The land, once soaked with the blood of the ancient emperors, was filled with numerous eerie ancient tree domains. Unbeknownst to gods and spirits, a figure draped in black and yellow robes, wearing a ceremonial hat that obscured the face, emerged silently and stared at him. Even though Sha Wujing had become a legendary figure and experienced the great journey to the West, he still felt an inexplicable chill. The precious staff in his hand, adorned with copper rings, circled his body, transforming into a true dragon and separating a self-contained world.
At this moment, the imperial figure suddenly stepped forward, and through the ceremonial hat, his eyes glimmered faintly.
Before Sha Wujing could even form a thought, his consciousness became mysteriously blurred. His body, along with the heavens and earth and his precious staff, inexplicably compressed into a thin paper figure, resembling an intricate ink painting. Layer upon layer of such paintings, all projections of him from different universes, overlapped like a comic book.
The comic book continued to collapse, the paper-like figures merging into balls, condensing into large, fist-sized characters that flowed like water toward the ancient and eerie emperor, landing in his palm and forming an ordinary-looking book.
The book’s cover bore four golden characters glowing like glazed porcelain, forming the title:
“Biography of Sha Wujing!”
In just a few moments, a legendary cultivator had transformed into a book chronicling his life and that of his projections!
The domain of the ancient Fusang tree was indeed bizarre and terrifying!
Suddenly, the book inexplicably emitted light, flipped its pages without wind, and reached the section on Vulture Peak. The words “Mysterious Corpse” stood out, floating and radiating boundless light, directly illuminating the eyes of the imperial figure.
The emperor, whose face was obscured by the ceremonial hat, raised his left hand to shield his eyes, letting out a faint, pained hum. He staggered backward like a collapsing mountain, shattering like a mirage.
The book rolled to the ground, expanding amidst boundless light. Characters flew out, forming paper figures. These paper figures swelled like balloons, revealing Sha Wujing and his countless “other selves.”
Each “other self” returned to their respective worlds. Sha Wujing touched the pouch at his waist and, in a tone of relief, murmured, “Thank goodness the Old Mother had the foresight.”
Such bizarre and indescribably terrifying enemies were truly horrifying. Even if he and the Lamp-Bearing Divine Envoy had joined forces, without the Old Mother’s prior guidance and years of preparation, he too would have become a book, perhaps even falling into the hands of children, to be read and torn into pieces, leaving no trace behind.
His pale, expressionless eyes gazed toward the spot where the emperor had stood moments ago, atop one of the Fusang trees. The leaves clustered around a fruit, slightly transparent, darkly glowing, reflecting the surrounding things like a strangely shaped mirror.
Sha Wujing softly inhaled and solemnly recited, “Mother Wu Sheng, the Pure Land of Emptiness.”
Bodhi lotuses emerged, circling his right hand as he reached toward the fruit, intending to pluck it.
Once obtained, he would immediately destroy the previous Holy Maiden’s green grave and the pile of white flowers, erasing all her preparations, then retreat back to the Pure Land of Emptiness as quickly as possible.
This fruit was of utmost importance; once revealed, it would attract many covetous eyes!
…
Before the Fusang tree, four colors—red, blue-green, white, and black—swirled like boiling water. The Lamp-Bearing Divine Envoy, along with Shaoxuan and Xi E, unleashed their true fires without restraint, causing the nearby void to collapse and the laws of heaven and earth to become chaotic. The elements of earth, fire, wind, and water raged, creating a scene reminiscent of the great destruction at the beginning of the universe.
Encircled by streams of yellow and ochre energy, the Ark of the End was immersed in holy dewlight, sometimes repelling the elemental chaos, sometimes enduring its ruinous force, navigating through the red, green, white, and black towards the Lamp-Bearing Divine Envoy.
While Xi E fully controlled the Ark of the End, Shaoxuan combined his divine martial arts with the Supreme Blade of Tyranny, unleashing slashes embodying both kingly benevolence and tyrannical might. These strikes caused the Lamp-Bearing Divine Envoy’s lamp-light to flicker and his right hand, which reflected attacks like a mirror, to bear numerous scorched marks and tremble slightly.
Despite his formidable power and the Ten-Directional Glazed Realm of Wandering Souls, the Lamp-Bearing Divine Envoy found himself overwhelmed when confronted with the Ark of the End and the Supreme Blade of Tyranny—not to mention two legendary experts of comparable strength. Step by step, he was forced into retreat.
As the Ark of the End neared his position, approaching the Fusang tree, the Lamp-Bearing Divine Envoy’s expression remained unchanged, but his gaze grew more intense. Suddenly, his right sleeve flared, altering heaven and earth, revealing the universe within his sleeve.
The world darkened, the elements of earth, fire, wind, and water vanished, and the Ark of the End flew into the Lamp-Bearing Divine Envoy’s sleeve.
He immediately sat cross-legged, placing the Wandering Soul Lamp in his right hand. The flame gathered, condensing into countless facets of glazed crystal, completely enveloping his sleeve.
Boom!
The sleeve shook, expanding and contracting.
Boom!
Thunderous sounds echoed outside as the sleeve rapidly expanded.
Boom!
Amidst the roaring thunder and explosions, purple lightning and the colossal ship erupted from the sleeve, shattering the lamp’s crystal-clear glass.
At this moment, boundless light shone down from atop the Fusang tree.
Seeing Shaoxuan and Xi E escape and reach the Fusang tree, the Lamp-Bearing Divine Envoy’s expression slightly changed. Suddenly, he sighed, exhaling a white wave that directly extinguished the wandering soul lamp!
As the flame extinguished, the three realms darkened. Shaoxuan and Xi E suddenly felt themselves in an endless void, unable to discern directions, and even with the Ark of the End, they could not find a way out.
The Fusang tree was right before them, yet invisible. Only high above, the Lamp-Bearing Divine Envoy’s eyes, filled with indifference and a trace of emotion, silently gazed down.
…
“I am Yuan Shi!”
Meng Qi was startled. That last shred of self-awareness nearly collapsed.
Deep in his heart, he had always harbored great fears—fearing that after escaping the Buddha of Darkness, he might fall into the hands of the Celestial Venerable Yuan Shi. While creating and absorbing his other selves and projections, he had constantly balanced between the two, seeking a way out.
At this moment, within his innate nature, he had encountered a mysterious Daoist who claimed to be “Yuan Shi”!
Had the moment of truth finally arrived?
Had that oldest and most powerful being beyond the sea always been hidden within his own nature?
Meng Qi’s external experiences, memories, and fragments of cognition rapidly spun, forming various thought patterns, continuously deducing, flashing sparks of wisdom.
It was actually normal to encounter the images of certain great beings within one’s innate nature upon attaining legend status. Many surviving ancient texts recorded similar phenomena in sections about legends.
Among these, the most commonly seen figure was the “Celestial Venerable Lingbao,” the symbol of “existence,” transforming from existence to nonexistence, encompassing the end of all things, and thus also the source of all creation and the essence of all origins. It was natural to “see” his image after cutting away the self and returning to innate nature.
Next was the image of the “Celestial Venerable Daode,” whose innate “self” originated directly from the Dao, closest to the Dao itself. As the embodiment of the Dao, the Celestial Venerable Daode represented the order of all existences across the myriad worlds, perfectly corresponding to being “closest to the Dao.” Many ancient sages who broke through to legend status had “seen” him within their innate nature.
Then came great Bodhisattvas and Arhats of Buddhism, who, upon attaining Buddhahood, would see a golden Buddha body, but the face of this Tathagata would be their own.
Yet no one had ever heard of seeing the image of the Celestial Venerable Yuanshi upon attaining legend status!
Was this oldest being beyond the sea finally stepping out from behind the scenes?
Danger surged. Meng Qi instinctively wanted to withdraw from this state. In the past, he would have followed his usual premonition and decisively acted.
However, after experiencing the loss of his martial cultivation, he had realized that the “Eight Trigrams” could not be relied upon, nor could premonitions. Even though they had repeatedly proven correct and helped him avoid life-threatening dangers, he could not fully trust or depend on them—they could also be wrong.
Surveying his surroundings, Meng Qi did not rashly retreat, and soon realized something was amiss.
If the Celestial Venerable Yuanshi had truly acted, no matter how he responded, with his current abilities, he would not escape disaster.
If that was the case, he might as well face him directly and uncover the truth!
As his awareness extended, Meng Qi discovered that the ancient Daoist before him was unusually illusory, bearing a faint sense of self!
Self?
Suddenly, lightning flashed in Meng Qi’s mind, illuminating the darkness, revealing the truth.
He possessed the characteristics of one beyond the sea, so what he saw was naturally different from other legends.
If one traced back through time, through the transformations of the three souls, returning to the beginning, would one not arrive at the origin of all things, thus witnessing “Yuan Shi”?
As the saying goes: “The mind sees the Tathagata; all beings are Yuan Shi!”
If he had not yet severed the self and seen the true self, he would have made a wrong decision based on experience, cognition, and instinct. If he had withdrawn, he would have no hope of becoming a legend for decades!
Looking at the “Yuan Shi Daoist,” Meng Qi suddenly burst into laughter:
“It turns out to be me!”
The “Yuan Shi Daoist” also laughed:
“It turns out to be you!”
Taking a step forward, the figure vanished, and Meng Qi sat in the place where the Yuan Shi Daoist had been!
He suddenly felt his entire being become transparent, feeling a clear resonance from the infinite heights.
In the beginning, all beings were legends, dwelling in the infinite heights, projecting into myriad worlds. Later, there was a change, and the projections became other selves, lowering the essence of the true self. Now, this clear resonance was precisely where his true self should be.
Characteristics emerged, essences aligned, countless causal threads appeared, all connecting to his “other selves” and projections. They transformed quantitative changes into qualitative ones, forming a lotus of golden light, shining with countless rays—the Golden Lotus of the Shore Beyond.
The golden lotus carried Meng Qi’s “true self,” breaking through layers of constraints, flying toward the infinite heights.
Meng Qi joined his hands in the Wuji Mudra, a faint smile on his lips, his deep voice resonating:
“Barefoot over a thousand mountains, I seek neither immortals nor Buddhas.”
“When the Dao reaches its limit and Yuan Shi is seen, only then do I know I am I!”
As his voice echoed, the void trembled. The Moonlight Bodhisattva saw streams of strange light emerge from Meng Qi, falling into the Real World.
Above the Real World, misty clouds formed, layer upon layer, filled with ruin and silence. At the highest level, everything was hazy and indistinct.
“The Immortal Realm appears in the sky?” In a secret place, the Demon Sage Han Guang suddenly stood up, staring in astonishment, “This is the omen of self-proving legend!”
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