Free Web NovelChapter 522: Chapter 15: The Western Pure Land Is Destroyed, I Am Heaven
"To think that in The Beginning of Ancient Times, there was no Heaven."
Lu Xuan smiled, his face taking on a cold, indifferent expression as he gazed toward the Far West.
At this very moment, the entire Far West of The Beginning of Ancient Times fell into chaos. Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water ran rampant, celestial calamities and earthly tribulations struck ceaselessly, and all of creation began to wither away!
"Hm?"
All the Dao Fruit Cultivators residing in The Beginning of Ancient Times cast their gazes over: The Three Pristine Ones, Houtu, Taiyi, Maitreya, Haotian, and even Shakyamuni, a "Fake Dao Fruit" who had not yet fully secured his Dao Fruit Position...
"What is happening?"
Supreme frowned, Shangqing appeared lost in thought, and the faces of Taiyi and the others paled slightly in alarm.
Nothing like this had ever happened before. A corner of The Beginning of Ancient Times was withering, falling into ruin!
This wasn’t just some era within the River of Time. This was The Beginning of Ancient Times, the one true Source of all things!!
Primordial performed the Heaven Opening, giving birth to The Beginning of Ancient Times, yet Primordial himself was born *from* The Beginning of Ancient Times!
Even the slightest change here would stir up monumental waves, let alone an entire corner of the world falling into chaos and beginning to decay!
In the Far West, Amitabha Buddha’s aura began to wane. Ancient Bodhi Buddha, his face a mask of shock and fury, demanded once more:
"Which Fellow Daoist is doing this? Where is Primordial!!?"
The Beginning of Ancient Times was the domain of the Primordial Great Celestial Venerable, so it was no surprise that he was the first one Ancient Bodhi Buddha thought of.
The Blind Daoist appeared from out of nowhere, an incredulous look on his own face, as he replied nonchalantly:
"This matter has nothing to do with me. I preside over The Beginning of Ancient Times, but this is clearly the Great Heaven and Earth decaying and withering on its own. It is not something I can control."
Amitabha Buddha’s expression was frigid.
"If you and Lingbao worked together, you could accomplish this!"
The Blind Daoist let out a dry chuckle.
"I have no reason to lie. And even if it *were* Lingbao and I, what could you possibly do?"
Amitabha Buddha’s face twitched. He could feel the Far West rapidly decaying, and the Western Pure Land he possessed was beginning to crumble with it.
He felt a tightness in his chest, so infuriated he nearly coughed up blood!
Amitabha Buddha had attained half a Dao Fruit through his own Great Magical Power, and then another half by leveraging the Western Pure Land.
Fundamentally, however, the Western Pure Land—much like the title of Celestial Emperor or the Six Paths of Reincarnation—was an "external object." It was an Illusory Dao Fruit.
It had been formed from the very essence of the Far West in The Beginning of Ancient Times!
Now, the decay of the ancient Far West was directly causing the Western Pure Land itself to show signs of collapse!
This was a disaster.
"Bodhi!"
Amitabha Buddha barked in agitation. The two Dao Fruit Cultivators unleashed their Great Magical Power, Great Divine Techniques, and Great Profound Mysteries, attempting to stabilize the Far West and suppress the raging Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water.
But while they managed to suppress the elements, the decay continued, pressing onward toward utter ruin.
It was as if the entire Far West had been forsaken by The Beginning of Ancient Times itself!
The other Dao Fruit Cultivators watched from a distance, their faces grave with suspicion and uncertainty. The scene was too bizarre, too sudden, and utterly without reason. They could not perceive its source.
The Great Heaven and Earth of this ancient era had suddenly abandoned this entire region!
The problem was, back in The Beginning of Ancient Times, the Heavenly Dao and Earthly Virtue had not yet come into being!
"Who is it!?"
Amitabha Buddha finally coughed up blood. His very body, just like the Far West, began to show signs of decay, decline, withering, annihilation, and desolation.
Ancient Bodhi Buddha, frantic, waved his enormous Miaoshu, continuously showering the area with virtuous golden light, profound treasured qi, and Divine Essence.
Yet he could only barely slow the rate of decay. It was useless!
"JUST! WHO! IS! IT!"
Bodhi roared.
On a certain Jade Capital Mountain, Lu Xuan’s eyes opened and closed. Behind him, a forty-nine-colored radiance drifted on the wind. His form was shrouded in a dim, profound darkness, with countless cosmoses rising and falling around him, giving him the very likeness of Primordial.
It wasn’t just that. As his eyes opened and closed, a unique and transcendent Dao Rhyme circulated around him, making him appear as Heaven, as the Firmament, as Providence itself.
Lu Xuan glanced at the huddled form of Candle Dragon and said softly,
"Let me collect some interest for you."
With that, he once again mobilized his Transcendent Trait: the Celestial Intent Dao Rhyme.
He took advantage of the absence of a Heavenly Dao and Earthly Virtue in The Beginning of Ancient Times to briefly play the part of Heaven.
The Heaven of The Beginning of Ancient Times!
In that instant, Lu Xuan felt that everything was completely under his control.
He saw the myriad creatures of the vast world, saw a young Emperor Jun and a young Candle Dragon laughing and roughhousing.
He saw Houtu standing atop a great mountain, and he could see the texture of her skin, the twitch of her brow, and the Dao Rhyme weaving through her hair, all with perfect clarity!
He even saw his master, Supreme. The Supreme Dao Rhyme circulated, boundlessly majestic and infinitely vast. His Second and Third Masters also came into view, their very Physiques laid bare to his gaze!
Suddenly.
"Hm?"
As if sensing something, Supreme and the Blind Daoist both looked up at the same time, their gazes fixed on the ancient firmament in bewildered suspicion.
The former raised an eyebrow.
"Heaven?"
The latter’s eyes went wide.
"Celestial Intent?"
Lu Xuan quickly averted his gaze, turning his focus back to the Far West and the two enraged Great Buddhas.
He smiled.
The next instant.
HUMMMMM!!
To the stunned disbelief of the assembled Dao Fruit Cultivators, a colossal eye materialized in the sky above the Far West, accompanied by the sound of swirling air and converging mist!
The eye was not a physical object but a manifestation of the fundamental Dao Rhyme of the Great Heaven and Earth of that ancient era. It exuded the aura of Heaven, of Providence, as it looked down upon the Far West!
"Heaven??"
Taiyi cried out in shock.
"Since when was there a Heaven in The Beginning of Ancient Times??"
The two Great Buddhas were also stunned for a moment before they both realized that the decay of the Far West was connected to the owner of that eye!
The visibly decaying Amitabha Buddha lifted his head and spoke in a frigid tone,
"There is no Heaven in The Beginning of Ancient Times. Which Fellow Daoist’s masterpiece is this? How unexpected... truly unexpected..."
He thrust out his palm, intending to seize the eye and crush it. But the eye was a manifestation of Heaven and Earth itself; as long as The Beginning of ancient times existed, the eye would exist—indestructible and Immortal.
Then, a calm, monotonous voice echoed forth:
"For your disrespect, you must be punished."
At these words, the expressions of All Daoist Fruits changed. Amitabha Buddha, bearing the brunt of it, felt himself being rejected by the entire Great Heaven and Earth of the ancient era. All of creation pulsed with killing intent!
He snorted faintly, remaining unmoved. A Dao Fruit Cultivator had long ago transcended the Great Heaven and Earth.
In later ages, even an Ancient One who held but half a Dao Fruit stood as an equal to the Great Will of Heaven and Earth, to say nothing of a true Enlightened One.
But...
This was The Beginning of Ancient Times.
It was the fundamental source of everything. Even The Three Pristine Ones had been born from it!
The frigid look on Amitabha Buddha’s face vanished. Something was wrong. ’He was being... expelled?’ he thought.
’No, it’s not me being expelled,’ he realized. ’It’s the Western Pure Land—the part that evolved from the Far West itself—that’s being expelled!’
"You dare!" he roared in fury.
"Punish!"
The monotonous voice spoke again. The entire Far West was utterly forsaken by Heaven and Earth, transforming into a barren wasteland devoid of even a single strand of Innate Material.
The treasures, Divine Medicines, and Immortal Roots that had been gestating in the Land of the Far West either fled to other regions or decayed and perished along with it!
The aura around Amitabha Buddha dropped to freezing. The Western Pure Land in his palm began to collapse, its foundation now gone!
"Make an aspiration!" Ancient Bodhi Buddha urged in a strained voice.
Amitabha Buddha’s eyes were bloodshot. He knew Bodhi was telling him to use a Grand Aspiration to temporarily coalesce half an Illusory Dao Fruit and stabilize his status as an Enlightened One.
But he was utterly unwilling!
If he did so, then as long as the Grand Aspiration remained unfulfilled, the Illusory Dao Fruit would forever remain illusory.
Fulfilling the Grand Aspiration itself wasn’t difficult, but if even one of the other Dao Fruit Cultivators opposed it, he would never be able to succeed!
Although the Western Pure Land was also a form of Illusory Dao Fruit,
he had been on the verge of evolving it into a True Dao Fruit. Now, all his efforts were ruined!
Under the gazes of All Daoist Fruits, feeling the loathing and hostility of the entire ancient Great Heaven and Earth, and watching his Western Pure Land crumble piece by piece,
Amitabha Buddha let out a long sigh.
"All my previous work... utterly wasted..."
He swiftly calmed his mind, the fury vanishing from his face as he did his utmost to mitigate the damage, his voice booming with a Buddhist chant!
"If I am to achieve Buddhahood, then let there be no Hells, hungry ghosts, or beasts in the world; otherwise, may I not attain perfect enlightenment."
"If I am to achieve Buddhahood, then should any living being, after their life has ended, fall again into the three wretched paths, may I not attain perfect enlightenment."
"If I am to achieve Buddhahood..."
He recited forty-eight great Grand Aspirations in a single breath, but he did not coalesce an Illusory Dao Fruit. Ancient Bodhi Buddha had already achieved his path through a Grand Aspiration, and there could not be a second.
However, the faint prototype of half an Illusory Dao Fruit did manage to emerge from the void, and he merged it into his collapsing Western Pure Land.
This was just enough to stabilize the Western Pure Land, preventing its total ruin and preserving a sliver of life for it, which in turn secured his own position as an Enlightened One.
Having done all this, the two Great Buddhas stood shoulder to shoulder. Without so much as a glance at the giant eye in the sky, they scanned their surroundings and declared in one, frigid voice:
"For the hatred of obstructing our Dao, this feud will not end until one of us is dead. Do not let us discover which Fellow Daoist you are!"
The sound of their Buddhist voices vibrated in all directions, and the various Dao Fruit Cultivators wore differing expressions.
Suddenly, a laugh rang out.
It was Heaven and Earth itself that was laughing.
"Hm??" A look of astonishment once again crossed Supreme’s face. ’Laughter?’
’Laughter is an emotional expression. How can the Great Will of Heaven and Earth laugh? How can it have emotions??’
’It was for this very reason that Dao Fruit Cultivators dared not maintain the state of Supreme Forgetting Emotions for too long—they feared they would merge with Heaven and Earth and completely lose all sentiment and desire.’
’And yet, now Heaven and Earth was laughing??’
’This is impossible!’
’Unless... a Transcendent Trait??’
Supreme’s gaze narrowed.
"Could it be that The Beginning of Ancient Times has birthed a Transcendent Trait, resulting in a sentient Heaven? This..."
"No, there is indeed a Transcendent Dao Rhyme present. It is a fragmented Transcendent Trait, but this is not a Heaven born naturally from the world..."
"Who is it?"
As Supreme muttered to himself, in the Far West, the two Great Buddhas looked up, stunned. They had clearly arrived at the same conclusion.
But before they could ponder it further,
they heard Heaven and Earth laugh aloud.
"Hear me, all of you."
A hush fell over The Beginning of Ancient Times. From the Barbaric Creatures to the Innate Divine Demons, and even to the various Dao Fruit Cultivators, all listened to the voice of Heaven and Earth.
"For now, you may call me..."
"Xuan Sheng."
Xuan... Xuan Sheng??
At the foot of Jade Capital Mountain, the young Candle Dragon suddenly perked up, cheering joyfully.
"It’s the Daoist Ancestor! It’s the Daoist Ancestor!"
The Primordial Fire leaped up and danced, also crowing with delight.
"The Daoist Ancestor has revealed his presence! The Daoist Ancestor has revealed his presence!"
The many Barbaric Creatures who had received his teachings all roared in unison!!
In other lands, every Innate Divine Demon and every Daluo who understood the past and present felt their minds shake as they murmured the name:
"Xuan Sheng..."
The faces of All Daoist Fruits changed in unison. ’Xuan Sheng?’
’The one who seeks to usurp the Daoist Ancestor’s position??’
’He... actually underwent Celestial Transformation?’
’And a sentient one, at that!’
’Impossible. This makes no sense at all...’
Amidst the astonishment of All Daoist Fruits, the most flabbergasted were, of course, the Blind Daoist and the Lame Daoist, who knew the truth of the matter.
’Xuan Sheng... Xiaoxuan?’
Everything fell silent again.
Only in the Far West, now an absolute wasteland, did the two Great Buddhas stand with ferocious expressions. In the height of their rage,
they saw the giant eye transform into a bolt of lightning and strike down!
The entire Beginning of Ancient Times trembled as a surge of killing intent erupted!
The ancient killing intent, carried by the Great Thunder, struck the massive Miaoshu in Ancient Bodhi Buddha’s hand. To his utterly heartbroken and furious gaze,
the entire Miaoshu became covered in a dense web of cracks!
"XUAN! SHENG!!" the two Great Buddhas howled in anguish and fury.
...
「On Jade Capital Mountain.」
’The Curse... is gone?’
Lu Xuan gazed at the Candle Dragon within the Heaven-Opening Banner. The punishment was still in effect, but the Daluo Curse that had prevented its Enlightenment had simply vanished.
It was as if it had never existed in the first place.
He glanced toward the West once more and sneered.
’Looks like they... chickened out?’ he thought.
His laughter grew, filled with immense satisfaction. The great stone and frustration that had been weighing on his heart were swept away, vanishing without a trace.
"A thousand years have passed."
Leaning on the Heaven-Opening Banner, Lu Xuan rose gracefully to his feet.
’Close to the Daluo Realm, with my Primordial Dharma Form and the Path of Great Balance... can I contend with a Daluo?’
As he pondered this, he glanced toward the West again.
’This was merely interest. It’s not enough... What if I were to become the ancestor of the Buddhist Sect?’
Lu Xuan began to laugh once more.
(One more Chapter to come later.)
