Chapter 496: Chapter 496
In the high skies of the Western Celestial World, a purple Fortune Golden Dragon roared to the heavens. Its joyful roar resounded as its body, billions of feet long, coiled within the Fortune Sea, shimmering with divine light.
Suddenly, the dragon opened its mouth wide and exhaled a breath of Fortune Creation. This breath showered over the lands of the West, giving birth to countless auspicious radiances and nurturing all beings.
Barren mountains transformed into blessed grotto-heavens and paradises!
Grasses and trees grew explosively, metamorphosing into spiritual plants!
Countless monks achieved breakthroughs in their cultivation, condensed Buddhist lotuses, and attained Great Liberation!
At the former White Horse Temple, tens of millions of Arhats and millions of Bodhisattvas softly chanted the Buddha’s name. They watched the dissipating Fortune with a trace of sorrow, yet their predominant emotion was joy. Sitting cross-legged, they absorbed the Fortune Creation.
"Eight eras have passed, and Buddhism has finally emerged!"
At the former Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, hundreds of millions of ascetic monks in tattered robes did not immediately absorb the Fortune Creation. Instead, they knelt and kowtowed towards the Western Celestial World.
The Buddha is the object of faith for all Buddhists!
Buddhism is the path to which all their hearts return!
"A new era has arrived!"
Above the Mahavira Hall, Buddha Wu Fa stood amidst a sea of Buddhas, a smile on his face, his body enveloped in endless sacred light, holy and majestic.
According to the agreement, he would become the World-Honored One of Buddhism, wielding supreme authority and ruling over more than six hundred Dao Domains in the Western Territory.
"The Buddha has manifested his divine power!"
Countless commoners of the Western Territory knelt before Buddha altars, perceiving the Fortune Creation as a manifestation of the Buddha’s power. They kowtowed devoutly, offering up innumerable strands of transparent faith power.
This faith power, as soon as it appeared, was drawn by a mysterious force towards the Western Celestial World, ultimately converging within the forbidden ground.
"After absorbing this wave of faith power, I should be nearly saturated. Then, with the aid of the second Fortune Creation of Heaven and Earth, this humble monk should be able to break through to the Primordial Chaos Great Emperor Realm!"
Within the forbidden ground, sensing the vast faith power, Buddha Wisdom Absolute—half Buddha, half demon—revealed a faint smile. He slowly activated his cultivation technique and absorbed all the faith power.
Several days later, all the faith power had been absorbed.
Buddha Wisdom Absolute opened his eyes, a terrifying aura emanating from him. His immeasurable Buddha-Demon Dao manifested, suppressing all other Daos.
It’s a pity the cultivation technique is incomplete, and I cannot break through to the Immortal Realm!
Buddha Wisdom Absolute waved his right hand, producing a cultivation technique manual. Only the first half was complete; the latter half’s contents had been utterly obliterated, revealing a lingering forbidden power that prevented repair.
This cultivation technique was called the "Mantra of Universal Compassion"!
If Qin Wudao were present, he would undoubtedly recognize this cultivation technique.
Its origins were significant. It was created in the Primordial Era by a Tianjun and numerous immortals to eliminate the Underworld regime. Alas, shortly after its deduction, it was deemed a forbidden cultivation technique, invoking a heavenly tribulation that destroyed most of it.
"The Western Territory has been unified!"
At the Nine Heavens Saint’s Court, Dongfang Wentao read the intelligence report, his expression somewhat gloomy.
He was not surprised by this outcome, having long been prepared for it. His gloom stemmed from a sense of uncertainty about the future of the Nine Heavens Saint’s Court.
With the Qin Dynasty having unified the East Border, its rise is inevitable during the second wave of Fortune Creation from Heaven and Earth.
Now, with Buddhism emerging and unifying the Western Territory, one could imagine it soaring above the other sacred lands after benefiting from the Fortune Creation of Heaven and Earth.
But what about the Nine Heavens Saint’s Court?
Surrounded by powerful sacred lands, expansion was certainly impossible.
Their previous advantages had vanished with the rise of the Qin Dynasty’s Saint’s Court and the advent of Buddhism.
In this era of immortal opportunities, the competition is fierce, like a hundred vessels racing to cross the river. Once surpassed by other powers, catching up would be exceedingly difficult, perhaps even costing them their chance at immortal fate!
At the station of the Linglong Sacred Land, Ice Jade Soul stood by a window, sighing involuntarily, "The Western Territory unified peacefully... What a pity such a method isn’t applicable to our Northern Territory!"
It’s impossible not to feel a twinge of envy regarding the unification of the Western Territory. However, the three major powers in the Northern Territory are not of the same origin. Even if I desired a peaceful unification, neither the Ice Snow Saint’s Court nor the Star Constellation Pavilion would consent. Besides, would I willingly relinquish control of the Linglong Sacred Land? In this vast land, who wouldn’t desire to wield great power and control the fates of the myriad beings? It’s better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix! The Northern Territory would undoubtedly gain immense benefits from unification, but people are inherently selfish. Who would take the leading role then? The Ice Snow Saint’s Court? Or the Star Constellation Pavilion? Given the situation in the Northern Territory, the Southern Territory, with its deep-seated grudges and conflicts, faces an even more impossible task of peaceful unification!
「The Eternal Temple!」
Inside a spacious secret chamber, Emperor Soul Heaven knelt on the ground.
In front of him floated a transparent Spiritual Body, its surface covered in arcane patterns, suffused with the faint power of the Great Dao.
"Speak! Why have you sought me?"
Suddenly, a flash of white light descended from above. The Spiritual Body seemed to stir to life, its voice cold and indifferent.
"Master, I suspect the presence of a Supreme Emperor martial artist in the Western Territory!" Emperor Soul Heaven replied with utmost respect, his demeanor as humble as that of the lowliest servant. What shred of dignity befitting a Primordial Chaos Great Emperor remained?
"Impossible!" The Spiritual Body shook its head, its tone firm.
In this Dharma-ending age, without a special legacy, even one with exceptionally monstrous talent cannot break through to the Supreme Emperor Realm.
"Take the Eternal Temple, for instance. Has it not consumed vast resources? Yet, what is the result? It has only managed to cultivate you, Emperor Soul Heaven!"
"Master, a few days ago, a Buddhist Convocation was held in the Western Territory. I dispatched three Origin Great Emperor Realm martial artists to disrupt it, but they were utterly annihilated!"
"To be capable of annihilating three Origin Great Emperor martial artists, over twenty Emperor Realm martial artists, and nearly three hundred Semi-Emperor martial artists in such a short time... Other than a Supreme Emperor, I can conceive of no other explanation!" Emperor Soul Heaven analyzed methodically.
"Based on your account, that is indeed a possibility," the Spiritual Body conceded after hearing this. It began searching its vast memories for an answer.
"Could it be..." Suddenly, the Spiritual Body seemed to recall something. Its eyes blazed with a dazzling light that illuminated the eternal Void.
In the Primordial Era, it destroyed a forbidden cultivation technique. That technique utilized faith power for cultivation and could allow one to incarnate the Great Dao of Faith—it was exceptionally terrifying. Thıs text ıs hosted at novèlfire.net
However, when it unleashed the forbidden heavenly tribulation against that technique, it encountered an exceedingly troublesome adversary and failed to completely obliterate the technique.
"Fortunately, most of it was destroyed!" Reaching this conclusion, the Spiritual Body sighed in relief. Since that cultivation technique lacked the cultivation methods for the Immortal Realm, it couldn’t pose a significant threat. It then inquired, "Of the three thousand special physiques, how many are still missing?"
"Replying to Master, we still lack two," Emperor Soul Heaven reported, looking up and bowing. "According to intelligence, Dongfang Zhantian, wielder of the Time-Space Divine Body ranked third, is cultivating in a small town near Immortality Mountain. As for the Chaos Divine Body, although I have not found its current possessor, I have a suspect!"
"Oh?" Upon hearing the words "Chaos Divine Body," a flicker of excitement appeared in the Spiritual Body’s otherwise placid eyes. It pressed, "Who?"
Emperor Soul Heaven pondered for a moment, a cold glint flashing in his eyes as he enunciated each syllable: "Qin! Wu! Dao!"
As these three words echoed, the temperature within the secret chamber plummeted to an extreme low. The Void itself fractured, threatening to collapse into annihilation.
"Qin Wudao!" the Spiritual Body repeated.
In the next instant, boundless power of the Great Dao flooded the secret chamber, forming an illusory starry sky. Countless laws of destiny ebbed and flowed within it, all furiously attempting to deduce Qin Wudao’s identity.
A terrifying aura of cosmic law permeated the air, causing the secret chamber to tremble violently.
Within a radius of dozens of miles, all other energies vanished, replaced by the sole, dominant power of the Great Dao, which extinguished all other laws.
Just as this power of the Great Dao was about to spread further, countless streams of black gas surged forth, blanketing the entire Eternal Temple. This temporarily isolated the Great Dao’s power, preventing its detection by the outside world.
The power of the Great Dao, though supreme and unparalleled, is also subject to the constraints of the power of Order!
Should it leak and alert the power of Order, retribution would surely descend upon the Eternal Temple. The ensuing collision between these two supreme powers would reduce the Eternal Temple to ashes.