone of the Interim Council Head, if his face could be seen you would definitely be able to see a smile.

Origin smiled at the group and said "Thank you all for your kindness" He bowed his head slightly, then snapped his fingers. Time and space suddenly froze. Even the powerful council that was looking down were not moving. Origin looked directly at Orval.

He smiled again and spoke directly to Orval "You must be under going training. It is amazing you are able to be here and not be noticed by the council. The power behind you seems familiar and yet unfamiliar at the same time. Either way there must be a reason you are here to see this so take in everything. Absorb it and comprehend everything you can. Also, take these, I feel these will help you in the future." Two items suddenly, floated from his body and went into Orval's soul. He could not see what they were.

The time and space that was frozen, began to move again. As Orval watch he saw clouds begin to form on the ceiling above Origin. They were beautiful golden clouds, that began to shine a divine light onto Origin's body. The power that was once exuding from his body began to dissipate into the light. After all his power was removed, the once golden clouds turned into a violent red. Thunder clapped as streaks of purple lightning struck down on his body. Orval could sense something similar to primordial energy from the clouds, just on a more profound and pure level. After around an hour of lightning strikes, the now powerless Origin, vanished, while Orval's surrounding blurred again bringing him back to the darkness in the pagoda.