Crimson, azure, black, and white—sword qi crisscrossed, shredding matter, boiling energy, collapsing the void, and coiling time itself. Within its range, the heavens and earth seemed to descend into an ultimate apocalypse, where nothing could survive.
Even from a distance, Sun Wu, Tan Ping, and other Dharmakaya immortals felt an icy chill seep into their bones, fear gripping them like an unshakable cold. Worse still, through this apocalyptic vision, they glimpsed an abyss of absolute silence—a darkness devoid of time’s flow, devoid of thought’s flicker, nothing but deathly stillness that instilled primal dread.
This was the final end, the “grave” of this epoch. Only by devout faith in the Supreme Old Mother could this despairing darkness transform into the Vacuous Pure Land.
Just as their minds were about to be eroded by the leaking aura of the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, turning them into mindless husks, a clear crane’s cry suddenly rang in their ears. Before their eyes materialized a golden bridge woven from countless Daoist runes, spanning the sea of suffering toward the blissful shore, turning illusory dreams into tangible reality.
This Bridge of Salvation descended from the Tushita Palace beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens and extended from the convergence of the Nine Nethers and the real world in the far south of the Eastern Sea. Majestic and unstoppable, it landed before the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, suppressing the apocalyptic aura, the leaking slaughter and destruction, without a single ripple.
A white-haired Daoist elder, clad in ancient robes, rode a black ox across the golden bridge, his pace deceptively slow yet swift. Behind him, the heavens and earth shifted, forming a swirling yin-yang fish of black and white.
“Greetings, Grandmaster-Uncle!” Sun Wu was the first to regain his composure, bowing deeply.
The Heavenly Venerable of Virtue! Tan Ping’s heart pounded violently. Even as a reincarnation of the ancient Water Ancestor, who traversed the celestial realms with ease, he had only glimpsed the Heavenly Venerable of Virtue a handful of times. Since the dawn of this epoch, the Three Pure Ones, the Western Dual Saints, and the ancient overlords like Empress Nuwa had largely remained in seclusion, rarely manifesting. Before the fall of the Heavenly Court, only the Investiture of the Gods had offered glimpses of them.
Now, this ancient Heavenly Venerable stood before them.
And precisely because of this, Tan Ping felt the impending doom and finality even more acutely.
“Greetings, Heavenly Venerable!” The others snapped out of their stupor, following Sun Wu in reverent salutation.
Simultaneously, celestial flowers rained from the sky, golden and translucent, their light interweaving with the blue lotuses blooming on the sea and land. The chant of “Namo Amitabha” echoed from every direction, unceasing.
Within each flower sat a golden Buddha—each a manifestation of Amitabha in the hearts of devotees, coalescing into a colossal Buddha that filled the myriad realms, vast as an ocean.
At the center of this Buddha-ocean, a twelve-petaled blue lotus platform gleamed, pristine and untainted, connecting to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. From it emerged a colossal golden Buddha with forty-eight halos, his face brimming with compassion.
In his palm sat a six-foot golden body, radiating infinite light, lifespan, and divine power. Above it swirled white waves and three profound relic beads. Though seemingly the smallest, it drew all gazes as the very root of all Dharma, the essence of Buddhist truth.
With the appearance of these two most ancient overlords, the turbulence around Three Immortals Island calmed. Yet the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation remained unyielding, its crimson, azure, black, and white sword qi undiminished. At its core, a flawless moon hung silently, awaiting its moment.
The Heavenly Venerable of Virtue approached the Gate of Slaying Immortals, sighed softly, and adjusted his Daoist crown. A surge of pure qi split into three figures—elderly, middle-aged, and youthful—each embodying the stages of beginning, prosperity, and decline, all exuding the aura of overlords.
“Brother Daoist, I shall aid you!” The three figures rode mythical beasts: one to the Gate of Slaying Immortals beside the Heavenly Venerable, one to the Gate of Ending Immortals to await Amitabha’s Dharmakaya, and one to the Gate of Trapping Immortals to join Amitabha’s Sambhogakaya.
Amitabha clasped his hands, his three bodies chanting in unison: “Compassion, compassion.”
His Dharmakaya entered the Gate of Ending Immortals, the three relic beads above him churning white waves that blurred past, present, and future, space and direction, even the countless sword lights, dispersing them like a fleeting dream. A path opened, allowing Amitabha to stride forward on lotus steps, the Shangqing Daoist following closely.
The Bridge of Salvation extended into the Gate of Slaying Immortals, suppressing all sword lights, destruction, and slaughter without resistance, letting the Heavenly Venerable ride his ox leisurely inward, the Taiqing Daoist not even needing to act.
Outside the Gate of Trapping Immortals, the Sambhogakaya descended, pointing a finger. The blue lotus beneath him shone brilliantly, each petal cradling a relic that emitted countless rays, weaving an indestructible “Pure Land.” Even as sword lights rained down, they could only shake it slightly, severing a lotus or two. The Yuqing Daoist wielded a jade scepter, scattering golden flowers, purple auspicious clouds, and holy water light, forming an impenetrable defense. Together, they advanced steadily through the Gate of Trapping Immortals, navigating the storm of annihilation, slaughter, and freezing sword qi toward the formation’s core.
Meanwhile, the colossal Buddha composed of countless Amitabha manifestations flew into the Gate of Slaughtering Immortals amidst endless chants. Each sword strike annihilated a Buddha, but they were reborn endlessly, embodying the infinite. A stalemate ensued.
Seeing Amitabha’s Nirmanakaya struggle, Meng Qi nodded slightly. The situation was better than he had anticipated.
Truly, the two most ancient overlords. Originally, he had thought another near-Dharma-Fruit overlord would be needed to break the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation—meaning he himself would have to descend and exert full effort. But now, even the not-yet-fully-recovered Green Emperor would suffice.
Across vast distances, Meng Qi in the Jade Void Palace locked eyes with the Green Emperor in the Fusang Ancient Tree Realm and nodded faintly.
Let the Green Emperor handle the formation’s destruction. With himself, the Demon Emperor, and the Ancient Buddha of Bodhi remaining, they could suppress all treachery.
Outside Three Immortals Island, a soft green light showered down, forming a path tens of thousands of miles wide. Grass and trees flourished, fish swelled, and vitality surged. Then Sun Wu, Tan Ping, and the other immortals watched as the Green Emperor, riding a mighty nine-headed lion and wielding a purple Pure Yang jade ruler, elegantly strode along the path into the Gate of Slaughtering Immortals.
Purple qi billowed, forming floating blossoms. The sword qi slashed down but could not shake him. The Green Emperor and Amitabha’s Nirmanakaya joined forces, penetrating the gate and delving deep into the formation.
Watching this, Meng Qi, seated in the dark chaos, gazed deeply, as if harboring other realms within his eyes, awaiting the next turn of events.
The Supreme Old Mother’s sudden escalation had seemed abrupt at first, but upon reflection, it was her best move. As the embodiment of the epoch’s end, wielding the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords and the formation diagram, she was the very incarnation of apocalypse, making every overlord wary. If she were to advance further on the path of “emptying through subtraction,” it would be intolerable.
Thus, before Little Sang escaped the sea of suffering, the Heavenly Venerable of Virtue, Amitabha, and other ancient rivals might temporarily set aside their grudges to unite against the Golden Emperor, storming the Vacuous Pure Land as they once did the Heavenly Court, dismantling the swords and formation. In this process, Meng Qi would not hesitate to strike while she was down—her fall would be ideal.
Foreseeing this inevitable future, using the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation as bait to tie down at least three overlords in exchange for other gains was, from a purely pragmatic standpoint, the optimal choice—even turning passivity into initiative.
For the Golden Emperor, even a Paramount-level treasure was disposable!
Thus, the real battle lay outside the formation, not within its predetermined outcome.
As Meng Qi’s thoughts swirled in the chaos, outside the Demon Emperor’s Palace, watery light surged, coalescing into a towering, majestic figure.
The Celestial Emperor stood beyond the gates, neither entering nor leaving, simply gazing “afar” at the Demon Emperor through layers of halls.
The Celestial Emperor had made his move!
The true focus was the Demon Buddha… Meng Qi understood. He reached out, summoning the Three Treasures Scepter suppressing the convergence of the Nine Nethers and the real world in the far south of the Eastern Sea. Above him, pure qi surged, forming a serene blue Buddha.
Suddenly, outside the Jade Void Palace, specks of green light drifted down, each glowing with tranquil wisdom, coalescing into a towering Bodhi tree. Beneath it sat an ancient Buddha with eighteen arms and twenty-four heads, holding treasures like garlands, vases, and divine pestles, his form immaculate. Beside him stood the Daoist Zhunti, holding the radiant Seven Treasures Tree, smiling at the profound aura within the Jade Void Palace.
The Ancient Buddha of Bodhi!
Here to block Meng Qi was the Ancient Buddha of Bodhi!
Unfazed, Meng Qi regarded them calmly. “No wonder the Golden Emperor was so bold. I had suspected the Demon Emperor, but it was the Ancient Buddha all along.”
“Given your realm and power, the only thing the Demon Buddha could tempt you with is a ‘method’ to sever another corpse in a short time.”
The truth was laid bare. Meng Qi saw the branching futures—the Demon Buddha’s schemes, his alliances with the Celestial Emperor, the Golden Emperor, and the Ancient Buddha of Bodhi, all to eliminate interference and refine the Nine Nethers, becoming the incarnation of apocalypse, the demon of annihilation!
The Ancient Buddha of Bodhi, bathed in serene light, sighed with a hint of amusement. “My severed corpses were damaged because of you, yet now you offer hope for their restoration. Cause and effect—as the Origin of All Effects, you understand this well.”
For one of his realm, severing another corpse was no great challenge. The difficulty lay in the impending apocalypse, the lack of time. Even if he succeeded, the new corpse would lack the growth to contend with Amitabha or the Heavenly Venerable of Virtue for the transcendent Dharma Fruit.
From within the Demon Emperor’s Palace, an ethereal voice sighed, half-questioning:
“By aiding the Demon Buddha, have you forgotten the past? Do you not fear another betrayal?”
Knowing the Demon Buddha’s atrocities against the demonic race, the Celestial Emperor’s attitude was unsurprising. His blurred visage in the rippling light smiled faintly:
“Once he refines the Nine Nethers, the Demon Buddha will temporarily replace the Golden Emperor as the symbol of annihilation, reaching the level of an ancient overlord, bolstered by the tide of destiny. Thus, he will become the prime target, drawing the full attention of the Heavenly Venerable and Buddha, freeing me—the Celestial Emperor of this epoch—to some extent.”
The end of an epoch had always been tied to the fall of the Nine Heavens and the Celestial Emperor’s demise. With the Demon Buddha refining the Nine Nethers, variables arose—just as the Heavenly Emperor of yore had planted the Fusang Tree, attempting to substitute himself.
This, both the Celestial Emperor and the Demon Buddha knew, each pursuing their own ends.
—
Within the Nine Nethers, as the Ancient Buddha of Bodhi blocked the Jade Void Palace’s gates, the Demon Buddha atop a black peak manifested his Inverse Buddha-Demon form—nine heads, twenty-six faces, each hand wielding macabre implements like a human-skin drum or bone rosary. Every face embodied the darkest emotions of all beings, radiating destruction, madness, corruption, and terror.
Dozens of crimson eyes, marked with inverted swastikas, fixed on the Nine Nethers’ depths.
The Demon Lord sprang to his feet, summoning a small seal that enveloped Yang Jian in layers of darkness, dividing into six realms mirroring the Nine Nethers, mortal dust, and celestial bliss—a profound, inescapable cycle capable of tainting even overlords with worldly impurities.
The Wheel of Samsara Seal!
To ensure the refinement’s success, the Demon Buddha had lent this treasure to the Demon Lord!
Yang Jian remained serene, holding a small apricot-yellow banner. Golden lotuses bloomed, their light piercing the underworld, shielding him from the cycle’s power.
Meanwhile, crimson whirlpools emerged throughout the Nine Nethers, forming countless mad eyes and hands that ensnared the Nine Chaos Heavenly Venerate, wielder of the Demon Emperor’s Claw.
Two entities of pure chaos clashed like beasts, tearing at each other, shattering space and freezing time.
The Black Heavenly Emperor reached from the void, battling the Dark Ghost Emperor across the Luo Feng and Black Prison layers, obliterating realm after realm of the underworld, rotting ghosts and zombies.
In an instant, only the Seven Killings Daoist, wielding the Nethersea Sword, and the terrifying Demon Buddha remained in the Nine Nethers.
Locking eyes with the countless gazes upon him, the Seven Killings Daoist was overwhelmed by primal fear—memories of past defeats, the scars of long enslavement.
This enemy was invincible, unstoppable!
The thought echoed unshakably in his heart.
“What, still thinking of resistance?” The Demon Buddha smiled sinisterly.
Just then, a golden light shattered spacetime, crashing into the Nine Nethers as a dark-furred, time-devouring, causality-twisting figure—the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong!
Without his staff, his right hand expanded to colossal proportions, smashing toward the Demon Buddha as he roared: “Pay for my master’s life!”
Inspired by this indomitable will, the Seven Killings Daoist severed his fear, transforming into a lightless sword streak that crossed layers of the Nine Nethers to slash at the Demon Buddha’s massive form.
“You think the Nine Nethers’ boost lets you challenge me? Foolish. This is my domain!” The Demon Buddha’s eyes gleamed coldly as his body convulsed, splitting into three masses of flesh.
These grew instantly into the forms of the Thunder God, Ananda, and the Demon Buddha himself. Though normally only at the Perfected Creation realm, the Nine Nethers’ empowerment elevated them to pseudo-overlord status, engaging Sun Wukong and the Seven Killings Daoist in a three-against-two deadlock.
The Nine Nethers’ boost for overlords is limited? No matter! I can split into countless demons, easily creating three temporary Perfected Creation avatars—they’ll receive the essence upgrade!
Such was the terror of the Demon Buddha within the Nine Nethers!
Yet now, his aura had dropped to the weaker end of the overlord spectrum. Any further decline risked backlash.
Seeing all opponents stalled and the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation on the verge of collapse—though it could hold for a few more breaths—the Demon Buddha laughed exultantly, turning to Meng Qi in the Jade Void Palace:
“You shall aid me in becoming the most ancient overlord!”
With that, he stepped into the Nethersea’s depths, entering the Nine Nethers’ core. Crimson-black light surged like water, dotted with inverted swastikas.
Boom!
The Nine Nethers quaked. Black suns fell. On the Scarlet Mountain, Qi Zhengyan stood, his gaze grave as he watched the abyss below.
Boom!
The Demon Buddha’s laughter reverberated through every corner of the Nine Nethers, staining the world crimson-black, as if it had become some monstrous viscera, writhing madly to digest all within.
Qi Zhengyan sighed, summoning a torrent that swept up his modified demonic followers, vanishing them to an unknown refuge.
Boom!
Thunder roared, black lightning filling the Nine Nethers like an ocean.
—
A flawless white light illuminated the sky as the Supreme True Buddha gazed hungrily at the unprotected Buddhas and Bodhisattvas—like Compassionate Avalokiteshvara and Moonlight Bodhisattva.
Watching this, Meng Qi sighed deeply:
“My True Suchness Tathagata shall not interfere in the Nine Nethers, only blocking the Supreme True Buddha.”
“The Supreme True Buddha counters Zen golden bodies. True Suchness alone may not suffice. I shall assist.” The Daoist Zhunti smiled, raising the Seven Treasures Tree to strike at the Supreme True Buddha, allowing True Suchness to join the fray.
Facing the ancient Buddha beneath the Bodhi tree, Meng Qi spoke without anger: “Do you not fear the Demon Buddha’s unchecked power after refining the Nine Nethers, hastening the epoch’s end?”
The Ancient Buddha of Bodhi chuckled. “Of course I fear it. And given his treacherous nature, even cooperation is unreliable. But I’ve prepared a countermeasure—a brilliant method.”
“What method?” Meng Qi’s eyes gleamed with realization.
“The stronger you become, the weaker he grows. Once he refines the Nine Nethers, I’ll aid your further ascension.”
As he spoke, a new Buddha appeared beneath the Bodhi tree—a golden body of azure and gold, flawless and eternal, with three heads and six arms, radiating immense power!
“This is…” Even as an overlord, Meng Qi was stunned.
This was the Holy Buddha’s golden body!
The physical form of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable’s Buddhist incarnation!
The Ancient Buddha of Bodhi sighed. “During the Ling Mountain incident, I offered this to persuade Wukong to reincarnate and truly stand with Buddhism. Alas, he refused…”
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