Chapter 457 Stepping Towards What's Right (8200, Second Update)

The Deep Diver, radiating a faint blue light, slowly descended from the sky. It was so massive that the Wild Boar, with its overall length of over fifty meters, looked like a child in comparison.

But even such a behemoth was nothing more than a fragile object that needed to be handled with care in Su Zhou's eyes. He controlled it with his spiritual power, gently lowering it onto the sea surface. Even so, the Deep Diver's descent still stirred up waves, causing both it and the Wild Boar to rock on the sea.

"Our Lord is merciful!"

When Su Zhou returned to the Wild Boar, carrying the tightly shut-eyed, silent, and bewildered Alber, the entire crew of the Wild Boar, along with Aimon and Sara, knelt to greet him.

Clearly, even the dullest-witted pirate knew that if Su Zhou hadn't blocked the Judgment Dragon's divine punishment, they would now be nothing more than ashes and debris floating on the sea, unable even to be buried in the bellies of fish.

"Alright, alright, you still have to face judgment. I only blocked the lightning because I thought you'd be more useful alive and repentant than dead."

Su Zhou waved his hand impatiently, signaling everyone to get up quickly. He couldn't stand such sappy flattery. He preferred people arguing with him; that was true entertainment. "Remember, I may be a little more merciful than that dragon, but if I find out you've really done something evil, I guarantee you'll all die horribly, far worse than being struck by lightning."

"Now, get back to sailing."

"Yes, yes!"

Instantly, all the crew members of the Wild Boar scurried back to their posts. Similarly, the crew of the Deep Diver did the same. After taking care of these matters, Su Zhou threw the Alber he was holding onto the deck. He narrowed his eyes at the man, but his thoughts drifted elsewhere.

—The Dragon of Humanity's Collective Will.

To put it simply, it was the materialized product of some kind of subconscious aggregate.

"Leviathan—the incarnation of some collective subconscious. Back in the Divine Dragon World, the Second Prince of the Kerbad Empire, Kumoer, summoned a divine dragon like that; a Dragon of Humanity's Collective Will."

"All signs indicate that the Judgment Dragon is such a divine dragon."

Su Zhou was no longer ignorant about transcendent power. He knew a great deal about it. The fact that the collective subconscious of humanity could materialize into an entity was not surprising. In fact, when the revival of spiritual energy reached its peak, as long as a planet awakened its spirit, it would have its own consciousness.

And coincidentally, ancient Earth Mother Goddesses mostly had dragons and snakes as symbols. As far as Su Zhou knew, in many worlds of the multiverse, if there was a world consciousness, its form would most likely be some kind of giant dragon-snake or python.

More than that, Su Zhou wanted to know why such a Dragon of Humanity's Collective Will would appear in a clearly not particularly spiritually advanced world like the Samsara World.

But soon, he had a bold guess.

"At the beginning of the Era, Elias and the God of Wind and I worked together to split the 'Soul of the Earth' into countless fragments and bestow them upon all the Wind and Fire people."

"At that time, my intention was to give everyone the potential to become a god. Even if they couldn't, it would at least improve their talent and spirituality."

Recalling his past actions, Su Zhou wasn't so forgetful. After all, it had only been a little over a year for him.

The Soul of the Earth that was split and given to all the Wind and Fire people could indeed greatly enhance everyone's innate spirituality. Although this kind of powerful spiritual object, which originated from an external gift, would require an extra purification step when advancing from Overlord to Hegemon, ordinary people couldn't even cultivate to the peak of the Overlord Realm. For those who could, purifying the Soul of the Earth fragment in their souls was as easy as drinking soup.

Overall, the advantages far outweighed the disadvantages.

"But now it seems... those fragments of the Soul of the Earth seem to have gathered together spontaneously, or perhaps guided by someone, through the collective subconscious of the Wind and Fire people, and then transformed into the prototype of the current 'Judgment Dragon,' the third god besides the God of Wind and the God of Fire."

This was not a wild guess. Su Zhou had been wondering about the Judgment Lord since he first learned about him. In the Samsara World, there were theoretically only four gods: the four elemental gods of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind. Unless a truly talented local of the Samsara World developed a cultivation method at the immortal-god level and broke the cycle of godhood, there would only ever be these four gods.

The pirates' goal should be to find the Soul of Water and become a god. The God of Earth shouldn't have appeared in the first place, but someone, either Elias or the God of Wind, had gathered the Soul of the Earth from the souls of all living beings through various methods and used it as the foundation to simulate Su Zhou's image, condensing a 'Judgment Dragon' identical to Su Zhou.

"That's roughly the situation... Interesting. A god linked to the hearts of all people. In that case, everything makes sense."

Thinking of this, Su Zhou raised his head and looked thoughtfully at the sky, then turned to look at everyone around him.

If the Judgment Dragon was the collective subconscious of everyone in the Samsara World, then in other words, everyone was a part of the Judgment Lord. It was not an exaggeration that the Judgment Lord knew about every evil deed everyone committed.

'God is watching from three feet above' might be empty talk, but the Judgment Dragon really existed in everyone's heart.

"In that case, 'Judgment will come' is not false either—even if a criminal feels that they are a criminal, then even if no one else knows, relying solely on their own power of will, accumulating it for ten or eight years, will attract judgment to them... Crap, even though I just blasted it apart, I suddenly think this design is pretty good!"

Thinking of this, Su Zhou even became a little excited—he had always been humble and eager to learn and would never deny the merits of others because of prejudice. "People can't always deceive their own hearts. This might be the source of some kind of 'karma'... This design is good. I'll take it. It can definitely be used next time!"

Having roughly deduced the origin of the Judgment Dragon, Su Zhou now understood how he should sever the powers of will associated with the 'Judgment Dragon.'

The powers of will entangling Su Zhou gathered on him mainly for two reasons—one was the image promotion. The Judgment Dragon's image was clearly designed with Su Zhou as a prototype. The second reason was that Su Zhou was the one who initially split the Soul of the Earth and bestowed it upon all living beings.

In other words, the Judgment Dragon not only imitated Su Zhou's image, but its existence itself was also the 'cause' that Su Zhou had personally planted, bearing the 'fruit.'

Therefore, to sever the powers of will related to this, he could start by changing the image of the Judgment Dragon or simply grab the Judgment Dragon and forcibly transfer it... Using the methods of immortal cultivation, it would be to transfer karma and grab someone to take the blame.

Apart from these, Su Zhou's ultimate gain was actually only one point.

That was, he discovered that the old himself was so annoying!

Thinking this, Su Zhou couldn't help but speak, muttering to himself, "Tsk, I really didn't expect the past me to be such a devil lord, and so foolish... So embarrassing!"

But then, Su Zhou heard Yala's teasing words, "A devil lord isn't bad either. At least you can have your way and settle scores." But the youth quickly retorted, "Can't I do that now? What you said! A good person can also have their way and settle scores!"

"Lord..."

Just as Su Zhou was about to argue with Yala for thirty rounds, he heard Aimon's voice beside him.

The youth turned his head and saw the gray-haired priest standing beside him with a complicated expression. His wrinkled face didn't show confusion but a kind of sorrow, "Are you troubled, Lord? Because of the fight with the other Lord?"

"Ah, Aimon."

When Su Zhou saw his follower—or rather, the Judgment Lord's follower—he was actually quite surprised.

Because he didn't hear 'confusion' from the other party's heart.

This was very unusual—as a believer of the Judgment Lord, Aimon didn't feel confused or lost because of his hostility towards the Judgment Dragon? This was not something an ordinary believer could do.

Asking what he thought, Su Zhou turned around and signaled Aimon to follow him to the side of the ship. The two of them watched the night's rising and falling tides together, and the youth said directly, "Don't you find it strange? The fight between me and the Judgment Dragon—both gods, yet we clashed over a group of theoretically sinful pirates."

Aimon followed Su Zhou. Hearing the youth's words, he first nodded, then shook his head, "I find it strange, my Lord. I didn't expect you to have such a conflict."

"But I realized that you and the Judgment Lord are different from the moment you praised the fish soup made by the people in Sunset City."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Su Zhou became interested. He asked curiously, "Where do you think I'm different from the Judgment Dragon?"

Aimon was silent for a while. He carefully considered his words, then slowly said, "The Judgment Lord's doctrine is to uphold fair and impartial judgment, without any human emotions, compromises, favoritism, or leniency."

"Judgment is ruthless. As long as you violate the precepts, even good people will be punished... No, as long as you violate the precepts, then you are no longer a 'good person.'"

"But I always feel that doing so is too cruel and not quite the same as what I longed for when I was young."

Saying so much in one breath, Aimon closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, prayed for a while, then opened his eyes again, continuing to watch the sea, murmuring, "Perhaps it is because of this doubt in my heart that I have been unable to advance to Chosen One, my Lord. I am not actually devout. I may outwardly perform rituals, pray, and act according to the precepts, but in my heart, I always doubt, always feel confused, always feel helpless."

"That's a good thing, Aimon. Reasonable doubt is a virtue."

Su Zhou didn't care about this. He encouraged, "Then, for you, what kind of god am I?"

The gray-haired priest hesitated for a while, but then he chuckled, bowed slightly to Su Zhou, and said calmly, "You have love, my Lord."

"Compared to the Judgment Lord I am familiar with, you have more love for this world."

Saying this, Aimon straightened up again. His face returned to its original calm, slightly tinged with sorrow, "I cannot determine which side between you and the other Lord is correct, but... you are by my side and allow me to question you."

"So, I think the other side is a little more heartless."

"Haha, you're really wrong about that."

Hearing Aimon's description of himself, Su Zhou couldn't help but laugh. He shook his head with a smile, "If we calculate according to the number of people, it is likely that the Judgment Dragon's side is more humane."

Then, the youth turned his head to look at Sunset City in the distance, which was gradually approaching, a city full of lights even at night. He said calmly, "However, you didn't say one thing wrong."

"The biggest difference between me and the Judgment Dragon is indeed love."

Love.

Not the love between men and women, or the love between parents and children, but another more general emotion.

Su Zhou found it difficult to describe his feelings for this Samsara World, for the Wind and Fire people, this race almost entirely created by him.

How should he put it? Like Ji Zhu's love—all things are tolerated, all things are believed, all things are hoped for, all things are endured.

He expected their possible growth, believed in their future transcendence, tolerated their current shortcomings, and endured their temporary ignorance.

And he firmly believed that their future would be better.

Su Zhou was the same.

This emotion could perhaps only be described as love.

Thinking of this, Su Zhou smiled and turned to look at his side and behind him.

There, Aimon was waiting for him to continue speaking, as well as Captain Niede, who was standing behind him with a puzzled expression. In addition, there was Sara, the Wind person, who was slowly waking up, and some of the Wild Boar's crew who were working but slowing their pace, stopping on the deck.

Even Alber, who knew his fate was sealed and had been silent, just waiting for the final judgment to come, was kneeling on the ground, silently listening.

"Lord, please tell us your Way."

Aimon stood in the lead, bowing to Su Zhou with utmost solemnity, requesting the Way of God.

"Please tell us, my Lord!"

Everyone else bowed together, "We want to know your Way."

"Since you make a wish to me, I grant that wish."

Su Zhou accepted everyone's bows calmly. Facing everyone, he peacefully spoke the spiritual sound that vibrated between the two worlds: [But to let you know, even my Way is not perfect. It must have errors, contradictions, and disharmonies. Any Way is like this.]

[A powerful being, even if he has the power to destroy the world, and has supernatural powers, strength, and knowledge, with the power to move mountains, overturn seas, and do everything in the world, is nothing but a tool if there is no love in his heart, just like the Judgment Dragon to the people, nothing more than a multi-person tyrannical tool for venting hatred.]

[He judges sins and helps the good. For the people, this is indeed justice. But without love, all this is meaningless to himself, and so is it to the judged.]

[What is not correct? It is when a judgment comes down and only the petitioner of the judgment feels happy. The judge is just a tool, and the judged neither understands why he was judged nor can repent. The onlookers can't understand why there are now results and can't learn a lesson.]

Saying this, Su Zhou raised his hand and pointed to Alber, who was still pretending he didn't exist. He pointed to the King of the Seven Seas and said lightly, [Just like just now, if Alber was punished by the Judgment Dragon, he would certainly kill the wicked, but could the bystanders know what evil he did? Could the bystanders know why he did evil, and for what reason he embarked on the path of evil, leading him to grow into such an evil person?]

Hearing this, Alber suddenly trembled. He raised his head abruptly. The red-haired, rainbow-bearded pirate, who had shown no emotion when facing the Judgment Dragon's sentence and was not afraid of death, now stared at Su Zhou in shock.

Su Zhou met his gaze and said calmly, [Perhaps there are personal factors involved, but the root of all evil must come from a corrupt world system.]

[The truly correct thing is that whether it is the petitioner of the judgment, the judge, or the judged, everyone can get something. Even if he is about to be executed in the next moment, the judged should understand what the correct order is. All those who petition the judgment and onlookers, in addition to the pleasure of punishment, can also know the sorrow of it, and prevent it from happening again as much as possible.]

[The element of judgment is not hatred, but love first. Because of the love for all good people, we must punish all those who do evil.]

[Judgment without love, eliminating evil without love, is nothing more than cleaning up garbage. Only judgment with love can be considered 'correction,' letting everyone understand that this is wrong.]

[Only then can it be considered stepping towards what is right.]

Finally, Su Zhou summarized with this sentence: [The purpose of judgment is to progress, to correct, to know the truth, and to make people better. It is not just set up to kill people, but a result of clarifying the truth.]

[This is my Way of Judgment (Devouring Evil).]

Everyone listened carefully.

Love, judgment, and progress.

At this moment, Alber was thinking about his past.

Born to a pirate, he was naturally a child of the sea and had no choice but to have a future as his father's tool to control the pirate group.

If possible, could he have chosen not to become a pirate?

Alber wasn't sure, and he didn't regret it. He had lived a life of evil as a pirate and enjoyed it for a long time. He had long been prepared to be judged and die, which was why he had been quite tough when facing the Judgment Dragon and Su Zhou... Of course, he was a little afraid, but that was all.

However, even though he never regretted it, this great pirate was always confused, confused about whether he, who was deliberately born as a tool by his father and mother, really had the right to choose? Was his so-called lack of regret just a stubbornness because there was no other choice?

He was not born into this world because of love... But even so, his father, Glo, risked being discovered by the gods to notify him to leave this sea area as soon as possible...

Love, this kind of thing...

"Damn it, that's bullshit!"

On the other side, Wild Boar's captain Niede was cursing in his heart, "What the hell is this love or not? If I had the power, I would marry a good woman and have a few children, then go back to the mountains to continue hunting. Who cares about love or not!"

But even Niede, after cursing for a while, had a complex emotion in his heart, "But damn... at least the Lord is right about this. If I am judged, I don't want to be struck by lightning without any introduction—at least let those city people know that I rebelled in anger because I couldn't stand their yin and yang way of speaking."

"If they know, maybe they will change their way of speaking. Is this the so-called progress... No, am I worthy? If I were a great pirate, maybe I would have this kind of deterrent power!"

In the end, Niede himself became confused. He shook his head hard, "Forget it, forget it. Anyway, if possible, I still hope that there are more good people in this world, so that even if I am judged, the punishment I receive will be lighter."

On the other side, Sara was confused. Of course, she didn't understand what Su Zhou was saying, but there was one thing she strongly agreed with, "The Lord does have love—he personally grilled fish for me to eat!"

At this time, after explaining his feelings and thoughts, Su Zhou felt the Heavenly Soul in his body boiling.

Closing his eyes, the youth felt the power in his soul space, constantly jumping deep within his soul.

In the soul space, above the Wisdom Tree spirit, the purple-cyan Heavenly Soul illuminated all darkness, and countless runes and brilliance overflowed from it, then obeyed the will of its master and were constantly reorganized and reconstructed.

Some of its inherent structures were destroyed, but new light filled them, just like as a person grows, some old ideas are shattered, and some new concepts replace them.

But all this was not in vain, because the mistakes made before were the steps paved for stepping towards what is right.

Finally, all the jumping lights returned to the Heavenly Soul, merging into the corona-like halo. The turbid light of curses and pure brilliance of power of will intertwined, forming a spiral structure in the Heavenly Soul.

"The progress is already over a third... The reconstruction of supernatural powers has completely entered the right track."

Opening his eyes, Su Zhou's eyes were clear. He vaguely felt that his perception of curses and power of will was becoming more and more sensitive, and even the Fire of Sin was becoming easier to control. Su Zhou felt that if he ignited the black and white Fire of Karma on his body again, he would probably no longer feel that extreme pain and could completely turn it into a part of his physical body and soul.

At this moment, after listening to Su Zhou's explanation of his Way, Aimon, who had been listening all along, let out a long breath and then showed a smile.

"My Lord, after listening to you explain your Way of Justice, I can finally confirm that you are the god I want to follow."

"Oh?" Su Zhou looked at the gray-haired priest, smiling and teasing, "You're only 'finally sure' now? I thought you had already recognized me."

"You know, there is another Judgment Dragon in the sky."

Aimon shook his head, responding, "Doubt, my Lord, this is what you said. I cannot choose the existence I want to follow based on preconceived notions. I must truly understand you, understand your doctrine, your thoughts, the path you are going to take, before I can say so."

"And now, I can be completely sure that I am not choosing to follow you because you are a 'god.' My Lord, I am choosing to follow you because of your Way and your love!"

Speaking of this, the sorrow that had been deeply buried in Aimon's eyebrows gradually dissipated. He closed his eyes peacefully and contentedly.

The gray-haired priest's mind flashed back to the injustice he had encountered in his childhood, when his family was framed by others, thrown into prison, and almost subjected to judgment.

It was because a roaming adjudicator of the Judgment Lord left hell and saw the merchants who had framed his family being judged that he was naturally in awe of the god who represented judgment.

In the eyes of the child at that time, the Judgment Lord was undoubtedly the embodiment of justice and righteousness.

But was it really the judgment that almost killed his family, only to be reversed at the end, that he admired?

No... what he admired was actually that adjudicator, the righteousness displayed by that adjudicator.

That love for pursuing 'better' and 'truth.'

"I see, this is the true faith in my heart..."

Murmuring softly, instantly, a pure cyan glow rose from the top of Aimon's head, transforming into a long line that went straight into the sky. It was a transcendence constructed of pure faith, pure will, and soul.

After decades of precipitation, decades of doubt, the power accumulated in the heart of the old priest, who finally understood his heart, finally ushered in a qualitative change at this moment!

"Advanced!"

"Priest Aimon has advanced!"

Seeing this scene, everyone on the Wild Boar widened their eyes. They exclaimed, looking at the gray-haired priest, and Su Zhou was no exception.

The youth stared at this apostle who had chosen to follow him, his mouth slightly raised, and then he secretly stretched out his hand, with vast spiritual power vaguely appearing around him, protecting the other party's advancement.

At this moment, in the surging clear light, endless elements naturally poured in from all directions, turning into a turbulent vortex above Aimon's head. This elemental power, attracted by pure faith and soul, even induced phenomena such as fire out of thin air, atmospheric surge, wetness of things, and condensation of dust, and was constantly purified, purified, and integrated by the old man's will.

According to the cultivation methods of the Samsara World, these elemental powers will merge into his body along with the soul power derived from Aimon, allowing his soul to be protected by the elements of heaven and earth, so that he can directly control the elements of the world with his will, becoming an existence that is almost an elemental being but transcends elemental beings.

Aimon naturally knew these things—of course he knew, he had known for decades.

Therefore, soon, as the old priest slowly opened his eyes, the cyan glow above his head carried a large amount of pure elemental power back into his body, integrating into his soul inch by inch.

Then, a deep aura spread out from him.

Stuck at the Revelation stage for decades, he finally broke through today.

Priest Aimon, entered the realm of Chosen One!

Both his body and his expression were much younger. Aimon's face was not excited, but just a little joyful. He raised his head, met Su Zhou's gaze, and Su Zhou nodded with a smile.

"Congratulations, my apostle."

"Because of your Way, my Lord." The priest said devoutly.

After that, the people on the Wild Boar came one after another to congratulate Aimon.

"Not bad, Su Zhou, don't look at how old this old man is, he's actually very tough and pure in his heart."

In the soul space, Su Zhou could even hear Yala's commentary, "Moreover, he is a very, very rare 'true believer' among all types of believers! But precisely because he is a true believer, if he walks on a path with confusion in his heart, he will not be able to advance for a long time."

"Yes... he dares to question me, which is a good thing."

Su Zhou also agreed with Aimon's thinking and ultimate recognition along the way he followed him. Having such a believer believe in him was actually an honor for him, this 'god,' and not the other way around. He was very happy in his heart, "This trip to the Samsara World, to have such a thoughtful believer recognize and acknowledge my path, is already a big enough gain."

After everyone finished congratulating Aimon, the Wild Boar and the Deep Diver had arrived at the near sea of ​​Sunset City's port.

You could see that the Sunset City navy, having seen the pirate flag, was rushing out and driving their ships to come.

Su Zhou was naturally not worried about such a trivial matter. He didn't need to step in at all. Aimon, who had advanced to Chosen One, could handle everything.

"My Lord, what are we going to do next?"

Even having advanced, he was still calm and unperturbed. At this time, Aimon realized that the joy that his long-awaited strength could bring him was far less than the joy of knowing that he was walking on the right path.

The feeling of stepping towards what is right... even if it is just what he recognizes as right, is extremely joyful.

At this time, he was asking Su Zhou about the next plan in order to prepare for the next action.

"Let's still go see the Lord of Fire—after knowing so much, I'm getting more and more interested in what that kid is doing."

Su Zhou just looked into the distance, with the lights of the city reflected in his eyes, "The Judgment Dragon, the Soul of Water, the pirates, and the order of this world... Elias really has provided me with a lot of surprises."

Saying so, his will locked onto Alber, who was kneeling on the deck, not moving at all.

"Coincidentally, I will also bring him a good meeting gift."

To this, Aimon nodded with a smile, "Your will."

The next day.

The matter of the avatar of the Judgment God fighting another Judgment God in the airspace of the Sea of ​​Joy near Sunset City had almost spread throughout the Holy Fire Empire.

Not only the Holy Fire Continent, but even the Wind Continent on the other side of the world, had priests who learned this shocking news through the power of divine scrolls.

Not to mention the pirates, who were already well-informed and had many sources of information.

"What did you say?!"

The Seven Seas, the Sea of ​​Wrath.

In a bright and noisy volcanic cave, you could see golden-red lava slowly flowing at the end of the cave, like the pulse of the earth's blood.

Although it was filled with the smell of sulfur, the volcanic cave was cleaned neatly and tidily. There were even various unusually advanced and precise magic tools that didn't seem to belong to the Samsara World placed here, forming a small and refined temporary magic array.

"Can you repeat that again?"

At this time, in this secret base hidden in a volcanic cave on an island, an unusually shocked voice sounded, "You said the Judgment Dragon descended and was beaten back by the Judgment God?"

"Alber also died because of this... You mean he was captured?"

"Uh, wait, let me summarize... Because the Judgment Dragon wanted to judge Alber and at the same time judged other innocent people, the Judgment God judged the Judgment Dragon's judgment..."

Speaking of this, the voice suddenly became confused, "What the hell are you talking about?! I can't even say the word 'judgment' clearly anymore!"

"Forget it, send the spatial mission records over and let me see what's going on!"

Second update

Does everyone still recognize the word 'judgment'? (