Chapter 489
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Translator: Ace
Chapter:
Chapter Title: Soaring Empyrean's Swift Resolve
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Soaring Empyrean Sun-Obscuring True Lord's reaction was undeniably swift.
More importantly, as a True Lord of the Primal Saint Sect, he shared the same trait with Lu Yang: an extremely strong drive for action, always decisive when it was time to get things done.
‘I can’t let this go on any longer!’
With that thought, Soaring Empyrean immediately scrapped his previous plan. He had originally intended to use Chongguang as a stepping stone for his own further advancement.
‘Eliminate Hongyun, the last remaining loose end, then after Chongguang fails in his gold-seeking attempt, secretly store away the Dao affliction Chongguang turns into upon death using Knowledge-View Obstruction. Once the fuss dies down, use Chongguang’s Dao affliction to draw in Covered Lamp Fire, and finally pull that Dao fruition position into the underworld.’
The entire scheme was exceedingly thorough.
If Lu Yang learned of it, he would instantly recognize that Soaring Empyrean’s actions in the ninth reincarnation followed this exact logic.
Yet no plan in the world is without flaws.
Thus, midway through, Soaring Empyrean had encountered variables. For instance, Chongguang’s gold-seeking effort caught him off guard by reaching the critical threshold.
In Soaring Empyrean’s plan, Chongguang should have smoothly completed the gold-seeking process before suddenly dropping dead, without causing the slightest ripple. But Chongguang had stubbornly relied on his own Dao heart and talent to force the issue, compelling Soaring Empyrean to reveal his identity and clash with the True Lords of the world, ultimately claiming Chongguang’s Dao affliction.
What followed needed no mention.
Overseas conflicts, Feixue’s machinations—Soaring Empyrean had faced many surprises, yet he weathered them all thanks to his profound foundations and contingencies.
Plans cannot keep up with changes; that is simply the way of the world.
Soaring Empyrean understood this well, so his plan included ample margin for error. He could adjust and revise for surprises at any time.
But this time, the surprise was a bit too big.
“I can sense that the Knowledge-View Obstruction left in the Primal Saint Sect has suddenly been broken. The name and information I hid are probably exposed by now.”
“In other words, forget about Covered Lamp Fire.”
The more Soaring Empyrean pondered, the uglier his expression grew. “Moreover, they’re deliberately severing my perception of the present world. If this continues, I’ll be far too passive.”
He absolutely could not allow this!
Fall behind, and you get beaten. Handing over the initiative would make things extremely difficult—one misstep, and countless years of scheming would come to naught!
At this thought, Soaring Empyrean’s mind stirred.
Since achieving late Golden Core and hiding in the underworld, five thousand years had passed. In those five millennia, he had prepared many trump cards for himself.
Among them, the most crucial were three.
The first was naturally his World-Reporting Dharma External Body, allowing him to forcibly intervene in the present world when necessary, unleashing combat power far beyond mid Golden Core.
The second was Suo Huan.
Whether Spirit Ruins Blessed Land or Ten Thousand Spirits Returning to Ruins Dao Scripture, both were lures to draw in Chang Liushui to the underworld—naturally of vital importance.
Yet compared to the third trump card, the first two paled in significance. For the third was the fruit of his exhaustive efforts.
The next moment, Soaring Empyrean’s consciousness crossed the underworld.
Straight into Jiangxi.
At the same time, in Jiangxi’s Pure Land, faint phantoms of countless temples rose amid Buddhist radiance, truly a place of thunderous Dharma proclamation and meritorious deeds, an indestructible grand Dharma hall enduring through myriad kalpas.
Yet deep within those temple phantoms, peeling back the facade of Buddhist light revealed a bizarre, motley spectacle: vast Zen groves, housing innumerable shrines, clearly divided into distinct zones of varying appearances. These Zen groves were the dojos of the Pure Land’s various Bodhisattvas.
Among them, one Zen grove stood out as the most eerie.
Looking upon it, one saw a massive golden-bodied Buddha!
Seated in meditation, its plump palm spread wide, within which stood mountains and rivers, countless temples, each bustling with monks in cultivation.
And it was not just the palm.
Hair, skin, seven orifices, even internal organs—every part of this golden-bodied Buddha seemed a temple, a vast Buddhist kingdom!
This was the Peculiar Image Zen Grove.
Its master was Dragon Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva, the most low-key and least known among the Pure Land’s mighty Bodhisattvas.
But at that moment, anomalies arose on the towering golden-bodied Buddha. It did not move, yet Buddhist light rippled behind its head, forming ring upon ring of pure circular halos, wisdom Dharma wheels spinning as if calculating something—or perhaps receiving someone.
Such changes naturally drew the attention of the various Bodhisattvas.
“What is Dragon Snake doing?”
“No idea. Ever since he fed his body to the Buddha, nurturing myriad temples with his Dharma body to establish this Peculiar Image Zen Grove, he hasn’t spoken in years.”
“Leave him be.”
“He’s just an outsider, fruitlessly pursuing Great Forest Wood for years. Now that he’s founded this Zen grove, perhaps the World Honored One has bestowed fortune, granting him some insight.”
“Quite right.”
The discussions among the outer Bodhisattvas did not disturb Dragon Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva’s state of mind at all. He merely silently gazed into his sea of consciousness.
In his heart, there was only one question:
‘Who am I?’
The next moment, a voice emerged from the depths of his heart: ‘You are me.’
Sealed memories flooded his mind, bringing sudden enlightenment as a figure shrouded entirely in smoke appeared in his sea of consciousness.
Soaring Empyrean!
Standing with hands behind his back, he closely examined Dragon Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva’s condition, seemingly assessing something. Only after a long while did he nod.
“Not bad. Very good.”
“It seems the seal of Knowledge-View Obstruction remains intact. This trump card is still usable—or rather, that shadowy mastermind hasn’t discovered him yet?”
Indeed, Dragon Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva was his third trump card!
This was an outsider True Lord, but no ordinary one, for the outsider fruition he had achieved perfectly matched the imagery of Sand-Midst Earth.
What was Dragon Snake Coiling Shadow?
Waves piling into dunes, ripples forming mounds—the palace of coiling dragon and snake, land where hills and valleys shift, known as Sand-Midst Earth. One of the five fruition positions Soaring Empyrean monopolized!
A true Sand-Midst Earth True Lord would be Dragon Snake Coiling Hidden Bodhisattva.
But having achieved an outsider fruition that merely aligned with Sand-Midst Earth imagery, it was altered from “Hidden” to “Shadow,” hence Dragon Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva.
‘Back then, I split off a soul fragment, reincarnated from the underworld into Jiangxi, climbed step by step, and ultimately verified an outsider fruition stored in the Pure Land, becoming Dragon Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva—all to borrow his hand to draw Sand-Midst Earth into the underworld. I took enormous risks.’
At the memory, Soaring Empyrean still felt a lingering palpitation.
Due to the Pure Land’s uniqueness, he rarely activated this trump card under normal circumstances, for doing so meant reaching the final juncture.
‘Time waits for no one.’
Soaring Empyrean scrutinized Dragon Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva’s state. The latter had tilled the Pure Land’s depths for years, fully assimilated by the World Honored One’s collective unity of mind.
But since Soaring Empyrean dared send it into the Pure Land, he naturally had a countermeasure.
On Dragon Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva’s body, Soaring Empyrean had planted the strongest Knowledge-View Obstruction in history, pouring nearly all his fruition’s wonders into it.
Its effect was simple:
At this moment, though Dragon Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva remained linked in the collective unity of mind, he had inexplicably forgotten that he was the World Honored One.
Instead, he recalled that he was Soaring Empyrean.
Canceling negation with negation.
The result granted Dragon Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva a degree of freedom—a peerless miracle achievable only through Great Forest Wood!
After all, the higher the cultivation, the more stringent the World Honored One’s collective unity became.
Especially at Golden Core level, one became one body with many faces as the World Honored One—separation theoretically impossible. Yet Soaring Empyrean had succeeded!
In this instant, Soaring Empyrean had stealthily stolen Dragon Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva away unnoticed by gods or ghosts. Though the World Honored One would soon detect the anomaly, cast his gaze, and resolve everything... before then, Soaring Empyrean was confident his plan would reach fruition!