Outside the Tushita Palace, spiritual springs cascaded into waterfalls, exotic flowers and rare herbs flourished, celestial birds soared leisurely, and divine beasts roamed unhurriedly, painting a scene of serene tranquility.
Golden Horn and Silver Horn, the two attendants, had long been waiting outside the palace gates. Upon seeing Meng Qi’s figure materialize, they bowed respectfully and said, “Greetings, Sect Master Uncle. Our Great Master has instructed us to relay a message to you: ‘When the time comes, unity shall naturally follow.'”
At this moment, for the two attendants, it was still before the War of the Gods. The visitor was naturally the Jade Purity Purple Void Exalted Supreme Primordial Sovereign Dao Lord—the original Primordial Heavenly Venerable, the foremost of the Three Pure Ones and the first among the Nine Venerables!
“When the time comes, unity shall naturally follow”? What kind of time would that be? The fleeting moment before the end of the epoch? Meng Qi’s expression remained unreadable as he nodded slightly. Since the Heavenly Venerable of Virtue had spoken to this extent, further inquiry would be futile.
Yet he did not turn to leave and return to the present node. Instead, he stood smiling before Golden Horn and Silver Horn, as if waiting for something.
At that moment, Golden Horn retrieved two objects from his robes and respectfully presented them:
“The Great Master has instructed us to deliver these treasures to Sect Master Uncle.”
One was the Sword of Slaying Immortals, its blade shimmering with an ethereal azure glow, and the other was the formation diagram, interwoven with hues of red, azure, black, and white, exuding an aura of finality.
As expected… Meng Qi showed no surprise as he reached out to receive them.
He then noticed that all traces of previous owners within the Sword of Slaying Immortals and the formation diagram had been completely erased, leaving no remnants.
Running his fingers along the cold, razor-sharp blade, his figure suddenly blurred and vanished like a fleeting dream before Golden Horn and Silver Horn, returning to the present node—the Jade Void Palace. There, he sat cross-legged on a cloud bed, his consciousness wandering to the abodes of the Great Divine Powers: Guangchengzi, Chijingzi, Yuding Zhenren, and Daoist Xingxian.
These four mighty figures awoke from their meditation, opened their eyes, and exhaled clouds of mist that transformed into streams of multicolored light, each carrying indistinct Dao patterns. These streams coalesced into sword beams, all converging toward the Jade Void Palace.
These were the insights they had gleaned from wielding the Four Swords of Slaughter, Extinction, Perdition, and Ruin over hundreds of thousands of years—the corresponding sword scriptures they had mastered from the blades!
Meng Qi’s eyes were half-lidded as the formation diagram of the Sword of Slaughter hovered before him, its red, azure, black, and white energies clashing and intertwining, occasionally erupting into sword beams of emerald, pure white, pitch-black, or crimson, weaving an illusory Sword Formation of Slaughter.
As the four sword beams arrived from distant stars like Mount Jiuhua, Meng Qi extended his right hand, enveloped in an abyssal darkness that seemed to contain all realms. He grasped them and pressed them to his brow.
A radiant glow erupted as the sword scriptures were fully assimilated by Meng Qi. Even the illusory Sword Formation of Slaughter was drawn into his being with a single inhalation, swallowed into his “belly.”
A surge of pure qi erupted from his crown, splitting into three. One was the serene and smiling True Calm Tathagata, another was the carefree and leisurely Qingyuan Dao Lord, and the last was the increasingly cold and sharp Su Meng Heavenly Venerable, whose aura now carried traces of finality.
Su Meng Heavenly Venerable had originally been an incarnation forged by Meng Qi after mastering the “Three Pure Ones in One” technique, embodying his accumulated swordcraft—a “Severing Heaven Dao Body” that fused the essence of the Four Swords of Slaughter. Now, to perfect the sword scriptures and the mysteries of the formation diagram, he gradually adjusted this incarnation to align more with the Lingbao Dao lineage.
Yet, even if perfected through cultivation, this incarnation would remain at the pinnacle of Creation, unable to bridge the chasm to become a Weak Other Shore and aid Meng Qi’s true self in attaining the embryonic Dao Fruit while burdened by constraints.
“Could it be that I must refine the Four Swords of Slaughter and the formation diagram into ‘Su Meng Heavenly Venerable’?” Meng Qi pondered possible methods. However, three of the Four Swords were held by the Green Emperor and Amitabha Buddha. The former might be negotiable, as he had only recently regained his former strength and would likely reach the level of an Ancient One at most in this epoch. The latter, however, was a matter of Dao contention—surrendering the sword would sever any hope of transcendence in this epoch, making it nearly impossible.
Were there other methods? For instance, assimilating the Heavenly Dao Monsters to directly perfect the Severing Heaven Dao Body and elevate it to Weak Other Shore. This would bring the “Subtraction for Emptiness” of the Heavenly Venerable of Virtue and the Primordial Heavenly Venerable to their zenith, though the Lingbao Heavenly Venerable’s aspect would feel lacking. Of course, for Meng Qi himself, it made no difference—both paths would lead to the embryonic Dao Fruit and the status of an Ancient One. Whether the incarnation was a Severing Heaven Dao Body or a Lingbao True Form was ultimately inconsequential.
Would the Three Pure Ones have other preparations? Perhaps based on the opportunity presented by the epoch’s end?
As he cultivated, Meng Qi contemplated possibilities, extrapolating futures beyond the myriad branching streams of the present.
Whether the Primordial, Virtue, and Lingbao Heavenly Venerables transcended or not was not his concern. What mattered was whether he could leverage the situation to benefit himself and Little Sang—or even seize the chance to eradicate the Devil Buddha and the Golden Emperor!
Shrouded in darkness, he seemed to dwell in the depths of chaos, his expression detached and unreadable.
…
Time flowed like water, and decades passed in the blink of an eye. Despite Yang Jian wielding the Central Earth Yellow Banner to guard the Western Regions and the Seven Slaughter Daoist brandishing the Nethersea Sword to isolate the far southern seas, natural disasters within the real world escalated visibly. The polar ice melted, sea levels rose, and once-thriving islands and coastal regions vanished beneath the azure waves. Deathly energy seeped into the myriad realms, heralding one final apocalypse after another.
The Devil Buddha Ananda sat at the depths of the Netherworld, his gaze amused as if locked with another’s.
Suddenly, he patted his knee and remarked leisurely, “The time has come.”
Boom!
The Netherworld erupted in turmoil. The Western Desert and the far southern seas resembled colossal volcanoes, spewing black flames and murky mist, painting a scene of utter devastation.
“The time has come…” Within the Jade Void Palace, Meng Qi slowly opened his eyes, their depths as serene and unfathomable as the primordial void.
With a casual grasp of his right hand, the Earth Treasury Pure Land where Xuan Bei resided abruptly contracted, merging into the indestructible Ark of Doom. Golden flames surged, igniting the glazed surface as radiant beams shot skyward, drawing in the apocalyptic energies of the real world.
Time accelerated—a breath felt like a millennium—and in an instant, all was calm. The Ark of Doom had grown unimaginably vast, its bow and stern spanning countless kalpas. Its surface shimmered with pale golden glaze, adorned with pristine lotuses, embodying both a final resting place and a means of transcendence.
Xuan Bei sat cross-legged on a golden lotus throne upon the deck, surrounded by bewildered souls. The ship’s interior held countless chambers, enough to house all living beings of every kind.
“Homage to the Earth Treasury Bodhisattva…” Xuan Bei murmured softly.
He knew this “Ark of Salvation” was not yet complete—it still awaited something more.
Boom!
Thunder rumbled in the heavens as shadows danced, lightning and meteors occasionally descending, only to be blocked by radiant light, lotuses, or the power of humanity.
Witnessing this, the surviving islands of the Eastern Sea echoed with pleas for the Human Emperor’s protection, while the former territories of Great Zhou saw devotees praying fervently for the White Lotus Holy Mother’s salvation.
Sensing the shifts in the Heavenly Dao, Gu Xiaosang within the Jade Void Palace suddenly rose and descended to the mortal realm, merging seamlessly with the White Lotus Holy Mother.
With hands forming sacred seals, her countenance was both dignified and ethereal as she smiled faintly and declared, “The opportunity has arrived!”
As the apocalypse loomed and the masses yearned for salvation, it was her chance to break free from the sea of suffering and ascend to the Other Shore.
Opportunities lost would not return—indecision now would only bring calamity!
Her years of retrospection, foresight, and seclusion had amassed sufficient preparation!
From the Western Paradise, the Bodhi Pure Land, the Vacuum Homeland, and the other Other Shore domains, the gazes of lofty beings turned toward her.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage