“Do not get entangled; pass quickly to avoid unexpected changes.” The thoughts of the five great demon deities flashed like lightning, colliding and sparking, reaching consensus in an instant.
Although the corpse at the foot of the cliff and the remains of Kasyapa ahead showed faint signs of consciousness, they were still far from possessing normal intelligence. Engaging them in a battle of wits would be foolish, while confronting them directly would mean pitting one’s strengths against their weaknesses—a strategy that might not ensure victory and would only squander precious time. With Mount Lingshan undergoing inexplicable changes, every moment of delay increased the danger and the likelihood of mission failure.
Thus, with little contention, the five great demon deities—including Qing Qiu—made a resolute decision: rather than confronting the remains of Jiāyè or the corpse at the foot of the cliff directly, they would divert and bewilder them, swiftly advancing past and leaving the witless foes behind.
As for what Meng Qi thought, aside from Qing Qiu and Tai Li glancing at him to confirm he had no objections, Hui Guang, Luo Jia, and Fei Xiang completely ignored the presence of this Celestial helper.
Once the decision was made, Tai Li unleashed a simultaneous burst of five-colored radiance—cyan, green, yellow, white, and black—from behind, like blooming tail feathers, sweeping toward Kasyapa, who sat cross-legged, smiling faintly with his fists clasped.
Hui Guang flew up and summoned the Heaven-Spanning Yellow-and-Black Linglong Pagoda from above her head, aiming to temporarily suppress the blood-yellow river filled with corpses. Luo Jia and Fei Xiang followed closely behind to prevent any unexpected changes, while Qing Qiu and Meng Qi remained at the rear.
Once Tai Li and Hui Guang succeeded, they would quickly pass the cliff, shake off their enemies, and reach the summit!
The five-colored divine light could sweep away anything, and Kasyapa’s remains were no exception, instantly being swept away. However, when Tai Li tried to retract the five-colored radiance, it felt as though she were nailed in place, unable to pull back Kasyapa’s golden Arhat body.
Its weight was not merely physical but psychological!
Tai Li’s expression changed, and with a shake of her body, she transformed into her true form—the Five-Element Peacock, massive and mighty, radiating a vast and powerful aura, straining to pull back the five-colored light.
The divine light was like a fishing net capable of capturing all fish, but when it ensnared a great shark, the net’s owner might not have the strength to reel in the catch!
At that moment, Jiā Yè, enveloped in the five-colored light, let out a soft sigh. He raised his right hand, forming a flower-picking gesture with his middle finger and thumb, and gently flicked outward.
Flowers bloom brilliantly but eventually wither. Though emotions may be stronger than gold, they cannot withstand time. Though stars in the night sky shine brilliantly, they too will eventually collapse and “extinguish,” unable to last forever. All things and all laws inevitably change and decay—this is impermanence.
Impermanence cannot last; all things are empty!
Purity and tranquility radiated outward as Kasyapa’s dark-gold finger effortlessly pierced through the five-colored light, as if it were nothing at all, calmly pointing toward Tai Li’s forehead.
At this sight, Hui Guang’s expression shifted slightly. She forcefully redirected the Heaven-Spanning Yellow-and-Black Exquisite Pagoda, sending it flying sideways to block Kasyapa’s right hand.
Buddhist radiance bloomed as Kasyapa’s dark-gold finger touched the pagoda, passing through it effortlessly as if it were nothing, remaining completely unaffected.
Thus have I heard: all conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, or shadows!
Crash!
The blood-yellow river surged violently, its raging waves crashing toward Hui Guang and the demonic deities Fei Xiang and Luo Jia behind her. Meanwhile, Tai Li had exhausted all her transformations, her divine radiance flickering weakly. Yet, she remained unable to evade the dark-golden finger of Kasyapa, inching inexorably toward her forehead. A single strike would spell certain doom.
Compared to Meng Qi’s previous encounter, Kasyapa’s displayed power had undergone a complete transformation—Mount Lingshan had truly undergone some change!
Hui Guang took a deep breath, and phoenix wings sprouted from her back, propelling her forward a short distance to dodge the surge of the blood-yellow river. Then, with her hands forming esoteric mudras and her eyes blazing with purple light, she condensed a purple Ruyi scepter brimming with blessings, suspending it above Tai Li’s head.
The dark-gold finger glimmered faintly, nearly touching Tai Li’s forehead, yet for some unknown reason, it always fell just short. She kept narrowly evading disaster.
Soaring in midair, shielded by fortune, Tai Li finally held on until Jiaye’s momentum began to fade.
Roars from the bottom of the cliff echoed from deep within the heart, awakening every living being’s hidden fear and longing for death. Their true souls trembled, their movements slowing, while the blood-yellow river surged toward the Peng bird deity Fei Xiang and the Qilin deity Luo Jia.
The river was filled with the essence of death, and any contact would cause one’s true soul to sink, eternally turning into a water ghost with no hope of escape. It appeared to be the manifestation of the Great Dao of Death in the universe, capable of extinguishing all forms of life.
Fei Xiang exerted all his powers to resist, but they vanished like mud into the sea, with no response. Even the swirling water-wind primordial array surrounding him disintegrated inch by inch, sinking into death!
As he was about to be swallowed by the Yellow Spring, at the critical moment, Luo Jia shot forth a beam of evil-repelling light from her eyes, striking the blood-yellow river, partially dispersing it and delaying the assault for an instant. Fei Xiang seized this opportunity, letting out a clear cry as he transformed into a flying bird, soaring upward ninety thousand miles to smash through the gap in empty space, escaping the Yellow Spring’s engulfment.
The river surged with waves, and the corpses all stretched out their hands, trying to pull the Qilin deity Luo Jia into the water. Luo Jia’s beam of evil-repelling light struggled to hold firm, flickering precariously. If not for her abundant fortune and the heavens’ protection, she would have already been washed away by the Yellow Spring, losing her life.
Crash!
The blood-yellow river grew more turbulent. Luo Jia could no longer remain calm. She extended her divine sense and transmitted her voice to Qing Qiu:
“Quickly use the Demon Emperor Spear to burn away the yin filth!”
Damn that Fei Xiang, fearing the manifested Yellow Spring river, hesitated midair, unwilling to descend. His so-called assistance was nothing but a drop in the bucket!
No sooner had Luo Jia spoken than she suddenly felt her vision darken. A violent wind swept through, different from the Samadhi Wind. The surrounding world seemed to have been replaced.
In the darkness, she saw the blood-yellow river strangely change course, surging sideways into a wide sleeve. The owner of the sleeve wore a Daoist crown and a green robe, his temples graying, his appearance refined and otherworldly—clearly the human helper Qing Qiu had invited.
“The universe in the sleeve!” she blurted out.
Sleeve Dimension? Fei Xiang, hovering midair, also looked over in astonishment.
Could this Celestial actually possess such a great divine art!
The sanguine river, bridging the heavens and the earth as the very incarnation of death, cascaded like a waterfall into Meng Qi’s sleeve. Then, with his robes billowing and auspicious clouds swirling beneath his feet, he advanced with the majesty of a Daoist Heavenly Venerable. With a mere flick of his sleeve, he hurled the uncontrollable Yellow Springs toward the remains of Kasyapa, compelling it to react by sheer instinct.
“Go!” After Meng Qi “caught” the Yellow Spring, he felt confident. Glancing around, he loudly called out.
There was no better time to leave than now!
The demon deities Hui Guang and Tai Li, temporarily freed from danger, exchanged glances, their eyes flickering. Without further words, they followed Meng Qi, preparing to cross the cliff and the remains of Kasyapa.
The deep, bottomless roars continued unabated but never emerged.
…
Meng Qi’s “True Buddha Tathagata” avatar followed the vast river that stripped away mortal flesh, observing the surroundings in search of the mortal shell once shed by Tang Seng. The scenery on both banks remained unchanged; without the flowing water, one might think they had never moved.
After journeying for some time, Meng Qi glanced at the river’s surface and suddenly let out a surprised murmur. The undulating water reflected scenes connected to him—moments such as sitting cross-legged in the Jade Void Palace atop Kunlun Mountain, trapping the Spirit King within a sword formation, traveling back to ancient times to outwit the Overlord, and clashing with the Supreme Heaven Demon, among others. His life since attaining the Dharmakaya state unfolded in reverse chronological order. Everything was present, except for a few experiences like those in the Jade Void Palace and the Demon Emperor Hall, which remained blurred and indistinct.
“What does this mean? A review of the past?” Meng Qi slightly furrowed his brow, continuing forward while reflecting on these experiences, hoping to uncover the underlying issue.
As he retraced his steps from the moment he left the Jade Void Palace and traveled through the world of Fengshen, the water’s surface darkened into chaos, revealing nothing more, only deepening his bewilderment.
Continuing forward, Meng Qi flew for a while before finally seeing the darkness in the river recede, revealing a new scene—himself watching the World Cup in his rented apartment on Earth.
Hmm, why had it jumped directly to his Earth experiences?
Meng Qi pondered briefly, linking what he had seen, and gradually formed a hypothesis:
“What I’m seeing is the past of this current ‘body.’ The dark period corresponds to the time truly spent within the Jade Void Palace, which cannot be shown, hence skipping over past events and jumping to the Earth scenes, tracing back according to the ‘body’ rather than the ‘true soul.'”
“In other words, after shedding the mortal flesh and flowing downstream, one enters one’s own past, regressing step by step, flowing backward until returning to the moment of conception in one’s mother’s womb?”
“Would that mean a complete return to the origin, vanishing entirely?”
With this hypothesis in mind, Meng Qi quickened his pace, following the river downstream. Sure enough, along the way, the scenes regressed from his working days to university, from university to high school, middle school, and elementary school, then from childhood memories back to the babbling stage, and finally to the scene of his mother being pregnant.
Her belly gradually shrank, and the “body” seemed to leave no trace.
Ahead, the scenery faded as the river vanished into the darkness. The void ahead was fractured with cracks, and the towering mountains loomed steep—it was the rear peak of Mount Lingshan!
Meng Qi halted at this place, gazing thoughtfully at the rushing river:
“It appears that the mortal shell of Su Ziyuan, which I shed upon entering Lingshan, drifted downstream, gradually regressing step by step—reverting to the state of Su Jia’s illegitimate son, then to infancy, and finally back to the womb, dissolving into mere flesh and blood, leaving not a trace behind.”
“Truly a river filled with Buddhist truths…”
“What would be seen further ahead?”
“What would Tang Seng’s mortal shell ultimately transform into?”
The white-robed monk, spotless and pure, pondered for a moment before stepping forward and entering the rear peak of Mount Ling.
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