Lord Shadow

THE VAST UNIVERSE

He could feel nothing. No cold, no heat…nothing.

Azief look at his left. Then he looks at his right.

All he sees around him is stars and empty planet. The stars all seems to emitted powerful emanations of power and heat.

He could even saw a planet that is about to be devoured by a star.

But his eyes could not see farther than his eyes could see. He do not know where this is or what Universe is this or how far it reaches and spans for.

He saw a few metro streaking about in the distance travelling in a speed that is hard to see with naked eyes.

He did not feel cold or hot; he is not suffocated or feels like he is breathing. It was like he did not exist.

It was like he is nothing. A state of nothingness

He then looks at his hand and he saw himself to be translucent. It was like he was a ghost.

Then it dawn on him. He remembers what happened to him and knows why he is in this state. He managed to get out from the Blissful State Trial.

It was one of the hardest trials he ever faced. There is no fighting, no death, no sorrows, but that what makes it an even harder trial.

He got all of his heart desire. He got what his heart needs and because of that it is harder

Because one have to choose to go out from that trial. And it is hard to extricate oneself from that trial.

Azief sighed.

He closes his eyes reminiscing what happens, the memories, the longings, the happiness and the sorrows which only enhance the happy memories and then with another sigh he forgotten it all.

‘It should be forgotten. A dream is a dream. A beautiful dream but it is still a dream’ His eyes clear up and clarity fill Azief mind. Then he looked forward.

There are six steps of stair speared by a billion miles of distance.

But somehow seeing the six steps Azief intuitively knew he could cross it in an instant no matter the distance

He then said

‘Form is nothing more than illusion’ Then he step on the first step and then he takes another step. Like he was light embodied, he travels billion of miles in one step.

Azief knows why there are six steps and he knows he has to take the steps.

There are six trials and there are six paths.

Six steps to reach the end of his trials. When he took the first step he saw his life as the Divinity of Fire.

When he took the second step he saw his life as the Saints of Ten Thousand World. It was like he was bathed in the memories of past lives.

So, he did not hesitate to take the third step and his memories of his life as the Overlord of Demons and Gods, the Divine Dragon of a broken Universe flashed him by

Even when his feet step forward and was about to fall into the darkness of space, it was like the space around his zoomed forward as he arrived at the fourth steps.

The moment his feet touch the fourth steps the memories of his life as the Supreme Sword God once again took a hold of him for a moment.

Without losing a beat he then took another step and he is now at the fifth steps. Then he took the last step and he reached at the six steps.

It took long to describe but in six seconds, Azief traveled billion of miles with each steps in an instant.

It is not his power. But it is a privilege. As someone who passed all the trials.

Reaching the six steps he then looked forward and then for the first time he was shocked. Because, in front of him is a gigantic being sitting on a throne of light, extracted from thousands of Universes looking at him.

And he recognizes that being.

‘Azul’ he whispered

***

Now do you understand the reference?

The Six Paths if you still did not get it by now is based on the Realms of Rebirth and Azul is the one holding the Wheel of Rebirths.

I will give an in depth explanation with the connection to Azief trials. Remember this is based loosely on the Realms of Rebirth

There is the Gods Realms(devas) which is the most pleasure-filled among six realm

A Deva does not need to work, and is able to enjoy in the heavenly realm all pleasures found on earth. However, the pleasures of this realm lead to attachment , lack of spiritual pursuits and therefore no nirvana. (This is the Blissful State trials. I give a different names for each of the trials)

Then there is the Human realm A rebirth in this realm is considered as fortunate because it offers an opportunity to attain nirvana and end the Saṃsāra cycle. This is where Azief becomes Emperor and lives a life as a mortal before ascending to become Saints of ten thousand Worlds.

Demi-god realm (Asura) is also one of the realms Azief experienced. In there he becomes the Divinity of Fire.

Then there is the Animal realm is state of existence of a being as an animal. This realm is traditionally thought to be similar to a hellish realm, because animals are believed in Buddhist texts to be driven by impulse and instinct, they prey on each other and suffer. ( This is where Azief becomes the Divine Dragon)

There is also the Hungry ghost realm are rebirths caused by karma of excessive craving and attachments. ( this was not shown or explained because by now Azief has passed all the Six trials. It would be mentioned briefly later and had connection with the love triangle between Azief, Sofia and Katarina.

And then there is the Hell realm

The texts vary in their details, but typically describe numerous hellish regions each with different forms of intense suffering, such as eight extremely hot hellish realms, eight extremely cold, being partially eaten alive, beating and other forms of torture in proportion to the evil karma accumulated.

These beings are reborn in another realm after their evil karma has run its course, they die, and they get another chance.

This is when Azief becomes Sword god and suffers many tribulations. If you realize each of Azief trials involve him in some way to be associated with the suffering of the six paths.

Okay, that’s it for the explanation. Hope you enjoy the chapter and thank you for reading.