"Seventh Elder, then tell me, which kind does this Four-Skull Hell Guest summoned by the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor belong to? Does he inherently have karma with the Four-Skull Hell Guest, or did this guy forcibly fuse with the Four-Skull Hell Guest, or perhaps... the Four-Skull Hell Guest sought him out?"
"This..." Facing the woman's inquiry, the Seventh Elder pondered for a moment before speaking: "This old man is not too clear. Presumably, Miao Tathagata is the same. Precisely because he also doesn't know, he hasn't dealt a fatal blow to the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor all this time. Instead, he has been probing the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor step by step, forcing him to summon his Divine Sense and Demonic Thoughts. Otherwise, with Miao Tathagata's strength, erasing the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor would be effortless."
"Then I don't understand. Since Miao Tathagata is so powerful, why doesn't he just kill the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor directly? Why go through all this trouble of probing step by step?"
"Young Miss, the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor you see now is merely an incarnation. Erasing an incarnation of the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor holds no significance for Miao Tathagata."
"Does Seventh Elder mean that Miao Tathagata wants to force out the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor's True Body? And then directly erase his True Body?"
"Miao Tathagata indeed wants to force out the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor's True Body. As for whether he can erase it... that remains unknown." The Seventh Elder looked up at the radiant Great Solar Radiance overhead and Miao Tathagata seated upon the palm of the Sacred Great Buddha, saying: "I'm afraid even Miao Tathagata himself has no absolute certainty of being able to erase the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor's True Body."
"Ah?" The woman was astonished. "Is the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor's True Body really that powerful? Even an existence like Miao Tathagata has no absolute confidence in erasing him?"
"The Heavenly Dragon True Emperor possesses both a Dark Bloodline and has cultivated an Original Sin Dharma Body. Moreover, he is a variable of the Present Era. In other words, the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor possesses uniquely favorable conditions to contend for the position of True Lord of Original Sin. For those Divine Sense and Demonic Thoughts coveting the True Lord of Original Sin, an existence like him holds fatal allure. And this old man dares to assert that the Divine Sense and Demonic Thoughts upon the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor are definitely not as simple as just one Four-Skull Hell Guest. There may be a second, a third... it's even possible there are more, even more powerful Divine Sense and Demonic Thoughts."
"Besides, there is an even more important reason: whether the current Heavenly Dragon True Emperor is still the original Heavenly Dragon True Emperor."
The woman seemed somewhat unable to grasp the meaning of this statement. "What do you mean by that?"
"Every strand of Divine Sense and Demonic Thought inherits the spiritual will of its former life. If one fuses Divine Sense and Demonic Thoughts into oneself, one's own consciousness is inevitably influenced by that spiritual will. The more Divine Sense and Demonic Thoughts one fuses, the greater the influence on one's self-consciousness. It's possible the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor lost his original self after cultivating the Original Sin Dharma Body long ago. Perhaps the current Heavenly Dragon True Emperor is merely a puppet of some strand of Divine Sense and Demonic Thought."
As soon as the Seventh Elder finished speaking, the Old Matron beside him continued: "There is another possibility. Before the end of the Ancient Desolation Era, many Great Dao Overlords had already begun secretly laying plans, refining incarnations, sending them into reincarnation to gestate entirely new selves, achieving Original Sin Bodies to covet the position of True Lord of Original Sin."
Speaking here, the Old Matron said softly and calmly: "Young Miss, every Original Sin person you encounter now could be an Original Sin incarnation of some Great Dao Overlord's refined incarnation after reincarnation. It's just that they themselves may not know it."
She sighed slightly and shook her head. "Not just Original Sin persons, but also those who bear the Mandate of Heaven, the destined tribulation-bearers, could be the tribulation incarnations of some Great Dao Overlord."
"Although the Book of Fate records that the True Lord of Original Sin will be born in the Present Era, slaughtering the Three Thousand Great Daos and opening the Era Without Dao..."
"But fate can be changed."
"What the fate of the Present Era truly is, no one knows. Therefore, many Great Dao Overlords, long, long ago, had already secretly laid plans, preparing two hands. One hand prepares a heaven-defying variable of Original Sin to change fate, the other hand prepares a destined constant of Original Sin who bears the Mandate of Heaven. This way, regardless of whether the True Lord of Original Sin is born or not, and regardless of whether the Great Daos of Heaven and Earth are slaughtered, they all have methods to respond."
"The Heavenly Dragon True Emperor is like this, and Miao Tathagata is no exception. Precisely because he knows this, he wants to force out the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor's True Body. Only by forcing out his True Body can he know whether the current Heavenly Dragon True Emperor is still the original Heavenly Dragon True Emperor, or whether the current Heavenly Dragon True Emperor is merely a puppet of some Divine Sense and Demonic Thought, or perhaps the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor is the Original Sin incarnation of some Great Dao Overlord!"
"Only by knowing these things can Miao Tathagata judge whether the existence of the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor poses a threat to his contention for the True Lord of Original Sin!"
After hearing these words from the Seventh Elder and the Old Matron, the woman felt deeply moved. Although she rarely ventured out and seldom concerned herself with the affairs of the myriad realms, she had more or less heard about the prophecies recorded in the Book of Fate, including the secrets of the Ancient Desolation Era, and those destined tribulation constants who bore the Mandate of Heaven and those heaven-defying variables of Original Sin who changed fate.
She knew the waters here were deep, but she hadn't imagined they would be this deep—so deep it gave her a headache.
In the distance.
That wheel of radiant Great Solar Radiance still hung high in the sky, shining upon the Kan Palace Void, as if purifying all things in heaven and earth.
Vast and mighty Buddha Sounds continued to arrive, like countless Buddhas chanting sutras to deliver souls, as if delivering all dark and evil existences.
Scriptures fell like rain across the sky, changing endlessly, like countless Buddhas paying homage.
The Sacred Great Buddha, its head crowned by the Great Solar Radiance, one hand held vertically before its chest, the other resting flat on its knee, eyes slightly closed, blocking half the sky, simply floated in the void, receiving the homage of the myriad Buddhas, looking like the Buddha Lord descending.
Opposite.
The Four-Skull Hell Guest, equally blocking half the sky, burned with dark and evil crimson flames.
The Heavenly Dragon True Emperor, disheveled, covered in blood, and utterly bedraggled, stood atop the Four-Skull Hell Guest, truly resembling a Demon God from Hell.
He roared. The crimson flames surrounding the Four-Skull Hell Guest instantly surged wildly, and for a moment, flames across the sky spread in all directions like raging tidal waves. Rolling thick smoke, like primordial monsters, swallowed and submerged everything.
That rolling smoke sought to devour the Great Solar Radiance hanging in the sky.
The sea of fire across the sky sought to incinerate the myriad Buddhas.
And the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor sought to contend in brilliance with Miao Tathagata!
Alas!
Alas, that wheel of Great Solar Radiance was too radiant, that Sacred Great Buddha was too holy, those vast chanting Buddha Sounds were too mighty, those myriad scripture Buddhas were too boundless. As a result, even though the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor summoned a Divine Sense and Demonic Thought like the Four-Skull Hell Guest, it was of no avail.
The Heavenly Dragon True Emperor's Four-Skull Hell Guest, though far more powerful than a grain of rice's light, ultimately could not contend with the sacred radiance of Miao Tathagata's Great Solar Radiance.
"This Emperor refuses to believe he cannot break your Great Solar Radiance's imposing might!"
In a fit of rage, the Heavenly Dragon True Emperor, standing atop the Four-Skull Hell Guest, charged toward Miao Tathagata once more.