Within the Jade Void Palace on Kunlun Mountain, Meng Qi sat cross-legged upon a cloud bed. Mist swirled around him, as if connecting to a universe of despair and oppression.
As his spirit traversed various realms through the fragment of the Haotian Mirror, he discovered something peculiar in the old universe where he had once cast the Myriad Worlds Awareness Talisman—a lingering “other-self” of the Demon Buddha A’nan remained: the “Ruler of the Inverted Tathagata” with a thin mustache!
The implications were obvious. After a soft exclamation of surprise, Meng Qi began his investigation, fearing that the Demon Buddha might have already found a way to escape.
Unlike ordinary universes, this old universe was close in nature to the Real World, similar to the worlds within the thirty-six ancient wells outside Jade Void Palace. The Six Great Demon Deities here were either equal to or only slightly inferior to the primordial Brahma Heaven at its peak, placing them at the Legendary level. Even the Core of Chaos, the All-Uniting One, and the Dark Mother possessed characteristics of Transcendent Beings. They were extremely difficult to deal with. More importantly, they seemed to be “negative projections” of certain Transcendents or Great Adepts—filled with chaos, slaughter, and madness, beyond description. They had transformed that universe into a truly hopeless and oppressive realm. Any intruder would easily attract unpredictable troubles.
Furthermore, the Demon Deity known as the “Core of Chaos” was likely the “evil other-self” of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable. Even without rationality, it would instinctively crave the “Cause of All Effects.” If Meng Qi descended personally, he would likely become its target—an extremely dangerous scenario.
Therefore, Meng Qi chose an indirect approach. He publicly arranged for the “Faceless Pharaoh’s” mortal incarnation, with whom he had previously cooperated, to fake his death and draw the attention of the Demon Deities, making them believe the focus was on the Pharaoh’s actions. Meanwhile, Meng Qi secretly created the “Eye of Wishes,” using the karmic balance method of fulfilling tasks and desires to manipulate Gu Liang into investigating the inverted Buddhist sect.
The plan was straightforward. Apart from the Faceless Pharaoh, the other Demon Deities were chaotic and insane, seldom thinking rationally—making them easy to deceive. As for the Wise One, the Master of the Ten Thousand Gates and the Labyrinth of Time and Space, he was merely a projection of Meng Qi himself, so there was nothing to worry about.
Previously, the “Myriad Worlds Awareness Talisman” cast by Meng Qi was picked up by the human incarnation of the Faceless Pharaoh. Their collaboration had been quite harmonious. With his assistance, Meng Qi successfully established the image of the Myriad Gates—a gateway to countless realms—and was even recognized as one of the Seven Demon Deities. He had been gradually refining this image to align with the Demon Buddha’s alternate-self imprint when he unexpectedly discovered the existence of the “Inverted Palm of the Tathagata.”
Of course, even the most harmonious cooperation had its share of conflicts. The human incarnation of the Faceless Pharaoh was far too fond of deception—constantly peddling counterfeit goods in the Worlds Trading Center or committing fraud through various communication groups. Consequently, he was struck down countless times by the Heavenly Punishment System, only to be revived with undiminished vigor each time—until Meng Qi permanently banned his account.
This time, the condition for cooperation was the unsealing of that account!
And if he dared to commit fraud again, Meng Qi would certainly not show mercy.
Through Gu Liang’s investigation, Meng Qi roughly grasped the truth. After the seal weakened, the Demon Buddha not only “lured” Meng Qi into this universe in an attempt to escape but also sought to create a new “other-self” as a contingency plan, enabling an escape akin to a cicada shedding its shell. Three hundred years ago, this resulted in the emergence of the mustachioed “Inverted Palm of the Tathagata,” the destruction of the Buddhist and Daoist sects, and the regression of Far Eastern civilization. He even employed the “Myriad Buddhas Fall Together” technique to corrupt the supreme deity of the old universe, transforming him into a new Demon God—possibly by using a projection to manipulate a certain entity.
Unfortunately, due to the Buddha’s seal, the “Inverted Palm of the Tathagata” could never become a true “other-self” of the Demon Buddha. After two centuries of repeated attempts and the establishment of the Inverted Buddhist Sect, progress was finally made. However, at this point, Meng Qi had destroyed the power the Demon Buddha had extended beyond the seal, abruptly halting the creation of the “other-self”—explaining why the “Inverted Buddha” ceased responding to prayers decades ago.
Building upon the earlier prophecies of the “Inverted Buddha,” the Inverted Buddhist Sect had spent decades meticulously planning his “resurrection,” ultimately creating the nearly perfected “Red-Black Inverted Swastika.” This fortuitously worked to Meng Qi’s advantage. Once his image of the Myriad Gates assimilated this imprint, it would instantly transform into a genuine “other-self mark,” requiring no further refinement—effectively inheriting the Demon Buddha’s three centuries of accumulated efforts.
(Note: “万Gates” was translated as “Myriad Gates” assuming it refers to a concept or title. If it’s a proper noun, it could be kept as “Wan Gates” or “Myriad Gates” depending on context preference.)
The operation proceeded smoothly. Gu Liang infiltrated Villa No. 9 while the Demon Deities’ attention was diverted by the Faceless Pharaoh. Meng Qi’s image of the Myriad Gates, existing between illusion and reality, suddenly struck, devouring the Red-Black Inverted Swastika and completing the transformation.
The carriage driver who had taken Gu Liang to New Scotland Yard appeared to be an ordinary man clinging to faith in God, but was actually a probe of the fallen God within the police headquarters. If not for the Eye of Wishes shielding Gu Liang from notice, he might have already been turned into a mummy.
…
As the carriage rolled down the street, Gu Liang gazed thoughtfully out the window at the pedestrians—some in suits and shirts, others in long robes and jackets, some wearing tall hats and long skirts, others lifting their hems gracefully—each exuding the charm of their era.
Before long, they arrived at a restaurant. As Gu Liang stepped from the carriage, he spotted a familiar figure riding a sidecar motorcycle, puffing toward him.
“Gu Liang, it’s been so long! You’ve practically vanished since graduating,” said the man, named Chen Yu. They had been classmates at the police academy, once quite close. However, after a series of events, Gu Liang had no time or energy to maintain contact with his classmates, and their friendship had gradually faded.
Gu Liang suppressed his troubled expression and managed a smile. “Chen Yu, were you assigned to the Patrol Division? New Scotland Yard or a local district?”
The Far East Region included thirteen provinces and seven special districts. Graduates’ greatest aspiration was to remain at the headquarters in New Scotland Yard or in the city itself, rather than being assigned to other districts or provinces. Gu Liang had been selected by New Scotland Yard due to his excellent academic performance, becoming a probationary officer. Chen Yu had also been selected but assigned to a different department.
“Aww, I got demoted to the Patrol Division, working as a minor leader at Yanghe District Station,” Chen Yu sighed dramatically, clearly boasting.
“Oh, that’s not bad,” Gu Liang replied absentmindedly, his mind elsewhere.
Chen Yu coughed and patted his shoulder insignia, which already bore two sword-shaped marks indicating his status as a senior officer.
This was a reunion of classmates who had remained in New Scotland Yard or the city’s police departments. Gu Liang had decided to attend mainly to clear his mind.
Seeing Chen Yu’s behavior, Gu Liang couldn’t help but smile. “Impressive! You got promoted within a year!”
“Ah, just a small achievement,” Chen Yu grinned proudly, then lowered his voice. “Hear that Hong Wanzhang, with a Superintendent father, has racked up plenty of credit. He’s now a Sergeant in the Criminal Investigation Division. Heh, nothing beats being born lucky.”
“Can’t compete with that,” Gu Liang smiled faintly. If it were his former self, he would have felt resentment—but now…
Chen Yu locked his sidecar motorcycle and entered the restaurant with Gu Liang. Many classmates and colleagues were already there, men and women, a few wearing senior officer insignia, chatting joyfully.
“Gu Liang, you disappeared for a whole year! Are you looking down on us classmates?” a female colleague from the Personnel Department of the Administrative Support Division stood up with a warm greeting, smiling but not reproachful—more like flattery.
The other classmates didn’t catch the undertone and chimed in. “Exactly! Gu Liang, tell us where you’ve been for a whole year! If Fang Yu hadn’t insisted, we wouldn’t have even invited you.”
“I joined a major case unit. I’ve been busy all year,” Gu Liang replied truthfully.
At this, a slightly overweight man waved his finger mockingly. “Oh, look who’s become a big shot! Fresh out of training and into a major case unit—must’ve racked up a lot of credit and promotions, right?”
With a police sergeant’s insignia on his shoulder, his words were met with laughter.
Fang Yu from Personnel looked slightly uneasy and hurriedly said, “Gu Liang’s telling the truth. He’s been working on major cases all year. He must be a Senior Inspector by now, right?”
She looked uncertainly at Gu Liang.
Senior Inspector? Hong Wanzhang, Chen Yu, and others exclaimed in shock.
What was a Senior Inspector? A mid-level rank in the police force!
Many officers spent their entire careers just reaching Inspector.
And Gu Liang became a Senior Inspector within a year?
Gu Liang, as if finally rediscovering the joy of being human, smiled faintly and took out his insignia. It bore no star emblem of an Inspector, but a crown and his police number.
A crown? Hong Wanzhang shot to his feet. He was very familiar with that type of insignia—his father wore it often.
This was a Superintendent’s badge!
Within a year, Gu Liang had become a Superintendent?
Even Fang Yu hadn’t expected this, momentarily stunned.
Gu Liang smiled, found an empty seat, and sat down slowly. “That case was really big.”
The way his classmates were looking at him felt pretty good!
It was somewhat similar to cultivating a “small universe.”
…
The gathering ended with warm farewells from classmates and colleagues. Gu Liang boarded a carriage, heading into the distance with a relaxed smile.
Returning to the villa, he saw two armored knights approach respectfully and bow:
“Hail, Supreme Leader.”
Gu Liang rubbed his forehead and sighed. “Dismissed.”
Since that incident, besides being a Superintendent in the Special Operations Division, he had also become the Supreme Leader of the Inverted Buddhist Sect…
Passing through the iron gate into the villa and ascending to the balcony, he held a glass of red wine, gazing down at the garden and lawn.
There, a group of Inverted Buddhist followers were performing the seventh set of radio calisthenics with a demonic rhythm, no longer cruel or bloody. On the other side, elderly female followers danced gracefully to the strange music from a record player, moving in perfect rhythm.
“You’re my little apple…”
Hearing the song, Gu Liang couldn’t help covering his face with his hand, sighing inwardly:
How did he, a respected superintendent admired by his classmates, end up becoming the leader of a cult?
Becoming a cult leader wasn’t even that terrible—but this was such an absurd cult!
What exactly was Wan Gates trying to do, turning the Inverted Buddhist Sect into such a harmless organization!
Thinking about having to organize them day after day and spread their influence across the Far East Region, Gu Liang felt his life was unusually bleak.
Thankfully, at least he had his “small universe” for comfort…
…
The “other-self” born from the merging of the Inverted Buddha and the Myriad Gates had now been restored. Meng Qi remained immersed in darkness, continuing his journey of spiritual cultivation.
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