The Qingping Sword, which had been suppressing the remnants of Donghuang Taiyi’s flesh and blood for countless millennia, suddenly flew away without warning—at the most critical moment. If Meng Qi still couldn’t grasp the will of Lingbao Heavenly Venerable after this, his entire life would have been wasted.
The remnants of an ancient emperor’s flesh and blood, once freed from suppression and sealing, could evolve into an unpredictable monstrosity. Yet its terror was imaginable: even in his current state, if his physical body were destroyed, leaving behind only a drop of blood or a single cell, as long as a trace of his innate spiritual light remained, he could regenerate his flesh and blood, restore his Dao body, and reclaim his original realm. Given enough time, returning to peak condition wouldn’t be difficult. If even a fleshly sanctified great supernatural being could achieve this, how much more unfathomable and terrifying would a being who had transcended the Sea of Bitterness be?
In other words, he was about to face an enemy approaching—or perhaps already at—the Other Shore. Merely uttering the two words describing that realm would plunge listeners into despair, stripping them of any will to resist.
This was nothing like his journey to the Nine Nether to retrieve the List of Deification. Back then, he had planned meticulously, leveraging the hidden arrangement of the Wheel of Life and Death and the isolated Origin Point to snatch a sliver of survival from under the noses of pseudo-Other Shore beings like the Black Heavenly Emperor. Now, though not entirely unprepared, the suddenness of events had shattered all his arrangements. In such haste, what other contingencies could he possibly have?
Moreover, this place was riddled with chaotic time currents, nearly existing outside the River of Time. While he could barely maintain his karmic connections to the real world, sensing the Life-Death Origin Point in the Nine Nether was already beyond him.
This was a move designed to kill him!
After a period of mutual exploitation where their relationship blurred the line between ally and foe, Lingbao Heavenly Venerable had finally revealed his true stance.
Was this the great calamity the Green Emperor had spoken of?
But wasn’t it happening too fast, too unrealistically?
Thoughts surged through Meng Qi’s mind like flashes of memory before death. Yet, battle-hardened and deeply experienced, he excelled at decisive action in critical moments. In an instant, his heart calmed like a mirror, casting aside all unnecessary thoughts and suppressing them deep within his spiritual platform.
At this moment, if he couldn’t withstand the first wave of backlash from Donghuang Taiyi’s remnants, even the Green Emperor wouldn’t have time to save him—he had already leaped beyond time, entering the chaotic currents!
Donghuang Taiyi’s remnants had been suppressed by the Qingping Sword for countless millennia, weakened to the extreme. Moreover, they were not a complete Other Shore being—a crucial part of the Dao Fruit still resided within Meng Qi. In other words, for the remnants to shed their weakened state, regenerate flesh and blood, and recover, they would need time.
For a fleshly sanctified great supernatural being like him, recovering from a mere clump of flesh after prolonged suppression wouldn’t take long. For an Other Shore being—even an incomplete one—it would be even shorter.
At most three instants, at least a fleeting moment—Donghuang Taiyi’s remnants would recover enough to crush him.
But no matter what, there was always this brief interval, one he could exploit!
In a single instant, countless thoughts arose. Meng Qi’s true self swung the Overlord’s Absolute Blade.
Even if this truly was the arrival of calamity!
Even if death was certain!
He would never give up. He’d rather die facing the enemy than perish fleeing from it!
Crackling purple lightning streaked across the sky, dazzlingly brilliant, illuminating the chaotic time currents around him and dispelling the pervasive mist.
The blade light surged forward, slashing toward the violent, malevolent aura.
Boom!
Thunder rumbled, carrying the essence of the primordial heart, as if everything trembled under its might, pausing briefly yet fleetingly.
The dark, grotesque mass of flesh wriggled slightly slower, affected by the momentary disruption.
This was the chance! The blade light unfurled like a storm cloud, a colossal maw descending to devour Donghuang Taiyi’s remnants.
Yes—devour them!
Meng Qi had never imagined that, at his current level and with the Absolute Blade’s current state, he could severely wound the remnants of an Other Shore being in a single strike. Even weakened by eons of suppression and not fully recovered, their inherent nature made it impossible!
Thus, his plan was to advance rather than retreat, to confront head-on and seize the moment to draw Donghuang Taiyi’s remnants into the Absolute Blade.
Inside, the blade’s essence was at the Other Shore level—like the Qingping Sword—and wouldn’t be quickly overwhelmed, corrupted, or fused by the remnants. Moreover, the Devil Buddha’s mark still lurked within. If he could pit them against each other, letting Donghuang Taiyi and the Devil Buddha A’nan’s remnants mutually annihilate, the blade’s spirit would reap the rewards. Not only would he escape death, but he could also eliminate the blade’s latent dangers, fully awakening it to resist the will of heaven!
But without the Qingping Sword’s suppression or the safety of the Fusang Ancient Tree’s surroundings, pitting tiger against wolf was perilous. What if Donghuang Taiyi and the Devil Buddha’s remnants joined forces? What if they didn’t immediately fight but instead sought to replace the blade’s spirit before settling their score?
More critically, to execute this plan, his consciousness and power had to enter the blade to assist its spirit in seizing the fleeting opportunity—after all, the sentience of divine weapons and treasures paled compared to great supernatural beings. Yet this would make him the weakest among the four “factions,” an easy target for the remnants and the Devil Buddha’s mark. Like water flowing downhill, if the mark and remnants lacked full intelligence or hadn’t fully recovered, their instinct would be to avoid confrontation and eliminate the weakest first.
Thus, after drawing Donghuang Taiyi’s remnants into the blade, the true danger and battle had only just begun!
Meng Qi harbored no illusions of outside aid. His will was unshakable as his true self and three avatars vanished into the Absolute Blade.
If he was going to act, he would go all out!
Before his eyes, the scenery shifted. Thunder turned to water, forming an endless ocean of rolling waves—purple, azure, gold, and silver—filling every corner of this realm.
Deep within the thunderous sea, every droplet transformed into a corresponding thunder deity, coalescing into the form of a violet blade shadow. Opposite it, across half the sea, floated a blood-black reversed swastika, exuding endless corruption and depravity.
This scene differed from what Meng Qi had seen before. As the Devil Buddha’s mark weakened, the blade’s spirit seemed to gain the upper hand, altering its manifestation.
Now, Meng Qi stood beneath his auspicious cloud, immersed in the electric sea, while nearby, the dark flesh writhed, voraciously absorbing thunderous energy. Its aura skyrocketed in an instant to rival the blade and the Devil Buddha’s mark—and it was still growing.
“Pitting tiger against wolf is nine deaths for one life, but better than ten deaths with none!” Meng Qi steeled himself, preparing to provoke Donghuang Taiyi’s remnants and, under the blade’s protection, lure them toward the Devil Buddha’s mark.
This was like dancing on the edge of a cliff!
Clang!
Just then, a bell tolled in his ears. Time seemed to freeze, though lightning still flickered.
Donghuang Taiyi’s remnants needed no provocation—their madness was laid bare!
Meng Qi’s true body froze. The defenses of his Supreme Ultimate Primordial Auspicious Cloud were as fragile as paper, leaving only his consciousness barely functional.
Then, he watched as the dark, grotesque flesh morphed into the image of an ancient emperor in black robes and a towering crown. Without hesitation, it lunged at the Devil Buddha’s mark, ferocious and unrestrained, utterly ignoring the blade’s spirit and Meng Qi!
Ah…
No need for me to pit tiger against wolf—they’re already at each other’s throats…
Meng Qi was stunned. The sheer smoothness of events left him dumbfounded.
Was this what they called “wishing makes it so”?
As he watched the black-robed ancient emperor recklessly “devour” the reversed swastika, their battle fierce and unrelenting—as if the Devil Buddha A’nan and Donghuang Taiyi shared a blood feud spanning lifetimes, each preferring mutual destruction over the other’s survival—a strange thought struck him:
“During the fall of the Heavenly Court, the ‘Heavenly Dao Monster’ watched from afar, uninvolved, as if plotting something else, its intelligence so high it might as well have been Donghuang Taiyi himself. And back then, the Thunder God just happened to be absent from the heavens. Could there be a connection?”
“Given the Heavenly Dao Monster’s current chaos and brutality, could A’nan have also betrayed it, causing the hidden flaws from Donghuang’s fusion with the original monster to erupt? If so, no wonder Donghuang’s flesh radiates such hatred, as if it’d rather perish than let A’nan live…”
“Indeed, if Donghuang Taiyi had fused with the Heavenly Dao Monster without issues, he’d have long since broken free from the Qingping Sword’s suppression…”
The more he observed their life-and-death struggle, the more Meng Qi felt this theory approached the truth. Moreover, the connection between the Thunder God and Donghuang Taiyi might have been unknown even to Lingbao Heavenly Venerable. This would also explain how the Thunder God had managed to spy on the secrets of the Dao Fruit under the Heavenly Emperor’s nose and secured benefits to aid the Devil Lord’s ascension—he must have leveraged the power of the Heavenly Dao Monster, Donghuang Taiyi himself!
By sheer coincidence, this had also spared him from calamity—though it clearly wasn’t the “ten deaths with no life” disaster the Green Emperor had foretold.
I always considered myself a master at stirring up trouble, a champion at drawing aggro, a rare Main Tank in this world. But the Devil Buddha A’nan’s ability to provoke hatred is truly unparalleled—the Heavenly Emperor, the Buddha, the Demon Saint, the Demon Emperor, Amitabha, the Ancient Bodhi Tree, and now even the ancient emperor Donghuang Taiyi despises him to such an extent. Truly, the Red Hare among men, the Lü Bu among horses, a world-class prodigy beyond my reach. Worthy of being my original self… Meng Qi observed the battle, silently quipping to himself, deliberately swapping “Red Hare” and “Lü Bu,” then directed the blade’s spirit to claim the spoils.
After an indeterminable time, a deafening explosion erupted. The blood-black swastika, as if weathered by endless ages, crumbled into nothingness.
The Devil Buddha’s mark was finally eradicated!
Yet, hovering deep within the thunderous sea was an ancient bronze bell, suppressed by the blade’s shadow. Though dim and frail, it was far from shattered. Upon closer inspection, the bell was composed of countless near-black flecks of flesh—Donghuang Taiyi’s remnants.
During the clash, having recovered somewhat, Donghuang’s remnants had overpowered the repeatedly eroded Devil Buddha’s mark, preventing the blade’s spirit from achieving total victory. It could only weaken and suppress them, not destroy them outright.
Still, Meng Qi’s immediate peril had been averted.
…
In the boundless Pure Land, the shadow of A’nan was expounding the mysteries of the Other Shore to the Ancient Lamp Buddha.
Suddenly, it paused and turned its gaze beyond the Buddha’s realm, murmuring, “Taiyi…”
At that very moment, the Devil Buddha’s mark within the Absolute Blade was completely erased.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage