Indeed, there are coincidences and happenstance in the world, but most are merely fabricated illusions. When it involved figures from the other shore, Meng Qi grew increasingly doubtful the more he pondered.
Originally, upon confirming that Xu Yuan was a descendant of the Wuzhuang Monastery, Meng Qi had planned to wait here for Xu Yuan’s arrival, to hand over the mysterious item given by Luya, and to discreetly discover their method for blocking the “All-Fruit’s Cause.” However, with the incident of the Jade Pond’s golden boy and jade girl, everything became shrouded in mystery once again, necessitating further maneuvering.
Thinking thus, Meng Qi pressed his palms together, his body bathed in golden Buddhist light radiating from behind his head, exuding a majestic solemnity as he spoke: “The Third Princess and Lay Devotee Xu Yuan are destined for each other across three lifetimes, truly enviable to others.”
Ao Zhen’s complexion had changed from pale to rosy, blushing with joy and radiance, her heart brimming with happiness: “Many thanks for the Master’s divine power.”
Beside her, Ao Qing watched enviously and hurriedly asked: “Master, could you also allow me to glimpse my past lives?”
Did she too have a love entwined across multiple lifetimes?
The two dragon maidens had already cast aside their earlier fear, dread, and despair, feeling that Master Fahai indeed lived up to being a Bodhisattva of the Buddhist sect.
“Amitabha, unless the Third Princess possesses some divine anomaly, glimpsing past and present lifetimes is no easy feat. Though I possess such ability, experiencing each life again, rekindling the seven emotions and six desires, can easily lead to obsession, causing one to forget the present and go mad. Princess Jiuyou, your cultivation is too low; you might not withstand it,” Meng Qi shook his head, his expression compassionate and merciful.
“Oh…” Ao Qing’s expression dimmed, filled with disappointment.
Smiling gently, Meng Qi continued: “I am quite curious about this person who bears great fortune and is destined to face calamities. I wish to test Lay Devotee Xu Yuan. I hope you two can cooperate a little.”
“How will you test him?” Ao Zhen’s heart tightened, snapping back to alertness.
“Just witness Xu Yuan’s skills. If he can impress me, perhaps I will lend him a hand, helping him ascend to greater heights,” Meng Qi said with a smile, devoid of any malice.
It sounded harmless… Ao Zhen and Ao Qing instinctively thought, though still anxious about Master Fahai’s intentions, they could only watch helplessly due to the vast difference in power.
Perhaps it truly was an opportunity for her husband (brother-in-law)?
“Master, being compassionate, surely won’t make things too hard for my husband,” Ao Zhen tried to bind Meng Qi with words.
Meng Qi said nothing more. He extended his right hand, transforming it into a golden Buddhist palm that grew larger, radiating infinite pure light, lifting Ao Zhen and Ao Qing onto his palm. Then, with a single step, he leapt beyond the clouds of this star into the vast, dark expanse of space.
Curses and cold surged forth as Meng Qi manifested his incomplete golden Buddha body, lotus blossoms beneath his feet, each step glowing. Under the illumination of his halo and accompanied by Buddhist chants, he traversed the starry river, crossing the void to reach the outer edge of this solar system, taking much time to arrive at a cold, lifeless planet.
It resembled the previous star with human kingdoms in size, but showed no signs of life. Its high atmosphere was thin, curses unimpeded, its surface a landscape of undulating gray stone peaks and sandy craters, buried in frost, bearing traces of past water flows.
In the endless darkness, Meng Qi descended upon the highest peak, placing Ao Zhen and Ao Qing down before sitting cross-legged like a bronze Buddha in a temple. Around him, a phantom pure land emerged, golden lotuses blooming, celestial flowers falling, resisting the cold and curses, aiding the two young dragons’ survival.
The dragon maidens dared not venture out, shrinking into the pure land, anxiously awaiting Xu Yuan’s arrival.
Unseen by them, Meng Qi’s “Tathagata Manifestation,” “Indestructible Dao Body,” and his true self alternated, taking turns manifesting as golden Buddhas to sustain the Pure Land, as the avatars created through the Three Pure Ones’ technique could not last long.
…
Above the star teeming with human kingdoms, the heavens suddenly split, revealing two figures soaring out. One wore deep-blue armor, with a dragon’s head and single horn, exuding a mighty aura, immediately increasing the planet’s humidity upon his appearance. The other had tied hair and a crown, sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, handsome yet utterly devoid of effeminacy, his wide sleeves fluttering with the wind, exuding an aura of immortality.
“This is indeed a fine place,” the horned dragon deity surveyed the planet, nodding slightly.
The handsome immortal’s eyes gleamed as he gazed below, about to speak when his expression suddenly changed: “No good! My wife is missing!”
Wasn’t she supposed to be touring the planet with Xiao Qing?
This handsome immortal was indeed Xu Yuan, descendant of the Wuzhuang Monastery. His right hand moved in a five-fingered seal, divining Ao Zhen’s and Ao Qing’s whereabouts.
“Could the old Dragon King have come?” The horned dragon deity showed a hint of surprise. Without traversing that special place, even he would require thousands or tens of thousands of years to journey across the stars to reach here. The East Sea Dragon King’s cultivation and strength were only marginally greater than his own, not yet attaining legendary status, nor holding the title of Great Sage. How could he have found this place?
He was Fu Hai Wang, descendant of the ancient Fu Hai Great Sage, having honed himself for eight hundred years to reach the peak of the Eastern Sea, rivaling powerful dragon kings and other formidable demon gods.
Xu Yuan slightly furrowed his brow: “They haven’t returned to the East Sea, but are on a dead, silent planet outside this star system, seemingly trapped by an enemy, unable to escape.”
He paused, his tone turning grim: “So this is a trap, waiting for me to come rescue them?”
Fu Hai Wang laughed aloud, raising his head: “In today’s universe, with you and I working together, who do we have to fear besides a few old monsters? I’d like to see who dares challenge us!”
“Arriving here so quickly likely indicates an enemy from a nearby star system or a passing demon god seizing the opportunity. With my elder brother’s help, the situation isn’t too dangerous,” Xu Yuan nodded.
This star system was located many years of travel away from the Four Great Continents, even at the speed of light. Without prior knowledge or a spacetime passage, even if the Sun Crow were to reappear and employ supreme escape techniques, it would be impossible to journey from the East Sea to here in such a short time. Xu Yuan was confident, thus suspecting another enemy—not the East Sea Dragon King or those coveting the Ginseng Fruit Tree.
Moreover, an opportunistic enemy likely hadn’t anticipated Fu Hai Wang’s presence or fully grasped all of Xu Yuan’s abilities!
With this thought, he relaxed slightly.
“Let’s go! This big brother will personally save my sister-in-law,” roared the Fu Hai Wang as he transformed into a colossal dragon, blotting out the planet’s sky, and surged out of the star system.
Bathed in an emerald glow, Xu Yuan soared with ethereal grace, the very image of an immortal from the heavens. Lost in thought, he inquired: “Brother, though I am human and you are of the demon kind, why do you treat me with such kindness?”
Fu Hai Wang chuckled: “With the great calamity approaching, everyone seeks survival. Who cares about human versus demon anymore? The one stabbing me in the back might well be another demon!”
As they spoke, two beams of light tore through the darkness, flickering in and out of existence, piercing the void.
…
On the desolate, barren planet, gray stone and sand were the only existences.
Meng Qi’s “Tathagata Manifestation” sat cross-legged with hands forming a mudra, emanating a radiant lapis lazuli golden light. It was as if a true Buddha had descended, leaving Ao Zhen and Ao Qing utterly awestruck and speechless.
Suddenly, the sky darkened, raindrops descending, merging into a curtain of rain, weaving white mist.
Rain poured across the entire planet, soaking sand, filling craters. Within mere moments, all peaks were submerged, as if a flood heralding the end of the world, cold unable to halt its advance.
Splash!
The vast sky was also shrouded, with a pitch-black dragon coiling above, clouds converging into an azure ocean, engulfing the earth in surging waves that crashed toward the mountain peaks.
Splash!
Within the sound of water, gray stone cracked deeply, rain seeping in, extinguishing the planet’s core remnants of heat, threatening its collapse.
With just one strike, the planet was doomed to destruction, had Ao Zhen and Ao Qing not been present!
Suddenly, its blue eyes flashed golden. At the summit of the planet stood a golden Buddha, no smaller than itself, with one hand gently striking out, releasing soul-shaking Buddhist chants:
“From heaven above to earth below, I alone am honored!”
The colossal golden Buddha’s palm silently cleaved through the waves, the azure sea, and the black scales of the dragon, leaving the Dragon King of the Sea no room to evade as it struck directly upon his “mind.”
With a thunderous impact, the planet vanished from his sight, the surrounding matter disappearing, leaving only a Buddha pointing to heaven and touching earth, before whom he felt so insignificant.
As insignificance arose, his thoughts shifted, forgetting he was Fu Hai Wang, only knowing himself as a five-poison centipede, enduring endless training without gaining full sentience.
Past lives replayed in an instant!
Seeing the dragon coiled around the planet yet hovering motionless in the high sky, Xu Yuan grew anxious and instantly raised his sleeve.
Chaos reigned, a realm shifted, whirlwinds rising, the golden Buddha directly sucked into his sleeve.
The Sleeve Realm, capable of capturing beings beyond one’s own level!
Successfully landing the strike, Xu Yuan was about to rescue Ao Zhen and Ao Qing when his vision blurred, revealing the white-robed, handsome monk once more.
He… he hadn’t been captured by the Sleeve Realm?
Xu Yuan was astonished. Focusing his senses, he indeed found his sleeve empty.
This… how was this possible?
He might have failed to contain the monk, but how could he not capture him at all?
Could this monk be a legendary master?
Meng Qi, having dispelled the “Tathagata Manifestation” and switched to the “Indestructible Dao Body,” smiled slightly upon recognizing the Sleeve Realm: “Lay Devotee Xu Yuan, I am your senior uncle!”
As the words fell, his sleeve rose, drawing all the planet’s waves and raindrops into it.
The same Sleeve Realm!
“Senior uncle…” Xu Yuan, Ao Qing, and Ao Zhen were all stunned.
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