Recalling the distant past of Ling Mountain, when A-nan betrayed and reversed the grand formation, causing all Buddhas to fall together, terror immediately overwhelmed the Great Sages of the demon race. Even Kong Xuan, the Peacock Great Bright King, was severely wounded in an instant. At that moment, the demon sages were not only affected by the reversal of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Formation but also had to contend with either Amitabha Buddha or the Ancient Bodhi Buddha, who had “coincidentally arrived.” Struggling to protect themselves, let alone the other demons, the situation became perilous in an instant.
At this critical juncture, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, known for his fearless nature, was already heavily injured by the “Ten Thousand Buddhas Falling Together.” Yet, relying on the indomitable physique granted by the **Seventy-Two Transformations**, he mustered his remaining strength to swing the Golden-Hooped Rod, aiming to shatter Ling Mountain and create a Pure Land anew, offering a chance of survival for the other demon sages. Simultaneously, he caught sight of his mentor, the Ancient Bodhi Buddha, and heard words akin to: “A body born with immense strength often comes with limitations. Why not seize this opportunity to shed the mortal coil and seek the path to the Other Shore in the next life?” He also felt the pull of the vast power emanating from the “Golden Body of the Holy Buddha.”
However, making this choice meant abandoning the demon sages and fully aligning with the Buddhist path. Thus, he first whispered, “Master,” then roared defiantly, refusing the next life and swinging his rod with all his might, shattering Ling Mountain and nearly perishing. Fortunately, the Moral Heavenly Venerable intervened, rescuing him and refining him for ages until he regained his peak condition, lively and unscathed.
This scene flashed through Meng Qi’s mind. Though he had not personally “set foot” in the Battle of Ling Mountain and remained unaware of how many ancient beings had clashed then, today, armed with numerous details, he could deduce the Great Sage Equaling Heaven’s ordeal clearly.
Gazing at the Golden Body of the Holy Buddha, its aura concealed by the towering Bodhi Tree, Meng Qi gained fresh insight into the sudden eruption of the Other Shore conflict today:
The Ancient Bodhi Buddha had perfected his Three Corpses, restoring his peak state, and thus regained eligibility to vie for the Dao Fruit of the Final Calamity. The Moral Heavenly Venerable, seemingly uninvolved and unprepared beforehand, would nonetheless acquire part of the Four Swords of Slaying Immortals or their formation diagram. Moreover, by assimilating the Golden Body of the Holy Buddha, perfecting the **Seventy-Two Transformations**, and manifesting the “Dao Lord of Purity and Origin,” he advanced further in shedding karmic burdens, emerging as the greatest victor.
Amitabha Buddha would also obtain part of the Four Swords or their diagram, and by decisively intervening, he resolved the karmic debt of having once allowed the Ancient Bodhi Buddha’s Three Corpses to remain incomplete. The Celestial Emperor achieved partial liberation and accumulated karma for future schemes. The Green Emperor stood to gain one of the Four Swords. Meng Qi himself would acquire the Golden Body of the Holy Buddha, fully perfecting the **Seventy-Two Transformations**, and despite bearing heavy karma and vows, he could advance further. The Devil Buddha, refining the Nine Nethers, would ascend to the level of an ancient being, remaining no weaker than the current Ancient Bodhi Buddha even with Meng Qi’s interference. The Demon Emperor neither gained nor lost.
Excluding the abnormal Other Shore beings—the Supreme True Buddha and the Heavenly Dao Monster—seven of the nine benefited, one remained unharmed, and only the Golden Mother suffered significant losses. Yet, the Four Swords and their diagram were destined to be relinquished, and in exchange for unspecified benefits or future karma from the Devil Buddha, she balanced the scales, even turning passivity into initiative.
In this Other Shore conflict, there were no losers!
As countless future tributaries reflected clearly in his mind, Meng Qi could only smile faintly. Had Amitabha Buddha and the Moral Heavenly Venerable seen through the changes and thus descended without hesitation to break the formation, or had they long shared an unspoken understanding with the Ancient Bodhi Buddha?
**Boom!**
Within the Nine Nethers, streaks of black lightning tore through each layer, fracturing the void and coalescing demonic energy. The towering, unyielding mountains and vast, rigid lands twisted like soft towels, writhing violently as if digesting—or being digested.
**Boom!**
Black and red engulfed the layers of the Nine Nethers, dissolving the Origin of Life and Death, the Black Prison of Luo Feng, the Demonic Pool of the Nether Sea, and other near-Dao remnants or ruins!
**Boom!**
Eyes materialized across the Nine Nethers—sinister, cold, mad, cruel—each spinning reverse swastikas, gazing down upon all living beings within.
**Boom!**
The illusory River of Time manifested, flowing through the Nine Nethers and countless past epochs, gradually staining red and black.
The hues spread swiftly, surging upstream to assimilate recent ages, dominate the Middle Ages, and blanket antiquity, reaching back to the dawn of the epoch—when the clear rose, the turbid sank, and the Nine Nethers were born.
After the Nine Nethers’ birth, turbid qi settled, yin energies condensed, intertwining with the Great Dao to form near-Dao realms, nurturing the first generation of demons, ghosts, and spirits born of the Dao’s resonance.
Deep within the Black Prison, frigid, decaying emerald ice housed a growing specter, breathing in turbid qi and exhaling time—the first ghost of this epoch, the Xuanming Ghost Emperor!
Having traced back to this point, it was already a pseudo-Other Shore before birth. At this juncture, it clashed fiercely with the Black Heavenly Emperor across history, their battle visible even in the Nine Nethers’ earliest moments as waves of apocalyptic decay and ghostly dances of deathly stillness.
Just then, the red-black taint across the River of Time suddenly swirled violently, disrupting the Nine Nethers’ timeline as a finger brimming with corruption and madness emerged, pointing at the Xuanming Ghost Emperor within the emerald ice.
A reverse swastika formed at the fingertip, conjuring countless demonic shadows collectively executing the third stance of the **Tathagata’s Inverse Palm**:
“**Rejecting Saints and Discarding Wisdom!**”
At this moment, across different points in history, the Xuanming Ghost Emperor sensed its peril. Desperate, it attacked wildly, trying to evade the Black Heavenly Emperor—but its realization came too late. The palm strike of “Rejecting Saints and Discarding Wisdom” landed, dissolving barriers and clouding thoughts as the finger tapped its brow.
Emerald light converged at the fingertip, transforming into an ancient, warm Bodhi seed that burrowed into the Ghost Emperor’s body. Rapidly sprouting, it absorbed its innate spiritual light, birthing a new wisdom.
“No—!” The Ghost Emperor’s current incarnation screamed in anguish before abruptly falling silent. From birth, it had become “another,” refined over eons until “today.”
When it lowered its head, its eyes had lost their former hue, now radiating the same lofty majesty as the Yama Emperor of Fengdu.
Both were Ghost Emperors, rulers of different Netherworlds!
“Congratulations on your ‘return,’ fellow Daoist,” the Black Heavenly Emperor smiled.
The Xuanming Ghost Emperor nodded slightly. “Greetings, fellow Daoist.”
**Boom!**
The Nine Nethers grew translucent, its depths revealing a mouth of unimaginable horror—its teeth reverse swastikas—chewing and devouring the realm, drawing it inexorably inward.
Meanwhile, the three “pseudo-Other Shore” entities split earlier by the Devil Buddha converged, reforming into masses of flesh that plunged into the maw.
Witnessing this, not only did the Great Sage Equaling Heaven and the Seven Killings Taoist immediately flee the Nine Nethers, but even the Demon Monarch and Black Heavenly Emperor, who had sided with A-nan, departed without hesitation, followed closely by Yang Jian, the Nine Chaos Heavenly Venerate, and other fiends.
To remain was to be refined by the Devil Buddha!
**Crack!** With a sound of shattering illusion, the Nine Nethers was fully consumed by the grotesque maw, plunging the world into darkness as if heralding calamity.
Within the Slaying Immortals Formation, the “Supreme Purity Taoist,” “Highest Purity Taoist,” Amitabha’s Perfect Reward Body, and Amitabha’s Manifestation Body each anchored a sword formation, allowing the Moral Heavenly Venerable, “Jade Purity Taoist,” Amitabha’s Dharma Body, and the Green Emperor to breach the core. There, they faced the Old Mother of No Birth, wielding the Plain Cloud Banner with the Heaven-Slaying Axe floating before her. The flawless moon-like halo behind her cast veiling radiance over her features.
As the four Other Shore beings arrived, she calmly bowed and retreated from the formation’s core to the Vacuum Hometown, showing no hesitation or pretense.
Silently, the Slaying Immortals Formation collapsed, the four swords transforming into streaks of red, azure, black, and white light dancing through the air.
Amitabha pressed his palms together, softly chanting words of compassion as the crimson and ebony swords gradually dimmed, transforming back into ancient blades resting in his hands. The Moral Heavenly Venerable flung out a radiant golden ring, capturing the azure Immortal-Slaying Sword, while his sleeve swept up the formation diagram overflowing with annihilative intent.
The white light attempted to flee but was ensnared by purple qi, seized by the Green Emperor. Its blade-severed futures and connections to past epochs manifested as Dao patterns shaping varied yet identical seal scripts:
“**Slaying Immortal!**”
…
**Boom!**
With the Nine Nethers gone, the reverse swastika maw became a vortex of alternating red and black, merging into one before elongating into the leisurely smiling Devil Buddha A-nan.
His aura was inscrutably ancient, as if the primordial evil predating heaven and earth. His form spanned countless epochs, merging tributaries of the River of Time.
Gazing at Meng Qi within the Jade Void Palace, he smiled and exhaled a black waterfall, birthing a new Nine Nethers—part of the Devil Buddha—where demons and ghosts reformed, including the Asura Progenitor and other Legendary and Creation-level beings!
Just then, a sapphire-gold Buddha flew into the palace—indestructible, timeless, and peerlessly mighty.
“Holy Buddha…” The Devil Buddha’s gaze darkened, turning icy.
The Supreme True Buddha, having just shaken off the True Ding Tathagata and the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, burned with greed and hatred.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage